MRI and anxiety.

[woodsprite]

I've never had an MRI before and am scheduled for one today. I've also never taken an anti-anxiety med before (actually, a generic for Xanax). The doc prescribed it to be taken one .5 mg 15 min. before the procedure, then another .5 mg right before going into the MRI. Could anybody give me an idea of how quickly this stuff works? I'm claustrophobic, which is why he prescribed the Xanax. I'm having the MRI done because I haven't come back from my shoulder break and dislocation back in March the way they expected. Even though it's an open MRI, he said I'd probably need something to relax me since it's going to have to come down right over my head due to having to image the whole shoulder/collarbone area. Wondering if 15 min. will be enough lead time for it to work.

Apprehensive and just don't know what to expect....

[tanyev]

1. I've had Xanax before medical procedures and it does work quickly.

Much quicker than the occasional Clonazepam I take when I have to get on a plane. I've never had an MRI either and it would freak me out, too. Good luck!

[enough]

2. Take it just as your doctor prescribed. It will work just as expected.

My mother had full-blown panic attacks when faced with medical procedures. Xanax worked perfectly and flawlessly for her. She came to trust it so completely that she no longer needed to actually take it. She just had to have it in her hand.

I'm not joking. Used properly, it can be a miracle drug. It will work.

Hope all goes well woodsprite. Let us know how it goes.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. A dear friend had similar issues with her MRI.

She got through it by counting her breaths (exhalations) in groups of 20. All she did was focus on 1-2-3-4, etc. and then started again at 20. Her MRI was 40+ minutes and she's never been prouder of herself for being able to "survive" her fear.

You'll be equally splendid!

[sailfla]

4. Just had one ...took two valium.. They do work.

You will get hearing protection because it is a loud magnetic machine. bring some eye patches and you wont notice that you are in an enclosed space. Sing songs to yourself or think of some fantasy. Over before you know it. Relax.

[Warpy]

5. I don't know what they look like now

but the low field scanners used to look like a weirdly shaped gazebo, a large "roof" over four columns, the whole thing open at the sides. If you try to look out, they'll yell at you to keep still, though, so they can get a good picture.

The drug should be hitting your bloodstream in about 20 minutes, which is how long it will take to get you checked in, undressed, and relieved of anything the magnetic field can wreck, like watches and cell phones. Xanax is pretty subtle stuff, the first pill making it really hard to worry about anything and the second making you a little drowsy.

You'll have to remain still for the duration, and MRI scans take a while, unlike Xrays.

Shoulders are stinkers and they always seem to heal slowly. I hope you get good news from the scan.

[MisterP]

6. just back from my own one (closed) and here's some things that might help

practice breathing long and slow, with a little breath-hold in between even when they're not asking; if you've ever gotten an ultrasound and looked at the screen there's a whole ... meat market ... inside you that slides up and down with each breath; once the master computer's calibrated, the MRI's low-resolution systems will detect when the organ they want is in the right place, and you can even harmonize with the machine very quickly once you recognize the noises and what's going on; the low-resolution makes a constant grumbling or dot-matrix noise, and then the main coils will activate more loudly

the sound is the outside magnets and the inner plates interacting, and the higher they squeak or screech means the system's focusing (they need to use calculus for all this)

you'll get warm--but it's a little cozier than I expected; the more easily magnetized something is the warmer it'll get (so no prison tattoos); they'll give you a break and there's fan, and you can complain at any time, that won't interrupt anything they're doing

[Warpy]

7. Nothing happens to tats, even prison tats

and the reason they tell you to remove piercings and other metal items is that those items cast very large shadows in the image. It's why brain aneurysm clips restrict people with them to head CT scans rather than MRIs. All you'd see in a head MRI is the shadow around the clip.

Nothing will catch fire, heat up, explode, or otherwise aggress upon a person getting an MRI. Watches will simply stop working, their innards magnetized.

[woodsprite]

8. Thanks for all your replies. I did take the meds, and did they ever knock me for a loop!

BUT, I wasn't anxious about the test. It took until about 10pm before I felt like it had worn off. Truthfully, if they had told me I could have turned my head and watched the bird feeders out their windows, I probably wouldn't have taken the full dose.

My ortho doc said to get the MRI done, keep up PT and he'd discuss the results with me on October 13th, but I also had requested that my PT guy get a copy of the results. Glad I did. I saw him today and was told that I should call my Dr. on Monday to see if I can get an appointment sooner than later. I apparently have a 2.6cm full-thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon (a part that makes up the rotator cuff). The best news was that there is no sign of muscle atrophy in any of the other places they checked. Probably because I've been in PT since my dislocation in March, but still can't physically raise my arm more than 1/3 of the way on my own (front or side) or reach around behind my back. Laying down, I have passive ROM almost 100%.

Sooo, guess I'll see what Monday holds.