One time in the hospital suffering from gi problems I had to drink a certain amount of liquid contrast for an MRI on my stomach , then when I was brought down to the room with the machine the nurse administered the IV dye or contrast and not even two minutes later I had to yell help because I got really sick . Am I allergic to the dye used for MRIs or was it a random occurrance? I felt instantly hot and sick . I have no known allergies could this potentially be one? Thanks in advance guys!
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Not a doctor, but being allergic makes sense to me. Some of the things they use aren’t exactly the friendliest to our bodies from what I know.
This is likely a reaction to the iodine used in the contrast. I experience the exact same like my blood is boiling and instantly nauseous. Luckily, having mentioned this at a subsequent scan, they simply placed a gauze pad with rubbing alcohol on my upper lip and zero reaction whatsoever. The greatest trick ever and I was definitely on edge because of my first go around with contrast.
Likely a reaction to the contrast. It may not even be an allergy, and it may or may not occur the next time.
https://www.insideradiology.com.au/gadolinium-contrast-medium/#:~:text=Allergy%2Dlike%20reactions&text=It%20usually%20settles%20down%20by,occurred%2C%20but%20are%20extremely%20rare.
Transient and mild reactions like this are common. I say mild, because an actual BAD reaction could go all he way to anaphylaxis.
Thank you all so much I wish I had rewards for you all.
Hot, a little itchy, weak like you have the flu? Sounds like an allergic reaction. That’s why I can’t take it.
Hello! I am allergic to a specific type of contrast that was used during a stress test. I instantly broke out into hives and my tongue swelled up to the point where I was having trouble breathing (notorious mouth breather). What sucked was that the tech didn’t seem to understand what was happening until a couple of nurses ran to get the attending. Solved by giving me benadryl. 4/10 wouldn’t do it again.
Hmmm like a five year old…. Your body doesn’t like the contrast in it so it reacted. It’s not going to hurt you long term and it’s really important for the Dr to get a good look at whatever they gave you the contrast for so that’s why it’s done still.
I have to list my Betadine Solution on allergy list and cannot have the Iodine in the MRI – there is an alternate for those who are allergic.
MRI student here. It sounds like you were getting an Enterography, which is the only study our hospital has patients drink oral contrast for. Are you sure you were injected with contrast? Contrast isn’t typically administered until partway through these exams, and it sounds like the injection that made you sick happened at the beginning of the exam.
It’s more likely that you were injected with glucagon, a hormone that occurs naturally in the body. For enterographys at our hospital, a nurse injects glucagon before the exam starts, and then again when contrast is administered, about halfway through the test.
The glucagon slows your gut. The motion from your gut moving food through your digestive system can interfere with image quality. (Anyone who has had an MRI knows you have to hold still. Motion makes the pictures look bad.) Glucagon is administered to reduce the motion in the gut and improve image quality.
Unfortunately, glucagon has the side effect of making you nauseous. So, you were given something with nausea as a common side effect. You also had to drink a lot of (likely) nasty oral contrast. You probably also weren’t allowed to eat or drink anything else before the exam either. That right there is a perfect recipe for a nauseous patient. Hence why we see more people get sick during enterographys than any other exam.
The MRI contrast does make people sick sometimes, but it’s rare, and I don’t think that’s what made you sick.
Holy shit…I had a reaction to a contrast dye injected for a ct scan in 2022 that put me into shock. They hit me twice with an epipen and strapped an AED to me and an IV. Scared the shit outta me. I had one in 2016 with no problem. Different contrast dye. Isovue is ok…Omnipaque is bad, VERY bad.
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