# Pregnancy test and MRI?



## marieangela (Apr 15, 2003)

Okay. So, I'm having an MRI of my head done next Monday. I was asked if I could be pregnant. I'm still nursing my 17 month old and af has yet to return (took 20 months with ds1). Technically I could be pregnant, so I was asked to take a pregnancy test before Monday. Thing is, if I happened to have ovulated, I could have gotten pregnant a few days ago and the test would be negative. Should I even worry about this?


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## CalebsMama05 (Nov 26, 2005)

I would take it monday morning...that would put you at 12dpo (or thereabouts) and you *could* get a pos possibly.


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## Kimmiepie (Dec 21, 2006)

It's my understanding that mris are radiation free, and dct scans are not. I don't know why the mri to your head would be dangerous unless you were using the dye. If you are, is it possible to do it without the dye? I've had a few head mris and twice without dye, once with, I think it depends on what you're being scanned for.


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## Kitten (Jan 10, 2005)

I am the queen of MRIs for medical reasons I won't bore you with. The radiology dept said they would not use a contrast dye MRI while I was still nursing unless I stopped nursing for 24 hrs. Try explaining that to a 2 year old, ha. Don't know if this is actually true or just CYA, just a heads-up for you. They might assume that a 17 month old would be weaned by now. I had to actually ask about it, they were just going to go ahead and use it and were really, really annoyed when I said I was not going to stop nursing for 24 hrs.

Anyway, I was also in a situation, for a previous MRI, where I could potentially have been pregnant. The neurologist and radiologist said I should take a pregnancy test, abstain for two weeks, take another one, and then they'd do the MRI if it was negative. MRIs don't have radiation, but they do use very powerful magnets to align electrons in your body's water. I don't think anyone knows what this could do to a developing embryo or fetus, and a study on this wouldn't exactly get approved by most ethics committees.


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## marieangela (Apr 15, 2003)

Thank you for the information! This is my first MRI and I'm not really sure how everything works. I did mention that my son is nursing when I made the appointment and the woman that I spoke to said that they wouldn't be using the dye. I picked up a pregnancy test on the way to work this morning and will be taking it soon. I'm a bit freaked out by this test since my dh had one not long ago and talked about the awful noise. We shall see how it goes.


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## Nathan1097 (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *marieangela* 
Thank you for the information! This is my first MRI and I'm not really sure how everything works. I did mention that my son is nursing when I made the appointment and the woman that I spoke to said that they wouldn't be using the dye. I picked up a pregnancy test on the way to work this morning and will be taking it soon. I'm a bit freaked out by this test since my dh had one not long ago and talked about the awful noise. We shall see how it goes.

I have heard of people getting clausterphobic in the MRI. However, I had one several months back now, and I LOVED it! You are in a very small space, yes, BUT there is air blowing on your face- nice fresh, cool air- so to me, I felt like I was back in the womb in a way. Yes, it was loud, and the only problem I had with that is I couldn't alwalys understand what the man was saying AND I wanted to fall asleep but couldn't because I had to breathe and not breathe when he said.


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## marieangela (Apr 15, 2003)

Glad to hear that you loved it, Nathan1097. I didn't even think about falling asleep, but I'm sure it will be tough for me not to fall asleep. I am always ready to fall asleep when I have a few moments of quiet (okay so it won't be quiet, but I won't have two crazy boys running around).

One other thing. I do have a metal post in my one tooth. It was put into a tiny little tooth to enable the dentist to put a crown on it. I asked about it when I made the appt, and the woman said it was fine before I even described it to her. I'm still a bit paranoid about it. I'll ask again when I get there, but is there a good place to find info on MRIs online?


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## Nathan1097 (Nov 20, 2001)

I'm not sure, but I don't think metal in your teeth is a big deal. Supposedly, I have metal clips in me (?!) per my dad from from I was a baby and people have umpteen fillings and those aren't prohibited.


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## Finch (Mar 4, 2005)

Well, glad to see this thread, as I was thinking this morning of calling my doc to schedule an MRI for my head (I have a large cyst on my skull and some other issues), but now I see that since I'm ttc, that might not be possible. Thanks for the info.


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## Kitten (Jan 10, 2005)

I don't want to scare anyone off from getting medical treatment if they need it. You might need to take a month off from TTC, but with two negative pregnancy tests two weeks apart and abstinence or reliable birth control in between, my neurologist said an MRI is fine.


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