I recently had an MRI on my neck. What stood out about the experience was I had a weird pulsing through my head in synch with the throbbing sounds of the machine. In particular, I was fighting to keep my jaw from moving. The tech mentioned that swallowing might cause movement that would blur the images, and cause it to take a lot longer to resolve. So I was struggling not to swallow and my jaw was vibrating and I was fighting to keep it as still as possible.
Did I mention I have apnea, so I had to hold my jaw slightly open to keep my airway from closing? Extra hard to hold still when you can’t just clench it, but are trying to keep airway open.
Yeah, it was less than pleasant. I did have earplugs, and didn’t have claustrophobia issues, but the sensations were strange and the fight to keep from moving my jaw was strong.
Had two so far, and will have another follow-up next month for my aneurysms. I didn’t notice any sensation with the contrast dye scan, though they warned me I might feel something.
I’ve had two on my left knee (the first to diagnose a partial ACL tear and the second, two years later, to confirm that I’d torn it further). I’ve never felt more like a fidgety child than I did during the MRIs. I can’t imaging been told to not swallow for 15 minutes…
I’ve had three in the last couple years due to a stroke. I completely lost all my self-control and dignity during the first one. I was given a sedative before each of the later ones. I never had issues with claustrophobia before that first mri. When they clamped my head in place, I started to lose it. When they moved me into the machine and my shoulders touched the sides and the upper surface was so close to my face I could smell my own breath, I snapped.
1 on my shoulder. I’m not claustrophobic but I was caught off guard by how small the tunnel is and being in there for 30-45 minutes didn’t help. I was also amused at how spot on the cliche was with the tech saying “are you doing okay” and I’d say ‘yup’ and then get yelled at for moving. You’d think they’d ask the questions in between the tests. About halfway through I figured out that if I breathed with my stomach instead of my diaphragm, that is, letting my belly expand and contract instead of my shoulders rise and fall the pictures came out much better. Suddenly she commented on how much clearer they were and I could tell by the sounds the machine was making that she was repeating some of the earlier tests.
When I got out she commented that about halfway through the pictures suddenly got much better and I told her what I was doing. I have to say, as an MRI tech, you’d think she would just automatically tell people do do that for MRIs from your shoulders and up. It seemed so obvious to me once I thought about it.
Also, another thing that would have helped is if she would have pointed out that it’s open all the way through to the back. Not that I was panicking or anything but the feeling of ‘I couldn’t get even if I wanted to’ wasn’t terribly pleasant. Not that I could scoot out the back, but it would have been nice to know.
I could certainly do it again if I had to, but I’d rather avoid it.
I know at least two people that say they fall asleep in there (no drugs). But based on what I know about them, I’m willing to bet they’re the type of people that fall asleep anywhere.
I’m curious as to why people that have lower parts of their body scanned have to go in head first? My sister had her hip done, why couldn’t she go in feet first?
Also, just an FYI (because I’ve gotten into this argument before). All that racket is just the sound of the magnet doing it’s thing. There’s not any moving parts, not like what you’d think anyways. If you want to see moving parts, take a look at CT scanner with it’s cover off and imagine sticking your face in that thing.
I’ve had four or five. I am claustrophobic, and have a very hard time with it. I haven’t had a sedative to go with it…do you need someone else to drive you in that case?
Tell the prescribing doc you need a sedative and they should write you something (a short acting benzo) to pick up from that pharmacy and take beforehand. Even if they don’t, if you tell the MRI tech, they can give you something via IV. Yes, you’ll need a ride home and probably need to stay at home for the rest of the day. Normally I’m gung ho for any kind of benzos, but I didn’t want to deal with a ride there and back and I wanted to be able to go back to work afterwards. So I took a pass, even when the MRI tech offered.
I’m surprised you weren’t offered ear plugs. For me they gave me ear plugs AND head phones and asked what radio station I wanted on. Even with all that it was still pretty loud in there.
I have to get a sedative for MRIs, I have attacks of claustrophobia. You do need a ride afterward and you probably won’t get much done the rest of the day.
I’ve had about 10 so far, most on my brain, one on my heart.
I’m about to have another one on my head for a likely prolactinoma, a “benign” tumor on my pituitary gland that is causing havoc with my endocrine system.
When asked what the first one was like, I described it like being stuck in a Bic pen at a Rush concert. Personally, I could fall asleep in the machine.
I had one a few years ago with no real issues. The main thing that surprised me was how loud it was and how long it took. I tried to do my own version of meditation to get through it peacefully but that didn’t work because it sounded like someone was screwing around with a malfunctioning piece of industrial equipment at random times right next to me. I can deal with laying still in a really cramped space as long as I can relax but the really loud metallic booming sound made me feel like a cat on a construction site. For a machine as high-tech and expensive as MRI machines are, I expected something more Star Trek and less road construction sounding.
I’ve lost track of how many I’ve had. Never had any sense of pulsing, vibrating etc., and I’ve got the usual adult complement of dental work with fillings and crown posts, as well as cobalt-chromium steel spinal implants and titanium (?) fusion hardware.
Yes, once for my brain. I was a little “out of it” because I had had a black out the day before, but I still remember that it felt like being buried alive, and my legs kept kicking really bad. I can’t remember how long I was in there, but ugh.
If I ever have to have one again, I’ll either have to be sedated, or go to an open-MRI. No way I’d want to go through that again.
Yes. Brain/head. No contrast. I don’t think. I don’t remember, because it was a traditional MRI, and I’m seriously claustrophobic. There was a *lot *of Ativan involved.
I just remember that the thunk-thunk-thunk-WRRRRRRRR of the machine amused me. Reminded me of some industrial music I heard in the 80s; all it needed was drums. I kept my mind on that, at didn’t have any kind of freakout. In fact, I had to work to keep from giggling.
Anyway, I have had a lot of dental work and didn’t have any issues. I also have chronic sinusitis.