MRI Panic Attack and Cancellation

happyhiker

I discovered a mass in my left breast this past Thanksgiving, and since then have seen a breast surgeon, had a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound on the area, all of which were normal. I thought I was out of the woods, but when I mentioned to my BS at follow-up that I still felt the mass, he recommended an MRI just to dot all the "i's". My sister had MBC three years ago, so I felt that having these baseline tests could be a good idea. Today was my MRI, and as a newbie, I wasn't prepared for the panic attack that occurred when I went into the machine. I couldn't breathe and I panicked. I have to reschedule, but unfortunately, as a 52 yo pre-menopausal woman, my periods are few and far between, yet still they want to wait until I get a period or 2 months, whichever comes first, to reschedule. Anyway, I was disappointed in myself that I coudn't go through with the test today.

Is there anyone out there who has had a similar experience with a breast MRI, and had issues with scheduling during this unique time of life, when periods are unpredictable? I plan to ask for some sedation next time, but I sure wish I could have this test sooner rather than later. Any advice would be much appreciated!

I've been a lurker here for quite some time, and appreciate the wisdom and support shared here.

edwards750

Bless your heart the waiting is brutal. No I haven’t had a breast MRI but I have hada MRI and know exactly how you feel. I am claustrophobic so I was especially panic stricken. It was okay at first when the techs were talking to me but then in the waning minutes they stopped and I almost lost my mind. The test results were fine but I can promise you with absolute certainty I’ll never do a closed one again.

On the positive side it’s good that you are persistent. That mass may very well be nothing but better safe than sorry.

Two months I know seems like an eternity so maybe you could get a prescription for anxiety meds.

Good luck!

Diane

vlnrph

Sorry to hear about that experience. With my first MRI, I had a flushing reaction to the IV contrast and had to press the ‘emergency’ button. I was able to complete the scan but was wary going into the next one. A different injection was used and things were OK.

Now that you know a little more about the procedure, laying on your stomach, etc I hope a mild sedative will get you through it. They might require you to have someone there to drive you home if you take lorazepam/Ativan or a low dose of Valium (which also happens to be a good muscle relaxant).

With your sister having metastatic disease, has genetic counseling been suggested?

happyhiker

Thanks. Yeah, I hope some Ativan or Valium or something will be just enough to calm me down. It's a relatively short test, so I just need to stick it out. I'm also going to focus on stretching my arms a bit (I'm a bigger gal), and practice meditation.

I haven't had genetic counseling per se, but because of my sister, and paternal and maternal cousins with BC, I'm very tuned in and I'm satisfied that my doctor is doing his due diligence. I'm hoping for the best, but also know that MRI has a reputation for finding smaller cancers and sometimes false positives. Early detection, if I have to find something, would be a blessing.

There is no down side to getting answers as far as I'm concerned! I just need to survive this test :-)

gb2115

I have to take Ativan for MRI.

The scheduling around your period is a nightmare. But it's best to wait to avoid false positives! Otherwise you get another MRI for a biopsy.

CBK

I am the queen of claustrophobia so when I had to have breast MRI I thought I’d never get thru it. I took both Valium and Xanax and made it thru 2 of them no problem. Lying on the belly helps.

One Valium and hour before procedure then I hit myself with Xanax 1/2 hour before procedure. The combo in the right dosage WILL get you thru it!

Good luck!!

wallycat

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. There is certainly a synergistic event here...the stress of results/outcomes plus the claustrophobia.

I do not like enclosed spaces but for some reason, MRIs never bothered me. I used to be the guinea pig for GE when they were first making the machines and the noise lulled me to sleep. Go figure. There are some machines that are being made that have a more open structure. I'm not sure where you live and how common they are, but worth checking if you will need to go back.

Best to you.

gb2115

Some of the breast MRI machines have you face down where you are looking through a hole in the table. I had 2 of those and it was completely fine. You don't feel like you are in a machine...it's like a massage table. I had one though, where there wasn't a hole, and I just had to turn my head to the side and stare at the MRI machine wall. I didn't like that one at all...and my ativan didn't really kick in until it was over. Take an hour before...for me it's more like 2 hours. They struggled to get my IV in as well...I won't go back to that place. Oh well, at least I got to sleep the Ativan off the rest of the day, lol.

djmammo

***If you are taking the sedatives on your own prior to arriving at the imaging center, let them know ahead of time and ask if you can still sign the consent if you arrive medicated.

happyhiker

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences and advice. My radiology clinic has me arrive 90 minutes before the appointment to take the medication, so I will be clear-minded to sign the waiver.

Have any of you ever opted not to do the music headphones and just used earplugs? When they put the headphones on me it added to my feelings of confinement for some reason. I don't know if this is even an option, but I thought I'd ask.

djmammo

happyhiker

It varies. They sometimes relay instructions through the headphones if there is no speaker in the unit. Many places just have those compressible foam ear plugs to dampen the noise of the unit and an intercom speaker in the room.

CBK

happyhiker

The noise didn’t bother me in the least and I remember the technicians speaking to me routinely throughout the procedure to let me know what was coming next and cheering me on!! I felt like that helped a lot. No music for me, no thank you. I had the foam earplugs. They were speaking to me through an intercom as djmammo points out.

If I can do this anyone can.....it will be fine when you take enough medication. And it goes way quicker than I anticipated ! Believe me I know how you feel but you will be surprised how much the medicine helps.

Good luck!!

Butterfly1234

I'm highly claustrophobic and was more upset about getting the MRI than I was about my lumpectomy. However, no one told me prior to arriving that it was face down. This made it so much easier because it did feel like you were on a massage table. My GYN prescribed Diazepam 2mg. The technicians knew I was claustrophobic and talked me through the whole thing and kept checking to see if I was ok. My imagined fears were worse than the actual experience. Just be sure to ask your doc for a sedative, have someone drive you there and home. I had my DH stop to get me a milkshake on the way home and then I took a nap. Sending you good thoughts for a positive experience. You can do it

kbram

Happyhiker,

I have to always do open MRIs if it is a regular MRI, not breast MRI. Even then it is a little uncomfortable. Can I ask why a biopsy has not been done if you've had the mass since November? Especially with your family history.

Kathy

GoldenGirls

Ask your BS about contrast-enhanced digital mammograms (CEDM) which are comparable to MRI as far as detection. If you google you can find studies and information on their accuracy. The hospital here uses them instead of MRI. I had one two years ago for a palpable lump not seen on any other imaging. (Turned out to be benign) and just had one last week after my screening mammo found two areas in my other breast.

This link has some information: https://densebreast-info.org/enhanced-breast-mammography.aspx

gb2115

I have only been given the little foam earplugs. The MRI is loud but not bad with the earplugs.

JoTheGreek

Just one xanax 0.5 pill was all I needed in order to feel comfortable throughout the procedure, and, mind you, I'm a person who suffers from anxiety disorder. I'm post menopausal however so can't shed any light on this part. Good luck, wishes for benign results. Drink enough water the 24 hours following the mri.

Christene502

Doctor ordered MRI to see how my tumors were doing in my left breast. During the MRI, I had major trauma to my ribs. From laying on the bar.

BS didn't like the report, found something, MRI even showed there was damage to my ribs, Still he Ordered another MRI with Biopsy. My ribs were killing me. I kept complaining but the tech wouldn't listen. Pain was dreadful. While laying still, I felt the long needle slide through my breast.

It took weeks to heal.

BS wanted another MRI with biopsy now on my Right side. I told him No Way!!!!

edwards750

Christene - is your BS a sadist? OMG putting you through that is reprehensible.

Diane

happyhiker

Thank you all so much. I feel so supported today

To the question about why my BS isn't doing a biopsy first, it sounds crazy, but he says he doesn't feel what I feel, or what he feels doesn't feel like cancer. The mammos and US back up his hunches. It leaves me feeling a little confused about what it is I'm feeling in my left breast. Am I crazy? Am I feeling just normal tissue? Nevertheless, he is well educated and respected, and taking me seriously so the next step is an MRI. I guess he can't biopsy what he doesn't see or feel.

Again, thanks for your insights on getting the MRI. I will be taking all the valuable information to heart as I go forward.

FrackingHateCancerMPBC

Hi Happy H,

Mobile MRI - the one in the hospital parking lot in a trailer.

OK I am super claustrophobic. In fact the caustraphobia did in some way save my life by delaying my MRI for a wrist fracture like a year. Finally my teenage daughter did one, I did one after so as not to be a wimp and then they casted me, just in time to force me using a different arm shaving my armpits and thus finding the fast growing tumor in my breast that would have been otherwise undetected for at least another month. Thank you claustrophobia.

Now, here's what worked for me. The MOBILE MRI. See if your provider has them I'm with Kaiser, and most radiologists do not associate it with helping for claustrophobia so they kept sending me to open MRIs. Which are generally in big steel basements and hardly at all open.

Once I got to go to a truly boutique MRI but it was for neuro and so was Kaiser ok'd. But just the regular not open Mobile MRI is in like a bookmobile, or a dressing room trailer sort of thing. They're in the parking lot outside radiologies back door usually and I love them. That in itself was so NON claustrophobic. It was the basement and the huge installation and the feet of cold heavy white steel all around you that gets me. That's the regular basement MRI.

The mobile MRI was nothing. It was great. Good luck and happy sailing, and BRAVO for keeping on your doc to find that thing you are feeling. If he can't find it even with an MRI get a second opinion from another doc. I've heard of some hard to find tumors even on MRI's. I read a lot of studies. I'm a scientist myself but not a medical doctor at all, just a physicist so I find comfort just reading studies and knowing there are scientists and all sorts of people working on Breast Cancer. Anyway I read about this core tumor once, very hard to find. There are others too. And some tumors have cell types that are harder to see or can be. Persevere it serves you well to do so!

FrackingHateCancerMPBC

Hey there again Happy H

Why on Earth does he want you menstruating? He's looking for a tumor not a cyst right? Is dense breast tissue easier to see through when you're menstruating?

If you don't want to wait on that just tell him you're pretty sure that with the stress of this "lump crisis" you are feeling you will not be menstruating until all this is over if ever again. So then he'll go forward. Then if he finds nothing and you do then menstruate after that you can do it again!

No wait and possible twice the surveillance. If your sister had MBC you need to be careful. Was she even BRCA gene tested? I hope she's doing well and still among the living.

Fracking out.

AliceBastable

I had to use the mobile breast MRI due to construction at the hospital, and it was a horrible experience. I have arthritis and my knees were screaming at me the whole time - along with my shoulders and spine. I'll only do another face-down one if I'm so drugged they have to pour me on to the table. Oddly, regular MRIs don't bother me. I just keep my eyes closed and hallucinate a bit.

happyhiker

Thanks for the thoughts on mobile MRIs. Not sure if this is an option. Hopefully, sedative will work for me as well as they worked for many of you!

Fracking... My understanding is that the MRI of breasts is very sensitive to hormonal breast changes and they therefore schedule them at a precise time in a woman's cycle in order to prevent false positives (and unnecessary invasive procedures). Since my menstruating days are numbered, I'm erratic, but since I did menstruate recently and was able to time my last test correctly (making the timing of my panic attack really, really unfortunate), they want to do that again, or wait a couple of months without a period. It's frustrating for me, but I get it. I take comfort in the radiology tests that have come back negative for my lumps, but am fully in support of ruling everything out with an MRI. My sister is doing very well, thankfully, but like everyone else here with a close family relative who survived BC, we can never be too complacent. I'm on it and will always be extremely vigilant.

djmammo

happyhiker

Here is an article on timing of MRI studies by blood levels of progesterone

https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/20091120b

I have seen this used in patients that have had a hysterectomy but retained their ovaries and continue to cycle without any indication as to when it is happening. I presume it can be used for someone with irregular cycles as well.

LoveFromPhilly

I have tried to not take sedatives for scans and it always bites me right in the tush with some good ol straight forward panic attacks.

5mg of Valium gets me through the day and then I take a lovely nap afterwards. I always kick myself when I try to fight it. The valium starts to work in about 20 minutes for me, but you may want to give yourself an hour. I love this drug!! It is great when we need it!

happyhiker

djmammo

Thanks for this article! This was a great explanation of why they time the MRI and it gives me a tool in my tool belt if I don't have a cycle.