good luck with the MRI! I am glad that you like confined spaces, because I did not enjoy the feeling of being trapped in the MRI. (I didn't think I was claustrophobic, but I definitely felt so during the procedure!)

The hospital I went to provided me with a towel to put over my eyes and headphones for music, although paired with the loud noises, I found the music to be overstimulating. They even gave me a little oxygen tube to stick near my face. I guess feeling the air helped me feel less trapped.

I agree that the shaking was weird and unexpected.

I hope you have a good experience. Let us know how it goes.

Be prepared for LOTS of extreme clunking, grinding and vibrating sounds - nobody had ever mentioned what kinds of sounds the MRI makes.

reminded me of jackhammers and noisy construction equipment.
at least the one I experienced in 2004 was that loud.

I have no idea why they need to be so noisy though...

People have told me that MRIs sound a lot like the Smoke Monster from the tv series Lost. Sounds like a good match for me!

1. Use good earplugs.

2. Focus on mindful breathing (not on anxiety-inducing thoughts). Just pay attention to your breathing and know that the MRI doesn't last all that long. I think I counted breaths, starting over when I got up to 20. Every time I counted 20, I thought: OK, I'm that much closer to being done.

3. If you have a friendly technician, maybe ask him or her to talk you through it. Mine told me how long the MRI would take (about 20-25 mins) and during the scan would say things over the speaker like, "The next scan will last about two minutes," etc. He did this until the MRI was over.

It isn't pleasant, but you can cope with it. Just find something neutral to focus on and try not to stoke your own anxieties.

OK, got through it. It was no difficulty whatsoever. The noise didn't bother me, I'm not claustrophobic like I said (heartfelt prayers if you are). It was just a loud buzz, like if you were lying next to a buzzer alarm. It wasn't really that loud, especially with ear plugs in.

As far as lying perfectly still for 30 minutes, my years in Zen meditation has served me well. Now to wait for results...

...and the results are in. I'm not sure, but I think it's pretty much what I anticipated in there being very little artifactual evidence for a "mild" TBI. I snipped out what I thought were the salient results...


MR Brain with and without Contrast dated 23 May 2012

CLINICAL HISTORY: 53-year-old male with a 30 year history of
headaches.

FINDINGS: There are a few scattered small foci of nonspecific
nonenhancing T2/flair signal abnormality in the white matter without
co-localized regions of restricted diffusion which could reflect
evidence of chronic small vessel ischemic disease in a patient of
this age. There is suggestion of a focal area of ill-defined
enhancement in the right forceps major on present image 17 series 10)
which is not clearly visualized on the sagittal postcontrast images,
and is without correlate on additional imaging sequences, likely
related to pulsation artifact. Alternatively, this could represent a
small capillary telangiectasia. No acute intracranial hemorrhage or
acute infarction is seen. No focal brain parenchymal lesion is
present. No mass effect or midline shift. Ventricular size is within
normal limits. No abnormal extra-axial fluid collections. No
evidence of abnormal brain parenchymal or extra-axial enhancement.

...