I haven’t been restrained in any of my four MRIs. Three knee MRIs, one shoulder MRI. At least two different facilities.
I wonder if restraining is based on what body part is being imaged..?
-D/a
From my experience, you have to specifically ask for it and get the prescrip from your regular doctor. Sometimes your doctor will require that you get a psych eval to prove that you really need it, sometimes even with the psych eval your regular doctor will require that a psych doctor do the actual prescribing, and sometimes (even more rarely) you can use that psych eval to convince your medical insurance that they should cover all of those extra costs as part of your scanning expenses.
Again, from my experience, good luck with that. Insurance companies are stingy bastards. 
Damn. I think THAT right there is a pretty good claustrophobia test. If you’re willing to go through all that crap to get some sedatives for an MRI; it stands to reason you are claustrophobic. 
Either that or my laziness just beats out my claustrophobia.
I dunno. shrug I’ve only had one, it was for an accident I was in. Maybe that was just SOP for that facility? The tech made it sound like it was part of the normal process to be strapped in there to make sure people were still enough for the imaging to work, but since he let me out of it when I asked, maybe they just have it as an option, and they don’t really enforce it? I never really thought about it much.
This is the second time I’ve looked at this thread, and both times I started breathing faster and felt my heart rate increase even though I’ve never had an MRI. There’s no way in hell I could do an MRI unsedated. In fact, I would be surprised if the normal low-to-medium-dose benzodiazepine were sufficient - I’d probably ask for a higher dose AND permission to take one of my carefully hoarded Vicodin so that I would be only partly conscious. I am claustrophobic and I also get anxious with a perceived loss of control of my movements a la being restrained in an MRI machine. I am not super claustrophobic - I can ride in elevators, for example - but there’s no way you’ll find me spelunking, going into crawl spaces, etc. Even the thought of having a large cast on for weeks gives me the willies because of the restriction of movement and inability to change anything about it. I don’t think I would be a good hospital patient, either, for that matter, because I would start to feel trapped (and I am also a bit of a control freak about my own health care, so I would probably end up annoying the nurses, but that’s a different story).
I’ve had multiple CT scans, which were all fine, but they are very different, as described above.
Meh, MRIs are a good time to take a nap in my case.
I’ll relate a true story to you. The other day I was getting onto an elevator and there was this guy curled up into a ball in the corner. He was sweating profusely with a terrified look on his face, and he looked up at me and wailed:
“Mister! Ya gotta help me! I’m claustrophobic!!”*
So I replied:
“Hey, how 'bout that? I am too! Wow… small world, isn’t it?”
Full disclosure–this is material from a stand-up comic friend of mine.
That is nuts. The neuro guy who ordered my last one wrote me up a prescription himself. Why would you need a psych eval for a one-time thing? What a waste of time and effort!
I didn’t need a psych eval to get 2 Valium for the SI Joint Injection that they did the Friday before the MRI. Not only didn’t I ask for them, the scheduling nurse offered and recommended them.
I’m still waiting on insurance to decide if I can do IV sedation or if the MRI is a wash. I know there is no way I can do it otherwise. Wish me luck.
Good luck, Ruby.
I’ve had one MRI when I was first diagnosed with epilepsy, and fortunately I was still a little out of it from the seizures I had been having. (The big one from the day before and all the little ones here and there) All I remember is having that ceiling smack up against my nose. Ugh. (And I’m not even claustrophobic)
I don’t think it would be awfully difficult to get sedation for an MRI, either. Asking for a couple of pills is not exactly drug-seeking behaviour.
Better questions would be “Imagine yourself wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito. Fun, or terrifying?” Or "What kind of feelings does this picture bring up? Or this one? Or this one?
Seeing as I am completely anti-benzo due to previous experience, is there any other way they handle that? Some NO[sub]2[/sub] wouldn’t bother me, for instance. Or an alpha blocker. Or flat out anesthesiology if they’ll leave out the benzo component.
My mother’s been pressuring me to get an MRI just to make sure there’s nothing wrong causing all the headaches I get, but I’ve been reluctant–and that was just when I thought it was a like a CT. (I personally think my symptoms fit benzo withdrawal, even if I am nearly on the second standard deviation for how long it usually takes.)
When I visited Jewel Cave in South Dakota a few years ago, the tour-guide said there’s an area of the cave called the “Calorie Counter” – IIRC, the tunnel is 200 feet long and 7 inches high. Then there’s another area that’s 700 feet long where the ceiling is 18 inches high.
Just kill me now.
And consistently enough, I was fine in the cave because the areas with tours are large enough to move around freely. It’s just being in tight spaces or crowded subway cars – any situation where my movement is restricted and things or people are pressing up against me – that makes me freak the fuck out.
hi Ruby…I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. prbly stems from being pinned in after your accident, just came out when you felt you were in a similar situation. (& I do mean FELT. emotions aren’t rational.) like Toucanna, I usually doze off…I actually feel a “little” confinement, small spaces etc. to be comforting
Oh! & what to do about it…please don’t let them put you to sleep unless you’ve had that done before & it worked out alright. there are things stronger than Valium that they can give you—insist on it. that & understanding where your fear is coming from should help. & most places have headphones & you can play whatever music you like…
The Womb at the End of the Universe…with sound effects by Dr Who.
I’ve had three MRIs. I don’t remember the first (concussion) but suspect I panicked because I was later told it was incomplete 
Sod that for a game of soldiers.
I asked my husband if he could go through that, and he said without even considering, “Yeah, I could do that*.” Shee-it, I can barely even THINK about that!
*He’s done some confined space work, and while it bothers him, he can still do it.