Mri tomorrow

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exhausted
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2015 6:09 pm

Mri tomorrow

Post by exhausted »

My symptoms started April 2014 with a headache only on the left side of my head. left side of face tingling and dizziness (or vertigo) dont really know the difference. This episode lasted for a little more than a month. i had an mri that showed. Brain lesion on left side of my brain. I am extremely claustrophobic so I only completed part of the test. The symptoms subsided in about 5 weeks so I did not follow up with a neurologist as my pcp recommended.

A few months ago I started to experience a numbing feeling in my right foot at tips of my toes and noticed my hands were trembling. Again I ignored. However about 2 weeks ago I began getting cramps and shooting pain in my left arm and left leg, hand and foot. Feels like my left side is tingling in arm and leg/foot. With some pain off and on in my joints. Shoulder aches terribly. My hand and foot on that side are cold compared to the right. Very achy on the left. Also feels like my left leg keeps falling to sleep

i have been searching the als forum because I "thought" maybe that was what I was experiencing. We have experienced ALS in our family. However as i looked over MS info this seems to correlate more so with my issues.

Just wanted to check with some people who would know better.

ALSO any tips for how an EXTREMELY CLAUSTROPHOBIC person can get through this brain mri tomorrow???
Thanks for your time
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jimmylegs
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Re: Mri tomorrow

Post by jimmylegs »

hi this might be a bit short notice now, but a high quality absorbable dose of magnesium should help you relax. like this: http://kirkmanlabs.com/ProductKirkman/1 ... llergenic/ as in not any old magnesium from the local drug store - a high calibre one from a health food store if there's one close.
it would likely work better if you had a couple days of lead time to get built up a little. worst case scenario, you can stock up for next time :) also, at the lab they should have mirrors set up so that your view is out into the main room. further, they generally have music for you to listen to. at my local place the sound system has been busted the last couple times, so i just go into my head and try to invent music to go around the noise :)
when i was a kid i had to go for hypnosis for needle phobia. it was all about the deep breathing, muscle by muscle relaxation from the tips of your toes to the top of your head, and imagining yourself in your favourite, most relaxing place every time the even the thought made you anxious. again, took a few sessions so there's not really enough lead time here, but you can start :)
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ElliotB
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Re: Mri tomorrow

Post by ElliotB »

I am EXTREMELY CLAUSTROPHOBIC.

I had a panic attack when I went for my first 'MS' MRI. I had to push the chicken button almost instantly as my head slid inside the machine. The technician suggested I reschedule and take Valium prior to my visit. I just wanted to get it done. So I closed my eyes before the bed was moved inside the machine. And kept them tightly shut until I was removed. It worked! (I kept visions of wide open spaces in my mind during the entire procedure.) Good luck!
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lyndacarol
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Re: Mri tomorrow

Post by lyndacarol »

Hi and welcome to ThisIsMS, exhausted. We share all kinds of concerns here. This problem of claustrophobia and MRIs was discussed just last November. Here was my comment then:

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/undiagnos ... ic#p229839

By the way, I have had several MRIs and because I don't know if I'm claustrophobic (and don't want to take the chance that I am), I close my eyes when I am lying down outside the machine. I tell the technician that I will not open them again until the test is over and I am brought out of the machine again. AND THEN I KEEP MY EYES CLOSED! During the test I try to visualize every house, every street, every landmark that I saw as a child along the way to my grandparents' farm. If the test is not over by the time I have "reached the farm," I visualize walking around their house or the barn… I JUST DON'T OPEN MY EYES YET. This works for me; I'm sure you will find your way to cope with the MRI, too. I KNOW you can do it!

I know you can do it, too – it's just a matter of finding the "trick" that works for you.
Youarethecure
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Re: Mri tomorrow

Post by Youarethecure »

I know a great trick.... find an "open MRI" or a "stand up MRI". I go to a place called stand up MRI. I literally sit down and get pulled into a machine that is open. I can see the whole room and there is a TV that they play anything you want. On top of that I take some valiums lol.

It is incomparable to a regular laying down enclosed MRI..... of which I have jumped out of and thrown up twice now in my "MS journey". One of those times I was on liquid valium straight through my IV and I still could not do it... but I think a lot of that was psychological.

Key word here?..... VALIUM. Take a lot and you wont care what's happening to your body or to anything lol.

Best wishes,

Chris
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