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Utterly irrational. A marvelous life-saving technology in 2020 and you are going to avoid it because you can’t lie down and control yourself for 20 minutes. This just makes no sense.
Sorry Marc. I can control it. But I would choose not to. If you do not have a claustrophobic reaction it is not hard but if you do it is anything from difficult to impossible.
Do you really need to drive home after the MRI, meaning do you have pets that need care? Assuming a place to sleep that is not your car, couldn’t you just bring a change of clothes and save yourself the 160 mile round trip?
Before my first MRI, I decided I was going to keep my eyes closed the entire time. It works for me. Space is infinite behind closed lids. Sometimes I drift off to sleep.
I’ve had several close quarter MRI’s and I’m about the same size as the OP, maybe a bit rounder. Meaning, there isn’t much room between me and the machine. What I do is to request headphones to listen to music. Knowing that the average song is close to 3 minutes, I close my eyes and concentrate on the song number. If I know I’m going to be in there for 45 minutes, I know that approx 15 songs need to be played before they are finished. I also am very deliberate about my breathing. Remember to breath normally and FOCUS!
Sorry Marc. I can control it. But I would choose not to. If you do not have a claustrophobic reaction it is not hard but if you do it is anything from difficult to impossible.
So a liittle drug help and it is easy.
That’s fine. Taking the drugs if necessary is controlling it. You’re getting the scan done, that’s the important thing. These people who are just categorically stating that they’ll never do it again period is childish. You might have a brain tumor but you refuse to find out because you can’t lie down for 20 minutes and stay still and listen to some music? That’s not rational.
Wife had the exact issue she never had problem with claustrophobia she got a MRI actually climbed out of the MRI tube slide down to the floor in full panic. I found an open MRI has a big 10-12 foot round disk over you on a flat table that was even difficult because this enormous looking object right over you. Online pictures don't really show the size of this thing. She eventually went to a different place where you sit in a chair 2 6 foot magnets on each side of your body. Later she did have the open MRI with the big magnet over your body I went in held her hand sat next to her seemed to work. Here last one she had about a year ago for her head they sedated her with an IV. I don't have any issues with it I'm not a big person only 5.6' about 150 lbs. If was a big guy be really hard to slide inside small tube like that.
SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!!!!
I went to have my first MRI done on Monday morning, two days ago, but, as the title says, as soon as they slid me in to the MRI machine, I almost immediately felt really hot and cramped and had trouble breathing properly, because of the lack of air circulation, I assume, and I had a wave of anxiety and panic wash over me and I asked to be pulled out of the machine within 10 or 15 seconds, if not, less than that. The thought of staying in there for 25 or 30 minutes was inconceivable, because of how uncomfortable and unnerving it was just being in the tube for 10 or 15 seconds....
Try this. Tell your doctor that you are claustrophobic and can't do it, that is impossible for you. They will sedate you or give you a general anesthetic. You won't be the first patient to tell them this, and you won't be the last. Trust me, there are lots of people who have similar issues there's no need to be ashamed.
You don't need a large enough dose to impair your driving. Thousands of people with periodic anxiety issues safely take low doses of Xanax to cope with specific situations, and can still drive and go to work and operate heavy machinery. The point of taking the Xanax is NOT to knock you out or make you woozy. If that's happening, you're taking too much.
The function of Xanax is simply to take the edge off. Nothing more or less. I take it once in awhile. I'm prescribed .25 (quarter of a milligram), and the Rx is 3 times per day as needed. I usually take HALF of one of those, and just one of those in any given day's time, usually once or twice a month when I am expecting more stress than usual.
I can drive, I'm not impaired, I can still work, stand still, touch my finger to my nose, walk a straight line, not slur my words, see straight, etc. etc. There is absolutely no difference at all EXCEPT I feel less stress.
That is what you want when you get an MRI. Less stress.
Usually a doctor will recommend that you have a driver when you take any benzo before a procedure. You take it 'once in awhile' so you know how you will react to it, but I don't think Doctors want to be liable for you getting in a wreck because they told you it was ok to drive after taking xanax, do you?
You and me both. I spent my life flying airplanes long distances. Then out of a clear blue sky one trip I went to the claustrophobic side. Really annoying as I flew more than 5,000 miles every week. I actually developed a set of techniques to handle it - but it still screwed up my life.
Similarly I have had a dozen MRIs. The last one got rough. I made it but it was unpleasant enough I won't do that again unless in an emergency. I could but I am past the age at which you feel proud of your ability to deal with suffering. So from here on out...drug assistance.
There can be a real need. A short time ago I forgot to take my daily drugs. Had an absolutely terrible time sleeping and when I got up I was so weak I could not get out of a chair without help. So drugs are sometimes necessary.
While your fears of undergoing an MRI are certainly understandable, this is most definitely a procedure you need to have done to diagnose what is going on with you so that you can get the necessary treatment. It must be hard to have to endure the pain such as you describe. The MRI can get you closer to hopefully ending that painful situation.
If you feel you need medication beforehand, then by all means utilize that to help ease the stress. An open MRI would be a good option for you so as to not be all enclosed which creates anxiety for you. Another good idea is one that another poster mentioned and does help you to get through it. Ask the tech how long the scan will be ahead of time. Have your headset on with music playing and you can count the number of songs as they play (just assuming each one is 3 minutes or so). Then you will get an idea of how much more time you have before the test is finished. This also keeps you focused on the music and the countdown which is a nice distraction.
Hope you decide to do this and start on a path to feeling better!
I close my eyes and just pretend I’m on a beach. I have gone to tanning booths before, and so I just imagine it’s like that. All you can do is try the larger tube, and take a tranquilizer and hope for the best. It could very well be that the air circulation was poor the first time, which would cause more anxiety.
As others have said, why not get a hotel room for the night instead of driving all that way afterward.
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