How do you manage strong pain while in CT scan?

[pukalania]

Hi Friends
Wondering if anyone has experience with this. Hubby cannot stay in CT scan position without a pain spasm (strong abdominal cramping to point of out of breath) despite butrans patch and hydromorphone ... And he has a ct scan allergy where he gets a rash and sometimes out of breath so we are worried how he can survive the scan. Reached out to Onc and pain specialist to see still waiting response but wanted to check too if anyone here has had this experience and how did u manage it?
Thanks so much
Love

[Maia]

Hi dear puka
Marc (lohidoc) had that problem once and they used 2 mg Dilaudid (hydromorphone) and some dexa (Decadron) in advance, to reduce swelling. Also Zofran, he needed that. That's all I know about this.
I'm giving you a big hug, other for your hubby!

[pukalania]

Hi sweet Maia
Thank you so much so good to hear from you
Hugs and love xoxo

[CLD]

My husband is also allergic to CT dye. His allergy was discovered the night he ended up in the ER, 4 days before cancer diagnosis. He just had his first CT scan 3 months into treatment. They started pretreating him 13 hours in advance with Pregnisone and Benadryl. It did not work. I am just sharing this story so you know to be prepared for a reaction even if they decide to pretreat for the next scan. As we were walking out of the hospital, I noticed hives erupting on his face and he also had them on his back. They gave him 50 mg additional Benadryl and kept him for about an hour for observation. He has 7 more scans scheduled over the next 2 years so I understand how nerve wracking this is.

[pukalania]

Hi CDL
Thank you for sharing your story. My hubby developed the allergy after scan number 6. He does get prednisone and Benadryl too and also we have tried medrol which is combo of the two they woke the same . He still gets the reaction it is hives too all over him and he looks very red but it usually goes away after 30 min. He has had 8 scans with this allergy ... But there is always the fear the next one may cause lung swelling or smth... Hopefully not
Thanks Again for your input and sorry u guys ended up in ER hopefully no such trips

[Ron50]

Hi Pukalina,
In my case I just had to tough it out. I had an mri of my lower spine which confirmed a dx of ankylosing spondylitis with fusions and pars fractures. That was the least of my problems , at the time I was suffering from bi-llateral frozen shoulders and I had to lay my hands behind my head. I couldn't but they did it for me with quite a bit of swearing on my part. Mri.s can take a while and I very nearly passed out from the pain and when they extracted me I am not ashamed to say I shed more than a few tears when they brought my arms back to my side.. Not a fond memory my deepest sympathy to your hubby and you, Ron.