I had to get an MRI yesterday and failed miserably.
About half way through the 40 minute procedure while in that tight fitting tube, I was overwhelmed with claustrophobia, I mean a total freakin panic attack and had to abort the procedure.
I will try again with some sedatives from the doc, but that experience really sucked.

Anyone else suffer from claustrophobia?

My mom does real bad. Even with an open air MRI she has problems if she has to lie down on her face. She recently had one before she had surgery for breast cancer and I had to sit in there and hold her hand and talk to her the whole time to get thru it.

Im a firefighter and it doesn't really bother me much, but just the length of time it gets uncomfortable and gets you thinking. Try an open MRI, they are much better.

We all have it, it just depends on how small a hole they put you in to bring it out.

The Dr. thinks my wife has a partially torn rotator cuff. My wife has tried twice to get through an MRI but can't do it.

The second was an open MRI and was better,but she still couldn't make it.

I'm not claustrophobic, but I've had an MRI. The noises that make it sound like you're inside a 55 gallon drum being beat on by the cast of Stomp must make it harder to take.

I went through it for my shoulder & once I laid down I said a short prayer & I NEVER opened my eyes again until I was out.

I put in my ear plugs and relaxed, piece of cake, although it does sound kinda like distant warfare.

Gunner

Close your eyes and try to nap.

fortunately i dont given how many of them ive had, prolly close to a dozen between my back and knees....infact i usually fall asleep during them

I started one and had to stop it pretty quickly. They said it would be about an hour and I knew right away there was no point in trying. A lot of it has to do with my size - I know I am overweight and thus it was tight fit. I had an open MRI and was able to get through it.

I fell asleep during the one I had.

Exactly. Forced to sit still that long, I usually can't help it. My body is in the machine, my mind is out deer hunting or fishing.

Accept it for what it is. A mental barrier, and an opportunity to conquer and over come a basic fear that most have to some extent. Kind of like someone with a fear of heights gettin the nerve to jump from an airplane.

I felt like I was on a major adrenelin rush the entire time I was in the tube. I hung in there, but I sure was glad to get it over with too.

I know what you mean. Just had to go through this 2 weeks ago for a torn rotator cuff and tricep. First machine they had me try was a mobile unit and was pretty much like stuffing 250 lbs of big butt in a tube meant for 100lbs. I lasted about 5 minutes being squeezed in there and had them get me out. 2nd machine was wider/taller and I had no problems - it was also newer/quicker - only in there for about 20 minutes.

That's the best way. Just don't open your eyes whatever you do. Doesn't completely solve the problem but helps immensely.

So do I. It's a blessing if you have to have them done.

I've had plenty of MRI's. Used to have some anxiety in the tube, but found that a blindfold or even a wash cloth over my eyes before they slide you in really helps. I think that looking around inside the tube and seeing how small it is really gets to you. These days, blindfold in place, I can do an hour or more in the tube and come out well rested. Also, they have a support that elevates your legs, so you're not laying out stick straight. It helps me get comfortable. Make sure you're comfortable before they slide you in. Ear plugs help too, as I can't hear anything but jack hammers going off once you're in there.

Never been a problem for me. Spending long hours in a hard hat diving dress in a hundred feet of total dark might have helped me overcome any problems like that.

We all seem to have weaknesses, some worse than others. Let them knock you about half way out and you should do fine.

I've had two and always wondered how a really big person could do it. I'm not sure if I could do it again without something to aid in the claustrophobic atmosphere. Back then it wasn't a big deal but now,I dunno.

Jayco

I'm 6'3 & 240lbs and felt like a sardine in that damn thing.

I'm usually OK with them if I hold off from having my mornin jo.

im 6'1" and 230 and yeah its kinda snug in ome of them but so long as i have fresh air im not the least bit claustrophobic.....heights are another matter though....im not scared chittless of them but if given the option i tend to avoid them if at all possible....

Salmonella, this is good advise. Some hospitals, especially smaller ones have old MRI machines. These are smaller & louder. I have probably had 25 or more MRI's through the years. About 10 years ago I went to a new hospital & the MRI machine was a much older version. I am a big guy 6'1" with very large shoulders (played football) & had to sort of pull my shoulders together to fit in the machine. The open machines do not show as much detail & depending on whats being examined may not be acceptable. I'm an old Vietnam tanker so I'm used to small places. I try & relax thinking about hunting & fishing & close my eyes. Seems to work for me.

Had one done last summer, the longest 20 minutes of my life! I'm 6'3"/235 lbs. Never again......


maddog

The few that i have had,when finished,they had to wake me up.

Just relaxed and fell a sleep.

Good Luck on the next one Sal. I don't have trouble with MRI's but they do lhave to drag me through an older machine, some fun that. The newer machines are better in that regard. As far as open MRI's go my Doc told me they are just ok as the definition, the amount of detail, is less then the closed machine. Good Luck.

I'm 5'9" and 165 lbs and I can imagine what you bigger guys go through. I've had about a dozen MRI's between back, neck, shoulders. I have to make a conscious effort to relax and have been able sometimes to fall asleep but if the fit were tighter I wouldn't be comfortable at all.

Can't take one without sedation and I mean REAL sedation not a tranquilizer which I tried once. It didn't work. Had a torn rotator cuff and couldn't do the MRI so the orthapaedic surgeon said to have an x-ray with dye. When the DR came in to do the prep he was wearing a lead space suit as was his nurse. They sat me under the x-ray and proceded to take this huge (to me it was) needle and inject the dye in the shoulder while looking at the picture on a screen in real time. He had to wiggle the needle around to properly get the dye in all the proper places. I said never again just cut off the arm next time. There has to be a better way. Claustraphobia is really a bummer. I can't even stand being cooped up in the back seat of a car for more than a few minutes.

Pop a Klonopin and you'll breeze through an MRI. Chances are you probably need to keep some handy for anxiety attacks.

Don't think it's the MRI per se, but the tube. Same tunnel for PET/CT scans.

Having no prior issue with a couple of MRIs I was rather astounded to reach critical mass in 2006 and abort during a PET/CT. Had never experienced claustrophobia in my life and I've a history of wiggling into some very cramped places such as engine rooms on pleasure boats and sail boats...upside down on occasion. But there I was tryin' to claw my way out...

Open MRIs are better but you can't do all such scans in them, nor can you do PET/CT scans. Valium works for most folks, 10mg about 30 minutes prior. They have other stuff available that works as well or better, ask for it, get comfortable and close your eyes before going in the tube. Fabricate rap music(?) to the rhythm of the hammering in an MRI...

And guys, if you have a bad reaction to MRI IV contrast agents, tell your doc before the fact when he writes up the order. It's common in men more so than women and in some cases the reaction can be crash cart serious. Tell the techs to phouc off if you don't want them. They enhance images, but the images can be made without them. There are oral contrast agents which do not provoke reactions.

Valium and ask for or bring something to cover your eyes. Guarantee you'll open them.

Years ago I was a caver, and did a lot of trips under the auspices of the NSS. I once spent a couple hours trying to make it 10 feet through a tight little hole in the wall called "Bob's Birth Canal." Bob was a little guy, and his 2 hour attempt at the hole reminded onlookers of childbirth, hence the name.

My job was to widen Bob's Birth Canal with a WWII trenching tool. They figured if I could fit through, then anyone could. The payoff, is that once I got through, I was able to discover 300 yards of virgin cave underneath the cemetery where Sgt York is buried in Northern TN. I have a room there named for me. After that trip I thought I was immune to claustrophobia.

About a year later, I was down south of Somerset, KY in the Sloan's Valley System, and my buddy took me into a section that you had to exhale to move forward. About a half-hour into the crawl I suddenly got claustrophobic. I flopped around a bit, hyperventilated and got dizzy and sick. After about 2-3 minutes of flopping like a fish stuck between the pages of a dictionary, the thought came to me that a) I wasn't getting out that way. b) I might (slim chance) of bringing the ceiling down on myself if I didn't stop acting stupid.

I got calm, got myself settled down, and told my buddy it might be a good idea to turn around. Twenty minutes later we came back out into the big passage at the bottom of Garbage Pit Hill, and started our ascent back out of the cave.

That was 1984. A few caving trips later I decided to retire, and take up hunting and shooting for hobbies.

I had one MRI back about 8 years ago-- no problems, but I can see how someone might.

Open MRI are MUCH better than conventional, if you have a choice. Open basically has a big plate right in front of your face, but the sides are open and not as claustrophobic...

The first time I had an MRI done was in a conventional. The only thing that made it bearable was someone had mounted one of those little dental mirrors at a 45 degree angle right above your face. That allowed you to look down at your feet and see out of the dang machine and watch the attendants.

My first one they put me in that tube and I came right back out within about 30 seconds. Total panic attack. Doc said "here, take this pill, wait an hour, come back in. You'll still have claustrophobia but you wont care" Made it through the whole hour but gritted my teeth and clenched my fists all the while. Sure hate the thoughts of having to get another one.

Ashamed to say that I am having a mild panic attack just thinking about one!

I had to stop one before too. Couldn't take the confinement. The open one was tolerable, but the tech and doc claimed that the images that they get from an open MRI are not as good as those obtained in a conventional tube?

Heck yes!

I've been in the plumbing and HVAC biz for 15+ years and work mostly in the office these days, but when I was still in the trenches I dreaded tight crawlspaces.

The fear of being trapped was the biggest issue. If I could see a way out and was still mobile I was OK for the most part. But if it got tight enough to where I struggled to roll over or had to crawl under a beam or duct to access the area I had to work in I was in trouble. Keeping up a conversation with a co-worker on a different topic usually helped, but I worked alone quite a bit and then it was just sheer will power that kept me going.

Heck, even getting my feet tangled up in a sleeping bag can give me a mild case of the hee-bee-jeebies. As a kid I couldn't handle being in the snow caves we were always digging out.

I had an MRI on my head for a hearing problem. I went inside a tube then they slid a smaller tube over my head. I was like having your head in a bucket while inside a drum. The nurses asked what kind of music I liked and played it for me. They had a huge selection and it wasn't bad at all. I just closed my eyes and listened to my music.

I used to be an installer repairman for a telephone company and spent a lot of time crawling under houses and in attics. I have carried a shovel under houses to dig my way through a tight spot. Tight places don't bother me much and never have because I knew I could get out, but just the thought of caving sends a chill up my spine. I don't think enough people could get close enough to me to put me in a cave that I had to crawl through.

Had one 6 years ago that took 45 mins and again a month ago that took 15 mins. Both for the same lower back problem. The tech told me better equipment with stronger magnets caused the time discrepency. Both times they would describe the sounds and duration of each proceeding segment. The hardest part was as they inserted me in the cylinder and being still. I am definitely claustrophobic but it wasn't too bad due to the calming nature of the techs. No sedatives.

Blinders, Ipod and sedatives. I would probably fall asleep in one too. I'll probably have one for my back this year.

Several years ago I needed one due to back issues and the clinic I was sent to had the small cylinder type, I am 6�4� 280 and my arms were pinched tight against my side causing me to move, they stopped the process and I ended up going to another site that had an more open unit it worked for me.

My heart is beating like a drum just reading these. Bye!!!

Yep. Just thinking about caves and such gets my anxiety up.

I got that feeling when I had my MRI done. Thank goodness they gave me headphones and Pink Floyd was playing during the whole procedure. I just shut my eyes and went with it. Ask for music.

I think I lasted 15 seconds in the first closed one...then abject panic set in and I was OUT of there NOW! Have had a couple of open MRI's and MRA's since and was ok but never again in a closed one...not conscious anyway. And there is NO way you will get me in a cave...nope nada no f'in way...

I have had many MRI and CATs over the last couple of months. Only once did I get the fantods. I opened my eyes when I should not have and I forgot to practice the correct breathing techniques to calm down. I managed to straighten myself out and haven't had any more problems.

Sorry to hear that. When I got one on my head the tech was so worried about the possibility of me freaking out, that he almost freaked me out!

I'm not claustrophobic so I can't help other than to say: drugs. Get ye to your doc for some Valium or whatever they use nowadays. I had Valium before a hernia repair (done under local anaethesia, eek) and that stuff WILL relax you.

Those MRI machines really are a trip, all the humming and whirring and so on.

Man, you 'phobes would just love this cave in New Mexico (about 40 miles east of ABQ on the other side of the Sandias) that I went deep into back in the day. It had entire 20-30 yard stretches that were no bigger than an MRI machine... grin. We got all the way to the end (several hundred yards? Half mile?) and there was a little cavern about like a bedroom, with some lowrider vatos who'd also done the thing. We smoked pot with them and then things got a little spookier. I wouldn't recommend getting stoned before an MRI, based on that experience.

Best part was that everyone's flashlights died on the way out. We crawled out of there by the light of our Bic's. Good times.

Guess all the hundreds of [bleep] termite infested houses I've been under, some 10" off the ground seasoned me for that type of experience. Have to turn your head sideways, or dig your way from joist to joist to get all the way through. Spend all day under them nasty things, with spiders and Dursban vapor, lol

Plus, I used to do some caving when I was a young buck.

Ah, you're taking me back to the days when I worked as a subcontractor in Dow Chemical's Dursban plant. Nasty chit.

No way, no how....the word spelunker races my pulse.

I'm blessed with the lack of claustrophobia and have been in some very tight pipes, sewer and storm, over the years. Just had my first MRI about a month ago. They asked me what kind of music I liked, slapped on the head phones, rolled me and it was smooth sailing.
My wife will have to be sedated if and when she ever has to have an MRI. She gets claustic in the back seat of a 2 door vehicle.

If ya dont like the MRI be sure TI be cremated when you die, eternity is a long tine in a casket

I had one on my knee this last Friday. My head wasn't inside the thing, though. I used to be a roofer and have lots of experience in very tight crawl spaces in addition to having done plumbing and wiring under houses with just enough room to breathe. It doesn't bother me any.
The only problem I had with the knee is that half way through, my leg started to spasm. It took a lot of will power to hold it steady for that long. I was sure glad to have it done with.

The last MRI I did was late in day and took an awful long time.
Had a helluva time convincing myself that everyone had not gone home and left me in it.

1B

The wash cloth was the answer for me. I had 4 MRI's in three months a couple years ago.

Yes, I do. Have been mildly claustrophobic from childhood, ever since getting stuck in a cylinder as a young pup. I also dread MRIs, both for the CP aspect, as well as the awful nausea, and memories of same, that comes with the dye injected as part of CT scans. <shudder>

I've never had to bail during a procedure, but I undertand it. Sorry about your troubles, sir.

Six years or so ago I needed to have an MRI done on my shoulder (turned out I fractured it) they tried a closed MRI before the machine even stopped putting me in I had to come out.........the one and only time I ever had felt claustrophobic. Wound up getting an open MRI and all was well!!!

Missed a good chance at a good nap.

I took my tough rancher, hunting, fishing buddy from east Texas to see the mountains around Ruidoso with our wives years ago and he wanted to learn to ski. We loaded up on the t- bar on the baby slope and on the way up it got us about 20 feet above the hard packed snow. I should have realized he had a problem with heights since he refused bowhunting due to the need to hunt from an elevated stand. At about 20 ft high he developed rigor mortis and became stiff as a board with a death grip on my arm a golden eagle would be proud of. His eyes rolled back in his head and he straightened out stiff as a board. Luckily, I was able to keep his butt balanced on the bar till touch down.

PS. If the MRI tube is tight, a diet is in order.

I have had a bunch of CT scans due to cancer issues. Never had a problem. Now that my kidneys are shot I can't have the contrast dye but still have to drink that barium stuff.
When I had my first MRI I thought it would be the same. Oh NO! I was out of there within five minutes. Wound up going to the ER and then my family doc to get tranquilizers.
Next time they wanted to do an MRI (at Mayo)I told them of my first one. No problem. Gave me a mild sedative and a towel over my face. Fell asleep. Now I just make sure to ask for help before I go in.

Had 4 On My Back..I'm Claustrophic As Well. I Always Have To Have Verset.

It's a fairly common problem.
Usually just some tranquilizers are used.

I've always just closed my eyes, tried to think I'm on some beach somewhere and tried to figure the cyclic rate of the "machine gun" firing nearby.

Valium is my friend for that, two of them with a designated driver to drive home.

Failed miserably on my first one. Didn't last 15 seconds. After that always had an open MRI. Still sucks but much better. On the other hand, how many of you have had a tunnel collapse on you? Changes your outlook on confined spaces.

I know a nice lady who has pretty severe claustrophobia. I asked her if she knew where it came from.

She was a German teenager in WWll and was a typical teenager. Lived across the river from a big manufacturing plant, IIRC Farben, and the bombers came over. Because she refused to give a "Heil Hitler" she was refused admittance to the air raid shelter and sought refuge with a family with a grocery store and a three story building above. They went in the basement, were bombed, and the building collapsed on them. She was stuck in the rubble for three days before she was dug out.
Similar to the collapsing tunnel you mentioned. But a pretty clear reason for having claustrophobia. Sometimes an etiology is clear. Sometimes not. It is a phobia, after all.

I used to cave alot and got stuck one time. Ever since then i've gotten a little claustrophobic. I was suffering from migraines and had an MRI. I showed up and saw the tube and i said no way can i go in there. They rescheduled and i did the open MRI.

If it's a real problem, might be worth searching out a facility that uses a different configured machine. The tubes are the original, but they have another kind that kind of sandwiches you. Not pleasant, but not completely encapsuled.