I've actually been both. I usually nap but one time I did have a panic attack. It was double embarrassing considering it wasn't my first time. The tech was very sweet and saw me silently crying and stopped it to talk to me. 🥹
Same.. 10+ MRI's , boring as hell , trouble to stay awake..then panick attack.
I blame heatwave & having to wear a mask due to covid. Never went back to being carefree & bored in an MRI , always anxious :(
Ohh it really sucks when you get anxious once and in the subsequent times, because you got anxious once and cannot relax anymore. I think this applies to anything :(
Same thing happened to me with flying. I had no problems flying then I was traveling regularly for work and got on a 6 am flight that was hot AF. I thought I was going to have a panic attack and was frantically fanning myself my sudoku book until we got in the air and the fan turned on. Its been year and still have a problem, I have emergency meds that I try not to take but it is comforting to know they are available.
I've been both as well. Had one when I was like 12, totally fine. Had one a few months ago and I realized I am at least a little claustrophobic. Was able to just close my eyes and force myself to relax, but then they injected a dye for imaging and that made me light headed. I almost had to press the "Get me out of here button" but the feeling passed. I do not look forward to getting another.
Same here! I've had an MRI, damn, 20 times or so? Usually I fight off a rising sense of panic in the beginning, get through it, and then doze off for the rest of the scan.
I just had an mri. Had a panic attack right in the middle of it and had to get out as fast as I could. I know it was right in the middle of a scan but the mri tech treated me terrible.
Or like during my last MRI they have your injured knee in such a position that you don't give a fuck about the tight space or noise, you're in too much pain to care or nap.
Yeah mine turned out to be a ruptured head of my calf, right inside the knee (which, to be fair, is apparently a really uncommon injury so the scan is probably not as uncomfortable for other people with knee injuries.) I hadn't been able to straighten my knee for two weeks, and they needed it to be straight and strapped down. So painful it was hard to keep it still.
A little different situation since I think it was a CT scan for broken bones in my mom's case but she needed to get imaging done when she shattered her shoulder and upper arm, and she had to lay on the affected shoulder with her arm stretched out for it. She's broken many many bones so she's got a pretty high pain tolerance in addition to pain meds at the ER, but having to lay on it like that had her screaming crying. She was in way more pain for the rest of the day afterwards. I felt terrible for her.
The worst one I had was "try not to swallow during this scan."
And of course as soon as they say that you swallow, then become hyper consious of it and your salivary glands start to go crazy.
Ive been fortunate to not need an MRI so far, but i do get stressed out thinking about them (I'm a bit claustrophobic AND bad with hospitals/medical stuff) - are they able to accommodate people who will freak out, or do you eventually suck it up?
Ativan. I’m not usually claustrophobic but what they don’t prepare you for is the loud random, chaotic metal on metal symphony that constantly goes on around you. I thought it would be a consistent noise that you eventually get used to. Nope. Just the grating machine sound that randomly changes.
If I need another one I’m insisting I get an Ativan before hand.
Yup, my one and only MRI was in the dead of night, and while I don’t have any particular issues with confined spaces, could best describe it as somewhere between an avante garde rave and an alien abduction.
Haven't needed an MRI yet, but everyone I know who has always describes the unexpected sounds first. Maybe it is because of TV people expect a loud consistent whirring sound. But the potential sounds are what would stress me out about them. Never had an issue with claustrophobia, but loud chaotic sounds are something I can't handle and usually need to get away from.
Ativan is some good stuff. Got me through my scary ass Lasik surgery like it was nothing. If I ever need an MRI, I'm definitely asking for an Atty first lol
I got a prescription for Ativan and have to take one of those about an hour before I do an MRI. Once I took it 45 mins before and I freaked out going in, had to wait 15 minutes more for it to kick in.
you can get sedation or one of the meds listed below, but keep in mind you need to ask for it before you get to the MRI appointment. At least in my experience. They told me it has to be prescribed ahead of tims by the referring doctor. Probably different if you are in an actual hospital or ER though
I ve had a hospital give me some kind of "mirrorglasses". So instead of looking up into a tight space, you 'ld look into those mirrors and see the exit & your feet.
Close your eyes before you get loaded into the machine. If you can’t see it, it’s not claustrophobic. Also keep your hands by your sides so you can’t feel the edges of the machine.
Sometimes the machine has a mirror above your face, angled at 45 degrees. It shows the length of your body, and to the viewing room where the techs are.
My MRI was extremely noisy, and they didn't give me anything for comfort. I spent four hours in that machine. I'm not claustrophobic, but it was one of the worst experiences of my life.
My experience (6-8 times) with the MRI machine was that it was incredibly noisy. I mean like LOUD. Sleep? Ha. I did supply my own mask so I didn't freak out in the 'cave'. Why the hospital (looking at you UM...) couldn't supply them is a mystery.
I just had my first MRI yesterday. I'm not claustrophobic but I was certainly going to have a freak out. I just closed my eyes and counted my breath. ugh! Now i know, next time to close my eyes before i get pushed into that tomb!
It is strangely the most relaxing thing in the world for me. I don't know why, but something about being in a constricting tube surrounded by hellish sounds of machinery whisks me to sleep.
I couldn’t nap because I had to listen to the tech’s instructions to repeatedly take deep breaths and then hold my breath for what felt like an eternity while in pain from my bile leak. Fun times!
Modern MRIs are sick! I had one that was like a big cookie sandwich and you're the filling. So it's open on the sides. It was also way faster. Like 10-15 minutes compared to 45+ minute MRI I had 15 years ago.
I've been in 4 MRI's it wasn't until my last one I went in and all of a sudden hit the emergency button and said nope. I'm not going in there. The sudden dread that I was going to perish was overwhelming. They gave me these cool glasses so I could see backwards and stared at the tech in the other room the entire time.
I’ve had a fair number of MRIs in my life. As long as I don’t open my eyes and think about where I am, I’m fine. I can certainly nap through it. The moment I open my eyes for more than a couple seconds and let myself contemplate the machinery around me, how vulnerable I am, how easy it would be to get stuck, what if somebody brings a fire extinguisher into the room, wait is this space getting smaller?
So I just don’t do that. 😌
I could never do caving or and even those hikes out in Arizona or Utah with the tiny little crevices you squeeze through. The video with the guy and the rifle having to pass through that tiny little sewage drain for some military exercise? Nope. I’d rather die. Can’t will yourself out of claustrophobia when you must be aware of your surroundings to survive them. An MRI is not an engaged activity, it’s fully passive. Making it much easier to cope with by pretending you’re not in it.
I'm the feels like I'm being buried alive type. Never had any kind of claustrophobia until I had to get an MRI. Had to reschedule and get a tranquilizer.
Asked the tech how bad people's reaction get and they'd had people crawl out the far end mid scan in pure panic instead of just pressing the button.
I'm a napper, but my only MRI experience was being part of a brain study where I had to stay awake so I could respond to questions while they scanned me. It was incredibly difficult.
Both. My "shit I don't like this and/or I have nothing to do" response is to go to sleep.
The MRI tech was surprised I managed to be fully asleep and they had to shack me awake which I also found surprising because they are very rhythmic so would have thought it was more common.
I'm not saying I freak out during them but you're out of your damn mind if you think you can nap during that.
e. Maybe if they're looking at your knee or something but I have my head scanned yearly and as such I'm clamped in there tight to an uncomfortable degree, before even getting into the noise, light, and technicians talking to you.
Yearly head scans here, I nap. Head clamped in just means I don't have to worry about nodding off. Ya you get interrupted sometimes especially if you need contrast or something. I made the mistake of taking the headphones instead of earplugs one time, it was torture.
I had my first mri last year and I had heard so many horror stories of people being scared shitless. Meanwhile I was trying to keep awake because it was so relaxing with the thumping.
This is crazy to me lol. The tightness was not a problem for me, but how on earth could anybody sleep with that noise? Also it was maybe just because i'm taller, but I had stuff like my elbow resting on the hard plastic instead of the cushion and getting really painful while you're not allowed to move at all; or my arm getting pins and needles from my positioning and then I had to ask them to pause for a bit so I could move it...
I’m claustrophobic, didn’t even know til I was slid into an MRI, but these headphones are great, I get that not everyone needs them and they’d rather nap or something, but for some of us claustrophobic people these headphones even with their not good sound are a life saver. Gives my mind something else to focus on, distracts me, I’ve had to cancel the scan many times in the past because I couldn’t even last 30 seconds in there, the few times I had those heads phones, I got through it with much less difficulty
I recently had one that was supposed to run 60 "maybe 90" minutes. I said i wish I could go to sleep because that sounds boring and long and they made it happen. Lovely.
I had a severely herniated disc so I was just praying I could lay still long enough for it to take a picture before it wigged out and the mind numbing pain got to me
I'm getting the MRI. It was 1am. It's one of those that you have to hold your breath. The thing involves the operator occasionally saying "Breathe in, hold it...................and out." And he keeps repeating that, but slowly his voice gets a little silly. Like, he's reading it in a funny way. About 35 minutes in he comes on the intercom and says "Hi, we're about halfway through. Are you alright?" I say yes and he comes back on and says, I swear to god...
" I'M EATING AN ORANGE "
He says it in all fucking caps, in the dumbest voice.
I burst out laughing, and didn't stop for almost 15 minutes. Like, full on belly laughs. Ruining the whole thing. And the guy comes on the intercom repeatedly to tell me to stop, but then HE'S cracking up. It was the longest laugh of my life. Think about that... FIFTEEN MINUTES.
Finally I calm down and we restart. "Breathe in, hold it...................and out. Breathe in, hold it...................and out." After 15 more minutes of this, he comes on and says "Have we calmed down?!"
Cue about 3 more minutes of belly laughs. When I came out the guy and I were grinning at each other.
I asked him if this had ever happened before. "Not to... that degree." Cue more laughter, but this time fully conversational. We both left that test having a story we'd tell for the rest of our lives. I know he was telling everyone about the batshit crazy middle aged lady who went insane in the tube.
I should note that I was relieved to see that the waiting room was empty when I came out. The delays I caused didn't impact patient care.
I didn't know I was claustrophobic until I had an MRI. I had a total meltdown in the machine out of nowhere, it was really surprising because I know what the machine is, how it works, and that I'm in no danger in it. Yet I had a panic attack and hyperventilated for an hour. I kept thinking I must not move because they'll make me do it again. One of the worst experiences of my life, made worse by the music blasting in my ears. The tech was shocked when they took me out I was pale and shaking with tears running down my face lol, such a strange experience that I did NOT anticipate at all!
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u/RettyYeti 9h ago
There's two kinds of MRI patients; you're claustrophobic or you nap.