very extreme FEAR of NEEDLES! BLOOD TESTS and VACCINATIONS Freak me out! what am I gonna do?

Question

EVERYTIME I NEED TO GO TO THE DOCTORS, I ALWAYS NEED VACCINATIONS AND/OR BLOOD TESTS! NEEDLES FREAK ME OUT AND I'M NOT GOING AFTER WHAT HAPPENED! I ALWAYS RUN OUT OF THE EXAM ROOM WHEN THE DOCTOR GOES TO PREP THE INJECTION! THE SAME HAPPENS WHENEVER I NEED TO GO FOR A BLOOD TEST! I CAN'T STAY CALM WHEN I'M ABOUT TO BE "PHYSICALLY TORTURED"! TRUST ME, GETTING VACCINATIONS AND GOING FOR BLOOD TESTS IS PAINFULL TORTURE! IF YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED I'LL TELL YOU, BUT IT WAS FREAKY! ONE TIME I HAD TO GO FOR A BLOOD TEST AND IT JUST FREAKED ME OUT, SO RAN OUT OF THE EXAM ROOM. I MADE TOO EASY FOR THE NURSE TO FIND ME BECAUSE I WAS JUST STANDING OUTSIDE OF THE ROOM SHAKING IN FEAR. SHE HAD TO CALL FOR ANOTHER NURSE TO HOLD MY HEAD TO KEEP ME FROM LOOKING. NOW IT GETS TO THE POINT WHERE I'M GONNA YELL! I WAS STUCK WITH NEEDLES FIVE TIMES IN EACH ARM! IT TOOK ONE HOUR TO GET THE TEST DONE AND IT WAS TORTURE! I DON'T WANNA GO THROUGH THE TORTURE AGAIN, WHAT AM I GONNA DO TO AVOID FREAKING?

Answer 1

This fear probably originated very early in childhood. You have associated a bad experience (probably someone holding you down for a shot) with the thought of needles/syringes. Think of Pavlov's dog. Your the dog (sorry), the sight/thought of the needle/syringe is the bell, and your intense fear is the saliva. You need to desensitize yourself from the needles. Perhaps your doctor or nurse would agree to letting you come in and sticking you with a very small needle (size of couple strands of hair) like on a heparin syringe and build you up from there. Maybe they can give you some valium before. Is it the stick that bothers you or what follows? Whenever you know that you have to have a blood draw, you should make sure that you are well hydrated, it makes the veins easier to stick. I have had several pts tell me that they fear needles and I simply lie them down with a cool washcloth on their forehead and help them with breathing. If you make your fear known, any compassionate nurse, dr, phleb will help you through it. I always reassure the pts that I am "The One" and have had many ask if I've started yet when I am almost done. I would NEVER let anyone stick me more than 2X. Ask for The One. Virtually every drs office/hospital has one.

Answer 2

lucky7,

I don't know too many folks who has NOT had a bad experience (or two) in getting their blood drawn. I've tolerated 'bad sticks' from those who have admitted to not having much experience...with the understanding that it takes actual experience to get to the point where the person gains confidence and becomes proficient...

...my tolerance and patience only goes so far, however. I'll allow two attempts before requesting someone with more experience. I would never let the same person 'stick' me five times...that is cruel and inhumane.

As for your problem, I'm not too sure there's much that can be done. There are lotions that can be prescribed that can numb the area where you're to have your blood drawn, but it must be applied some 45 minutes to an hour before the actual stick. Perhaps speaking with your doctor about the problem would yield some results...perhaps he could prescribe an anti-anxiety medication for you to take before getting your blood drawn.

Answer 3

I would suggest that your fear doesn't stop at needles, it's of pain and bleeding and death. Needles are just an common way to experience pain, you usually bleed a little or into a tube, but it won't kill you (thankfully). Perhaps you could ask them to give you nitrous oxide first? That's laughing gas, it's supposed to relax you, whatever. Maybe you could try to deal with your deeper concerns. I'm sure calming yourself down and thinking things through will only get you so far at this point, but seriously, relaxing will help, the freaking out is probably making things much worse than they really are. A needle in your arm, while unnatural, isn't actually harming you. It can hurt, but whenever I have it done to me, I just realize it's going to hurt. I mean, they're putting in a needle, it HAS to. Also, a little pain isn't so bad when I think of it in terms of it being just a feeling, it's a specific type of nerve stimulation, etc. I've never been phobic of this, but I've had my share of other phobias, and I'm sorry people have to force you through yours. Plus, a little pain never bothered me, it's sort of more interesting than horrible (for me). I hope the best for you!

Answer 4

It only occurs a few times a year. I turn my head and think about something else that is going on in my life or something that I need to do or get done. Ususally its over beofre I am done thinking. I used to have the same fear and then I had my daughter and of course when your pregnant you get stuck with needles all the time, so I had to find someway to make it easier for me.

Answer 5

Yea, getting stuck with needles stinks and is scary. But, you got to tell yourself that if you keep making such a huge ordeal out of it it is going to be like 100 x worse than if you just took a depp breath and let them do what they got to do. Believe me I am horribly, horribly scared of needles, but as a newly diagnosed diabetic, I have had to get used to them quickly. My best advice for you is to take someone with you and hold their hand, that's what works best for me.

Good luck, take some deep breaths and you'll do well.

Answer 6

im a nurse and i dont like to receive shots/injectoins.i can give them ,draw blood on others (which im good at !12 yrs experience) my probable is when getting them i think too much about it,which makes it worse.by the time a get to get it ive got my self in a major PANIC ,but ive learned from this to tell the nurse doing it to just say your having blood drawn or a shot it will hurt but turn your head and dont look also tell the nurse to after she/he explained what is to happen to just talk to you about anything but the injection and just do it without continueing to tell you.if you know you are to get a shot dont ever look at the supplies they have.my son who is now 17 had a nurse while in his fathers care scare the hell out of him about needleshe was 3 w/ dad in wv i was in pa she was trying to insert a iv she tried 4 times i was on the phone during this she scared him to death she tried 5 times to start the iv boy did i give her hell its a 4 hr drive from pa to wv i made it in 2 hrs.its been hard to get him to be unfraid of needles but i did it.its hard to overcome if you want to chat further its [e-mail] luck

Answer 7

First things first, take off the caps lock. I feel the exact same way. I try to think of something that makes me happy, breathe slowly and look away. If you're there with someone, tell them to make you laugh. It will be all over with and you wont feel pain!

Answer 8

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Answer 9

You close your eyes and say to youself ,you'er a big girl now ,it will be over in a second and go for it .a blood test ,just look at the wall on the other side ,not at the needle .

Answer 10

have a friend go with you and be support. maybe maybe you can have them tie you down for the doctor so you wont escape :)