I’m going to have a blood test tomorrow and I am very agitated and frightened. For you see I have a sort of a phobia on bloodletting so what should I do to calm myself down?
Lots of people are nervous about that stuff. It isn’t abnormal at all. I have to have lots of blood drawn these days and I need to do several tomorrow as a matter of fact. As long as the person taking the blood is skilled, it won’t hurt much at all. They usually say it is something like an insect bite which I have often found to be an overstatement. It is just stick (little pain), fill, withdraw, and then put a Bandaid on it. I know phobias are irrational by nature but having blood drawn is very seriously mild. All you have to do is hold your arm out and let another person do the work. Your only duty will be to sit in a chair and it will be over very quickly. You can tell the phlebotomist that you are a little nervous because they see that type of thing every day and may have ways to help you. Seriously, it doesn’t hurt much at all and it is over quickly. I can think of a thousand things that are much worse.
Moving this to IMHO, where you can get informed opinions.
samclem Moderator, General Questions
One piece of advice. Drink a glass or two of water before you go to the lab. It’s a lot easier and quicker to draw blood if you’re properly hydrated. (Once I wasn’t and it took a while. Ultimately she had to draw from the back of my hand.)
I don’t know that I have a full-blown phobia, but I do find that I get consistently light-headed when blood is drawn - something about the idea of the blood leaving my body and my being a bit emptier as a result just squicks me out, illogical as it might be. (Spoilered for the squeamish). What I have found helps is informing the tech up front that I’m nervous, looking away so I don’t have to watch them prepare the needle and get anxious anticipating the feeling, breathing deeply, and doing my best to keep my mind on other things (with variable success). Then afterwards, I pretty much always have to stay seated for an extra five minutes to make sure that I don’t black out.
I’m a needle phobic myself, so I understand. I haven’t found anything that works for something as short term as a blood draw. I use valium for dental visits (even thought it’s only the needle stick that bothers me, not the drilling) I’ve been tranquilized for several other needle-use activities, like back shots. But for a blood draw, I just make sure to tell the tech I’m having a hard time and allow enough time to recuperate afterward. For me that is as much as 10 minutes spent weeping (mostly from relief, I think) until I’m safe to drive.
I’ve got a severe needle phobia–bad enough that it’s accounted for my one and only trip in an ambulance with the flashy lights and everything. I hate the phobia.
What I’ve read suggests the following things:
-Needle phobia is different from other phobias. Most phobias lead to an increased blood pressure; needle phobia leads to decreased blood pressure.
-There’s some speculation that it’s a heightened form of a normal body’s reaction to being wounded (or possibly even bitten by a venomous animal): under such circumstances, a drop in blood pressure can be lifesaving. Obviously it’s not lifesaving in the phobic’s case.
-There’s some indication that needle-phobia is inherited: it definitely runs in families. Redheads tend to get it more often than other groups, and it may be related to a lower tolerance for pain among redheads.
-I bet if you’ll think carefully, you’ll realize that it’s not the needle-stick that freaks you out: it’s how you fear your body will react to the stick that bothers you. That’s what it is for me, and when folks say, “but this stick is hardly anything,” they’re missing the point. Reason doesn’t intervene between the stick and my body’s reaction: my body’s just gonna do it. The phobia is built around the horror at what my body does.
Recently for work I needed to go through a training in using an Epi-pen. The trainer brought in a fake Epi-pen to show me–and even her explanation of where the needle would be in a real one made me lightheaded. When she told me that the training would culminate in my holding the fake epi-pen to my thigh and pretending to administer it on myself, I nearly panicked. It freakin’ sucks. (Fortunately I was able to find alternatives).
The only thing that works for me is heavy tranquilizers when I need a shot. But I rarely get those–so what works for me is to know I’m gonna have the panic attack, know I’m gonna freak out and throw up and writhe and moan, tell the doctors and nurses in advance, and afterwards treat myself to ice cream or something.
Do not look at the needle during the entire procedure.
A self-hypnosis technique might be helpful. I like the “special place” technique, where you picture yourself in someplace that you feel particularly tranquil and safe. My typical special place is floating in the shallow ocean in the Dominican Republic, lying on my back with the sun beating down on me and my painted toenails poking out of the water, the calm waves rocking me. YMMV.
Oh man, that is the worst. I also have a severe needle phobia and I have to get blood drawn a lot. It doesn’t really get better with frequency.
I agree with telling the person that you are nervous. They see a lot of nervous people and are usually good at dealing with it. Some will even let you lie down instead of sitting in the chair, which is especially helpful if you get the vasovagal reaction (that’s the low blood pressure thing where you get hot, flushed, nauseated, have ringing in the ears, and possibly faint).
Every lab I’ve ever gone to has a policy that if you actually faint, they have to call an ambulance for you, even if you revive on your own right away. So try not to faint, it can really take a lot of time out of your day.
I like to wear long sleeves so that immediately after, I can hide my arm and not have to look at the band-aid. I know that makes no sense after the fact, but phobias don’t make sense and it makes me feel better.
I used to have a needle phobia so I volunteered for a study where they took blood once a week for several weeks. That was enough. By about the fifth week it was boring. GL
That’s a pretty mild case, then. Stuff I’ve read says that (at least for the vasovagal crowd–thanks for the vocab reminder!) the phobia is exceptionally resistant to treatment: it’s more genetic than conditioned.
I do not have a needle phobia. In fact I have freaked out lab techs by being remarkably cheery while having blood drawn. “Wow, I didn’t know it would be such a deep color, cool!” But every once in a while I wake up in the wrong mood and I don’t want people sticking sharp things in my body, to the point where I shake and almost start crying. So yeah, don’t watch. Shut your eyes, concentrate on something else, pretend that the needle is just poking you rather than going inside you, stare at the ceiling, count backwards from 1000, whatever works.
When I draw people who are phobic, I like to get them to lay down, pillow under knees, lots of hubbub about comfy. I like to get a companion to chatter and hold their feet. Lots of pressure, not to hold them down, but to provide an alternate stimulus. If the person can ask lots of questions about how the foot rubbing is going, all the better.
Don’t look at any blood draw stuff. No point.
Pun intended?
Having a companion can really help. Someone who you can focus on and can try to get you to focus on something else. I have had companions stand in such a way that they block your view of what I am doing.
Some clinics may also have a topical lidocaine spray that they can use to numb the area which may make you feel a little more comfortable. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
I’m not highly phobic, so for me, any distraction helps … anything that really requires you to focus your attention elsewhere – the more completely, the better. There are certain highly intense musical passages that I like very much, and “playing them back” in my head at top volume helps a lot.
No, accidental. 
Curtis, give us an update! How did it go?
Well I broke down… 
Details, Curtis… how bad was the break. Did you cry? Did you tear the professional vampire to shreds? Did you pass out? Did you destroy the clinic?
I hope you actually got the test done.