Fainting After Injections
Discussion
I was in Tesco earlier on today and had one of their £10 flu vaccinations. Paying £10 not to get the flu seemed quite good value, I thought. This isn't the first time I've had one either; for the previous two years I've done the same. Problem is that each time I feel really light-headed / faint shortly after it being administered, even though I'm not at all (at least consciously) afraid of needles or the injection thereof.
The odd thing is that it seems to have come out of nowhere - any injections I had when I was younger and at school were no problem, it was only when I had the first flu jab (at Boots) that I briefly fainted. I blamed that incident on (stupidly) not having any breakfast or lunch before the afternoon I went to have it, but it was actually the start of a trend. Last year and the one today were both in Tesco and whilst I didn't faint, I certainly wasn't a long way from it. A 5-minute sit down and a Mars bar did the trick to make me feel right as rain, but it's a but unpleasant and really annoying!
I'm no doctor, but I'm assuming it's the fear of fainting again rather than the injection itself that's causing me problems, leading to an increased heart rate / blood pressure before the injection, which then both sharply drop to below normal levels right after the injection's administered. Is there any way of combatting this at all? I've always fancied giving blood, but I'm not sure if that would kill or cure me...
The odd thing is that it seems to have come out of nowhere - any injections I had when I was younger and at school were no problem, it was only when I had the first flu jab (at Boots) that I briefly fainted. I blamed that incident on (stupidly) not having any breakfast or lunch before the afternoon I went to have it, but it was actually the start of a trend. Last year and the one today were both in Tesco and whilst I didn't faint, I certainly wasn't a long way from it. A 5-minute sit down and a Mars bar did the trick to make me feel right as rain, but it's a but unpleasant and really annoying!
I'm no doctor, but I'm assuming it's the fear of fainting again rather than the injection itself that's causing me problems, leading to an increased heart rate / blood pressure before the injection, which then both sharply drop to below normal levels right after the injection's administered. Is there any way of combatting this at all? I've always fancied giving blood, but I'm not sure if that would kill or cure me...
I had intended to post a similar message in Health Matters, so I'm glad you brought the subject up. I had pretty awful flu last Christmas, and promised my family that I would get a flu injection this year. Now in the past I have been a blood donor, and have never had any trouble with a nurse taking blood samples etc. The thing is - I just don't know whether I trust someone at Tesco / Sainbury's / Boots. I'm sure they have had training, but how much? I don't like the thought of someone who has been on a half-day course prodding a needle into me, with hundreds of shoppers milling around a few feet away. The thought of all that makes me feel apprehensive, so I can imagine how it might have affected you.
I almost fainted after having some injections in my scalp. A crowbar dropped onto my head from 2 stories up, it was a pretty hard bang when it hit me and it ripped some of my scalp off and left it hanging in a flap off the back of my head. I went to hospital and got it stitched back onto my skull, after a few injections and some scraping around inside to clean it. I was surprised to find that I felt a bit faint and dizzy straight afterwards, so had to lie there for a while to get myself together. If anyone's thinking of doing it, don't. It really hurts.
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