MS MRI Best 5 Tips to Release Stress and Anxiety

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MS MRI Best 5 Tips to Release Stress and Anxiety

In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you about MS MRIs, the best five tips to release stress and anxiety when you have an MRI scan.

I want to lay the foundation first. First of all, it's normal to have anxiety. If you are possibly going to be considered diagnosed with MS. And you're having that MRI for the first time to see what's happening. And then you Google and you look up about MRIs and then you start, oh my God, I'm going to go into a tunnel. It's going to be horrible. And then you've got the layer of fear of the possibility of living with MS. That can be really scary.

So there can be lots of layers of stress. So you are not alone. If you live with MS and you're going through this and you're totally freaked out or claustrophobic about going through having an MRI process and getting the results.

What I'm going to share with you today in these five tips, which are the five C's, is what I did. I'm going to walk you through every single step. Know that if I can do this and I live with claustrophobia, that fear of being in small spaces, that, that anxiety  of being in a contained closed space. Then you can do this too. I'm confident that you can do this too. So let me walk you through that process. 

SUMMARY 

Tip #1 - Comfort - Ensure you are comfortable during the MRI

Tip #2 - Communication - Communicate your needs to the technician.

Tip #3 - Cover - Be sure they cover eyes before you start their procedure. 

Tip #4 - Connect - Create a connection the the sounds of the machine with a positive and enjoyable physical experience you have had in the past. 

Tip #5 - Calm - Take short slow breaths in and out. In for the count of 3 and out for the count of three. 

[Full transcript]

MS MRI Best 5 Tips to Release Stress and Anxiety

In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you about MS MRIs, the five best tips to release stress and anxiety when you have an MRI scan. So before I get into the five tips, the five C's I'm Jen DeTracey and I'm the founder of Women Thriving with MS. This is the Women Thriving with MS YouTube channel. So be sure to press subscribe and hit that bell.

I want to lay the foundation first. First of all, it's normal to have anxiety. If you are possibly going to be considered diagnosed with MS. And you're having that MRI for the first time to see what's happening. And then you Google and you look up about MRIs and then you start, oh my God, I'm going to go into a tunnel.

It's going to be horrible. And then you've got the layer of fear of the possibility of living with MS. That can be really scary. Or you could be a seasoned person that lives with MS that is having regular scans. I have been living with MS for over 11 years. I was diagnosed after I came back from a three day speaking tour.

I was at the peak of my career. And then while I was on that tour, my hand stopped working. I had difficulty writing. My foot started dragging when I was running and my mouth started to droop. Not a great way to end the speaking tour. Not a great way to be in that part of my life, and then having to deal with the diagnosis along with MRI.

So there can be lots of layers of stress. So you are not alone. If you live with MS and you're going through this and you're totally freaked out or claustrophobic about going through having an MRI process and getting the results. For me, I want to tell you the first time I had an MRI, it wasn't anything. I was, I was probably totally out of it.

Number one, I was waiting to hear back. I didn't even know. The neurologist had done a CT scan. She had told me that I had brain inflammation and that, that we needed to get it down, but she wanted to do an MRI to verify that process. I didn't know anything about MRIs. I was admitted to the hospital. I had been in emergency. 

Then I went into the actual hospital as a patient. And I waited until someone came and got me the next day and took me into the MRI. They probably gave me sedatives, I believe. And then I waited a little bit and then I had the process and then it was done. It happened so fast. I didn't even have time to think about it.

That was the first time I had an MRI, but the second time, now I'm out of the hospital. It's six months later, I'm feeling anxious. I'm, I'm afraid. I know I'm claustrophobic. There's all these scary thoughts happening in my head. So now I have to face it. Now, maybe you can relate to that too. Maybe you didn't have fear the first time, because you were in that same kind of state as me. You didn't know anything about it and you didn't have that anxiety. Then now you've got anxiety.

What I'm going to share with you today in these five tips, which are the five C's, is what I did. I'm going to walk you through every single step. Know that if I can do this and I live with claustrophobia, that fear of being in small spaces, that, that anxiety  of being in a contained closed space. Then you can do this too. I'm confident that you can do this too. So let me walk you through that process. Starting with the first C the first C is all about comfort. When you get introduced to an MRI machine,

You're going to be laying on a bed that goes into the MRI machine. Now, depending on where you live, what country you live in and what access you have to MRIs will depend on whether that  scan or the MRI scanner is open or closed. In most cases, I've only while I've only experienced closed MRI scanners. So there there's that high level of claustrophobia as you're going in there. And there's only so much space between you and the top of the scanner.

In Canada, the government pays for you to receive MRIs if deemed important by a neurologist or other specialist or doctor, however, they're not private. And so unless you want to shell out the bucks for the open MRI in Canada, you're not going to get that. So you want to be comfortable.

You're going to laying on a hard bed. So what's nice is if they can put down a blanket, which usually, in my experience has happened every single time. And then they put a wedge. It's kind of like a yoga wedge, where you have your knees bent over it. And that's great because it pushes your back down so that you can, so you can be comfortable, but still, and also feels better for your legs.

The other thing around comfort that they're going to do for you is they're going to put up a plastic cage on, at least this is my experience. Maybe that's not how it is depending on the machine you're using and in your particular circumstance, then they will put earplugs in and headphones on. Now, in terms of comfort, you may have the opportunity to listen to music while you are experiencing your MRI. And you may even have the choice of music that you listened to.

That has never been an option for me. Personally, because I have been able to calm myself and reduce that stress and anxiety and eliminate that claustrophobic state of being, I don't need the music, but it is a nice to have if you want it. And I encourage that if that's an option for you. And that is what you feel inclined to do.

The other part of comfort is sedation. I used to take Ativan as a way to calm myself and you can ask your doctor for, or neurologist for a prescription. You'll take it 30 minutes before, and that will calm your nervous system and make the MRI a more pleasant experience.

However, when I take you through this five step process, these five tips you might not need to at a certain point take Ativan or a sedative any longer, it might not be necessary. I have not taken Ativan for MRIs in probably nine years. So in the first two years I did. And after that, I mastered this process, which you can master too. And I don't take sedatives anymore.

Now, the benefit of that is that if you can't have someone there with you, then not taking a  sedative is essential because otherwise you need someone to be there to take you home. So that is one of the benefits of not taking sedatives. So number one is comfort. Very, very important. Number two is communication. The MRI technician has two roles.

Think of yourself as going on a trip and you're on an airplane. There's the pilot that is in control of the plane. That's the machine like the MRI is in control of that machine. Exactly in charge, what it does. Then you've got number two, the flight attendant. They're there to keep you comfortable, make sure that you are relaxed, that you're safe.

Well, the MRI technician, it used to be, there was two technicians. Now in my experience, there's only one technician and they are the pilot and the flight attendant. That is a good thing in a sense, because you have the same point person the whole time that you are going through this process. Communication with that technician is a very important.

It is so important to have your voice. If you have worries that come up for you, then you want to tell them right away, especially if it's your first time, they will usually ask you that. One of the key things that I've noticed is that when I go for an MRI, they usually tell me how long each scan is going to be.

That is done, you hear it through your headphones. They have an ability to turn off and on a mic to communicate with you. They give you this squeeze ball. You can use that to notify them and they will put on the microphone so you can talk to them. So know that you're not alone in this scanner. You have that pilot, that flight attendant with you to support you in this journey.

So important. When you are told, we're going to start now, the first scan is five minutes. We're going to do your neck. Then the next, they, then after that one, there'll be a short break. And then they'll say it's two minutes or whatever length of time. And they'll go through that whole process with you. I have found that to be very calming.

They usually check in with you after the first scan, how you doing is everything okay? You say yes. Then they'll start with the next one and just say, okay, seven minutes, nine minutes. So on and so forth. So that can be very helpful. Once I didn't have this, I had someone do an MRI with me and they didn't go through that process.

I found that my anxiety rose, because that is what I was used to. I was used to that. And when I didn't have it, I realized it didn't work. So from that time on, I made sure that they were going to do that. And that's something you can ask for.

Especially if you haven't been to an MRI before, or if you have, and that hasn't happened. Then know that that is an option for you. I have found that to be very helpful. So that's number two. So number one was being comfortable and all the attributes of that. Number two is communication. Number three, number three is cover. That's the third C. What do I mean? I mean, cover your eyes.

In some cases, even though they put this plastic mounting on your head, the possibility is that you don't necessarily have a cover on your eyes. Ask for a Kleenex or a towel they can cover up your eyes. When you are claustrophobic and you open your eyes. It can be very traumatic. That can speed up your heart rate. It can speed up your blood pressure.

It can make you very uncomfortable. It can cause panic. So you want to not be able to see what's happening. So cover up your eyes. It makes a huge difference. That's number three, it's that simple. Just ask them. You want to cover your eyes. If you are a person that needs to see, and that gives you reassurance while then that's a totally different story.

Now we've got number four. Number four is about connection. When you are in the MRI machine, you will notice that there are two distinct sounds. They're both very loud, which is why they give you the earplugs and the headphones. So if you're listening to music, it's going to compete with those sounds. So that's not ideal. So that's one reason I don't like the music, but it hasn't been an option for me. 

It doesn't matter. The sounds are as follows from my experience. Number one, you hear something that's like a construction zone. It's like jackhammering. It's like a kind of sound, right? And then there's the sound that's like a chunk could chunk could chunk, which is kind of like a beat.

I associate that one with music, with the sound of this musical sound like I'm in a discotheque, like I'm, I'm dancing in a nightclub. And so when I started to notice that those sounds were pretty consistent.

Every time they say you've got five minutes or however long that is, and then you'll start to hear, I could chunk, or that sound of construction sound you'll know that they're in the process of doing it.

What I learned to do is connect those sounds with a positive experience, going into a positive, enjoyable state. So let me give you a couple examples of that. So, because I was noticing the sounds reminded me of being in a nightclub.

It took me back to when I used to, in my late teens and into my early twenties go dancing a lot. That brought me so much joy to be able to do that. And so I would imagine myself dancing. I take myself back to that enjoyable time in my life, and I would really feel that physically through my body. It's a, it's a mind thing. I'm taking myself there in my mind.

I want you to think about a time in your life, ideally earlier in your life, because the early memories are really wired in. Let me give you an example of why that's true is if you think back to a time in your life early on, so it could be all the way up to your teens, where you listen to a song and it brought a happy memory to you. 

You heard something over a song on the radio which created a positive feeling - that music is wired. That memory is wired into your system, and it's about pleasure, enjoyment. And the same is true when we have something that is a physical experience that we enjoy.

So if you can think about what that physical experience might be for you, maybe you go back in time to your early days before MS. Ideally, because that's where those memories from the early days as well as before MS. 

You know, we have something, a positive experience around it. So think about that. Maybe it was tennis or swimming or hopscotch. What else could there be? Basketball or could be water skiing, or snowshoeing or skiing, or, or just even taking a lovely walk near a beautiful stream that's so calm, whatever that might be.

It can be, just something you want to equate something physical with it if possible. In this case, because then there's a body memory from it. Then as soon as the sounds kick in from the MRI, you want to take yourself to that place and start experience. Re-experiencing it.

The beauty with MRIs now is the technology has advanced so much that what used to be a 45 minute MRI for me, for my brain and my neck is now only a 15 minute experience. So that is amazing that the time has been shortened in terms of technology. I'm super happy about that. So when I can take myself back into that state of dancing and hearing the sounds of the machine, it really, right away calms my nervous system.

It strips away the stress and anxiety. I'm not thinking about being claustrophobic. I'm thinking about this great experience that I had, and I'm associating it with the sound. So that is step number four.  Sandy, Sandy attended this coaching series that I ran called, The MS Stress Release Process™. At the end, we did a Q and A. We just had a chat. And she mentioned to me that she was just about to go for an MRI.

It was going to be a full MRI, and she was very nervous. So I asked her, what is the thing physically that has been a positive connection for you? And she said, swimming. She loved to swim. In fact, she had an up ground pool presently, and she would swim in that. That was very relaxing for her.

I recommended to her that she practiced that and then when she went to her MRI. Tapped into that experience. Fortunately, she was able to get more of an open scanner, MRI, and practiced swimming, or imagine of herself swimming. And she said it really made a difference.

So pick that physical activity from your past, possibly from your early days before you're 20, where you had a positive experience associated with the sound of the MRI, and notice what happens. I have not needed to take out Ativan since I connected into this state of being. Such an amazing thing.

So let's review. The first C is comfort being physically comfortable. The second C is communication with the tech person, your pilot, your flight attendant, the third C is cover, cover your eyes. The fourth C is connection connecting to the sound and going into that state and the fifth C the fifth C is calm.

You're probably already feeling calmer after you've gone through all those steps with the last step is around the breath. Breath is very powerful because it sends a message to the body, the brain, let's just say, this is a brain. And this is the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that always, always asking this question every three to four seconds, Am I safe? Do I matter? Am I safe? Do I matter?

When the amygdala is tucked away in the brain and there isn't stress, or you're not triggered, it's covered by the prefrontal cortex. But when we're in that trigger state, kind of, we flip our lid per se, metaphorically, and then the amygdala gets activated. So when we are breathing and we're breathing in and out into the body consciously in a nice, slow way.

We can calm the nervous system. The amygdala starts to believe that it is safe and that it does matter. When we take ourselves into the fourth C, which is that place of connecting with the sound of the machine and going to that state, that calms down the amygdala. Then on top of it, having the breath.

 I like to recommend and this is what I do not big long breaths, because you don't want to move too much in the MRI. You want to keep your body as still as possible. So nice, slow breaths, three counts in and three counts out through the nose. So let me do that. So three in three, out through the nose. So not big long breaths, just short ones, ones that you can keep track of.

Once you're visualizing yourself in that state, whether it's swimming or dancing or whatever that is for you, then you're focusing on the breath. Three in through the nose, three counts in three counts out. So the combination of the breath and the visualization going into that state really releases that stress, that anxiety, that panic, that fear.

The key is that we want to avoid swallowing when they're doing that part of the spine, which is around the neck. And so those breaths in, through your nose, as opposed to in, through your mouth and moving around in this area, like, you know, you don't want to be doing that. You have a nice, slow, calm, easy breaths in and out.

Now they're going to tell you don't swallow at certain points. When people tell you not to swallow, what do you do? You swallow not good, right? So what you want to do is know that you are going to need to swallow, be conscious of that.

I recommend that when you're breathing, when they stop, when they say five minutes and that stops, or the next block of seven minutes or two minutes, take a moment just to have a nice little swallow. Get rid of that saliva in that period of time, and then go back to the breath and imagining yourself in that state.

And that will take care of your physical need to swallow all that saliva down, but not have a negative impact on the results of the scan. Because the more you move around, the less effective the results are. So as a wrap-up today, we did the five C's. We talked about comfort. We talked about communication. We talked about covering your eyes. We've talked about connection to the sound and getting into that state and calm through breathing gently three times in out.

So before we part ways today, I want to thank you for watching this video. Let me know how it goes. Share with me any other comments or advice that you have from your experience. And if you're doing it for first time, I hope this prepares you well for going through that process. This is a great way to build confidence and calm by falling all five steps.

I'm Jen, DeTracey from Women Thriving with MS. Thank you for joining me today. I will see you soon.