Any advice for fear of MRI scan?

[GettingMarriedAgain]

I’ve got to have an MRI scan next week before I start chemo for breast cancer and am actually more scared about that than the cancer treatment itself!

I had one a few years ago for my knee and I was freaked out by claustrophobia when I was having it - even though for that one my head was sticking out of the top. This has now built up to verging on panic at the thought of it.

Has anyone got any tips for how I might get through it without having a full blown panic attack? I know logically it’s only half an hour of my life but panic isn’t logical. Any advice would be very gratefully received.

I think posters just mean the rack thing you lie forward on for the breast MRI - it’s like a ramp, with holes for the breasts and a face hole and under the breast-gaps there are apparently metal coils to get a good image of all the sides of the breasts. You lie forward on it with your arms forward above your head, and go in backwards feet first (in one hand you hold the button to contact the radiographers and the other has the cannula and pump attached for the contrast agent).

Like this (I got the photo just off the internet so credit not mine but that’s basically exactly what it looked like!)

I have MRIs regularly and am claustrophobic. I have used diazepam from the gp which helped (when I had a 90 mins one 😯), use relaxation techniques to switch my mind off, and shut my eyes before I'm pushed into the machine and don't open them till I come out. I'm pretty ok with them now. I use the loud noise to pretend I'm mindlessly dancing away in a Berlin techno club. You'll be fine!

I had my first MRI last week and I was terrified. It was for my knee so my head was outside the scanner. It was silent for about 10 mins and I thought that was odd- turned out the scanner had broken so had to be rebooted. They were very apologetic and they pulled me out while they got it sorted.

The noise wasn't as bad as I had expected although I never did hear the radio that they said was on. They made sure I was comfortable and I had a nice pillow. I wouldn't hesitate about having another scan now.

Sorry you're going through all this. I had my first one after a breast cancer diagnosis too and hardly slept the night before worrying about it. Being face down made it so much easier as I didn't feel closed in at all. You do have a button you can press if you wish to speak to the staff.
I have had 2 liver ones and again was worried beforehand but they positioned me so I could see the ceiling behind me. Also, the breathing I had to do for these scans helped relax me so do practice breathing exercises.

I have regular MRI scans, lost count of how many I have had over the years. I am so used to them now. I cope by, listening to music if offered and by keeping my eyes closed, and thinking of something nice. Good luck for your treatment OP.

I've had a breast MRI going in feet first facing down and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as when I had to go in head first for a head scan. I hate enclosed spaces and completely freaked out the first time I had one going in head first. But going in feet first felt better as your head is nearer the entrance. Good luck OP, I hope it goes OK. You could try diazepam but it didn't do much for me unless I had it with alcohol (could be worth a try!).

Just to let you all know I managed it! I was very glad I’d asked you lot for advice first so I was prepared for lying on my front with my boobs hanging down and for having the contrast dye.

Apart from the lovely woman who helped peel me off the table at the end, the people skills were a bit lacking. They didn’t have the option of listening to music and there was almost no talking during the scan apart from once before the contrast dye but I couldn’t hear what the radiographer said and it was only when I felt the dye going up my arm that I realised that was what he must have said.

I concentrated on my breathing all the way through and that really helped, as did telling myself that it was going to help me get better (& not just to torture me!). Thinking I could press the alarm at any point but I’ll just get through the next bit first also helped.

So I know I can do it and I won’t be nearly so scared next time. Thank you all for helping me through it

Well done, sounds like you managed really well. Good luck.

I've had several, for my chest and brain. When the last one was done (January), the staff put headphones on me and played music through them. They also had a small mirror that flipped down (like the one in a car) so that I could see them behind me, in their room. A hand-held buzzer thing was given to me, in case I needed to stop the procedure.
Try to close your eyes and take some deep breaths if you can.
Best of luck x

Sorry, only just saw that you had it done. Well done x

I had one and was told if I needed another one the GP can prescribe a mild sedative (although getting a GO appointment can be an issue!)
Good Luck with everything

@RagamuffinCat

Close your eyes before you go into the scanner, and don't open them until you are out. Try to picture somewhere open in your mind so you aren't focused on being enclosed.

I had to have several MRI scans in 2019, was severely anxious about them and the above is exactly what i did. Make sure your eyes are closed when you are lying down prior to going in and do not open them again until you come out. Also one of the assistants held my hand throughout which yes makes me sound utterly pathetic but it did help as I felt i had a link to the outside at all times.

I'm so glad you did it! Well done.

There is a thing that is a problem. There is a huge shortage of radiographers in the UK. This is due to, basically, 3 factors:

The removal (since reinstated ) of the training bursary for HCPs. Well played, Tories. Prevented many potentially brilliant staff, largely 'mature' (which is what you want!)- from being able to afford to train as HCPs.

The vicious endless, daily 'attacks' launched by our red top tabloid toilet-papers against 'nasty NHS, pre-Covid (when we all became heroes....🤔). Well played, Tory donors.

Then, the mass departure of our EU colleagues, most (yes, I know, not all) well trained.

Replaced by staff, many of whom really, really don't meet NHS standards, from third world countries.

I work with them daily. 'OK, this patient is really, really anxious; you have to talk to her after every sequence, okay?'. Him: 'Yeah, yeah, we all need to be chill!' (doesn't speak to the patient at all).

We voted for this.

Sorry to go all political on this, but it breaks my HCP heart to see how our NHS is deliberately accepting so many chancers just to plug gaps the Tories created.

Keep reminding yourself that it isn't a closed in tube that you can get stuck in. More of a doughnut or a cheerio.

If you bend your knees and plant your feet you can actually scoot yourself down the scanner bed and out of the machine. There's nothing stopping you from just slithering out.

I've had a few on my head and neck and aside from the racket it makes, it's actually quite relaxing listening to the radio through the headphones.