Have you almost had an MRI?

In My Humble Opinion
21

You are not alone in absolute terror and misery - I can join you in that.

I had an MRI about five years ago for a hump on my back, and I was not told anything at all about what to expect. I lay on the stretcher and alarm bells began to ring when the technician strapped my arms down. When he started to feed me into the tube, I had only got about my head and shoulders in when I panicked. I asked him to get me out, and he didn’t move fast enough, so I kicked him hard, ripped off the straps and wriggled out myself.

I am sweating as I type this…

After I got out, I was horrified by what I had done, and apologised endlessly. He wasn’t bothered, he said there is a percentage of people that can’t take MRIs, and I was just one of them. He sent me up to the doctor again for another idea on how to scan the lump.

What finished the whole thing for me was that upon getting back to the doctor, when I was just about over the shaking and embarassment, he laughed at me. I mean really sneered, and laughed. I felt like a worm.

In the end they did a CAT scan but it was about on the level of what I could take, and by then I cordially hated everyone in the hospital, and my stress levels beforehand were ridiculous. And the lump turned out to be fat, giving the Dr another chance to sneer and riducule me when I went back for the results…

This all took place in Japan, where pain relief, or tranquillisers etc are very hard to pry out of medical staff. I worry so much that if I ever need another one, I don’t know what I would do. I think a tranquilliser would just make me woozy and incapable of expressing my panic. Nothing short of a promise of a general anaesthetic would make me agree to one again.

Since that time, I am severely claustrophobic. I cannot sleep in my bedroom with the door closed, and panicked on a crowded elevator. I have bad night terrors, usually involving screaming and running from some frightening thing. The first time my husband tried to restrain me I decked him, so now he lets me run and attempts to keep up and get all the light on. (Poor guy!) I really was not a nut case before that dammned MRI!

So no, you are not the only one…

(BTW, aside from this incident and one very nasty run-in with a psychopath for an OB/GYN, I have had nothing but kind, professional, seriously kind and helpful medical staff in Japan. Between them they have saved my sight, my life and the life of my baby, so this is not a blanket damning of medical care in Japan!)

22

Got your arm stuck in the U bend again eh?

23

gallows fodder, I feel your pain. I managed to stay in the tube during my last MRI, but it was a near thing. I had to do some really serious creative visualization AND keep my eyes closed the whole time so I couldn’t see how close the top of the tube was to my head. Otherwise, I’d have come screaming and clawing my way out of there.

I hang out on another message board for traditional archery folks. These are guys who build their own bows and arrows and hunt big game with them. There was a thread not too long ago, and more than one of those guys talked about not being able to stand being in the MRI tube.

I didn’t feel so bad about being panicky in the tube after that.

24

I was so tired a few weeks ago that when I had an MRI, they slid the platform into the electromagnet, the jackhammer noises started up, and …

I fell asleep. Of course, I’d previously gotten over any fears of MRI’s because:

During my first MRI about seven years ago (for my skull), they locked my head in one of those evil-looking frames, I endured the horror of my first MRI, then they slid me out, injected me with some sort of dye, and slid me back in for a second MRI. Nearly lost it in there. Cured me of claustrophobia, though.

25

Heh. I read the first couple of posts, then wrote out my “amazing experience” of falling asleep, then read the rest of the thread. Apparently it’s not all that rare.

[hijack]
However, I did have to endure The Horror of Being Really Tired!
[/hijack]

26
      • I had one once, don’t remember if it was an MRI or CAT scan. I had large vision changes and a couple incidents of memory problems, and wanted to know that my head wasn’t rotting away from the inside out from some horrible disease. My doc said it didn’t sound like any disease he’d ever heard of, but entertained my unusually hypochondriac tendencies anyway to the tune of writing up the forms and sending me to a specialist, all to the tune of a $1600 bill. But yes, they checked my head and they didn’t find anything.
  • On a related note, just a few months ago a young boy got killed at a local hospital in the MRI machine, the tech left a steel oxygen tank in the room when he fired the machine up and the tank flew into the chamber and crushed the boy’s head. A relative is an X-ray tech there and heard all the gory details; the kid’s head wasn’t just hit, it was splattered, like Ghallagher’s sledgehammer on a grapefruit. Try sleeping next time!
    ~
27

All right, now this is more like it. Hokkaido Brit and Archergal, thanks for reassuring me.

I just tried to imagine being in the tube while facing up, and I jumped out of my chair in sympathetic panic. I’m a pretty empathetic person and can usually put myself in other people’s shoes quite easily, but for the life of me, I cannot understand how someone could lie head-first in that machine and be okay with it. (On the other hand, I’m not at all afraid of heights, so there are probably people out there wondering how I can stand on the lip of the Grand Canyon without getting sick.)

I guess this is a lesson in the fact that you’re not going to be able to handle everything in life, and this is just one of the things I can’t handle. TheFunkySpaceCowboy, I’ll talk to my doctor and see if there is a radiology center in the area that puts people to sleep for these things – thanks for letting me know that’s a viable option, at least in some areas. I’ve taken sedatives for anxiety before medical procedures before, and in my experience they make me feel heavy but do nothing to calm me down. Unconsciousness, it will have to be.

28

Yay! MRI stories!

A few years ago I was having horrid headaches (turned out to be tension - new job and they went away). So the MRI technician is this gorgeous guy who puts his hand on my arm and says compassionately ‘You’re a big gal. If you don’t fit, there are other options.’ :eek: :frowning:

I thought, ‘What do mean if I don’t fit?! I can fit into that damn tube!’ Then, as they squished me in, ‘I don’t think I’m gonna fit!’

Oh well. Now I’m all skinny, so I don’t care.

29

Yeah- they let him in the first time, and it seems like my mom was there the second time, but I fell asleep, so I don’t really remember too well. They also have an intercom and the nurses and technicians will talk to you over it if you’re by yourself too, I’m sure. They’ll also show you your MRI results after you get out- it’s pretty neat to see!

30

I HOPE you ment they didn’t find anything WRONG. :stuck_out_tongue:

BTW Thanks a lot for that story… now the drs will NEVER get me back in one of those damn things even WITH mind altering medications. Uh huh no freaking way!! :eek:

31

When I had one I had them play Radiohead on the headphones. I still can’t listen to Radiohead, even though the actual MRI was fine. I just lay there, looking at the pink colors behind my eyelids and trying not to move even though my back itched terribly.

But then again I’m a caver, so I am pretty much immune to closed-in spaces. I just find it funny that I still can’t listen to Radiohead, and I used to really love them!

32

I just got back from being in an MRI for an hour and a half or so for research purposes. (They’re going to pay me after my followup session!) It was great, no problems whatsoever. I just got to lie there in the tube watching a little slideshow and occasionally pressing buttons. The only problem I had with it was that my head got a little bit uncomfortable after about an hour or so because some of the padding was funny.

Of course, I did like to crawl under furniture a lot as a little kid, so that may have something to do with it.
Elfbabe, who now has a cool picture of her brain on the fridge.

33

MRI <shiver>. Anyone who goes through one now knows what a tampon must feel like.

I’m a wuss in that I’m severely claustrophobic-- as in, “have panic attacks on planes because they are too small” type clastrophobic. I’m also agoraphobic, and those MRIs? They raise you up fairly high before cramming you in.

MRI #1: I had my knee done to make sure I didn’t have an MCL tear. My doc (an otherwise lovely woman) says “don’t worry, I know you’re claustrophobic but your head will be sticking out.” I bring my partner and some valium anyway.

So they slide me in, and yes, my head is sticking out, but it’s JUST my head. And they didn’t tell me that there is quite an overhang before actually sliding into the tube itself. Despite the valium, I made my partner tell me every frigging detail of her day to keep me distracted. I leave shaky and sick to my stomach.

MRI #2 & 3: This time I definitely take partner, it’s a back problem and I have to go all the way in. #2 I take lots of valium and have partner hold my ankle. I don’t remember much. I do OK. #3? Doc on vacation, no valium. They try to haul me into the thing and I panic. They haul me out. I meditate and breathe myself into calmness, and the sympathetic tech gives me a damp washrag to cover my eyes (lest I’m tempted to open them) and sends me in again. I do mulitiplication tables in my head during the process to try to keep myself from panicking. Three times. Up to 15. Fortunately it was short (45 minutes) so I managed to keep myself from having a panic attack.

Turned out to be good practice for the time I did have a panic attack on a plane to London. Breathing and cold water are God.

34

I’ve had three, for my back.

They gave me headphones, and I listened to the radio.

Big deal.

I think it was because I didn’t psych myself into it being a big deal. Keep your eyes closed, and listen to the headphones.

To be fair, my dad did almost freak out when he had the same thing for the same reason. They gave him Valium. Twenty minutes later, they could have done surgery on him and he wouldn’t have cared.

Request Valium. And don’t fret yourself.

Regards,
Shodan

35

I’m not a doctor but…

Radiologists have boilerplate for their dictations for the very common scenerio of a patient not being able to tolerate the MRI,
requesting that the ordering MD prescribe anti-anxiety medication and re-refer for another attempt.

It is a very common reaction, but not so common that it would be good practice to give everyone medication. I assume that if you knew you were likely to have trouble, you could get the ordering MD to prescribe something for your first attempt. It means you cannot drive yourself, however.

36

My first MRI was to examine my spine and see why my back was hurting. Turned out the back problem was not serious, but that I had the same condition the just killed John Ritter. It also killed Conway Twitty shortly after my operation.

Some people are afraid to fly. Not being able to fly will not lead to a situation where you will die. Most phobias have negative consequences, but none that result in death. My message is that:
[ul]An MRI might save your friggin life![/ul]

37

Okay, so I’ve never had an MRI, but can I join in anyway? This is exactly how I feel about my driving test. I took it at the beginning of the summer and it was just the most horrific experience ever. I had my next test scheduled for the beginning of September (I failed it originally, obviously) and I was in such a state of panic over it that I a)didn’t do anything about making arrangements for it and b) chickened out at the last minute and cancelled.

Unfortunately, I don’t think heavy sedation’ll work for me in this case :smiley:

38

gallowsfodder, I also backed out of my first MRI. After about 2 mintues, I started yelling for them to get me out of there. Fortunately, I was with a fellow psychologist who happened to specialize in persuasion. While I didn’t like the idea of my body being in there even if I was out of it, I consented to take the meds (Halcion) and about an hour later, I was back in the tube, reciting poetry and asking my friend if a colleague of ours was gay.

Moral of the story: Meds are your friend.

39

,

40

Lightweight :stuck_out_tongue: