Thanks. I appreciate your good wishes.
I’m glad it went well! Of all the medical crap I’ve dealt with, CT scans are among the easiest.
It depends.
When I had one they had me drink it. Claimed it was “Pina Colada” flavored. I said, on what planet, Pluto or something else with weird chemistry? My experience was consistent with what everyone else has said.
Up until recently, my spouse’s CT scans have involved drinking contrast, but I think a couple recent ones might have been injected contrast.
They won’t ask you to hold your breath 45 minutes!!! 
Again, the time you’re in the machine will vary a bit. 15 or less is probably typical. I think that’s how long mine was, and it was an abdominal scan. That was the time in the tube, there is, of course the mandatory modern medical rituals before and after (checking vitals, changing garments, drinking contrast, waiting for not explicable reason…)
Did not have to take off any clothes! (I made a point of wearing clothes that had no buttons, zippers, or anything metal-- including a sports bra that was all elastic). Didn’t have to drink anything. While I was lying in the machine and the technician was setting it up, she cued me when she let 'er rip with the contrast solution. I was in the machine for about 10 minutes total. Had to hold my breath twice for about 15 seconds each time. Could not believe how fast the whole thing was. I don’t think I’ve ever had a medical procedure that was simpler, faster, with fewer complications.
It’s over now, but I have this funny feeling you confused CT scan with MRI scan. The MRI scan is the big scary one that people would prefer not to have. A CT scan is just an X-Ray machine (that spins around you). Oddly enough, the CT does make some noise, but it’s actually spinning pretty fast. The MRI is loud as hell and it’s not moving (more or less) at all.
The CT scan, I assume, didn’t take more than a few minutes. I’ve had some where I was in and out in less than a minute and I think the longest one was probably 3 or 4 minutes. On top of that, being ‘donut’ shaped, you’re never enclosed in the machine.
Having said all that, an MRI, can be more daunting. You’re ‘in’ the machine. Some techs will even put you in head first to scan lower body parts. The tube is very small. Like, the walls are within inches of your face small. Many, many, many people will say ‘I had no idea I was cluster phobic until I had an MRI’. On top of all that, it’s loud. They’ll give you ear plugs AND music (via non-metal containing headphones) and there’s still a constant banging you have to listen to. Furthermore, like I said, a CT lasts a few minutes, MRIs can be 30 or 40 minutes and you have to stay still during them. The ‘lucky’ people are the ones that say ‘yeah, they put me in, I fell asleep and they woke me up at the end’. I’m not clusterphobic, the tube didn’t bother me that much, but the MRI still sucked.
As for the contrast with CT, yeah, I felt like I peed in my pants. They told me it was going to happen, but it still caught me off guard.
Again, this is over, but I would assume drinking vs injecting contrast would be for two different things. Do they want it in your blood or your GI/Urinary tract. Also, many times they’ll have you chug a ton of water right before scan to distend whatever they’re studying to make it easier to see.
One last thing, just because I like the video, as I said, an MRI doesn’t have any moving parts (or at least moving parts aren’t what make the ungodly noises), but here’s the whirling CT of death that you were sliding in and out of.
FTR, there’s a reason no one will hesitate to give you drugs when you need to have an MRI scan.
Are you addressing me (the OP) or someone else who posted in this thread?
I had a CT scan, not MRI. It did only take a few minutes, as I said in a couple of posts. 
I was addressing you. I know you had a CT scan, but, when I was reading the OP (even though I knew it was over when I was writing the reply) I had a feeling you were mixing up the two (in the OP, before it happened). If only because a CT isn’t really anything to write home about, while an MRI is sort of a minor ordeal, what with the noise and being stuffed into a tube for 45 minutes.
Am I the only weirdo who likes confined spaces, and thinks MRIs are fun?
Probably.
I don’t mind, even like, confined spaces (I always called it claustrophilic) . Then I had an MRI. Maybe they could split it up. Put me in a six inch tube for an hour today. Then run a jack hammer next to my face tomorrow.
For reals though, all that really bugged me is lacking the ability to move my arms or scoot my way out of the tube (quickly) if I wanted too. And more so, having all that time to lay there and think about that.
Also, I didn’t know until I got out that the other end was open as well. That would have been nice to know WRT the scooting out thing. Not that I was going to try to push myself out, but it would have been nice to know that the tube goes all the way through.
And I know this is a common complaint, but I got a lot of the tech saying ‘are you still doing okay’ and I’d tell her I was and she’d say ‘you can’t talk, it makes you move, now I have to redo that test’…well stop fucking asking me questions if you don’t want me to talk, assface, I know there’s a camera on me, you can see I’m not dead or passed out, jeez, just do what you need to do and get this wrapped up (you too, dentist)'. Didn’t help that the image was on my shoulder so it didn’t take much to make things move around. Funnily, she noted that the second half of the tests were ‘much clearer’ so she redid a bunch of them. I told her that’s when I started inhaling and exhaling by moving my diaphragm back and forth instead of having my shoulders or chest rise and fall and kinda commented that I was surprised, as a tech, she didn’t tell me that ahead of time and she said she never thought about it. :smack:
No, I knew the difference in the machines- doughnut v. tube. I didn’t know that the CT took such a short time. I started the thread to find out what to expect.
Ahh, got it. Okay. Takes like 30 seconds, it’s like getting a regular X-ray. 
I know now. I had it yesterday.
ThelmaLou: Sorry I did not see this thread 'til now. Just wanted to add info about use of contrast in X-ray-type exams.
Former 20-yr CT/MRI/NucMed Tech here: If I may clarify a thing ot two, fwiw: Its been mentioned about drinking contrast and IV-injected (iodinated) contrast. Two totally different purposes, and ideally a person should have both for best images. I worked as a lead/weekend CT Tech at Level I Trauma Center so the best protocols were followed for each type exam.
Typically (if no GI perforations are suspected) you drink the ‘chalky’ barium stuff to show the outline(s) of the GI tract. Barium in the peritoneum can get nasty, trust me. It is usual to start drinking it about 8-12 hours prior to exam, and again about an hour before actual exam, to allow it get into colon, but many places are negligent in doing so, IME.
If any suspicions of perforation of bowels were suspected, we gave them a water/Gastrografin mix (about 20cc of Gastro w/ a few hundred cc’s of water/Kool-aid solution). Then a minimum wait of about 4 hours to ensure the contrast got to the appendix, if not further down the GI tract. Timing would vary depending on what Docs needed to see and the severity of the illness/trauma. I could do a total head-toe (soft-tissue/bony-detail) trauma body scan in about 15 mins with 5 minutes notice. Not uncommon for the patient to be in OR being prepped before I got all images reconstructed and sent to viewing station(s) while multiple residents were watching the images as they came up.
The IV contrast is to show blood flow to/from organs/extremities, and does little to show the GI tract. It does, however, really help show ischemia in places or bleeding from traumatic injury (like a liver lac or such), etc.
Many times, I did what was called a triple-contrast scan (for extreme trauma, like ejected from car, etc), and those were VERY thorough. Liquid through NG-tube, IV x-trast at high injection rate to look at pulmonary and related arteries, and rectal admin of the Gastro (without Kool-aid, of course). If any sign of pelvic trauma, I also got to totally distend bladder with Gastro/water solution through the catheter to make sure no bladder injury. Hint - ALWAYS wear seatbelt unless you want to go through such ‘traumatic’ scans. Aint pretty, but I saved many lives with my attentiveness, or so I was told by the Trauma Director a few times It was also not uncommon to give a Gastro enema as last part of imaging to make sure colon was intact - nothing was spared, believe me. You can say, at times, it was shitty job, but we all made a difference in life’s duration overall.
IMHO, all ‘routine’ CT scans (other than head/neck) should have both IV and oral contrast. There’s very serious reasons to use both. A typical outpatient Abd/Pelvis scan would take about 5-6 minutes of table-time, IME. That was with a high-end spiral scanner, with thinner-recons done after patient dismissed. Easy-peasy
I also didn’t see the thread until just now.
I had a CT scan of roughly the same area about 18 months ago. The pre-scan prep involved Crystal Lite dosed with the iodine or whatever. Not bad at all even if it was not something I’d routinely drink. The in-scan contrast was as others have said weird as hell, felt EXACTLY like I’d peed myself. I’d heard of that - but what I had NOT heard of was the sudden, SEVERE (and fortunately very brief) back pain.
Aside from the back pain, the worst for me was having the IV set up (which is always an issue for me).
Mine was due to some sudden, severe RLQ abdominal pain I’d developed. They needed to rule out ovarian issues (which got me a fun 45 minutes with the dildo-cam the day before) or appendicitis. You know it’s bad when you scare the doctor: see, she’d asked me to hop up on the exam table (no problem) and lie back (which resulted in my shrieking and cussing VERY loudly due to the pain). In my case we ultimately decided it was ligament damage from a fall a week or so earlier. I still have twinges from that, but never to the point of involuntary profanity.
When do you get your results? Here’s hoping your issue is very minor and quickly fixed!!
Hah!! The last time I had an MRI, it was in the evening. That day, we had a lot of work done in our basement to sort out some drainage issues… that involved a jackhammer… while I was working from home upstairs.
After a full day of jackhammering, I was all set for the MRI
Nope, me too. I’ve had to have a few head MRI’s due to my lovely disease’s habit of causing aneurysms. I fall asleep.
My last CT scan was kind of a mess. I was initially scheduled for a Tuesday afternoon after dialysis, set up by my dialysis center. I couldn’t do it then, so I called to reschedule. When I mentioned I am on dialysis, they told me my appointment MUST be less than 24 hours prior to dialysis, due to the contrast. If I had gone with the initial appointment, I would’ve spent Wednesday miserable. Gee, thanks.
Mamma Zappa, you’re sweet to follow up with me. I got the results the following Monday when I saw the doctor. Everything on the scan was 100% normal, which was great news. There was one little thing, and I kept the appointment with the G.I. doc, coming up in a couple of weeks.
*What follows may be TMI- squeamish people, consider yourselves warned. *
Apparently I have a small fecalith(there are other spellings), which is a tiny amount of hardened poop [feces —> lith (stone)] that gets stuck in your intestine in the vicinity of your appendix. It can possibly, eventually, maybe, by chance lead to appendicitis. I do believe that is what is causing this discomfort, as the discomfort is exactly where my appendix is in anatomy pictures, and everything else looks normal.
I will talk to the next doc about this and see what she recommends.
By “dildo-cam,” [GREAT NAME, BTW!] did you mean the “transvaginal ultrasound”? Geez, I kind of enjoyed mine. I told the tech (a young woman) that if she’d dim the lights and bring me a glass of wine, I could really get into it.
Hey! I’ve waited all my life to be able to pop out with whatever I’m thinking! If not now, when? Besides, I have the example of our esteemed Orange Leader WRT leave no thought unexpressed.
Yay that it’s just petrified poo!!
I wonder if a colonoscopy might be useful in dealing with such a denizen? (and oh boy do I have tips for one of those!).
Yeah, dildo-cam = transvag ultrasound. 4 pregnancies gave me more experience with them than I liked, and the later one (to rule out ovarian issues) was considerably longer with a tech who seemed interested in rearranging my innards - blech.
I had an all-clear colonoscopy in 2014. Not anxious to sign up for another. In my internet research, I came across a case where, under doctor’s orders, a person dissolved the petrified poo by drinking the GoLytely solution that is part of the colonoscopy prep. GoLytely works by pulling moisture from the intestinal lining (which is why I should have drunk lots of water afterwards like they told me :smack:) and apparently it pulled in enough water to dissolve the little bugger and send it on its way.
Thank you so much for checking back in on my thread.
Fascinating! I had a vague idea that they might perform a fecalith-ectomy while doing the colonoscopy, it didn’t occur to me that going through the prep regimen might itself handle it. Though of course (as a veteran of 6 of them) the prep itself will cause you to excrete everything in your digestive canal and quite a lot of stuff that has never been NEAR your guts - “ooh, look, I think that was a kneecap!”.
If they do suggest you try it, go for the Gatorate + Miralax version. Same active primary ingredient (polyethylene glycol) as GoHeavily, far less vile from what I’ve heard.