I have bad veins - the kind that disappear as soon as someone tries to get blood, where the tech tries the right arm, then the left arm, then goes back to the right arm, then starts on the hands. OK, you get the picture.
Is there anything I can do about this? Exercise maybe? Drink lots of water if I know they are going to take a blood sample? Can a bad case of anemia be a factor?
not a blood sucker, but another bad veined person. I always announce before they touch me “I’m needle phobic and a hard draw”, and if the tech says “it doesn’t matter” I tell them it does to me, please get me another tech.
Serious as a heart attack - I’ve gone through things where they hit me 4 times to get one vial, another where they burst a vein on the top of my arm and I had a bruise for like 6 weeks (no exaggeration). I don’t let them play anymore.
Find ONE lab, try to get to know who is good. I’ve tended to go diretly to a lab on hospital grounds.
Other techniques - tie the arm really tight (hurts but is better than being hit 4 times), and don’t assume the first one is good. They should also use the smallest needle. (or at least the ones who’ve been successful with me have).
Good luck, don’t take any crap from 'em.
I’m a phlebotomist, among other things (Jill of all trades). As wring said, the first important thing you should do is to warn the person drawing your blood that others have had trouble hitting a vein on you. They’ll take longer and will be more careful before they insert the needle. When they are successful, remember where they hit and tell the next one where that vein is. If they can’t get a vein in the usual place, they can use something called a “butterfly” on veins in the back of your hand or elsewhere - it’s a much smaller needle and takes longer to fill a tube, but you can draw blood outa anybody with one of these. I’ve worked in mobile vans, drawing blood on heroin addicts who have blown out or collapsed all their veins, and I’ve gotten great at this! Some people can lose weight or build muscle and get better vascularity, but I think it’s mostly a genetic trait. Might not be much you can do about it. - Jill
I agree with Jill.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to drink a few extra glasses of water before getting your blood drawn; if you’re dehydrated, the veins are much harder to find. Anemia wouldn’t cause your veins to disappear- unless you’re anemic due to massive blood loss, in which case you wouldn’t be conscious enough to care if they stuck you a million times.
There really isn’t much else you can do about it, like Jill said. Some people simply have bad veins. Identify where the phlebotomists have the most luck and remember that place.
Sometimes I wish everyone was fitted with a central line at birth.
First, do not walk into a patient service center saying “you have to do this, you have to do that…” because that will only annoy the person doing it. Simply tell them “people usually have trouble finding my veins.” That person should then say that they will look in both arms. You’re better off letting the tech find a spot they are comfortable with, because if you tell them where to go and it’s not a good one, it’s your own fault. Remember, they are professionals. You may go in several times a month, but they do this all day long, day in and day out. Granted there are a few who don’t know what they are doing and when they miss, these people will say things like “you have bad veins,” “your veins collapse,” or “I don’t know what the problem is.” Sometimes (but not always) these are nothing but excuses. There was a lady today who I absolutely could not find a good spot on her arm to draw from, so I didn’t even try. Phlebotomists (at least in New Jersey) are only allowed to draw from the arms and hands.
Drinking lots of water before hand will help a lot. Fasting does NOT mean no water. The tourniquet must be tight, and you should make a fist with a ball in the fist. That helps the veins pop out more. Also a warm compress will help.
If you go in with a bad or confrontational attitude, then nobody will come out happy. Don’t forget, we don’t want to hurt you. We have blood taken regularly (we’re exposed to who knows what kinds of diseases) and know what it feels like.
JerseyDiamond makes a good point about not upsetting the drawer.
The ex-Mrs. FtG is a great sticker. She’s the one the others send the hard cases to (e.g., really old people). Queen of the Vaccutainers.
But she couldn’t stick me. I made her nervous. But most others had no problem. A lot of it is in the mind.
Don’t make a federal case out of it beforehand. It’ll just make things worse.
FtG aka GLP
Thanks, y’all.
The lab idea sounds good - there’s a lab I went to sometime in the past year that did a good job - I’ll try to talk the doctors into that idea in the future when I have a choice. Today I had an MRI, and they had to inject something into a vein - a quick trip to a lab wouldn’t have worked. BTW, they ended up injecting it into my foot! They thought it was going to hurt, but it wasn’t any worse than anything else I’ve had.
I’ll make sure I drink a lot before going in.
Yes, I have my father’s veins 
I’ve been telling them for a long time that I have bad veins (I’ve known since high school). The pain doesn’t bother me, but it takes so long for them to find a workable vein - I was hoping to make it a little quicker and a little easier on them. My left side seems to be a little better, but I’ve never noticed a real trend, except that it seems to be getting worse with time.
FTR, I usually go in with a humorously apologetic attitude, i.e. “Sorry, I’m your problem child for they day” which usually amuses them.
I find it helpful to slowly flex my arms up and down before I get stuck. Usually I tell the tech that she’ll have to pull that tourniquet pretty tightly because I have hard-to-find veins. I know of ONE vein that’s pretty reliable on me. Other veins tend to collapse, and contrary to what JerseyDiamond said, I generally won’t let the tech even try those veins unless she’s already tried my “good” vein. Sure, the tech does this dozens of times a day, but I KNOW what my veins are like. I also know that I hate having a vein collapse. I look away when the needle is about to go into my vein. Just call me chicken, but it doesn’t bother me nearly as much. I can watch the blood being drawn, I just don’t like to watch the needle pierce my skin.
Also, finding a good phlebotomist is worth the effort.
If the tech is good, and you had a relatively painless experience, TELL the tech! If I didn’t feel it, or barely felt it, I always thank the tech, and say that I appreciate a good stick. While part of it is luck, a good part of it is skill on the part of the tech, and this skill should be praised. Besides which, the tech will probably remember you the next time…
If veins collapse easily, sometimes it helps to use a syringe instead of a vacutainer. The vacuum action of the tube can cause veins to collapse, I think. This is another advantage of the butterfly set-up.
Jersey I understand that techs do this all day long. But they also should understand the phrase ‘hard draw’, it is common, and if nothing else, multiple pokes makes the patient tense up more, making the draw harder, right? There is a difference between techs.
The person who told me ‘it doesn’t make any difference’ stuck me in crooks of both elbows and top of both hands, causing 4 severe bruises, the hand ones lasted several days. She had to use the blood from both hands together to make one clear small sample. Since I work with junkies for a living this was a less than optimal result.
Therefore, anytime a tech tells me it doesn’t matter, I politely request another tech. I’m not rude or confrontational, but I’m not going to subject myself to unnecessary pokes, either.
I had a friend who had to get blood drawn every week (maybe twice a week, I can’t remember) for like 2 years 'cause of some medication she was on. She got to a point where she’d only go to one specific tech whom she trusted. I understand that.
(and I wholeheartedly agree with JillGat re the butterfly thingie - or at least that’s what the techs who’ve been sucessful with me have called it).
I didn’t say all techs are the same, but if you keep on using the same vein over and over again, eventually you will not be able to use it any more. Then what? It’s fine to request a specific tech, but in my PSC, there is only me and another person who usually does the typing. If you ask me to look at a certain vein, I will. Do you want me to go there if I don’t feel confident but feel confident in another spot? I agree that there are a lot of bad phlebotomists, but I definitely know what I’m doing. If I say it doesn’t make a difference and you want another tech, I will gladly get you the one who types all day.
Butterflies are pediatric needles with wings, but the black top needles are also peds needles, so don’t freak if we use one of them.
sorry, you’re of course correct about not using the same vein over and over again (though in my case, I really prefer using the same tech over and over).
and thanks for the tip about the butterfly (tho I have to confess I keep my eyes averted - I wasn’t at all joking about the needle phobic part, too - 
)
So I wasn’t lying when I told the MRI guy that they used a children’s needle on me last time.
Yeah. Usually the light blue winged butterflies are peds needles, or for small veins. The green winged needles are regular, but some have a better grip with them.
As long as you feel comfortable, that’s the important part. I can totally understand. So many people have such horror stories.
Most people don’t look, you are not alone. I usually try to draw myself when I need bloodwork, but when someone else does it I have to look, I guess I’m afaid they might do something wrong.
I enjoy drawing blood on others, but can’t watch when I’m being drawn!
btw, in Spanish, phlebotomists are called “vampiras.”
:eek: something new to worry about!
This must explain why you’re such a good moderator!
j/k :d&r very fast:
It could be because I have had so many blood tests within past few years, but my vein is sometimes hard to find depending on the tech.
There’s this one tech who told me to move my arm in all these unnatural positions in the air so she could try to find a vein. She would accuse of me of not positioning my arm in the perfect position when most techs can take my blood just by having me lie my arm on the table. As expected, she kept poking me. I finally asked if a supervisor could try to find my vein. And she got mad about that. The supervisor had no problem finding my vein.
Unfortunately, I went back the same lab months later and got the same tech. Again, she asked me to move my arm in all these unnatural positions. I told her I could come back another day if she couldn’t find a vein since I’m not good with lots or pokes. She said she’d be able to find a vein. It hurt so much when she stuck the needle in and it continued to hurt for 10 minutes. At that point, she said not much blood was coming out. When I asked how many vials were filled, she said none (after 10 minutes). I said I never heard of no blood coming out of veins before. She said she has been doing this job for years and it happens all the time. All I thought was maybe it was more likely to happen if she was the tech. So, I asked if a supervisor could draw my blood. She said it was only us here or no supervisors. She was mad that I asked for a supervisor, but she asked another tech to assist me. The tech had no problem finding my vein, and it was pain free as well. I didn’t think it was right for her to vent her anger on me so I told the new tech how I had the same problem with the other tech last time I was here, but the supervisor had no problem finding my vein. The tech got on my nerves since she was the type to say what a b**** I am for speaking my rights instead of realizing how incompetent she is.
I was just tired of her blaming her inability to draw blood on my bad veins (when others had no problem drawing my blood).
I’m never going back to this lab again. Just wondering what you would have done in this situation. Remember that no blood would be drawn and you’d get nonstop pokes if you didn’t request someone else.
***If you use the same vein over and over, will it heal eventually so you can use it again in the future? How long do you need to wait for it to heal?
I will resist the temptation, as great as it is, to make a remark involving zombies and bloodletting (and, of course, I recognize this a very old thread).
Still, I wanted to suggest that although the advice to drink water before getting your blood taken makes a lot of sense, you’d probably get even better results by having salty clear broths (so long as you’re not on salt restriction; and provided that the broth is virtually calorie free if you’re getting your glucose or cholesterol/triglyceride levels drawn).
ETA: Rationale - pure water diffuses throughout most of the body, whereas salt water will be more likely to stay in the veins (and so keep them ‘plump’ and easier to hit).
I’m also a hard stick. I can’t stand when I tell the phlebotomist that and they think it’s a CHALLENGE. I really hate when they start digging around within a single stick.