I had an MRI last year, and while I was nervous about it beforehand, it wasn't NEARLY as bad as I thought it would be. I was in the tube for 45 minutes altogether (which is pretty long, I think, but I'm not sure...I've heard other tests are about 20 minutes?) but I didn't feel as "trapped" as I thought I would. The space was small, but if I looked, I could see outside of the tube (and even when I had to lie still and *not* look, knowing that if I wanted to, I could get out really helped.)

The machine was loud, but the techs gave me earplugs and headphones with the radio on, so it wasn't headache-inducing or ear-splitting.