I had an MRI of my head done yesterday

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
1

This was of my brain, and I thought I’d pass along the news because I am terribly claustrophobic, but even so, breezed through the procedure.

At my request (okay, insistence, they put me into La La Land, and it ended up a piece of cake.

It’s such a noisy procedure the nurse put plugs in my ears. They also put a folded washcloth over my eyes. Seems that there’s something that they put over one’s head (face?) that could be literally mindblowing for a claustrophobe.

But by the time the nurse/techie slid me into the machine, I could have given a damn about anything. They also put a panic button in my hand, I never came close to even mildly considering using it.

I am telling you all about this because I’m sure there’s at least one person out there who’s claustrophobic, and would appreciate this assurance. The anesthetic also gives you a certain amount of amnesia and makes the time seem to pass by faster. I was totally at ease throughout.

And the results wwere negative, I’m happy to say.

If you’re old enough, you remember a St. Louis Cardinals ballplayer named Dizzy Dean.

Ole Diz was one helluva pitcher but he wasn’t renowned for being too bright. One day he was beaned by the opposing pitcher and went to the hospital, was treated and released.

Next day’s sports headline was to the effect:

Dizzy Dean’s Head X-Rayed
Doctors Find Nothing"

Honest!" :smiley:

2

Congratulations on getting through the procedure! :slight_smile:

I have a few questions about the anesthesia you received: What was it? How was it administered? How soon before the procedure did you get it? How, uh, out of it were you?

I maintain that I would have to be completely unconscious before going back in the MRI machine. Just how intense was/is your claustrophobia, if I may ask?

3

Great news that there was nothing wrong.

I have had many MRIs. Since I am not claustrophobic they do not bother me in any way. Heck, I even fell asleep during one once.

4

[MRI]
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-!!!
[/MRI]

I hate those fucking things.

5

Damn! The Nurse told me but I forgot. But it was administered intravenously, just a minute or so before I was put in that tube.

I must have slept during the MRI, because the time flew by.

I was totally devoid of any apprehensions when they slid me in. Drowsy as hell and not caring a damn. I swear to God.

Sometimes in bed at night when I think of things - like being buried alive, etc., - I hyperventillate and have to get out of bed and read, do a crossword puzzle or watch TV for awhile til I get the thought untracked.

Leading up to the MRI I was a little apprehensive, but I remembered how la-la
they made me for my lens implants. In my heart I hoped the MRI would be more of the same. And it was.

In fact, the nurse asked me how bad I was. I told her I am the most claustrophobic person she has ever met. She didn’t smirk, so I strongly suspect she took me down even further for the MRI than they did for the lens implant. AND FOR A VERY GOOD REASON.

We’ve all been in bed, on the verge of falling off to sleep when we have that full body involuntary spasm that jars us to wakefulness. Right?

Well, if you’re getting a lens implant and do that when the doctor has his scalpel in your eye…OUCH!! My ophthmalologist told me that’s why goes a little easy on the anesthetic.

Anyway, tomorrow, I’ll be talking to my Dr. who ordered the MRI and will ask him what they used. If I find out, I’ll get back here.

In the meantime, please have confidence that should you need an MRI,and you tell them how frantic you are, they will take wonderful care of you just as they did me.

And I fully expect a report to that effect! :smiley:

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You had one of the quiet ones. :smiley:

Lest I scare anyone away from an MRI, I’ve had a handful of them and with earplugs, the noise becomes (for the most part) hypnotic. Sure, there’s a lot of percussive pounding at times, but there’s also a lot of cyclical swirling sorts of sounds. Last time I had one, I told the tech not to be surprised if I fell asleep.

I’m not claustrophobic, though, and have never contemplated sedation in order to get into one.

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**I’ve had two MRIs and the claustrophobic thing never bothers me at all. Now, if there was a spider in there with me, I’d be shrieking like a little girl.
Enclosed spaces? No problem. Spiders? No thanks. :eek:

After my first one, the doctor said pretty much the same thing to my husband. They both got a big chuckle out of that. "Here’s the MRI of her head. As you can see, there’s nothing there. :::snicker, snicker::: "
Yeah, you’re a real laugh riot. I’m in agony, and you two clowns are laughing about it. :rolleyes:

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Just talked to my doctor. He’s an ENT guy, not a neuro surgeon. He ordeed the MRI to eliminate tumors as a cause of my tinnitus. Results were negative.

I asked him about the anesthesia. He said you can get a pill or for a heavier dose as I did, by IV. He said the most common IV drug is something called Versed - two syllables pronounced VER sed.

He said the anesthesia can properly handle any clautrophobe’s fears. You’ll be in la la land throughout the MRI. And as I said before, the time just whizzes by. Honest. Honest. Honest. It never even ocurred to me to wonder “When will all this be over?”

So please, gallows fodder, be easy about it. If the time ever comes when an MRI is necessary, just tell the nurse or doctor that you’re a raging claustrophobe and to “please knock me out with the intravenous medication.”

They’ll only be too happy to comply. My experience was nothing less than wonderful.

And in case you’re wondering the MRI was done at the Danbury Hospital, Danbury CT

My doctor gave me a choice of 2 types of MRI - the portable (I think is how he described it) and the more accurate one. I chose the latter. I hope you will, too. :slight_smile:

9

I had an MRI done of my head several years ago. Once they doctors were done with it I collected the films (hey, I paid for them)

There is something very cool about having a picture of your brain.

(BTW: There is a copy of it here - http://www.tictokmen.com - you can’t miss it)

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I’ve had a few MRIs myself. Last time my appointment was after school, so I just got in and took a nap. It sounds great with earplugs if you’re a drummer.

On a side note, I’ve always had this mental picture of the interior of a NMR as a much smaller and upright MRI. I know the picture isn’t right, but dang it, it’s the exact same technology. Heck, last time I had an MRI, I called it an NMR just to see what reaction I would get.

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asterion
Geez the “NMR” - that goes back to about 1986 when I had my first “MRI”. (Yeah, I think I was the “first kid on my block to have one”.) I think they changed the name because 1) the ‘N’ stood for nuclear which put people off and 2) the similarity of NMR to ‘enema’ must have been too confusing.
Back in the “old days” (1986), you could have an “MRI” (aka NMR) in your street clothes provided you removed from your person anything magnetic or anything that could be destroyed by magnetism (credit cards, mechanical watches, etc).

Things seem to have become much more stringent over the decades. Oh and a big “surprise” is that now you get injected with gadolinium about halfway through the procedure. Like most people, I’m not too thrilled about needles but what really bothers me is that after being perfectly still for about 30 minutes, the veins are not easy to find. Damn !!!

Antiochus I imagine that you are not the only one that hates confined spaces. (Personally, it does not bother me but heck, everybody’s different). Incidentally the reason I have had 3 MRI’s over the years? I have MS. Luckily it is not too severe in my case and I am ambulatory and hold a full time job.

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Some places will play music for you. It’s nice to have something to concentrate on, though it doesn’t block out any of the machine noise. I burned myself a CD of appropriately-themed tracks when I had my MRI.

13

Thanks for the information, Antiochus! If my doctor decides to push another MRI on me, I won’t feel so anxious now that I know anesthesia is so effective.