MRI Contrast/Dye very scared

[woaidelrey]

Hi everyone,

Good morning! So I went in to have a neck soft tissue MRI for persistent sore throat, lump stuck in throat sensation and salivary gland swelling yesterday evening. Despite the fact that I requested not having the contrast injected due to fear of adverse reaction and the worst scenario- nephrogenic system fibrosis. After the first 20 minutes of study, the technician came in and said he would have to inject the dye because if not, this study will be inconclusive. So I agreed.

1 hour after the contrast injection, I started feeling itchy all over my body (no hives tho). And this morning I wake up feeling very tired. I read that side effects from the dye are very rare and I think I am probably experiencing side effects from the dye... I have been trying to drink a lot of water to flush the dye out of my system, but I can't help but starting to think if the worst is gonna happen to me, or if the technician made a mistake during injection and accidentally gave me more than needed? Or if she made a mistake and leaked some dye into my body... My doctor originally wanted me to have CT with contrast, but I requested MRI instead of CT, and now Im scared that I have done something very bad for my body...

Has anyone had any experiences with mri/contrast? I'm feeling like my heart rate is shooting up high due to this anxiety...

Thanks in advance!

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[Fishmanpa]

I've had several MRIs with contrast. The reaction was normal and IMO, you're burned out from all the worry and anxiety about it.

Positive thoughts

[WiredIncorrectly]

I've had MRI scans many times. I was always anxious about drinking that juice. They'd give me the one to drink a day before, and the one on the day. Both tastes a bit odd, but other than that fine. The injection scared me the first time because it made me feel like I was wetting myself for a brief 3 seconds. But it quickly goes away.

Afterwards I'd have anxiety the first few times because I feared the "unknown" side effects. But in reality there was non, it was my anxiety making it up. The anxiety would last all day until I was confident I was out of the imaginary danger zone.

And it's true without the dye they won't get a reading. I argued numerous times in the beginning refusing the dye. I even skipped my first MRI because my oncologist wasn't even willing to attempt it.

Good luck with the results :) I found the waiting for the results was the worst worry! Mental torture.

[woaidelrey]

Thanks guys, I know I'm probably thinking too much and am connecting all the bodily symptoms I have right now with the contrast... My urethra just had some pain and im afraid it's because of the heavy metal gadolinium hurting the lining.. ugh I'm just so exhausted...

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[BlueIris]

Anxiety's horrendously tiring, isn't it? Be kind to yourself, and hopefully the fear will fade off soon if you carry on reassuring yourself.

[woaidelrey]

Anxiety's horrendously tiring, isn't it? Be kind to yourself, and hopefully the fear will fade off soon if you carry on reassuring yourself.It is, extremely... I hope I'm just going overboard with this and these symptoms are not real :(

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[Scass]

I’ve had an MRI with contrast injected in. I had heard about an allergic reaction but I’m pretty sure you’d have suffered strong symptoms immediately.
The main things is to drink lots of water to flush it out.
You’ll be fine, anxiety gives us weird old symptoms sometimes doesn’t it.

[woaidelrey]

I’ve had an MRI with contrast injected in. I had heard about an allergic reaction but I’m pretty sure you’d have suffered strong symptoms immediately.
The main things is to drink lots of water to flush it out.
You’ll be fine, anxiety gives us weird old symptoms sometimes doesn’t it.I feel like I'm pretty sure i got one of the rare reaction from the dye now.. the diffused body pain, itchness etc. It can't be a coincidence that these new symptoms occurred right after the contrast. It's funny how I really didn't want the contrast and really requested not to have it and in the end I had it, and I really fell victim to it and it might have a lasting consequence to the rest of my life and I just turned 28.. [emoji24]

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[jray23]

Nonsense.

I had a small rash and local itching for several days after my MRI w contrast. It's probably not unusual for itching to be more widespread.

Adverse reactions to the dye are like one in a million. You should be much more frightened to get in a car every day.

If you are concerned, worrying won't help. Let your doctor know what you are feeling and they'll tell you if there's reason to get medical treatment.

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[ta333]

Hopefully by now you're feeling much better. I was one of the very rare people who had an allergic reaction to gadolinium contrast from an MRI. I developed hives immediately after being injected. Even if you were to have had an allergic reaction, all they do is give you a saline drip & have you drink water, so you already did what you would do in that situation. It sounds to me like you're going to be fine. Good luck with your results.