Needle Phobia etc.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Had a blood test at the GPs this morning, kind of hoped I'd be okay with it but in the end came about as close as I've been to passing out without actually passing out while it was being done. The nurse doing it was very sympathetic.

It really annoys me though, I know it really isn't that scary, sure it hurts a bit but not much, but why must I have this severe anxiety around it

I honestly thought I was getting better too having had a fair few needles stuck in me over the last year whilst getting diagnosed and then treated for my condition. The last few times I coped quite well but then at the time things were getting diagnosed I'd been put on medication to help with anxiety so I'm guessing that helped me get through it all. I'm not taking the anxiety medication any more.

What can I do to help (yeah I know MTFU)? Hypnosis, meditation, relaxation techniques? Share your tricks and tips

[darreni]

I've had blood done every month for the past 10 years & i'm no fan of needles.

Best thing I've found is just to look away & keep chatting to the nurse. The Nurses get this every day & are great at putting people at ease, plus they do soo many blood tests, you may not even know its been done.

[t400ble]

Needles hurt? Never felt anything other than a scratch

[LordHaveMurci]

I had a cortisone injection in my shoulder a couple of years ago, hardly felt a thing but passed out all the same! Ended up being taken to A&E in a wheelchair & having ECG's, blood pressure etc etc as they couldn't fathom why I sparked out.

Young Doctor finally concluded I didn't like being meddled with & sent me home

[boyse7en]

Try wearing headphones with some music. Distracts your attention, gives you something to focus on other than the needle.

[Hereward]

I had two holiday jabs yesterday morning.

Barely felt the needles (and looked away) but still had to lie down afterwards, pouring with sweat and on the verge of a blackout!

The power of the mind over matter is fascinating. I grew up in the tropics and had regular injections as a youngster so I think my fear is a hangover from that period.

[mr.man]

At lunch time today my three year old grand-daughter showed me her Certificate of Braveness
given to her by the nurses for having an injection in each arm without crying.

[rdjohn]

Last Friday, I was having physio on my shoulder and the therapist said she would use a needle. I had had acupuncture previously and so I thought I knew what to expect.

Oh no, she had what she described a single needle, much longer and flexible so that she could wiggle it round until she found a nerve that produced an electric shock in the muscle. She wiggled and found it OK.

Run of the mill blood tests will be a walk in the park from now on.

[br d]

I have very regular blood tests and it's never bothered me in the slightest. However, I also have a UBUS procedure from time to time and during that they slowly push a fat, long needle straight into your throat below the chin and pump a load of gunge directly into your windpipe while you try desperately not to throw it up!

I'm not a fan of that one!

[C0ffin D0dger]

Yeah, thanks for all the stories of bigger/longer needles than that used for my blood test. It's really helping

[numtumfutunch]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Yeah, thanks for all the stories of bigger/longer needles than that used for my blood test. It's really helping

LOL

If it (doesnt) help either heres my experiences.........

Over the years I have had many blood tests and cannulas (????cannulae)

The worst offenders are small cannulas over big ones where I have usually had a local beforehand - you would think pink ones would be the most benign but they hurt like hell and I even had a longstanding pain condition after one of them so am a bit worried about the pinkies now

And blood tests, hmmmm, Im not sure why but when taken by a doctor they usually smart a bit however the phlebotomists who last time was a tattoed youth dogsbody health care assistant do it such as I barely notice.

Oh and flu jabs are a walk in the park
"Is it in yet" being a common cliched remark!

Good luck

[DoubleSix]

Try a needle biopsy through your back and into your lung.

I still shudder to this day.

[C0ffin D0dger]

DoubleSix said:

Try a needle biopsy through your back and into your lung.

I still shudder to this day.

As part of the investigation into what I was eventually diagnosed with (pulmonary sarcoidosis) I had an EBUS biopsy which is a needle biopsy guided by ultrasound from an endoscope inside my windpipe out to the lymph glands in my chest. Luckily I was sedated for that one (after a second attempt at getting an cannula in) so away with the fairies. Not pleasant none the less.

[mph1977]

numtumfutunch said:

LOL

If it (doesnt) help either heres my experiences.........

Over the years I have had many blood tests and cannulas (????cannulae)

The worst offenders are small cannulas over big ones where I have usually had a local beforehand - you would think pink ones would be the most benign but they hurt like hell and I even had a longstanding pain condition after one of them so am a bit worried about the pinkies now

And blood tests, hmmmm, Im not sure why but when taken by a doctor they usually smart a bit however the phlebotomists who last time was a tattoed youth dogsbody health care assistant do it such as I barely notice.

Oh and flu jabs are a walk in the park
"Is it in yet" being a common cliched remark!

Good luck

small cannulas vs big ones - a lot of people will take more 'risk' in trying to put a small (pink 20 gor even 22g blue) cannula in than they would with a green 18g or one othe biggies grey 16g or orange 14g

doctors vs nurses vs phlebs

is an numbers game often - if you do something dozens of times a day you are going to be a little more skillful than someone who does it once in a blue moon ... ( trys to avoid the inevitable st fight that results when A+E / AAU / theatre nurses try to get slagged off by Paramedics over the numbers ... )


in my experience the bigger and tougher the patient the more liely they are to feel faint ... usually because they can't / don't / won't relax - as others have said distraction / visualisation etc works very well ... to the point of ' is it in yet ' ...

Edited by mph1977 on Thursday 10th March 09:40

[SimesJH]

I'm not particularly enthusiastic about having a needle or cannula stuck in my body but I've found they rarely hurt and many you don't feel at all. That said, I don't have a fear of them as you describe.

I have regular blood tests due to being on Warfarin and have had to self-inject Heparin of late, too. And I've given blood many times.

The best thing when someone else, I've found, is doing it is just to look away and try to think of something else. I can't look at the needle going in for some unexplained reason.

The cat being playful hurts far, far more.

Compared to my abject fear of wasps, a needle is easy.

[LordHaveMurci]

mph1977 said:

in my experience the bigger and tougher the patient the more liely they are to feel faint ...

Edited by mph1977 on Thursday 10th March 09:40

We had a young lad working for us a couple of years ago, he was genuinely over 7ft tall! Passed out every time he saw a needle apparently, accident prone bugger he was too so needles weren't uncommon in his life.

[andy-xr]

My wife has a phobia, she think, of injections. Turns out it's actually a fear of fainting, because when she had a blood test done about 10 years ago, she went in not having eaten much, had half a pint pulled out of her and her blood sugar was non existent. When she worked out that it was the fainting rather than the needle, she was a bit better about it. Maybe worth thinking about if it's actually the needle or if it's something else

[audikentman]

Have a blood test in an artery at the end of 8 sessions of chemotherapy. Then you will think a normal blood test is a piece of piss.

Try drinking plenty of water before hand, and clenching and unclenching a fists while you are in the waiting room. Then simply keep talking and look away.

Failing that just MTFU!

[chris watton]

I too have a fear of needles, I absolutely hate them! I had to have a tooth out last year, and they couldn't book me in to be knocked out, so I agreed to have the needle for anaesthetic. It was like I was paying to be tortured! I also hate the sight of blood (but weirdly, I love horror films)!

[TurboHatchback]

I can't stand needles either. I once had a blood test and even after lying down for a while still passed out while walking out past reception. It's nothing to do with either pain or blood, I just can't do needles.