I have been suffering from anxiety. I got a appointment to have a brain mri and my anxiety has gone through the roof. I am terrified of the mri machine, had loads of mri in the past, and been okay. Appointment is in a couple of weeks, find my self just constantly worring about the mri, if i can go through with it. Keep picturing what it looks like etc. I am mainly terrified of the head piece. The anxiety at this present time is overtaking my life. I am worried that if i cant have the mri because of my anxiety, that my Tecfidera could stop, and that i wont be able to book another mri in the future. I have emailed my nurses my concerns regarding medication, scans etc as above, and they havent replied. I am also menopausal so this is making my anxiety worse i believe. Any advise please
Morning,
I hope things settle soon for you
Anxiety is a horrible thing to go through and makes everything seem so much worse.
I usually keep my eyes closed when I am having the MRI and tell myself this will soon be over and is needed to keep me on the right track for medication etc.
Sometimes our minds take over when we are worrying and totally causes havoc.
Stay strong, the MRI will be over and you will feel more content when its done.
Take care and positive thoughts if you can.
Mary x
Some controlled breathing exercises are very helpful.
Try not to focus on the physical symptoms of anxiety/panic during the scan. The more you focus on the physical symptoms, the more the panic will set in and symptoms will intensify.
If practicing controlled breathing, focus on the numbers and words. As you take a breath in, think of the number 1, and as you breath out its the word ‘Relax’. Then ‘2 relax, 3 relax’ etc. focusing on the numbers and words will help shift the focus of the physical symptoms of panic/anxiety.
Might be useful to keep your eyes closed as they put the shield over you.
Try to appraise your anxiety in a less threatful way, positive thinking “I can do this, this is just my anxiety and it’s just a very uncomfortable feeling but not dangerous to the body”.
You can also try attach imagery to the anxiety, e.g seeing your anxiety as an ocean wave, as it comes to shore it feels more intense and as it moves away it’s less intense. Allow the ocean wave do its thing!
Also, try not to run away with your worries. Tell yourself that the worst will not happen. Put it to the test… dare yourself to test out your predictions. See it as an experiment.
