Cant' do Open MRI-What are other options?

[happily single]

I've been having severe neck/head pain since an auto accident on 1/1/11 this year. Dr. referred me for a regular MRI. That machine is tiny!!!!!! I could not do the test.... So they scheduled me for an Open MRI. Ha! That machine is just as tiny, just you can see out the sides.... Couldn't do that one either.

So the front desk suggested I get medicated for the testing. I can tell you -there is no way any amount of medication (short of total sedation) would get me anywhere near an MRI again.

Of course the snow here closed everything so I couldn't speak with my doctor. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am told a CT Scan isn't as good and I really need to get to the bottom of this pain.

 

[kwelch10377]

I don't have any adive on other options.....but I feel your pain about the MRI. I have to have one done last year and there is no way I could ever do that again. I don't freak out easily and when I do I do a good job of keeping my freak out to myself so no one else notices. That was not the case with an MRI, I freaked and I don't even think giving me something to calm me down before hand will help me do that again.

 

[JessicaR]

Have your doctor medicate you so you are able to have the test that he feels is necessary. BTW - Head neck would benefit from a CT Scan

 

[LuvOrlando]

different open MRI centers have different machines but they want your business and money so they won't tell you that. If you do a google image search for open MRI you will find all sorts of styles. I'd suggest you pick up a duplicate prescription and start calling other centers and asking them for either model numbers so you can look them up or for a chance to stop in at opening or closing to see what they look like. The ones I think are most calming are the ones that look like lifesavers. Needing a MRI is bad enough, you don't need to be miserable during one, I hope your tests come out ok and you feel better

 

[rie'smom]

OP, I understand! I thought the open MRI was worse than the closed because the noise seemed to be louder. If I ever have to have another one, I will take something to relax me. It was hell.

 

[MinnieTink]

While a CT may not be optimal it can still be a good diagnostic tool especially for patients who cannot go into an MRI, like people with pacemakers.

That being said I would still say go ahead and try the medication route. Bring some of your favorite relaxing music, CLOSE your eyes (a tip from several MRI techs) and remember it's only about a half hour til it's over.

Good luck!

 

[shortbun]

My girlfriend is a large woman and she found a really big MRI machine that allowed her to sit up and get her MRI without getting squeezed. She had to call around herself tp find it.

 

[MomRN]

I'm not claustrophobic, but apparently I can't stay still.... Valium worked for me, but it was a different situation.

 

[KitKat_Tink]

I have had to have a few MRIs. The first one I went in without anything and it was horrible. I had a panic attack midway through. The second one they just gave me two valiums and I was sooooo loopy I didn't mind that I was in there. I just imagined myself on vacation or something. Apparently I even started singing It doesn't seem like the valium would work but it really does help.

 

[disfan07]

I would still try the medication.

I had 6 head/neck MRIs in a 4 month span last year. The first one, I tried to do without any medication because I had class that afternoon. Yeah...did not work. waste of time. I had a severe panic attack during it which caused my asthma to go haywire. I alos cannot lay on my back for an extended period of time without my oxygen levels dropping because of my asthma so that didnt help either (didnt know that until after the MRI of course)

The next time, I took 2 xanax about 20 minutes before the MRI. worked like a charm. Did that for 4 of them. For the other 2, I had ativan via an IV. now THAT was outstanding for the MRI.

If youve never tried it with medication, how do you know unless you try it? If you want to get to the bottom of the pain bad enough, you should try the medication.

 

[joyjoy]

Take the drugs! I had an open MRI but it just was like I was in a giant electronic sandwich. Plus, the MRI was of my hip so to make sure I didn't move at all they strapped my feet together. For 50 minutes. It was heinous. If I ever have to do it again, I'm asking for medication. Good luck.

 

[disykat]

I am SOOOO glad I took the medication the first time. No bad experiences to compare. Also, I never opened my eyes. I didn't want to see what close quarters I was in.

I was thinking it really wasn't bad and maybe I'd try it without if I have to have another one. This thread has me thinking I did the right thing medicating first with no trial run and that next time I need medication too. Just reading this thread makes me uncomfortable!

 

[Tazicket]

I have to have Valium - the big dose - to even do the open MRI. It really helped me alot. I was so out of it, that I really didn't care what was going on. Plus, I kept me eyes closed (I was almost asleep ).

Evidently, I was VERY loopy, staggering around, and telling everybody there that I was on Valium (think super friendly drunk)

I hope you find a solution that works for you!

 

[John VN]

Not sure this would help but there was a commercial on TV just yesterday...http://openstandupmri.com/

 

[luvthatdisney]

I have this problem too. I tried both a regular MRI and an open and could not tolerate either even with valium. So my last option was to have it done at the hospital under IV sedation. I only remember going into the MRI suite and getting on the table and then nothing until I woke up in recovery. Granted it took longer and I had to have someone drive me, but at least I got the test done. Insurance paid for it since I had documentation I could not do it any other way.

I never knew I was claustrophobic until I went for a CT scan of my sinuses 2 years ago. That was a quick scan and I was just about to crawl out when the table slid out. Just an awful feeling. Just thinking about it makes me feel weird.

Good Luck!

 

[bdcp]

My mom can't handle them either, but then she feels unsafe in an elevator. I've never had one but closed spaces don't bother me. When my DS (24) was 15 he had to have one to check his pituitary which meant he had to have dye injected. The MRI didn't bother him at all, but going into the building knowing he had to get the injection made him sick to his stomach. I sat in the room while he was in the MRI and the noise didn't bother me at all. He was very relaxed while in it and they didn't give him anything ahead of time. My mom finds the most open ones she can and takes valium. So, I'd say call around and find a location that has the most open and takes your insurance. It's not something you want to pay out of pocket for either. That would scare me more.

 

[krcit]

I had an MRI of my abdomen and didn't think twice about it until it was happening. Yuck. I'm not clautrophobic but when I opened my eyes and the top of the machine was about an inch from my head, I almost freaked out. I amde it through but if I were ever to have another...drugs please, lol. I did have one on my foot this summer and that was fine. My ds had one when he was 7 on his brain and he was sedated for it.

 

[graygables]

An MRI was the final straw for full-blown claustrophobia for me. I had to have an MRI of my pituitary and had been told it was "open". Ha. Not. They strapped me into this cage thing around my head (I had a bad experience as a child in Germany with an "iron maiden" in a torture room of a castle, yeah, funny story) and that started to set me off. They put headphones on me and plugged in music, but once I was in, I had a full-out panic attack, my first ever. The tech wanted to send me home to come back with meds, but I had no insurance at the time and just wanted the whole thing DONE, so she got me a cold cloth and put it over my eyes before clamping the cage on my head. That, the music (Wishes CD ) and deep breathing got me through it, but I'll never do another MRI without being under some kind of influence.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

Last year I had to have MRI's of both shoulders....20 minutes each side. Knowing that I am very claustrophobic (and knowing that even an open MRI machine is tight quarters) I took valium (which was too low a dose, I think) and had them but a mask over my eyes even before I got on the table. That worked like a charm! Never seeing the inside of the machine, or knowing how close the sides and top were, kept me from freaking out. There was cool air circulating so I never felt enclosed.

 

[npmommie]

Take the medication
I am claustrophobic and I had to have MRI of my knee a few years back. they were able to do it and leave my head out of the machine, I was in up to my shoulders.
that helped me, but won't do any good with yours.

I would need medication otherwise.