Fighting MRI Fear and Fatigue

As I have mentioned in other blog posts, MRIs are extremely important in the diagnosis and management of MS. But for many patients they are pretty unpleasant tests to go through, and we have to go through them often. I for one have gone from being able to fall asleep in MRI machines, to completely dreading them. However, since my diagnosis I seem to have at least one every few months so I have been forced to work on some strategies to help me get through them. It also helps that I’m now on a first name basis with my radiologist. He’s a cool dude, and he knows that if I have to hear “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for the millionth time while I’m having a scan that I will NOT hesitate to crawl out of the machine and bonk him over the head. Seriously, they have ruined a totally lovely song for me!

But anyway…to me MRI fatigue is a very real thing, and I know many of my patients feel the same way. I’ve had patients only allow us to do one MRI a year, and some go totally MRI free (I really do not recommend that). Some patients who are stable and have been for a while only need one MRI a year, but other patients who are on Tysabri or other high risk drugs need them as often as every three months. Also in addition to them being uncomfortable they can also be expensive, even with insurance coverage!

Read more about MRI fatigue in my latest article on MultipleSclerosis.net, and let me know if you have any strategies that you think could benefit others!