MRI today!

[tacom]

I've never had one before. I saw that others weren't sure about prep (carrotsmakemefat).

So far I was just told no food/drink the day of the test and no earrings/metal on test day. I do know I'll have to drink some radio opaque contrast before the test, but nothing to clear me out.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

[OrangePixyStix]

Best of luck, I hope you are able to find some answers from the results.

[Deleted]

Good luck! I'm glad to see you back on the board. :]

[tacom]

carrotsmakemefat thanks for asking - no results yet!

I was told to drink four bottles of contrast in one hour. I got very nauseous and asked to stop after three, for fear of vomiting and needing to reschedule the exam. We went ahead and did it, though he did say they wouldn't have tried if I couldn't get at least 3 down.

You have to hold your breath for long periods of time (~30+ seconds). I would have never thought this was going to be hard, but it was... I do think it was complicated by the fact that the VERY tight squeeze in the machine increases anxiety, and thus respiration rate, so my body was kind of working against me there. I did my best but started breathing a few times when I wasn't supposed to. Regardless, the tech said he got some good images.

They gave me two IV infusions to slow my bowels (allows for a better pic). I had a slight reaction to this (increased nausea, brief feeling of being light headed, sweating, and just general malaise), so I came home and took a nap but then felt better when I awoke (although my tummy felt ill for the rest of the day). I generally suffer from C so I don't need to slow things down, lol.

They sent me home with a CD of the images and FI and I looked at them but I don't know what a healthy v. unhealthy bowel looks like so I'm pretty useless. I asked the tech what he thought but he made it very clear he only takes the pictures and does not interpret them.

I'm going to log onto our medical system tomorrow after class and see if the report is on EPIC yet.