Is an MRI necessary?

    • gpquinn
      August 28, 2023 at 12:03 am

      I’ve been diagnosed with CIDP.  My neurologist wants me to have MRIs on my upper and lower back.  I tried, but the claustrophobia had me panicking within minutes, and I wasn’t able to complete it.  They have prescribed lorazepam as a sedative for me to try again.  I am hoping that that will work because I want to be able to have the MRI, but I strongly doubt that I will be able to.  I feel the panic rising even thinking about being put into that machine.

      So, I guess, two questions:

      – Have others had such a severe reaction, and were you able to deal with it successfully?  How?

      – Is an MRI necessary for a diagnosis?  What could be done if, for instance, I had a metal hip or something?

      Thank you for any input you can give me.

      -Gary

    • Glacierwolf
      August 28, 2023 at 12:13 am

      I had a head to toe MRI scheduled on a machine that seemed to take forever to just do my skull.  I barely held it together on the skull one.  Usually, a person can sit quietly and think of things – the noise was so, loud, intrusive and pitch changing I found it impossible to ignore.  Toss in the fact it would seem to wind down and make me think it was finally over – darn thing would start up again.

      For the much longer one I told the doc they needed to give me something’ They gave me a prescription for 10mg of valium to take 2-3hrs before the MRI and a second one at the beginning of the MRI.  That worked fine.

      Kevin M

    • gpquinn
      August 30, 2023 at 10:44 pm

      I took an Ativan an hour before the first MRI this time.  That did the trick.  They did both of them back-to-back, but I was totally ok with that.  They gave me a couple of sips of water in between.

      Last time I tried, the technician had me enter the machine head first, which I think contributed to my claustrophobia. This time, the technician asked  if I wanted to go in feet first.  Of course I said yes.  All in all, for all my dreading the whole thing, it ended up pretty routine.

      Thanks for your insight.  It made me more hopeful that the meds would work for me as well.

      Gary

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