Terrified for MRI for tinnitus: please reassure me!

[Canwejustrelaxnow]

Hi. I've had tinnitus in one ear for nearly a year. Had an ent appointment and my hearing is close to perfect. I've been referred for an mri in case there's an unlikely tumour. I'm really claustrophobic though and have terrible anxiety.

How long will it take? If I need the dye where is it injected? I've got some tranquillers, shall I take them? How should I approach this? I've had pain in the ear for the past few weeks since I got a cold. So worried.

I have to have regular MRI. I suffer from claustrophobia too, if you go to your doctor they will give you something to calm you down (I’ve had MRI with and without sedative and can tell you sedative is better). Take someone in with you and just having someone touching my hand helps. Explain to the staff your claustrophobic and they will chat to you through the scans and tell you how long you have to go, what’s happening etc. Also keep your eyes tight closed is my biggest tip as that helps massively. I don’t enjoy them but the last one was a lot less stressful with all the tricks.

You lay on your back and a sort of cage is put around your head to keep it still. The machine rolls your head area under the scanner. Most of your body remains free.

They played music but I couldn't really hear it - I have damaged hearing as well as tinnitus. Apparently the machine makes noises as well as it's scanning.

No pain. No dye. It took between 5 and 10 minutes I think.

I have the contrast dye, it’s injected via a catheter that they put in your arm before the MRI it doesn’t hurt and I’ve never suffered any side affects

A friend had an MRI in the summer for something similar. She is very claustrophobic and got valium from the doctor. She managed fine, because you are not in the machine for all that long. I then had the fun part of taking her home when she was stoned! So take your tranquilisers and don't worry. It will be fine.

From memory, I think in my last mri the ear bit was 8 minutes. I'm claustrophobic too and once I'm in there I'm OK, I just keep my eyes shut.

I've never needed the dye so I'm not sure about the rest, I always assumed it was in the arm? Have you got someone to drive you home if you take the tranquillisers?

I’m claustrophobic and have trouble laying completely flat due to emphysema . I had one MRI in a normal scanner ( shoulders) and it was truly horrific , I now opt to wait longer and go to the open / bariatric scanner instead . I’ve had CT scans with contrast and they were fine .

Thanks all! Unfortunately I will be alone. I can function on the tranqs and would probably just get a cab home.

So it would just be my head in? And it would be about 8 minutes?

This is timely. I had an MRI this evening because of tinnitus. I'm quite a calm person but wasn't really looking forward to it.
As others have said you are flat on your back with a pillow to support your legs for comfort. A frame is placed over your head....but it is an open thing...don't call it a cage it will give you the wrong message!
I closed my eyes as the bed moved into the machine but then opened them for a brief glance towards my toes. This made me realise that I wasn't fully enclosed or trapped. I then concentrated on steady slow breathing. It was quite noisy but not ridiculous. It was all over in 5 minutes.
So, my advice is not to panic or overthink. You are not trapped or enclosed. It is very quick.
DH had an MRI last year and freaked out. He had to press the button to stop it for a while. In the end he asked the staff to put on a fan, he took off his shoes and socks and visualised being on the beach! Bless! But it got him through it.
Good luck...with the scan and the tinnitus...awful isn't it?

That was timely! Thank you for sharing, I do feel reassured. Let me know how your results go? Have you had it long?

The consultant didn't even ask me one question, just said "you'll have it for life". Then when I looked upset he said, "Oh if it upsets you I can refer you for counselling"!

I had one just before Christmas and took the opportunity to have 20 mins of peace and quiet (yes the machine is noisy, and they gave me earphones to listen to the radio, but I was lying down with no children to pester me ). I think I may have even dozed off. Only my top half of the body was in the machine, it wasn’t dark, and I was aware of the room outside the machine.

I had an MRI for a type of tinnitus (pulsatile tinnitus so not really tinnitus in the true sense as it's my own blood flow I can hear), no one else has mentioned it but I'm certain I had a small angled mirror in front of me that meant I could see out into the room and the staff. I found that really helpful as I just watched them and almost forgot I was in a fairly enclosed space.

It was quite noisy and takes a good few minutes but your body is out which is also what I focused on. Kept reminding myself that only my head was covered so no need to feel claustrophobic etc.

Hi OP...I'm an Audiologist. I'm afraid I don't know much about the physical process of having an MRI as I'm not involved with that but I can reassure you that if your hearing is completely normal your likelihood of having a tumour is next to nothing...the biggest sign is asymmetrical hearing loss (where you have a loss in one ear only).

As regards the tinnitus, I'm sorry to say that although your consultants bedside manner probably wasn't great, they were probably right in saying that unless you have an obvious medical cause, for a lot of people there isn't an effective cure and the best course of action to to learn to mask it and ignore. Really severe cases can be referred for hearing therapy. Anxiety can make symptoms worse. A lot of people with tinnitus eventually do learn to let it fade into the background and they are only aware of it if they think about it. I hope you get a bit of relief eventually!

Hi op, I have one sided tinnitus and had an MRI a few months ago. I had results back within a couple of weeks saying everything looked fine which I was expecting as the consultant had told me I had perfect hearing.

The MRI itself was really fast. Only my head was in the machine and like a pp mentioned, there was an angled mirror so that I could see into the room. I preferred to keep my eyes closed though and concentrate on my breathing.

The technician played the radio for me and that was a nice distraction. I'd expected the machine to be really noisy but it wasn't too bad. The technician spoke to me through headphones at regular intervals, telling me how long I had to go etc. It was super quick....the scan took less than 10 minutes. I suppose that's a plus point of having such a small area scanned.

I was also given a button to press incase I felt claustrophobic and needed to stop the scan but honestly, it was fine. Keep your eyes close, count your breaths and it'll be over before you know it.

Oh yes, no dye needed. And my tinnitus bothers me much less than it did when I first noticed it a year ago. Mine is worse in the morning (I think it's because I clench my teeth when I'm asleep.) It's also worse when I have a cold.

I have had this done (for exactly the same reason - and another couple for others). I completely understand why you're feeling so worried - but you WILL be OK, and it isn't a long scan (I know some can take up to an hour and a 1/2 - this should only be about 10-15 minutes).

Although you may be going alone there may be someone available there to give you some support - I had this once when I was alone and terrified, another radiographer sat on the outside of the scanner and held my hand.

Another thing that helps is mindfulness - it is great for calming down panicy thoughts anxiety. Take a look on youtube for some guided meditation and give it a go a few times before the scan.

My unilateral tinnitus doesn't bother me too much these days, (although have developed some more symptoms which are being looked at), your brain does learn to filter the sound out after a while. Sometimes, when I am focusing on my ears (due to other problems), it can become annoying, but this passes after a while.

I had to have a full brain, neck and spinal one done recently and it took an hour. Not pleasant being in there for so long as it feels very claustrophobic. My arms were touching the sides and the top of the scanner was right above my head. It’s so bloody noisy in there too, sounds like being on a construction site. There are videos on YouTube which show you the sounds that you’ll hear during it.
In your case I would think that you wouldn’t be in there for more than 10-15 mins max. Practice really deep breathing and just keep telling yourself that you’re completely safe and it will be over very soon. They give you a panic button thing to hold too so if you start to freak out they can get you out straight away and calm you down

With my first MRI, no-one warned me about being in an enclosed space, and I found it quite unpleasant. The second time, the radiographer said to me that if I found it unbearable, to just get out of the scanner. It might sound silly but him saying that has made it fine ever since. I now know that I'm not trapped (obviously my rational brain knew that anyway but it helped someone saying that) and can remove myself if I need to. Having that control makes me now think of MRIs as being a chance for a lie down!

All the best OP, it will be fine. Keep your eyes gently closed and perhaps learn some breathing techniques. There's an app you can use called Prana breath (or something like that) which is great for this. Obviously you can't take your phone in, but you can do the breathing you've learned in the scanner.

Like pp I have hour long head and spine MRIs with dye contrast. I take some diazepam and keep my eyes shut through the whole thing. I close them before the head thing goes on and keep them shut until it's off.
I've found a cd to take that I like to listen to.
With my dye contrast they put a canula in before the MRI and come and use it part way through the scan. It is a bit freaky letting someone inject you while your eyes are shut.

Thank you so much everyone. You've all been so kind and reassuring. I think I'll watch some YouTube videos in preparation.

Good to know that it doesn't sound sinister as my hearing is good in both ears.

I was hoping the ringing was down to low iron or b12 or something!

Thanks for the tip! I'll try and have some different scenarios ready!

I will be having an MRI soon. I see others reviews about the MRI but what about the results?? I'm so scared!! I have tinnitus in one ear.

I had an MRI last year for facial nerve problems. I was really nervous, and told the radiographer - she took me round the machine and explained all the different parts of it, which really helped. Apparently the machine I was in was quite big, and I genuinely didn’t feel claustrophobic. It had a mirror angled so I could see out of a window. You can talk to the radiographers when you are in, and there’s a button you can push to stop it at any time. The person on the intercom told me how long each scan would be, and I counted the seconds in my head - I think my longest one was eight minutes - and he also kept checking in to make sure I was okay. I was actually fine, but afterwards they told me lots of people stop it midway through, so don’t feel embarrassed if you meed to get out!