Nervous about MRI scan

I had 2 or 3 last year, was worried about the first one, but it didn't take as long as I'd feared, and there was a picture of blue sky with palm trees on the roof of the thing to relax you. I didn't worry after the first one. What I had worried about after the first was about them getting the cannula in, but they were really good and managed it well

Sorry! I forgot to wish you good luck x

When I have to undergo frightening medical procedures I imagine I am somewhere else. I once visited a deserted beach in New Zealand on a sunny cold winter day when the sky was the bluest I have ever seen. I was with my son and we walked along the sand and we were completely alone. I “transport” myself there and try to forget what is happening. It works for me!

I had an MRI for brain- I asked how long it would take (45mins) . I distracted myself by keeping my eyes closed and counting down the seconds in my head and then each minute on my fingers. Took some concentration but worked a treat.
Good luck xx

I had a brain MRI about three weeks ago due to a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) which is a mini-stroke. I’m good! No after effects.

I had forgotten how LOUD it is. If this is your first time - be prepared for NOISE. I almost burst out laughing, but dared not interrupt the process. Ask for ear plugs and ask for an eye mask (or bring one) so even if you open your eyes you won’t see where you are. They keep you warm and very comfortable.

I just kept my eyes shut the whole time, didn’t move a muscle, totally relaxed and it was over before I knew it.

Sounded like the Keystone Cops on steroids.

I'll be thinking of you next Wednesday, Grandyma. I've diaried it. Good luck.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. My MRI is not until next Wednesday but I will definitely let you know how I get on.

I’ve had double figures of mri scans and don’t like them. You have done the correct thing telling the staff , they are very patient. It’s a short time and is needed. That said do all you can to make it easier. Ask your doctor for sedation tablets. Also take a calming person with you . There’s no shame in.being anxious. Good luck and think of us all wishing you well .

I totally agree, as I’m so claustrophobic and dread ever having to have an MRI. Very best of luck and do let us/me know how you get on ?

Had one last week. No need to fear. Staff very kind. Not at all painful. Ear phones reduce noise. Staff speak to you during scan to reassure you

I suffer from claustrophobia and the first MRI scan I had I was bricking it but I had music playing and I tried to think happy thoughts, practiced a bit of mindfulness and it was actually ok. I ve since had at least 5 more MRI s and knowing what to expect has helped plus I now just imagine myself relaxing on a beach, starting with the toes and working up actively relaxing different parts of the body from the toes up to the head and find I m so relaxed that apart from the banging noises I could probably be snoozing, it’s really not so bad. Hope it all goes well xx

I got dreadfully worried about being confined (or ‘trapped’) in a tube for an indefinite length of time, but once I was in it, I saw it would be quite easy to pull myself back out of it as I was lying on a sliding stretcher type thing. I then kept myself calm by doing relaxation breathing, until they told me my breathing was too slow, and to speed it up!

I was having a check up to see if any of my gallstones had got out of my gall bladder to cause mischief elsewhere in my body, and they hadn’t, so it was quite a reassuring result, and worth the anxiety it caused me.

I’ve had a few mris now,but the one just prior to my last I panicked and pressed the buzzer but tried to climb out!needless to say I had to re book!
I got some diazepam from my G P and also modified an eye mask so no metal bit on it and took the headphones which only played the radio.I got through it,it was a total spine one.
I also tried to think of it as a tin tube,why be worried about someone banging on a tin tube!

My hubby went for an MRI scan last week, staff told him not to wear anything with metal on and he could then have the MRI scan with his own clothes on… he went in trackie bottoms and t-shirt, so didn’t have to wear one of their gowns. He took his own CD which they played, but he couldn’t hear it properly (he could only hear the bass of the music) so might have been better listening to their music. Good luck.

I had an MRI scan on my head a few years ago and was advised to close my eyes before I entered the machine and not open them until I was brought our again which I did. It was noisy but tolerable and I think you can have the option of music being played. I would certainly not worry about having it done again. I hope this reassures you Grandyma. I'm sure you will be fine.

Some of these negative accounts are really not helpful. What is apparent is that experiences of MRIs vary VERY widely, ( or even wildly)! which may be be partly because of the specific purpose of each MRI, and partly depending on where the MRI is being done.

For example, i had an MRI just before Christmas, and had dye injected into a cannula, but nobody told me about how long it would stay in my body - and it had no effect on me whatsoever. For all I know it might still be in my body!!
The length of time it takes varies widely too. Mine took about 20 - 25minutes. Although my body was mostly in a tube, my head wasn't and I could see the end of the tube and what was beyond.

I'm sure that MRI staff are well aware of some patients' fears and will be prepared to make the experience as bearable as possible.
Just remember - this is a step to discovering what treatment is needed to get rid of your symptoms and make you better. A VERY positive procedure.

And just to ( hopefully) make you laugh, i had this MRI when in hospital after a gamut of scans, ultrasounds , and Xrays, I was there for 3 weeks and one day I was told that I was going for an ultrasound to look at my heart. I was puzzled becasue I thought I'd already had one. I was pushed in a wheelchair along miles of corridors and ended up in a large wooden shed, where it transpired that I was actually going to have a very different sort of test. I now know its called an endoscopy., where a camera is pushed down your throat to have a look at internal organs. I survived, and am rather glad that I didn't know what they were going to do until the last minute. I really don;t know whether someone lied deliberately about the test, or just made a mistake.
Don't worry - I'm sure you have something in writing that spells out exactly what is happening and you will be fine.

I haven't had a cardiac MRI, but I have had brain scans, tedious, boring and despite the noise I nealry fell asleep.

I, too, am extremely nervous with the thought of an MRI scan, due to my severe claustrophobia.
The one time I needed one I not only asked my GP for Diazepam (which worked well) I was booked into a 'special MRI NHS clinic, whereby I was shown the scanner, allowed to watch the patient before me being scanned and was given longer for my appt, plus was allowed to go into the machine Feet First.
I was still anxious but I got through it I'm pleased to say. Had headphones on playing music plus the button to press if it all got too much
Good Luck

Some years ago I had to have an MRI. I suffer from claustrophobia and also have a persistant cough. Needless to say I panicked and had to abort the mission. I was advised to record some music I liked and also to take a note of how long the recording lasted. Ask the technicians how long the MRI will take so that using earphones to play your music and shutting your eyes before you are moved into the scanner you will know how close you are to finishing the scan.

Since then I had to have another MRI scan and the scanner was much more modern and rather than feeling enclosed they have this screen contraption and show pictures of outside in the fields with blue skies so that you don't see the scanner at all once you are inside. It is still very noisy so restful music in your earphones and wide open spaces to look at make it a much less scary process. Get all the information you can about the scanner beforehand and forewarned is fore armed.

I was never anxious, until the claustrophobia thing was talked about so much.
It hadn't even occurred to me.

I had an MRI a few years ago and was really anxious. I dread closed in spaces so it was arranged for me to go to a different hospital where there was an open sided scanner and that was OK maybe you could ask for similar

Grandyma. I’ve had three MRI scans, and to say I’m claustrophobic is putting it mildly. I’m sure if you speak to your doctor about it, he/she could give you something to keep you calm throughout the procedure. My doctor suggested I take some diazepam about an hour beforehand. I can honestly promise you that it works. I sailed through it.
I hope this has helped.

Ask for an eye mask to wear whilst you’re having the scan if you feel you may be a bit panicky /claustrophobic. I did so and the whole process was very straightforward…a bit noisy and due to being a bit hard of hearing I had to ask them to repeat the interdictions they gave through the headphones, once, but honestly it’s ok. You will be fine. Just ask for the eye mask xx

I took an extra dose of my normal propanolol for the scan. Found it ok with that but of help

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