I am the same way. Just as soon as you lay down, close your eyes....don't open them again. Pray for the Lord to give you peace during the process. He will be there with you. When the sound starts, I always try to think of the craft that I am working on, or want to work on. This keeps my mind focused on something else. Let God do His thing. He knows what He is doing. It is not necessarily being afraid of closed MRI. It is psychological. You are born with it. You just have to learn to deal as the situations happen. Hope this help some. Praying!

Praying for you. It helps to try and recall memories or to pray. "Be still and know that I am God."

He will hold you in his hands and comfort you think about your beautiful family that will be waiting for you

praying for you to stay calm.. think about all those nice things you still need to sew XXX take care

prayers going out for you. I echo what others have said, think of your wonderful family and of all of the good times you've had.

My thoughts are with you as you undergo this procedure. I have also had numerous MRI's and one technique that helps is to ask to have the radio put on and have the voluume up as loud as you like so that you can use it to project you to someplace else.......soothing ocean sounds, rainforest, or violin, whatever sooths you. I bring my own cd's and they put them in for me.
Good Luck
Laurie

I will pray that you will be totally relaxed and that it will be over faster then you thought.

Sending prayers your way. Hope everything turns out okay.

You have my prayers. Remember to breathe...deep breaths..it seems to help. ;-)
Hugs, Nadyne

I will pray for a calm experience for you. Think about all the things you love and hopefully it will pass quickly for you. Hugs, Mary

We'll be with you, Loralye...holding your hand all the way...

I feel for you dear Pldc. All I can say is just relax with the help of that all important tablet. Go with the flow, concentrate on your breath as you breathe in calm white, breathe out the grey. We are all with you in our thoughts and prayers. Big Hugs.

I have complete and utter confidence in you, Loralye.......my mom was clastrophobic so I understand this issue and it has to be terrifying for you....just sing to yourself to take your mind off.....prayers are being sent..

Just think of your embroidery machine and all the projects your going to do. LOL! Prayers your way. Sandy

You and yours are in my prayers, Lynn

Ask for a relaxing music station . Deep breath and put yourself in another happy place. It is for a short time.

Hi

I am praying for you. I have the same problem, extremely claustrofobic and it is horrifying going into the tunnel.

Try this: Close your eyes AND DON'T OPEN THEM until you are done. Then concentrate on imagining you are in a huge room. Just keep on thinking you are in that room until you come out of the tunnel. It work for me, and I am EXTREMELY claustrofobic.

Good luck!

Anneliese

That I will for I have bee through it. Had quite a few through the yes but one day they put me in one and I had a come a larger as my daughter calls it. I told them to get me out NOW. They did and now I always ask for an OPEN MRI , this way it's all open and you do not get shut in. They put ear phones in my ears now and play music so all the noise is not bothersome. Don't know where you are but ask for an open MRI and see what they say. Lots of people who are claustrophobic, the pill doesn't even help/Lillian

I totally understand. Rest well tonight and know any discomfort will be temporary.

My thoughts are with you. I know just how daunting these machines are. Hope they can give you a pill to help you to relax. Hugs Shirley

Loralye, I know exactly how you feel. My sister and I are both very claustrophobic. The last time I told the guy I wanted to try without meds, that I would close my eyes and not open till done. He said just to let him know if I needed out.That was reassuring to know, if I wanted out I could get out. I made it and you can too! I have faith in you! No trouble, to ask for prayers, that's the only way we can help. Hope everything checks out fine-Toogie

keep in mind all the good things in your life,,,,like how much all your cutie friends care for you. I will say a prayer that you will get through this with as little discomfort as is possible!

You are not troubling us.. It is a privilidge to be able to pray for someone.
The only time I had to have a MRI the technican was so kind and calming, he would say something like," Now you are going to hear...." and I'd try to imagine what it was-a train coming down the track, a fog horn, lots of kids on a playground, etc and before I knew it they were pulling me back out. Good luck to you.

I've been on that carnival ride and it is unsettling, at the least. I will be praying with you and our friends, now and tomorrow.

Wish you did not have to go through this machine again, I
am happy to offer you a prayer! Hugs, Suzanna

Prayers to you!
Cindy

I had a hard time with the first MRI, but the tech was very helpful. He suggested a rag over my eyes to help me keep them closed. It helped.
Maybe it might help you. Prayers for you on this day.

Loralye, I can totally relate. You will be in my prayers all evening and tomorrow. I agree with Haleymax, a cloth covering the eyes helps, added with medication. Hugs, Joyce

Will pray for sure!!

The last one I had was a piece of cake compared to the first one I had. I hope your facility has the latest equipment. Good luck!!!

I so understand- My MRI's are generally brain to butt or tail bone & take 4 1/2 -5 hrs, that is IF I do not need to come out of the tube, except when they need to add the cage apparatus around my head etc, so I really have to try to keep myself calm. What I do is, get them to put the wedge foam under my knees, Ear plugs in, I cross my arms across my stomach where each hand is holding the other lower arm, which helps to keep my hands warm, then they put a light blanket over me, once I am situated, I close my eyes & do not open them again until I am back out of the tube, after that section of the test is complete. I remember the inside of the tube from before I learned these tricks & most of the tubes do have a mirror, so if you ever do happen to open your eyes, be sure to only look in the mirror & stay focused on watching the technician, but these were times I generally still panicked so I have just learned to NEVER open my eyes, so that when I open my eyes I see myself in the same lg room & try to keep telling myself that I am still in that lg room. If you can not trust yourself to keep your eyes closed, then I would recommend using a eye mask but for me the mask would make it even worse, since we are suppose to stay still. If I am struggling with the pain of laying on the table, which is really almost as bad as the claustrophobic aspect for me & trying to stay motionless so they can get good images, so yeah, mind games are how I spend those hours. If I am struggling not to go into panic mode, then is when I practice my breathing techniques. I call it square breathing -breath in for 5 seconds, hold it 5 seconds, breathe out 5 seconds, hold 5 seconds, and then repeat the cycle. This does help you to not hyperventilate plus it occupies your mind in counting & focusing on your breathing. The key is the slowly breathing in, slowly breathing out. Just whatever time you are using whether 5 seconds or 10 seconds you are trying to keep each time the same for all 4 parts which is why I think of it as square breathing. I am also so stubborn that I can handle anything for several minutes, where if I need to come out of the tube, it just means I will need to go back in again to finish the testing which would make it take even longer. My other thing to do in those times is counting. The technician will usually tell me that this next part will take so many minutes and I will count to myself and see how close I can get to the actual time for the test which causes me to focus on my actual counting. I also find if I am very tired when I go in for the test I do better. Then because you can not have any metal on you and changing into a gown is lots more difficult for me, I make sure to wear clothing that I won't need to change out of, so I usually wear sweats or light knit pants with elastic waist and no bra or I wear a sport bra so there would be no metal hooks, shirt with no metal decorations on it, so I am all set to go into the tube after removing just my glasses and outer jacket. I hope something of the things I do may help you through this test tomorrow. I have a difficult time sleeping, so I have practiced laying still, pretending to sleep and focus on just the square breathing which occasionally will also let me fall asleep, though I have never managed to sleep during my MRI's, though I am still hoping I may eventually be able to do so, since these tests will be every couple years likely for the rest of my life, so I need to continue improving on how my body handles them. I will continue keeping you in my thoughts and prayers from now until you let us know you are home again after your test tomorrow. I would try to get your doctor to order just a couple pills so that you have them on hand, to take before difficult procedures for you. Dental was another area I needed to take something and found it helpful to have the meds available since you are likely stressing everything about the procedure and medication even when in route to the appointment would likely be helpful as long as you are being driven and not driving yourself. It is worth checking with one of your doctors. Hugs and I will be praying many times tonight for you, as I am now up for a while. Pam

Thinking of you. I certainly understand anxiety.

Thinking positive thoughts for you