How can I break the pattern of fainting after shots? I never had a problem until the HPV shot.?

Question

I'm in highschool and I know it's weird but before I got my first HPV shot, I actually sort of enjoyed shots. Not that I enjoyed the pain but I'm just interested in medicinal things and i like to feel how the injection spreads through my arm....Anyway I went in for my shot and I obviously wasn't all that nervous because I didn't mind shots. I got the shot and about 5 or 10 seconds after i actually got poked with the needle, everything started to go spotty, then went black and i woke up on my back on the table. I had apparently keeled over sideways & my mom/the nurse had put me on my back. I was very nauseous and very very uncomfortable (I had never fainted before that). Several nurses came in to help and had me drink some juice. I had eaten 2 meals prior to recieving the shot. After a bit, the nurse helped me & I slowly sat up, then climbed down& the nurse was holding my arm while I was standing there when I passed out again. The nurse caught me & I woke up on the ground, on my back.

I stayed there for at least 15 minutes because they didn't want me to faint again. I didn't drink any more juice because i felt so nauseous. After the 15 minutes, another nurse came in to help me up in case I fainted again. Everything started to go spotty again when i stood up so they sat me in a chair. my mom says that I fainted again but i didn't think i did. 2 nurses were holding me and I was in a chair so I'm not really sure. After I may or may not have fainted a third time, I threw up several times. I went to the podiatrist about 2 months later for a very simple ingrown toenail procedure in which my toe is sprayed with a cold spray and then a shot that numbs my toe is given. After I got the shot, everythign went spotty and I was concious enough to say I thought I was about to faint and then passed out.

The chair I was in was reclined backwards so there were no consequences but after that I threw up several times. After about 15 minutes, I felt okay so I got up slowly and walked all the way to the car and I was fine. We'd been driving in the car for about a minute when everything went spotty again so I told my mom and she pulled over and I didn't actually lose consciousness but almost. Now whenever I think about having to go back for my second Gardasil shot, I get very anxious, sometimes to the point of tears. I'm afraid that the HPV shot started a pattern for me in which my body recognizes that I'm getting a shot and I pass out, even though many people pass out from the Gardasil vaccine for some reason. My question is is there any way to break this pattern? Is there any reason my body may have recognized the shot at the podiatrist and made me pass out? Help! I’m so scared of shots now!

well obviously they wrote it on my charts that i passed out so when i got back to get the shot it will say that and i'll tell them. i didn't build up anticipation because i just wasn't scared you have to believe me haha i used to like shots! there's something about gardasil that makes people faint. 11% of people who get it faint. My mom talked to an experienced nurse who said I need to lay down whenever I get a shot because then the right amount of oxygen/blood will get to my brain and i shouldn't pass out but if i do at least i won't fall because i'm already lying down.

any ideas besides just telling myself it's not that bad? i mean like concrete ideas or things that have worked.

Answer 1

oh mann im so sorry.. but what i do is breathe out when they put it in ..and maybe you should close your eyes so you cant see it

Answer 2

Sometimes when I give shots or I.V.'s people faint. Fainting is basically a reaction your body has to stress, and its purpose is not always the same. Basically your body pulls its blood toward its trunk, leaving the head deprived of oxygen. It's a fight or flight response. I don't know if you can really talk your autonomic nervous system into acting differently. Sometimes, just before you faint, you may notice yourself working up to an almost frenzied state. People used to equate frenzies as the cause of fainting spells, but often it's the reverse. The altered blood levels are the cause of the frenzy (for lac of a better word). Anyways. Know your a fainter, and when faced with an injection, make sure you are lying down, as gravity will assist in this phenomenon, which you don't want. You're not a wimp. It's just how your body reacts. Clear as mud?

Answer 3

It sounds as if you had a bad reaction to the medication. If I were you, I would not take that medication again before consulting the doctor. This drug is so new that there are many unknowns. While it sounds like a great solution to HPV and possible cancer, no one knows everything there is to know about it. Furthermore, anyone who takes it right now is really a guinea pig to see what the reactions will be. Sorry I couldn't be more encouraging but I am scared of these new drugs that haven't developed a solid history yet.
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As far as your wanting to hear something other than the fact that the drug might have side effects, all I can tell you is, practice safe sex and avoid promiscuous behavior that could lead to STD's.

Answer 4

I got the shot about a week ago and had similar problems. I am the same way as you and I don't mind shots at all. After I got the shot i felt very nauseous but I did not faint. A few hours after the shot I threw up twice. I am too, afraid to go back to get the shot in 2 months. I don't know why the shot made you faint but that is very wierd. Let me know what you find out. :)

Answer 5

It sounds like you had an effect from the gaurdasil, and they will probably have you sitting down when they give you the next dose, as the same reaction is likely again.

The response at the podiatrist was probably an 'hysterical' reaction due to your fear of it happenning again, even sub-conciously.

You need to remind yourself that this reaction was not due to the injection as such, but the contents, and that it is not likely to happen again for other than the gardasil.

My daughter had never had a problem with blood tests ro injections until her father took her for one instead of me. He was anxious and she fainted as a reaction to his expectations. We are now having to work on her overcoming this, when in the past she was like you and just facinated! Grrrr

Answer 6

the same happened to me!!!!
except not that shot

in 7th grade i got two shots, then i was normal didnt feel a thing
then i felt like i was gonna barf. my mom said i needed air
so i went outside and walked around(that was a big problem) thankfully i had a brain and came back inside. sat on a chair then got up and told my mom i felt dizzy ( this happened at the doctors office) then i started seeing black and white, then gray and then all of a sudden i am half concious going through the hallway of the doctors office

turns out i fainted and i was gonna fall on a kid, but the kids dad caought me. lol how embarracing. right? well i was laying down on the bed thingy then the doctor was like do u know wat happened? i was like no!

then my mom was so scared she was gonna faint, but she didnt lol

ya so i had to go to this resperatory thing and got they thought it was because of my heart, turns out it wasnt. so thats that story


then later that year in science we were wathcing a movie about eye surgery someone was getting it, then i fainted lol
so ya

i am scared to get my next shot, now im going to 9th grade and am scared to go to the doctors lol

i need help to with that

just close your eyes and think about unicorns and and girly nice raimbow stuff lol or just like close ur eyes.


GOOD LUCK SISTA

Answer 7

This is a psychological & emotional reaction!
No vaccine could have that effect so quickly.
I suspect you built up a huge anticipation about HPV.
Now your mind has equated this with every shot.
It's a learned response;-{ you have to unlearn it.
Try to tell yourself it's all in your mind & relax.
Above all, don't watch the needle or preparation.
There are no known ill effects.

Answer 8

talk to ur doctor about it the shot might of had a bad effect on u