Your MRI experience

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by Forever Blue

To answer your question, I'm the type of person (like my mother as well) who likes to go as much of the ALL-NATURAL solutions to issues as possible. We don't like taking prescription meds, etc. if we can help it. If that's pretty much the only way, then after research to see the side effects, then maybe so, but in general, I don't like chemicals in my body. My mom & I take several types of vitamins a day most of our lives.

First, remember that every substance you ingest or inhale is a chemical...even air, even water. To say you avoid chemicals is saying you avoid every substance on the planet. Its perfectly reasonable to try "natural" remedies, but if they don't address your problem (and it sounds like they don't), then a reasonable person is going to keep looking for something that does. Especially to relieve something that is more than an mild inconvenience...like asthma. If you are not using your medications correctly during an episode they are less likely to be as effective, or you would end up needing more than the recommended dose to get relief. You probably already know this about things like pain relievers.

I have had flareups of allergic asthma over the years, more as a kid. If I avoided using my meds during an attack because I was trying to be tough, all that did was escalate the severity of the attack most of the time. You know how anxiety plays into these...the worse the attack gets the more anxious you get...vicious cycle. Relaxation helps, but only addresses part of the problem. It doesn't get rid of the trigger. If the trigger is still active, you will continue to react! If I went ahead and used the medication at the onset of the attack it would fade faster and more thoroughly, allowing me to get back to whatever was going on in life. Which is sort of the point of the entire thing.

I also wonder if you are confused about using an asthma medication to treat an "asthma-like" episode. It is treating the physical effects, not the underlying cause, right? A broncodilator will relieve constriction whether the underlying cause for the constriction was allergic asthma or exercise-induced asthma. There are preventative therapies and there are quick symptom relievers. Their purposes are different, the way they act is different, and how you use them is also different.

[Forever Blue]

Someone wanted an update AFTER I saw my neurologist today. The brain MRI (non-contrast) was normal.
I've seen a neurologist for some off & on dizziness/vertigo-type feelings I've had for no reason. I just had a non-contrast brain MRI & that was normal & the BAER VBK test is the next step he wants to do, which I'll probably do. After that, he said a spinal tap, but I do NOT want to do that.

Parnassia, thanks for the comments. In what I've said in the past, I've said I just want to avoid chemicals AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Of course, if we can't avoid it like air & water, then OK & that's another point...there's a lot we can't help, so I don't choose to add more toxins/chemicals to it IF I CAN HELP IT. Again, if it's the only way to find a solution, then I'll see, research, outweigh the pros & cons, etc. & decide.

Of course, if I ever had a 2nd asthma attack (which it seems like I did that 1x) of course, I'll use the emergency inhaler. I won't let myself pass out, die, etc. & then say, "Oh well, at least I toughed it out!" I used the emergency inhaler when I was having that 1st asthma attack, but in looking back, I could have used it a little sooner. Yes, I know the Ventolin HFA is the emergency, quick relief & the Pulmicort Flexhaler is supposed to help over time.

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by seethelight

No big deal. All you have to do is close your eyes before you go in the MRI and don't open them till you're finished. You won't feel confined at all. I've had over 20 MRIs, so I do know a bit about the process.

this is what everyone should do, I have been having so many MRI's during life, no lie, I fall asleep in them. true.....earplugs, and not moving = sleeping for me.
you get used to the noise...

[TFW46]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler

this is what everyone should do, I have been having so many MRI's during life, no lie, I fall asleep in them. true.....earplugs, and not moving = sleeping for me.
you get used to the noise...

Some of us have a really bad case of claustrophobia. I've tried closing my eyes before getting into the machine but I can still see through the closed eyelids. (Sounds weird but it's true.) I've even tried not looking up through the closed eyelids but I can still "feel" how close the machine is.