Trying to calm down

[mandshere2012]

Hi is there anyone awake who can help me calm down, I am shaking so bad I am finding it really difficult to type:scared15:
My sleep as not been good for a while and that makes my anxiety a lot worse, but today something happened to me that I think is causing me to feel like this
I had to go for a mri scan of my whole spine and it didn't help that the radiographer doing the scan did not seem to have any compassion at all even though it was pretty obvious I was scared as soon as I saw the mri scanner and how small the space was that I was to go into fir the scan....the first attempt at going into the scanner I panicked and had to come out then I decided I had to try and give it go so on the second attempt I managed to stay in for 25 minutes but again panicked and pressed the buzzer to get out, the radiographer said I needed to wait 40 seconds before he could get me out the scanner and this 40 seconds felt like forever and made me panic even more once I was out he tried to persuade me to go back in for another 15 minutes then it would be over with but I just could not do it....again there was no compassion shown and I was just told that I could go and get changed my whole body was shaking and I felt so weak and scared that I broke down as soon as I got into the changing room and it took me 20 minutes before I could compose myself to come out....as anyone else had one of these scans and felt like this:scared15:it was terrifying and I felt so claustrophobic....there is no way I could ever have a mri ever again.
Manda

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi,

That sounds like a very difficult experience to say the least. I've seen other people talk about them on here and how people without anxiety disorders find them difficult due to being so enclosed.

Such an experience is bound to leave you feeling worse the rest of the day or longer, I know things like that e.g. dentists, did for me when I was really struggling.

Try to do some breathing exercises to calm you down for the moment. Tell yourself that experience is over now so it is time to calm down and focus on a new day. Do some things that help distract you for a while whether watching something, reading or just getting up to do some jobs around the house if they help.

[Charms]

i have just stated to use Paxil on it for 6 days know i still get pins and needles and that gittering eeling all over my body with the burning sensation is this normal.

[shelzmike]

Wow, I could only imagine the experience. The MRI is very uncomfortable for most people, let alone anxiety folk like us.

As far as your Paxil question, yes. Any SSRI will produce a whole host of side effects on the roulette wheel when going on them (and coming off). After all, you are literally changing the chemistry that is going on in the brain. I will stop at that as I am "one of those" anti-ssri people; however, I will say that if you just started them and then had the MRI, it is very likely that the Paxil actually had an opposite affect in this situation.

My doctor (and many others) make the statement that "It will get worse, sometimes much worse, before it gets better but you just have to push through". It is unfortunate, yet not unexpected.

As far as the MRI - on one hand, they are marvelous in terms of the technology and their purpose. However, the experience is of course very uncomfortable. I am not sure about where you live, but here we have some places that have a technology called open MRI and it is wonderful. I do believe it's use is more expensive but it is an option. And guess what? They didn't create this technology just for anxiety sufferers - it was because there was so much need across everyone that it came into existence.

Mike