I typically have several MRIs per year. I'm not claustrophobic and don't stress about them, but sometimes MRIs cause me physical discomfort, even without contrast. With contrast, its slightly worse, it seems.
I think its related to a genetic disorder that causes me to retain high levels of iron, but I have nothing to back this up.
This discomfort in the MRI comes in the form of waves of warmth I feel throughout my abdomen. Its mostly annoying/distracting and not painful. The loudness of the MRI is far worse than the slight warming I feel. Less annoying than the pee your pants feel of a CT with contrast.
I believe the stress would come from the uncertainty of whether or not they have cancer, not from going into the MRI machine.
Just looking at myself, I feel a great level of distress over other, less serious, variations of uncertainty.
Having been told I might have cancer, and then not getting to know for certain this very instant would be nothing short of nerve-wracking...
The warmth is caused by the RF pulses and has nothing to do with the magnet or iron levels. Basically the scanner behaves the same as a microwave oven.
That's why you have to enter the patient weight and size before scanning, in order to keep the SAR within acceptable values and limit body heating.
My father has hemochromatosis which causes high iron uptake. He didn’t discover this until his fifties and it’s like he has rust in his joints. I did 23andMe and I only have one allele so I don’t have it. If you suspect you do, a dna rest will tell you. Please get that checked out. You can deal with it if it’s early in your life.
Ive been tested, and I have hemachromatosis. That's what my next MRI is for - to check on my liver.
So far, for me, it's monitoring. Some dietary changes such as cutting back on red meat and high iron vegetables (mostly cut out spinach, which sucks because I've loved spinach my entire life, especially the Greek dish spanikopita).
My blood iron levels fluctuate a lot based upon diet. Ive mostly got it under control, but normal for me is still on the high end of the normal ramge for normal people.
It probably went undiagnosed for a long time because I used to give blood regularly, but had to stop when my work hours changed to be 7am-7pm and could not make it to a facility to donate. Thats when blood tests started ahowing a problem. Not yet to scheduled phlebotemy, but probably the best option if it becomes an issue.
I think its related to a genetic disorder that causes me to retain high levels of iron, but I have nothing to back this up.
This discomfort in the MRI comes in the form of waves of warmth I feel throughout my abdomen. Its mostly annoying/distracting and not painful. The loudness of the MRI is far worse than the slight warming I feel. Less annoying than the pee your pants feel of a CT with contrast.