I spent a fortune on mri's at my old neurologist. When we moved my new Dr. said they were useless because they were open mri's, which didn't show enough detail. I've had to get new closed ones. More money.
The new ones showed very good detail. My advice is make sure it is a closed mri, saves time and money.
Sorry didn't mean to rant.
Good advice. Some people swear they're claustrophobic, I just tell them to close their eyes and don't think about it, but I think it's the banging noise that really get to them. I wish they come up with a more advanced open mri.
I imagine the clanging and drumming of the MRI is knocking out the MS 😊
I love that idea erash
I put in the ear plugs, close my eyes and try to make some kind of rhythm out of the knocks and bangs. Usually I just rest.
A little Xanax really helps. Usually provided by mri provider if they know about being claustrophobic
I know, some people get good drugs but, not me, no fair! Just kidding (kind of). My husband won't take the meds so he had to do the open one, the one time he needed an MRI. He has never had any problem with claustrophobia in the past but thinks he might so he won't try. Glad he does not have MS.
The tech that did my last MRIs said that the open ones are not good for MS diagnosis at all.
Ranting is good for you! Now, take a deep breath, think and examine the facts! Good luck!
Ellen
You're right! There are sedatives for people who are severely claustrophobic. Some say they can't tolerate the MRI even with their eyes closed. But an open MRI doesn't give nearly as accurate a picture.
I had several normal open mri's before winding up in the hospital and having a closed MRI that identified advanced Ms disease.
Great advice Donna_uno that sucks that they gave you the open mri's and they probably knew they weren't going to as good. I don't blame you for ranting! I would also :/ I get cluster phobic however it's spelled lol so they give me valum. Which is a very good thing, since the last 2 mri's, l broke the damn things, unreal.
Great advice-especially for those who are still without a diagnosis...
I've been given the choice of music I want to listen to while having the MRI. It's piped through the headphones. Doesn't completely wipe out the machine noise, but it helps me concentrate on something else instead. I have gotten a few raised eyebrows when I request Christmas music in the middle of the summer though. 😉
I tried an open MRI. Felt like I was in a cage. Noise was unbearable. I am severely claustrophobic. The mri was scheduled to last almost two hours with some breaks in between. I left before I finished half the test. Was put to sleep and had a full MRI (thorax spine and brain. Yes it is MS. The next two MRIs were traditional closed MRI but in an oversized machine, two Valium pills, ear plugs and an eye shade. Fell asleep during the second half of the test. Only problem was I felt drugged all day. Good news no new lesions and no brain atrophy in the last year even though I have PPMS and no DMT.
Donny uno, it's Fancy1959 and I would like to welcome you to this wonderful chat room. I'm so sorry you had to redo all your testing. We all are financially strained to deal with all our MS treatments, testing, and doctor appointment and the last thing any of us need is to have to redo major testing. Having said that I guess I'm extremely weird when I go into the closed MRI. I typically fall sound asleep. The banging and knocking puts me out cold. I guess you could say I can sleep anywhere if I can sleep through that loud MRI noise tunnel! You ought to see me when I have to do a cat-scan and I can't stay awake to follow the instructions. I really drive the Techs who are trying to do my cat scan nuts! And it's not on purpose I fight really hard to stay awake, but i go out cold on them too! Weird I know. Welcome to my world of MS!
I always go to sleep, guess sleep apnea has helped that. The one time I had an open MRI my Dr was upset. No one had ever told me it made a difference. He also told me to go to the same place every time, same machine to get more accurate results. It helps when your Dr. let's you know these things. I think we all need to remember to ask the Dr about new test and also what vitamins and or supplements are best to take and remind him or her to get blood test for our levels. When I first started seeing him in 07 after 13 years of so many Drs he didn't know alot about MS but what i liked and still like about him is that he had answers the next time I saw him. He doesn't like that I will not take anything for MS,but the results have not been good. Maybe they will come out with something I can take in the future until then TRUSTING IN HIM
I have to count the noises. The bangings usually happen in repetitive beats. If I don't count them I usually start laughing. Kinda odd. Yes. But, it happens. I also listen to music while the MRI is happening. I have to have them turn it up to help drown out the noise of the machine.
MRI and Ocrevus
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