Glad to hear you got through it OK.
I’ve had four or five MRI, one in the open machine, and two PET/CT scans, as week as a round of radiation therapy. While injections hurt and the radiation side effects suck, I found the actual scans and such fascinating. The interesting medical technology helped distract from any nervousness I might have had.
Congratulations! I didn’t want to say this ahead of time, but I’m one of those annoying people for whom the noise and enclosed space is not a problem. What I didn’t like is that both times there was a noticeable breeze through the tube and the flimsy gown didn’t provide much insulation so I was on the edge of shivering for most of the 40 to 50 minutes the scans lasted.
You’re basically me. I have 1mb Lorazepam doses in my master bath pharmacy, I’ll take one (or more likely half of one) when I can’t stand the anxiety on a bad day. But I know if I take them they get weaker so I try really hard not to take any. The last dose I took was probably 6-8 weeks ago, and I’ll usually just sit on the anxiety unless it gets unbearable and exercise etc just ain’t cutting it. Thank bog for my psychiatrist who gives me an ‘as needed’ prescription - he trusts me because I go through a month of Lorazepam in like a year, same with my “oh just knock me out now” insomnia med Temazepam, which I last took in I think September.
Just a word to anyone who’s using benzodiazepines but who isn’t really very familiar with how they work: ALL benzos are highly addictive, and kicking the habit can be extremely hellatious (and possibly dangerous). If you’re just using them sporadically or for a one-day MRI gig, no problem. If you find yourself using them often, or you find they are becoming less effective and you need more, that means there’s already trouble brewing.
Benzos work at different speeds, and take different lengths of time to clear out. The longer-lasting ones (Valium) are the least addictive. The fastest ones (Xanax) are the worst. Klonopin (Clonazepam) is in the middle.
Anyone who ever needs a benzo for an MRI should probably experiment with it beforehand to see how it affects you. Some benzos might knock you right out. Some might not do anything for you. Some benzos have paradoxical effects on some people – instead of calming you down, they make some people hyper and agitated. (Valium had me violently agitated!) Best to know before the big MRI day if it’s going to work for you.
Oh hell yes. Benzos are scary as hell, and I don’t want to get near them, but sometimes, as seldom as I can, I must. I was once taking Klonopin more often than I liked on doctors orders and it felt scary and I had a “come to Jesus” conversation with that doc: let’s do something – anything – else. Now. And we found another way. I don’t like these heroin-like drugs in pill form, and everyone should tiptoe carefully around anything that can change your mood on a dime.
I used Klonopin, in very low doses, regularly for a while and got seriously addicted. It was hell when I quit.
One of the quirks of benzo addiction is that the withdrawal problems may last arbitrarily long, even as long as a year or two. I was significantly dysfunctional (and significantly miserable) for 16 months. And even after that, I “didn’t feel right” for another year.
Anyone having any benzo problems, or even contemplating having any benzo problems, needs to read:
https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/
by Prof (ret.) C. Heather Ashton, also known as “The Ashton Manual”. An users’ manual for kicking the benzo habit. (ETA: Prof. Ashton ran a benzo rehab clinic for a dozen years.)
Actually, I’m not sure this would work for most of us. Doctors are rightfully much more cautious about prescribing benzos, and there would seldom if ever be more tablets/capsules prescribed than would be needed for an MRI. My Rx was for two, one to be taken 45 minutes before the MRI, and one to be taken closer to the MRI if the anxiety persisted. I definitely didn’t need the second one, but if I had and I’d “experimented” by seeing how one affected me first, I wouldn’t have had it if I’d needed it.
I assume if I’d become agitated with the first dose, the MRI would have been postponed. There’s no way either the tech or I would have followed through if I’d been agitated.
I agree with you about the dangers of benzos, and I’m glad that docs seem to have recognized the dangers and are being so cautious in prescribing them.
I think I’m going to be ok with my once maybe twice a year use. I have an MRI on Monday to see if my brain is still there. I haven’t picked up my prescription yet but I seem to remember them giving me a quarter bar which is not very much for my size.
We’re measuring drugs in bars and millibars now?
@Loach, using Valium or any benzo for a brain MRI is only relevant and helpful if, in fact, your brain is still there. But I guess you need to do the MRI first to find out. 
I don’t recall if you mentioned earlier if you’ve used Valium before. As I’ve noted, in some people, it causes agitation instead of calming.
Xanax comes in 2mg bars that can be snapped into quarters. At least the non-generic ones. The few times I have been prescribed it they gave me generic .25 mg tablets. I thought it was pretty common to use bars when talking about Xanax. That’s what all the kids are doing.
Xanax doesn’t affect me greatly. It takes the edge off and gets me through the MRI. I don’t feel loopy. It serves its purpose so I don’t see any reason to change because it works. I’ve never used Valium. I do know that after having their wisdom teeth out both my daughter and ex-wife sobbed uncontrollably when they woke up.
Had my MRI. It was in a new wide bore machine. It gives some of the benefits of an open MRI but has the resolution of a closed MRI. It’s just slightly smaller than a CT. I think I could probably handle it without ant medication.
I didn’t know such MRI machines existed. Are they only used for certain kinds of MRI’s? More important, was the noise level any better?
I’m one of the lucky ones that aren’t bothered by MRI’s. The last one I had I composed my Thanksgiving menu, listing all ingredients in my head that I would need to shop for. Eventually the noise puts me in a trance-like almost sleep. By the time I realize I REALLY want to move, it’s over.
The “wide” scanners are for any kind of scan - they’re simply larger. Some look like the traditional type, but are just bigger, and there’s also “open” scanners that resemble a hamburger bun. The originator of the open scanner (and all MRI scanners, actually) turned it sideways so you can sit upright, stand, bend, etc. and scan things under normal loading, rather than just laying flat.
Maybe with the increased space, the noise would be lower. It’s the ear-splitting bangs and buzzes that made me feel like screaming. I’m not claustrophobic, so the tight space wasn’t an issue, though I can see how it would be for some.
Hate to say, but they’re probably just as loud. It’s not the size of the scanner, but the internal scanning that’s noisy. Varying electric currents in a magnetic field = either a loudspeaker or a motor. It’s not intentional, but the physics of it are impossible to avoid.
It did not appear to be as loud probably because it wasn’t as close to my ears. The noise doesn’t bother me anyway.
Well, really, using Valium et al for ANY kind of MRI is only relevant if you have a brain… otherwise there’s nothing for it to affect :D.
A bit late for the OP, but I was pretty nervous about MRIs as well. I’d had a foot MRI 20+ years back, and that was a non-issue as my head was outside the machine - think a huge funnel, with my waist and below in the narrow part, and the nead and shoulders in the funnel-y part.
When I had one for something else (knee and shoulder) I had some Halcion (temazepam?) left over from some dental work and took one, and it was looooooooovely…
Later on when I had a back MRI I took Valium. Doc gave me a scrip for xx mg of it (don’t recall), saying “Take one. If that’s not enough, take another”. I took one about 45 minutes before. While in the waiting room, I was feeling no effect, so I took another. About 2 minutes later the world started going a bit tilted. I think it was the original tablet kicking in, vs the effect of the second one, but no real way to tell.
I had to have the back MRI redone a few weeks later - some weirdness in the machine, I think - and I decided to go commando - no drugs on board. It actually worked, but I made a point of closing my eyes before they slid me in and NOT opening them until it was done. I’m just claustrophobic enough that I might have freaked otherwise, but did not care to find out. That tube is indeed narrow - had to cross my arms over my chest to get slid in, and then when I relaxed them, they were resting on the sides of the tube.
Re the panic reaction: The unfortunate thing is that yeah, it is a learned thing and the anxiety is already pre-loaded the next time around. so I suspect that if one did have a panic attack, you’re a lot likelier to have a worse one, sooner, the next time. Best nip that in the bud. Spice Weasel’s advice is fantastic (and I’m glad to see it helped nellybly). I’ve never had it with an MRI (due to planning, see above) but I do have it with dental work: I’m one of those people for whom anesthesia does not work well. Which makes me tense, and makes the anesthesia work even LESS, which makes me tenser, etc.
When I found a dentist who did not expect me to just tough it out, but had options, it was life-changing. I went in there stoned on Halcion, and she put nitrous on me, and Life Was Good for 5 hours in that chair. Simply having that one experience has made me a) better able to tolerate more routine dental stress to the point where nitrous alone (plus the local) is enough for all but the most major work, and b) has made me a better advocate for what will make me better able to tolerate the procedure. I’ve since told two dentists that they do NOT want to work on me without SOMETHING on board - it will make easier on me, and easier on the dentist!!
In the case of MRI anxiety: hell, there’s no reason to force yourself to tough it out, if there are options. I mean, maybe if someone had some kind of health issue that precluded medication, or whatever, but on average, most people won’t be harmed by a little Valium or whatever. And getting through one or two with that help might help you cope later on without assistance.
On the addiction worry side discussion:
The concern that several people mentioned about benzo addiction is quite real, though for this sort of occasional use I’m sure nobody would worry about it at all (barring some kind of personal history on the part of the patient). That’s what those medications are FOR. Years back, I saw a specialist for Restless Legs Syndrome. I’d had other doctors suggest, among other things, Klonopin (clonazepam) - which back then (about 20 years ago) was something used with some regularity for the purpose. Dunno if it reduced the leg movement, but it knocked you out so you slept despite it. Opiates were also used in some patients (presumably not ones on Klonopin). The specialist I saw (one of the world leaders on the topic) said that yeah, it was used for some - and that while it wasn’t as easy to become dependent as with opiates, it was a hell of a lot harder to break away from than the opiates.
And I’d bet that those of you who use Ativan or whatever for anxiety, and do so sporadically, find that simply knowing that there’s help in the medicine chest IF YOU NEED IT is often enough to let you get by without needing to actually take it. My small stash of Sonata (sleep aid) does that for me 
I’ve had brain MRI done a couple of times. (Spoiler: They did find some vestigial remnants.) No drugs. I thought it was no sweat. Definitely noisy. IIRC it took about 45 minutes or maybe longer. What I found interesting was the great variety of different noises it made. The session consisted of a series of different views with brief pauses in between, and each view made a different kind of noise.
That was then, now I am revisiting this thread because I have a MRI scheduled on July 5th for sudden onset of asymmetrical tinnitus which has not cleared up, with normal treatment, after 2 months.
I already told them I am anxious about the MRI due to claustrophobia. So I’ll be getting something to help with that. And I’ll have to have contrast, so I’m mildly concerned about that as well… Not sure I can wear earplugs, since they will be looking at my ear.
And I have a fixed retainer on my bottom teeth and a dental implant. The dental implant is titanium, so no problem. As the fixed retainer is fixed, it is something they can work around, but may cause interference with the reading (my understanding). All else fails I’ll have to make a dental appointment and have it removed.
Then I get to wait 3 weeks to get the doctor’s analysis. Until he calls me in. And that will only be if they find something and don’t want to wait 3 weeks to tell me.
I’ll probably be reading this thread many times before my appointment.
On the bright side, the noise of the MRI will keep me from hearing the tinnitus.