I'm only 24 but I have to get breast MRIs once a year because of my family's history with breast cancer. They're not incredibly uncomfortable. They have to hook up an IV to run dye through my blood so that they can see better and it's very loud. Other than that, it's not so bad and in my situation it's definitely worth it.

I have a reputation for injuries. In the past year and a half I've had two, right ruptured achilles and left knee. I've also had two surgeries....

I actually had to have an MRI while I was 8 months pregnant. Technically it was a fetal MRI on the baby. It was incredibly loud and uncomfortable for me, mostly because at 8 months pregnant, laying down on my back was uncomfortable. And then they would tell me that it was taking longer than normal because the baby kept moving. That was something I had no control over! Everything turned out okay, so it was okay.

I've had two. I hated it. The tube was just very confining and very loud.

I had a friend who died from the MRI dye (Gadolinium) which is derived from a heavy metal. Not saying it happens often ... but it does cause complications. Google MRI dye and you'll probably be surprised. On the other hand my cousin has had quite a few MRI's and he's alive and doing fine.....

I had one when I was nine for a spinal injury and another one several months ago for some enlarged lymph nodes in my neck. The most recent one was incredibly unpleasant: it was loud, uncomfortable and last for over an hour and an half. I later found out that part of what they were doing was a brain scan and was completely unnecessary and in fact was the result of a miscommunication between my doctor and the radiology clinic. The whole ordeal ended up costing me upwards of $3000 and gave inconclusive results.

I had the worst migraine of my life back in Febuary and had to rush to the ER due to the immense pain. There they had to do an MRI of my brain to check for any abnormalities. it was uncomfortable at first because of the sound but at some point i just fell asleep since it took so long to do. it was because I kept twitching. I couldn't help it though

I had to get an MRI about two months ago because i had been suffering from migraines. The worst part was that I was wearing eye makeup that must have had some hematite in it or something because when the first scan began, my eyelids started jumping up and down and I couldn't keep my eyes closed. That was the scariest part. Once my eye makeup was off, it was fine. It's not fun laying still for 45 minutes straight, but if you are not claustrophobic it's not that bad.

I also had contrast with the gadolinium dye. There are a few different mixes on the market. The safest is OmniScan, I believe, which my hospital used. It's worth asking about.

iv had like 7, the first one was uncomfortable but by the time i got to my last i was able to fall asleep in it.lol

I never considered myself claustrophobic until I had my MRI. The worst for me is that I've got wider shoulders to begin with, plus I'm larger, so I felt like my arms were trapped.

If you are getting an MRI, I recommend trying to focus your brain on something. Count backwards from 5000. Count backwards from 5000 in 3's. I did something similar, and focusing like that kept my mind off being in that loud, small tube!

Why is it so loud?

i had to have an MRI to make sure my shoulder injury was just a bone break, not ligaments, etc.

i found it pretty stressful. i do tend to be claustrophobic, so they recommended keeping my eyes closed, which i did. but it was not even close to being restful enough to sleep!

I've had 3 and they're nothing to stress about, in my opinion.

I had an MRI for a neck injury I suffered in a car crash, but I was lucky enough to get a "Stand Up MRI" I was able to sit up in a chair, and there were two huge magnets on each side of me, They put a DVD on, so you can concentrate on the TV and not move. I am not claustrophobic, but I think this would be ideal for people who are!

I never thought I was claustrophobic until I had an MRI last year. I was absolutely terrified.

I've had 3. I suffered a stroke last year (March 2008) and had two while in the hospital, and then a followup MRI 4 months later.

I've had about 10. So it seems that being scared of the machine is like being scared of a noisy car, nothing to fear.

They are great diagnostic devices. For me they are life savers.

I have not, buy my now 12 year old daugher had one when she was around 8 or 9. She was diagnosed with migraines and they wanted to rule out other things. She was a trooper in there!! Made Mom proud

Yes, a few accident after a major car accident that left my partially blind in one eye (permanent)

I've had MRIs twice - God it was NOT nice in the least.

The first time they were looking at my head, so they put me in the tunnel and put the cage thing over the top of my head and face. And there was about 2 minutes when I wasn't allowed to breathe or breathe with movement. All the clacking and stuff the machine made is really, really creepy. It sounds like hammers in a hollow space.

I've never had one, but my mom had one when they were diagnosing her Meniere's disease. They had to rule out a brain tumor, so she had one done. She said it was fine, but it was just the fear of the actual diagnosis that made it scary.

@fleurfairy--they're loud because there are a bunch of magnets in it that rotate around to give the sequential images. Every time they move, they make a big loud clunk.

I've had a few MRIs. I'm one that can fall asleep in the tube!

During one particular MRI, the tech kept asking me if I was OK over and over again. I assured him that I was, and would be, perfectly fine. He finally stopped asking me after I replied "This has a nice beat, but I can't dance to it."

I've had so many... I think some of them were actually CT scans though. I've had a couple on my knee right before surgery and then I've had 2 on my head because I've had some pretty serious sinus problems.. and the rest of the head ones (4-5) were all ct scans. So not as many as I initially thoughts.

No, thankfully.

I've had two, I was 13 at the time, they were no big deal. You lay in a tube that has some banging sounds. Easy.

I had one because I was having back/tailbone issues. I wasn't nervous but I wasn't a fan out how loud it was! My MRI seemed to drag on and it was hard to stay still for so long.

I work in a psychology/neuroscience lab where some of my coworkers do studies using functional MRI (so you see patterns of brain activity). I've been a participant in their studies lots of times, but haven't had an MRI for clinical reasons.

I have had 3 MRI's, the worst was on my knee the machine shakes so much I was very close to screaming stop due to the pain it was causing. As for the noise it is really loud even with the headphones on. My other two were for both feet they were about 2 months ago, it was interesting since they were for the same thing yet the 2 techs put me in totally different positions. I have a rip in my meniscus in the knee and plantar fasciitis along with arthritis in my right foot, left was clear thankfully. If you get the right tech you can choose the radio station ha ha ha. By my third one I was asleep partly since it was at 7am!!

No, I'm really healthy. However, every member of my family has had a MRI.

I had one on my knee when I was 13... I tore it up pretty bad playing softball. But that's my only one.

Yes, for migraines. I barely remember the MRI itself but had an anxiety attack at the prospect of contrast (needles). Luckily that wasn't ordered.

Fleur, they're so loud because what the machine does in a nutshell is to use a magnet to create radio waves that pulse through your cells. This causes the protons in the molecules of your cells to snap out of place for a minute amount of time. Different types of tissue snap back at different speeds. The machine records what snaps back when. (this is why you need to stay so still) So based on that, the machine can develop a "picture" of what your insides look like. The sound you hear is basically radio waves pulsing through your body. This is way way safer than X rays, and can be done many times with no damage. Neat, huh?

I had to have one to check for urethral diverticulitis. I am claustrophobic and found it very difficult.

I've had to go in the tube for ACL and meniscus tears in my knee. The last time I was in I teared up a bit. The droning, repetitive sound and the confinement freaked me out and I was in there for a long time.

i have had about ten for brain surgery/related problems. at first its claustrophobic but these days i can fall asleep.

ditto @PinkLizzie: My MRI was just for a friend's experiment. The worst part was I HAD to gorge myself on M&Ms before the last run (that WAS the experiment)-- what a tummyache! But now I associate MRIs with all-you-can-eat chocolate.....

I've only had the one. It covered basically my entire spine and took around 3 hours, maybe more. Noisy as hell, but you get used to it after a while. But I wasn't allowed to move AT ALL, so sleep was out of the question.

ask the same question anywhere in the world and the results will be reverse, but no - America...

I had one when I was 11 because of severe migraines.

I had a few MRI's done and both times they made me really sick.