Are you sure you weren’t just looking to get high on meds? I hear that’s a big reason people pay to tour submarines. :rolleyes:

People who do not experience claustrophobia seem to think it has something to do with a conscious choice.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you have never had a “head MRI.” Maybe a CAT scan but not an MRI. At least not on your head.

While my comments can appear negative or unfavorable, they are not one-sided.

They are informed and in the defense of Real Sufferers.

Let’s see a show of hands of who has witnessed a claustrophobic event in an MRI?
Yes. If that event was you, it counts.

Keep those hands up.

Now, how many have witnessed an actual faker trying to get meds?

I have seen both types, multiple times.
Both are very real with serious consequences.

Little nudges of encouragement, coupled with reassuring facts about the procedure go much further than you can imagine. But that alone is not nearly enough for serious cases.
Those folks have my sincere empathy and understanding.
It’s not a choice.
Like, effing duh. I’m aware.

For the fakers, I have no comment.
Nothing anyone ever says can make them see their embarrassing actions just to get a buzz.

Superconductive magnets are always on. That’s not by choice. Once the magnetic field is up, it’s always on.
In an emergency, the field can be quenched. But it takes 3-5 days to get it back and it costs way north of $100,000. Not covered by contract.
That’s not including 3-5 days of no revenue.

Fixed field system are fixed field magnets, like on your fridge. Can’t be turned off. And the images don’t even compare. It’s HD vs disposable 35mm cameras.

My first one was for my knee. Fell asleep. Second one, for the prostate, they gave me headphones and the music was too loud to fall asleep and they kept talking to me - "You doing OK" "Just a bit longer".

Are you saying people fake illness so they can get have an MRI ordered so they can get a Valium? If so, I find that hard to believe. That’s a lot of effort to go to to get a pill or two.

Or are you saying people ask for a Xanax or Valium when they don’t need it for claustrophobia?
In this case, so what? It’s not like they’re shooting heroin, it’s a Xanax for Pete’s sake. What are the serious consequences?

In my opinion everyone who thinks they might become claustrophobic should take the pill and not risk aborting a necessary test and wasting a bunch of time.

I had two MRIs done to my brain and orbitals, about 1.5 years apart, back when I was experiencing sudden vision loss due to a swollen optic nerve.

No anxiety about being in the tube for an extended time, and no care at all about the noise; all available anxiety was being used on wondering if a brain tumor or similar was going to be found (was not, thankfully).

Maybe Rutager has had many done as docs are trying to figure out how he is able to function with a brain no larger than a pea?!?! :D

Just to be clear…
Me-huge supporter of Real Sufferers.
Also me-huge skeptic of Fakers.

Only Real Sufferers respond like you have. You know exactly how it feels and what “simple fix” is needed for you. No one said they are “faking illness” to get a “pill or two”. They are working the system to get narcotics. That delays, delays, delays the exam creating an increased backlog negatively affecting patients down the line.
It also compromises their own procedure by rushing things and not getting the best possible images. They move around, constantly complaining, threaten to hit the staff, verbally assault anyone in the room. Lay on the floor, screaming at staff. Pull off their gown, throw things, pull on whatever they can reach.
Fakers can be unhinged.

Don’t forget, they are FAKING it. And to get meds at that time requires a doctor’s order. Then the meds have to work. Further delays.

The General Public gets their Medical Procedure knowledge from fcuking Hollywood.
Real world exams can take a long time.

Spoiler alert, the Doctor that ordered the exam is nowhere near. They won’t see images until they go through a Radiologist.

And for you to say “just give anyone the pill, what’s the harm?” is interesting.
I’ll go ahead and take a page from your book and twist comments around.
“That means you own stock in Big Pharma and want to prescribe meds to everyone for anything therefore increasing your portfolio”.

C’mon man.
I worked around this stuff for decades.

I’m sure the hangman got tired of everyone he saw begging for their lives. At some point perhaps the sheriff explained to him that it’s part of the job and if he couldn’t cope with that he should find another job. Perhaps he also pointed out the failed logic of expecting the 200th person to not beg because the previous 199 had already done that and somehow that wasn’t a valid response to the situation because of this.

I had a pituitary adenoma removed and have had my head in an MRI machine over a dozen times. Lots of questions about possible metal in body, lie on the table with my head in a cradle that is stuffed with foam to keep my head from moving, table moves into the tube, machine bangs around a bunch for twenty minutes, music of poor quality, tracer injection, more banging around and out I come. It sure seemed like an MRI and they told me it was an MRI. I did have a CAT scan to first identify the adenoma and they were different.

Pea? Give me a break Ronny, they said it was at least as big as a marble. And what I do hardly counts as functioning.

No, not at all. If you actually read my post-- I said:
f you are truly one of the 10-15% of the population with claustrophobia- we can work with it. Heck I can put you to sleep if you need it, but most patients are not in that group.

But 90% or more of patients that I deal with everyday are not claustrophobic.
They are just uncomfortable.
And yes I know the difference.
gary

I went to visit the caves in niaux. Was a few hundred meters down a sloped concrete shaft where my shoulders almost touched and I had to stoop for the ceiling. The second he slammed the door I was freaked. Didn’t know I was claustrophobic until exactly then.

I went with the group and saw the art but I wanted to run. I kept it together. Made no sense the arts been there 15000 years nothing bad will happen. Not doing that again. Ditto for submarines or sewer pipes or cisterns or windowless buildings.

Later that week I started having awful dreams of digging out of collapsing dirt tunnels, all sorts of buried alive situations. Wrong turn Dead end dirt crawlspace during an earthquake. I realized that thinking the wrong stuff can be extremely upsetting so I knocked it off.

That said I LOVE being in the mri. The room is cold and I have a nice snug blanket. My job is to stay super still so the scan is precise. The complex aliasing sounds are also very interesting to listen to. Finally I feel like I could undo the belt and wriggle out if I NEED to. I don’t feel trapped.

Maybe try imagining being in the mri and see if you can make it work. And try to not imagine being fed head first into a well.

music, an eye mask and very kind techs got me through them. a woman's touch goes a long way.

excellent post

My father developed a near debilitating fear of driving over bridges in his late 70s. He had spent his whole life doing that without thought but something changed and it was a real thing. He could barely talk and had a death grip on the wheel and even evidently came close to scraping the guardrails, almost like target fixation in motorcycling. He was ashamed of it, poor guy.
We don't know much at all about the mental side of things.

In Vietnam I crawled thru a tourist park tunnel. They admitted to hogging the tunnel out a bit for us fatties, but I shimmied thru it. My shoulders would jam up. I didn’t freak. A lady behind me started coming unglued and it was infectious. Crazy.

I think an MRI I could handle. But totally understandable.

Nothing that you are saying here is wrong or untrue but does it really relate to the OP and this thread?

I was surprised they were able to scan Ronny's brain. I mean, that had to be one damn powerful machine! And since he's accustomed to having his head stuck in a tube, no surprise the MRI didn't bother him. :D

I keeed... I keeed... Turbo Powaaaaah

Funny story from my late friend Vernon White, who was Willy Nelson's tour manager for years; Gary Bussey got in a bad MC crash back in the '80s, no helmet law then and he hit a curb on his Harley and did a header into a concrete light pole. He was in a coma in the hospital for a while and they did a scan for brain activity.

Vernon was on the phone with Willy: Great news, Willy! They did a scan and his brain is functioning normally.

Willy: Damn...that's the first time I've ever heard of someone being cured by a motorcycle wreck.

:D


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If they have no choice, people will do things they didn't believe they could.