Dietary solutions to claustrophobia?

jofjltncb6

There is always medication. Lots of good pharmaceuticals out there. I don't believe in that approach, but I guess it would be worth a try.

http://blogs.menshealth.com/health-headlines/the-end-of-claustrophobia/2011/04/23

^^This is actually a really good article. However, it could mean you have to get a lot of MRIs to desensitize yourself. That could get expensive. The breathing thing is standard CBT for anxiety, too.

OR just buy a new microwave or TV or something and fashion a tunnel out of the box-- free pretend MRI machine! It's even more realistic if you get a recording of chaotic, percussive music and blast that while you're in there.

Stop! Just reading about that incessant infernal hammering is enough to mess with my breathing.

The really bad mental picture for me are the storm sewers that go under the street...the ones that are just a couple of feet wide. I'm often called on by my kids (or the neighborhood kids) to rescue a ball or toy from inside those. I don't really mind it when it's just at the bottom under the manhole cover and I can just climb straight down and back...but when it's a few feet either direction down those tubes...*shudder*. I just can't do it now...just looking down the tube with a flashlight to confirm how far the toy is is enough to freak me out...and no way am I crawling down them now...because I'll obviously get stuck in there or there will be an earthquake or a flash flood and I'll most certainly die. Just thinking about the scenario now...*gasp*.

It's the same feeling I got when I tried snorkeling a couple of years ago...like I couldn't breath and yet all I could hear was the sound of my panicked breathing through that tube.

jofjltncb6

There is always medication. Lots of good pharmaceuticals out there. I don't believe in that approach, but I guess it would be worth a try.

http://blogs.menshealth.com/health-headlines/the-end-of-claustrophobia/2011/04/23

^^This is actually a really good article. However, it could mean you have to get a lot of MRIs to desensitize yourself. That could get expensive. The breathing thing is standard CBT for anxiety, too.

OR just buy a new microwave or TV or something and fashion a tunnel out of the box-- free pretend MRI machine! It's even more realistic if you get a recording of chaotic, percussive music and blast that while you're in there.

He might like that idea! Who doesn't want a new TV?

I haven't had an MRI in years. What is that music you are talking about? Do they play music while you are in them? Or are they noisy these days?

When I really freaked out during one...and I mean *really* "fight or flight" kind of stuff...they had the music too loud, it was an annoying song, they had a blank on top of me (trapping and suffocating me, of course) and I had to pee. When we finally reset (after my daring escape from the machine and the room and after I had relieved myself), I went with NO music, just ear plugs, and NO blanket. It was still absolutely awful, but I made it through.

I'm disappointed that no one had an anecdotal story of how cutting out gluten (or carbs or anything else) resolved their claustrophobia.

UsedToBeHusky

The really bad mental picture for me are the storm sewers that go under the street...the ones that are just a couple of feet wide. I'm often called on by my kids (or the neighborhood kids) to rescue a ball or toy from inside those. I don't really mind it when it's just at the bottom under the manhole cover and I can just climb straight down and back...but when it's a few feet either direction down those tubes...*shudder*. I just can't do it now...just looking down the tube with a flashlight to confirm how far the toy is is enough to freak me out...and no way am I crawling down them now...because I'll obviously get stuck in there or there will be an earthquake or a flash flood and I'll most certainly die. Just thinking about the scenario now...*gasp*.

Hahahaha! Yeah, my dog is actually scared of those too!

jofjltncb6

The really bad mental picture for me are the storm sewers that go under the street...the ones that are just a couple of feet wide. I'm often called on by my kids (or the neighborhood kids) to rescue a ball or toy from inside those. I don't really mind it when it's just at the bottom under the manhole cover and I can just climb straight down and back...but when it's a few feet either direction down those tubes...*shudder*. I just can't do it now...just looking down the tube with a flashlight to confirm how far the toy is is enough to freak me out...and no way am I crawling down them now...because I'll obviously get stuck in there or there will be an earthquake or a flash flood and I'll most certainly die. Just thinking about the scenario now...*gasp*.

Hahahaha! Yeah, my dog is actually scared of those too!

Smart dog. And that's from the outside. Imagine if the dog were able to lift the manhole cover (using a standard screwdriver) and climb down into that hole...and then on a dare, crawl underneath the street to the other side...like I did once as a kid...in a much less nice storm sewer pipe. *shudder*

ZoeLifts

There is always medication. Lots of good pharmaceuticals out there. I don't believe in that approach, but I guess it would be worth a try.

http://blogs.menshealth.com/health-headlines/the-end-of-claustrophobia/2011/04/23

^^This is actually a really good article. However, it could mean you have to get a lot of MRIs to desensitize yourself. That could get expensive. The breathing thing is standard CBT for anxiety, too.

OR just buy a new microwave or TV or something and fashion a tunnel out of the box-- free pretend MRI machine! It's even more realistic if you get a recording of chaotic, percussive music and blast that while you're in there.

He might like that idea! Who doesn't want a new TV?

I haven't had an MRI in years. What is that music you are talking about? Do they play music while you are in them? Or are they noisy these days?

So very noisy!! I didn't get any headphones or music, it just sound like I was being tossed around in a dryer with a pair of tennis shoes most of the time. :grumble:

cmcollins001

Stop! Just reading about that incessant infernal hammering is enough to mess with my breathing.

The really bad mental picture for me are the storm sewers that go under the street...the ones that are just a couple of feet wide. I'm often called on by my kids (or the neighborhood kids) to rescue a ball or toy from inside those. I don't really mind it when it's just at the bottom under the manhole cover and I can just climb straight down and back...but when it's a few feet either direction down those tubes...*shudder*. I just can't do it now...just looking down the tube with a flashlight to confirm how far the toy is is enough to freak me out...and no way am I crawling down them now...because I'll obviously get stuck in there or there will be an earthquake or a flash flood and I'll most certainly die. Just thinking about the scenario now...*gasp*.

It's the same feeling I got when I tried snorkeling a couple of years ago...like I couldn't breath and yet all I could hear was the sound of my panicked breathing through that tube.

firstsip

When I really freaked out during one...and I mean *really* "fight or flight" kind of stuff...they had the music too loud, it was an annoying song, they had a blank on top of me (trapping and suffocating me, of course) and I had to pee. When we finally reset (after my daring escape from the machine and the room and after I had relieved myself), I went with NO music, just ear plugs, and NO blanket. It was still absolutely awful, but I made it through.

The last time I had one, I got headphones and asked to be put on the local rock station. The noisiness of the MRI machine gets melded with the bass of the songs--it was even better when the noise seemed to synch with the bass of NIN.