Hello friends. Yesterday I went in for a routine MRI & MRA in preparation for my upcoming second cyberknife procedure at the end of this month. All was well until they injected the gadolinium and I immediately began to feel short of breath, and felt like I was going to sneeze however it never happened. After leaving the hospital and deciding to drive home by myself (stupid I know) I got home and felt even worse (very groggy, disoriented) I called Boston Medical Center and they advised me to return immediately to the ER. Five hours later, they discharged me after I passed my neuro exam and my scans were compared with previous ones (no change) 31 hours later I feel no different and was told to call back tomorrow if things don’t improve. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Should I be concerned that I still feel the way I did when I first entered the ER last night?
Did the ER consider whether you might be allergic to gadolinium? It’s very rare, but you might want to run this idea by your doctor anyway.
Hey Keith, I too had a similar reaction to the contrast used for CT scans. I believe it is iodine based? I was just a small kid then, but I do remember my nose getting itchy like I was about to sneeze…The doctors concluded back then that it was the CT dye, and I think I was just given benedryl or some antihistamine? Maybe even a steriod shot? I also think when I was younger, before my first angio I was dosed up on prednisone a few days before just in case. Is it possible that the hospital gave u some sort of antihistamine also that may have made u groggy?! Hopefully it was nothing more than allergic response to the gadolinium and u are much better today. Please keep us all updated on ur upcoming 2nd Cyberknife…Thoughts and prayers -GK
I, too, have had the itchy feeling but never the shortness of breath. Were you short of breath or did your airways close up?
Hey Keith,
Yes it sounds like you had an allergic reaction like I did. I also felt a similar feeling as you described when they injected me with the MRI contrast last time. Because I had both CT and a MRI both with different contrasts that day we are not sure which one caused the reaction. I wrote a blog about it for others to be aware. I had my GK surgery yesterday and CT w contrast. They gave me some meds to stop the reaction the night before and it worked.
I had the same thing happen and they offered me a glass of water and said they never saw that happen to anyone before. I was at barrows Neurological in Phoenix. When I was ready to leave I was feeling really weird and I have had a bunch of MRI’s never had a problem before. Just another thing to stress about for the next one, Your second cyberknife, has it been 2 years? I had my first in November 09
Thank you all for your help. Although I didn’t respond your advice and words of encouragement were very helpful to me. The doctors concluded it was a response to the dye, just not an allergic response. I’m nervous as I will have to undergo a similar MRI in a couple months for follow-up…but we’ll see how it goes.
I’m very allergic to iodine based contrast dyes, so they have to premedicate me before CTs with contrast and angiograms. The meds are no picnic but they are doable (150mg prednisone + 100mg benedryl starting 12 hours prior to the procedure). Fortunately I tolerate the MRI contrast dye well. If your doctors do determine that you are allergic to the contrast dye I would recommend getting a medic alert bracelet as sometimes these allergies get worse the more you are exposed to the allergen, i.e. the first few times someone is exposed they get shortness of breath and a rash, but a later exposure ends up as an anaphalaxis reaction, which are life threatening.
Good luck with this.
Keith S said:
Thank you all for your help. Although I didn’t respond your advice and words of encouragement were very helpful to me. The doctors concluded it was a response to the dye, just not an allergic response. I’m nervous as I will have to undergo a similar MRI in a couple months for follow-up…but we’ll see how it goes.
I’m very allergic to iodine based contrast dyes, so they have to premedicate me before CTs with contrast and angiograms. The meds are no picnic but they are doable (150mg prednisone + 100mg benedryl starting 12 hours prior to the procedure). Fortunately I tolerate the MRI contrast dye well. If your doctors do determine that you are allergic to the contrast dye I would recommend getting a medic alert bracelet as sometimes these allergies get worse the more you are exposed to the allergen, i.e. the first few times someone is exposed they get shortness of breath and a rash, but a later exposure ends up as an anaphalaxis reaction, which is life threatening.
Keith S said:
Thank you all for your help. Although I didn’t respond your advice and words of encouragement were very helpful to me. The doctors concluded it was a response to the dye, just not an allergic response. I’m nervous as I will have to undergo a similar MRI in a couple months for follow-up…but we’ll see how it goes.
So guess what! Another routine MRI and the same problem happens! After complaining to the ER that I was allergic and them stating that I am not, I had to once again face these same symptoms. I definitely won’t be having this MRI with contrast again. Hopefully there are other ways to conduct and MRI without using the gadolinium!
I hope you start to feel better or at the very least find someone who won’t give you the run around!
Hi Keith,
Let us know how you feel? also any shrikage etc?
Thanks Jaimie. I still feel like crap. Last time it took over a week for me to get through the symptoms. I’m hoping its not as long last time or longer.
Brett, I go in Tuesday morning for a follow-up which is when I’ll get the results from the MRI. I’m honestly not expecting to see much as its only been about 10 months since my initial cyberknife treatment and 3 months since my 2nd treatment, but I can say that prior to this allergic reaction I had been feeling as close to great as possible! Which is what makes this latest episode even more frustrating!