MRI - Is it really harmless?

A carcinoid patient recently reported so much pain after MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) she could not straighten her spine and must remain hunched over. I recalled reading some similar complaints and a quick Google search found several accounts of people who had burning, itching, dizzy spells, headache, uncontrollable eye movement, nausea and pain during and after MRI.

The scan is widely used to detect abnormalities in the body. Most literature about MRI stresses it's completely safe and does not cause pain. It was considered so safe that until recently in Texas, you could get an MRI without physician's orders - so long as you could pay.

 But people are different and nobody knows whether every person on the planet will have the same experience to a scan or any other medical procedure.
The most common activity - getting a blood draw, for example - is painless to me but causes some folks to lose consciousness, experience pain and many other adverse reactions. It seems reasonable that at least a few humans will react adversely during MRI.

While I do not have severe symptoms, I have felt nauseous and completely drained of energy following MRI. I've had probably a dozen MRIs and each one left me feeling this way.

Why do I feel sick after MRI?
I've mentioned glucagon, often injected to stop gut motility during MRI. Avoid it if you have any bad reactions during MRI. Some radiologists use it routinely. Others not it at all.

I found several theories on why some people feel ill after MRI while others are unaffected.

Unknown or unrecognized bits of metal inside the body. They can remain after surgery, injuries and accidental ingestion - like the time I swallowed a nickel, a penny and a quarter to impress my older cousin. I was three.

Tattoos - sounds improbable, but some tattoos applied many years ago contained a metal substance that could cause a reaction during MRI.

Electromagnetic sensitivity - this is a growing diagnosis although little is known of its causes or cures. It appears some people are more sensitive to the electromagnetic fields we encounter 24/7 in our modern world. These fields can be tiny - like a small radio. They can be enormous - those gigantic electrical towers we see marching across the world, microwaves relayed from place to place, the electrical output of gadgets like cell phones and surveillance systems. The "power grid" itself may be a mega-electromagnetic field none can escape.

Environmental illness - it's real and has many sources. Women tend to be more sensitive than men to such things as off-gassing of formaldehyde in modern building materials, carpeting, upholstery and computer-emitted radiation. It may be they are just more likely to report these reactions since more women than men seek medical care - at least in the US.

A mix of bad stuff
Often the combination of toxic factors cause illness.

Lucinda Grant (http://www.tldp.com/issue/179/emf179.htm) reports at length on her exposure to mold from a fish tank built into a wall of her house. She, her husband and her dog developed chronic fatigue and many of the symptoms associated with adrenal failure. They notice a large electrical line above their home in California. They moved to an apartment and immediately improved but were not restored to full health for a while longer.

Mold is well documented as an environmental toxin. That alone might have caused Lucinda to become ill but the electromagnetic field may have pushed her toward more serious problems.

I'm not an authority in any area, really. But I think it is likely that someone already ill with carcinoid cancer might be extra-sensitive to the magnetic fields and pulsation inside the MRI tunnel. It's significant that pregnant women are advised against having MRI during the first trimester.

Carcinoid cancer+environmental toxcity+MRI=adverse reaction?
It's very difficult to get a doctor to listen to your complaints if he or she has already decided that MRI is completely safe for everyone. Rather than trying to convince them, you might want to consult a physician specializing in environmental illnesses.

Much of the medical community in the US doesn't regard electromagnetic fields as a cause of illness. But other countries (especially Sweden) restrict overhead electrical conduits and don't allow human habitation near large-scale electrical equipment and machines.

Lucinda Grant, who finally found health in the sea breeze of Martha's Vineyard, is director of the national support group Electrical Sensitivity Network and author of the books The Electrical Sensitivity Handbook and Workstation Radiation.

Lucinda Grant
Electrical Sensitivity Network
P.O. Box 4146Prescott, Arizona 86302 USA

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM)

www.aaemonline.org/

Is a non-profit medical society committed to educating physicians on the cause and effect relationship between environment and ill-health. AAEM covers a range of topics including genetically engineered plants to the dangers of contaminated drinking water.

The bad old days

How many of us worked on computers with cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors? Most of these machines were quietly replaced when it was discovered they emitted an unhealthy dose of radiation to anyone sitting before them.

Treatment for most environmental illnesses is a giant missing link in the medical continuum. Moving away from the offending source is obvious but that doesn't necessarily undo the damage and it may not be practical. Does it really help to move into the country if you still have a cell phone, a microwave oven and a big screen TV?

What's a noid to do?
How do you and your doctor monitor the progress of your disease? How will you know it's time to change your treatment plan? I would discuss having fewer scans per year; maybe go to every other year if your disease is stable and you have no other symptoms.

When I was diagnosed in 2006, the standard NETs protocol at a major US cancer center was CT scan three times a year and Octreoscan once or twice a year! Now, most authorities agree this is far too much imaging unless the disease is rapidly developing. Even if it's galloping into high gear, I'd consider the treatment plan. During the time you are adhering to a course of treatment (which might be six months to a year) you might be able to skip the imaging until the course is done or until there is some other indication of progression.

Then, you want to choose the most effective scan possible. Unfortunately, the most revealing scan for NETs, 68-Gallium PET-CT, is still not widely available. Vanderbilt University and the University of Iowa are conducting the scans under clinical trial protocol.

Whether it is from CT or MRI, Octreoscan or some other procedure - if you are ill or in pain afterward, PLEASE contact the FDA to report an adverse reaction: www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/default.htm


If you don't speak up, nothing will change.





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