MRI experience

Mitica100

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OK, so my doc recommended to have an MRI done of my lumbar area to see what's wrong with my back. I show up today at the Imaging Center and they take me inside this room with a huuuuge machine in the middle of it. I mean I've seen MRI machinery before but this was a behemoth! The doc explained to me what's going to happen and he then asked if I'm claustrophobic. I say 'No, I don't think so'... Well, once he slid me in the middle of that behemoth I felt like being inside a coffin! The tube I went into almost touched my face and my entire body was pretty much confined like that. Then the doc says "I'll have you lay motionless for 30 minutes" and at that point I say to him "That's it doc, I can't deal with this!" So he pulls me out and I left, halfd embarassed that I couldn't deal with the enclosure. But hey, I found out more than half of the people experiencing for the first time an enclosed MRI react the same.

So I'm going to request an open MRI. And I can live with myself being half way claustrophobic. :D
 
awww....bless your heart, Dimitri! :hug:: There's no reason you would think you had issues with claustrophobia until you were actually in such a confined situation like that. So give yourself a break! There is a reason the open MRI came into being, you know. ;)

I'm sure you'll do much better with this scenario, and the bottom line is - here's hoping it turns up something definitive on your back, so you can get some relief. Dealing with this has to be getting old right about now!

Keep us informed - good luck!! :)
 
why don't they play any nice music while you're in there. :)


But don't be ashame; lying motionless for 30 min. in such a small space...that IS horrible.

Good luck with your back!





pascal
 
Some places do have speakers in there, but is a small consolation considering how much racket the damn things make. Though I know people that just take a nap in there.

If you talk to you doc, they'll probably be willing to give you a script for a one-time sedative. A lot of people do that. I wish I had for my last one. The part I really hate is when they pull you out to inject contrast. I can taste the stuff after they put the IV in. The nurse told me that's pretty rare, but it's happened each time I've had it. I was doing ok inside, but they won't let you move even when they pull you out to insert the IV. That's when I started to freak out. It seemed like I should be able to, and I wanted to so bad after laying still so long. I really did not want to go back in. Luckily it passed after a few minutes.

I learned after the first one to ask for a cloth to go over my eyes in case I opened them in there. Looking at the tube so close to my face is nasty. I think they should have brighter lights in there, so that your brain doesn't think it's in a tube.
 
Nah, the only thing the doc offered me was a set of funky colored earplugs. And those were not going to do for me!... I mean I deal with lots of decibels on a daily basis and it's not the noise that was going to get me uncomfortable but the lack of space. Phew... Glad I didn't get into that infernal machine.
 
Yeah, I might do that if I can't get into an open MRI. You know, insurance only covers so much... ;)
 
I had an MRI scan many years ago to examine something in my head that the doctor thought was a cancerous tumour or something. - I had the "lay still for 30mins" spiel and I found that it helped if I closed my eyes to avoid seeing the closeness of the sensor array. I'm not normally Claustrophobic but I did get a slight sense of anxiety but I was fine once I managed to settle. :)

They put Pachabel's Canon in D on and I was right as rain. :)
 
If I ever have to have one, it's going to be open AND under sedation with some kind of spacey music to set me floating in a wonderful world....Pink Floyd might do the trick. :mrgreen:
 
I just fall asleep in the tube when I go. I'm horribly clausterphobic but I close my eyes and sleep. That being said, the open MRIs are niiiiice. It's still a small tube but your head is out one end and your feet are another one.
 
I don't understand why they didn't put you in feet first. My husband had a MRI on his lower back and that's what they did for him.

I have had several on my pea-brain. I count when they are doing the different resolutions. Sounds stupid but it works for me!
 
Sorry you had to do that. I have been in those many times. The first time in 1980 I was terrified. I built a house from the foundation to the roof in my mind so that I wouldn't scream.

I think they need to give you some good drugs before they put you in that damn thing.
 
If I ever have to have one, it's going to be open AND under sedation with some kind of spacey music to set me floating in a wonderful world....Pink Floyd might do the trick. :mrgreen:
Hows about...

What went wrong in your head?
While we slept in our beds,
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la

What went wrong in your head?
We played along with what you said,
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
What went wrong in your head?

God save the unstable, they stand alone,
Ain't done no wrong, it's such a beautiful life,
I'll need some salvation, wave you on,
Ain't done no harm, with a wonderful life,

What went wrong in your head?
While we slept in our beds,
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
What went wrong in your head?

God save the unstable, they stand alone,
Ain't done no wrong, it's such a beautiful life,
I'll need some salvation, wave you on,
Ain't done no harm, with a wonderful life,

God save the unstable, they stand alone,
They ain't done no wrong, it's such a beautiful life,
I'll need some salvation, wave you on,
Ain't done no harm, with a wonderful life

;)



They put two of these huge MRI machines in my local hospital. If I remember correctly they had a drive to raise the money for them, built a new building and then found out they could only afford to run one.
 

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