I have a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad fear of needles. So much so that if I am sick and I don’t think I’m going to die I will avoid doctors and hospitals because I’d rather lay in the bathroom and vomit every 15 minutes than get an injection or have blood drawn. It is so bad that when I had a finger prick test I cried for about an hour before I could work up courage enough to let them stick me. It is so bad that one of the big reasons why I want to adopt children instead of having any of my own is because of all the needle-based check ups and other work that must be done while you are knocked up, not to mention the needle in the spine part of an epidural. I can’t even watch my cats get injections at the vet because it freaks me out so bad.
In doing a cursory check of myself (self breast exam, checking skin for weirdness, etc) I discovered that a mole I’ve always had on my thigh has grown in size and is now two different colors. Well, shit. I’ve got a list of dermatologists and I am going to call someone to make an appointment to have it checked out but I just know they are going to give me a local anesthetic and biopsy the mole to check for cancer and that is freaking me out to the point of tears. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled we explained to the doctor just how bad I am freaked out by needles and he gave me a little pill to take that made me loopy enough to not notice the anesthesia shot and I am totally going to ask for that before I let them stick me with a needle and start hacking away at this thing but honestly it just won’t do to continue to be so frightened that I can’t function in a medical setting. There must be a way to get over this fear so I am not afraid to call the doctor for things in the future.
Has anyone else here ever gotten over a fear of needles (or any other major fear, for that matter) and, if so, how did you do it?
My fear of needles is not as bad as yours, but what helps me is closing my eyes. You can do this well in advance of the actual use of the needle. I have mainly used this at the dentist–just close my eyes at the beginning of the procedure, maybe put the iPod on, and the needle part is done before I know it.
Explain to the medical professional that you don’t want to see the needle and are going to close your eyes as soon as they’re done with anything they really need you to look at. Have them continue with the exam, and do what they need to do with the needle when the time comes.
YMMV, but for me it was much more anticipatory anxiety than the actual needle being a big deal.
On a side note, are you a redhead and have you read about the apparently genetic link to strong reactions to needles? Apparently there is some type of reaction where it is linked to a drop in blood pressure. In this case it isn’t necessarily fear, at least at first. But passing out looks like fear to an outsider, and after passing out once, it is quite logical to be anxious the next time.
In looking for support, I circled back to this thread, which has other good suggestions. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-530098.html
I became diabetic and spent several months giving myself 8 or 10 shots a day (I have a pump now. No shots. Yay!)
Seriously, though, all that happened was that I got used to teeeny tiny insulin needles because I convinced myself that they were not “real” needles. I’m still like you (though not quite as bad) when it comes to getting blood drawn and a biopsy would push me over the edge.
I realize this doesn’t help much. If I were you I’d go for more drugs. If it worked with the dentist, why not try it with the doctor?
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking for the occasional fast-acting anti-anxiety drug before dealing with a test that causes you great anxiety!
Due to my history of kidney stones, I had to get over my ‘needle-phobia’ long ago, though mine doesn’t seem quite as extreme as yours. But a few years ago, I needed to have a blood gas test in prep for a surgery I was scheduled for. I remembered my mother’s horror of the blood gas tests she had, and got myself way worked up. Finally, I asked my family physician if I could have one Ativan to take prior to the test. It worked like a charm.
The way I deal with my phobia these days is a form of self-hypnosis. As suggested up-thread, I close my eyes. I do not watch the needle go in or come out. I just show them where my good vein is, stick out my arm, and tell them “Let me know when it’s over”. But really, I just “go to my happy place”; I have a grand mansion I visit when I need to get away, but can’t be anywhere but where I am. I fall asleep at night decorating it. When I need a happy place to go, that’s where I go. May sound silly, but it works for me. Helps me get to sleep at night, too.
I’m not needle-phobic, but after a mild nauseated feeling starting while watching one blood draw on me, I don’t look at the needle at all either. I think it’s very good advice - just warn the tech, turn your head away, and don’t look back until you feel the gauze being pressed onto the pinprick spot.
I understand that fear. I have small veins, like too small to donate blood I never, ever watch! I have 1 vein from which blood can be drawn. I now have a small black spot, because it’s THE best place to get a needle to go in.
So, yeah, like Norinew and Harriet said, close your eyes and go to a “happy place.”
Consider, too, having your mole completely removed at one go. Tell your dr. how difficult it was to come in at all, and please remove it all, rather than biopsy and possibly have to go back.
This is sort of stupid but it may be of some help, I don’t know…
I was really afraid of needles when I was a little kid. Like you are now. I went through a period when I had to get regular blood draws and it was AWFUL. I remember how much I screamed and cried. I remember a distinct fear of getting my ears pierced too. I thought girls who were pierced were absolutely crazy.
Then, I had to have an emergency spinal tap when I was 14. A spinal tap needle is a big fucking needle. But, the problem I was having that the needle “cured” was soooo much worse than a stick with a needle. It was a daily debilitating headache that I had lived with for several months.
My 14-year-old brain was like “I can deal with a few minutes of needle in exchange for relief from this horrible headache” and just like that I was cured of my needle phobia.
Shortly thereafter I got my ears pierced 4 times, and the day I turned 18 I got a tattoo. Now, I give blood regularly and also have zero problems doing regular blood draws.
I think I actively seek out needles because I think I am so fucking brave for doing it. Obviously that’s not true - but it helps to think that way.
But yeah, maybe if you think of it in terms of seconds of pain vs. having to deal with skin cancer, it might be a lot easier to swallow.
I’m a redhead too! I’ve never heard anyone bring it up in relation to this phobia. Mine is so awful and so embarrassing. I went through my last pregnancy without a single stick. I avoided the doctor almost the whole time too. When I had an emergency situation requiring an epidural after insisting on “natural labor” (which I chose ONLY to avoid the epidural!) I had to have blood drawn and then suffered the epidural. It was hell for everyone around me. I had to be held by three people, I had no control over my body’s reaction. I was ashamed when I saw the nurses rolling their eyes but I honestly couldn’t help my reaction. After labor they came in to check my blood and I refused, and haven’t had it taken for any reason since then.
I have no idea why I have this phobia but I do have an anxiety disorder already. It feels so stupid. I see my little girl getting her shots or blood drawn with little more than a flinch. It’s not the pain I fear at all, for sure. I mean I was going to do natural labor just to avoid that tiny poke.
So I know your pain. I wish I had a suggestion for you, but at least know you’re not alone. Don’t let yourself die because of that fear. I’m terrified I’ll get sick; there’s diabetes and heart disease all over my family. The idea of having to test myself…no I don’t even want to think about it.
I don’t know if this would help with needles, but it helps me to imagine my fear coming true (vomiting) and all the mundane repercussions which reassures me that it really isn’t that bad (messy clean up, bad taste in your mouth, bad smell, maybe stomach muscles hurting a little. Nothing that I can’t deal with just fine individually.). That makes me feel a lot better - knowing exactly what to expect and that I really can handle all of it.
Other than that, I just try my very best to relax (consciously relaxing all of my muscles, trying to mentally calm myself down) and distract myself mentally, generally by counting from 1 to whatever. (Doing simple math problems - counting backwards from 100 by sevens, etc - never really helped me. I think it’s that simple counting is so mindless that it becomes soothing and almost hypnotic.)
Also, and this only works if it really is true, I remind myself at the worst point that this is as bad as it’s going to get*. Really only helps with more mild stuff when you’re afraid of a related, much worse (to you) thing happening (motion sickness, for instance, with my fear being eventually vomiting, which never actually happens to me in those circumstances).
Good luck, and good on you for wanting to tackle this!
*Edit: so since I’m getting through that, the rest won’t be so bad.
I hope I’m not antagonizing anyone by asking this, but for those with this phobia, can you say exactly what it is you’re afraid of? Is it pain, or blood, or injury, or the idea that something is being put into your body that doesn’t belong there? Or is it not a specific thing - just a visceral “NO” to the very idea?
I’m interested because I actually have the opposite reaction to needles. I think watching my blood being drawn is kind of neat, like, “Oh, look! Biology in action!” I feel the same way about spiders and snakes, actually. But in those cases, I can understand where other peoples’ fear comes from, even if I don’t feel it myself. After all, some spiders and snakes can kill you. Then again, I suppose a needle could kill you, too. Is that it, maybe? Fear of poisoning or death?
tell the provider you would like to tell them about your day while they are doing the procedure. then be talking while it is going on and that might help your mind.
Partly it is the pain. People tell me, “Oh, it only hurts for a second…it will feel like a quick pinch” which is a goddamned lie. It hurts and burns and leaves me bruised afterwards no matter how skilled and gentle the nurse in question happens to be at her job and it always takes at least 15-20 seconds which is a long time when you are dealing with something that hurts like that. Partly is it the reaction I have to it afterwards - bruising, headaches, soreness, etc. Partly it is the fear compounding upon itself to the point of hyperventilating and possibly passing out. Partly it is the fact that I am sitting here voluntarily letting someone do this to me. If I stick myself with a needle while sewing it doesn’t phase me at all. I’ve stepped on a needle that was embedded in the carpet and driven it up into my foot with no more than a swear and some tweezers to pull it out. Logically I know this, but my brain does NOT want me to volunteer for this and sends me into fight or flight mode so badly that my mom once had to hold me back to keep me from punching a doctor that was trying to give me a shot. Something instinctual deep in my lizard brain tells me that this is not okay and that I should do whatever I can to avoid it. Apparently this is something that seems to effect redheads more than others so there could be a genetic or other component in place as well.
I think I am going to set an appointment with the understanding that the first visit is solely for looking and determining if the mole needs to be removed at all and if the doctor decides it needs to go then I will not leave that office without a prescription for valium and another appointment on the books for the actual removal process. I’ll have my fiance come with me so I can safely get there and back while on valium and afterwards I will have some cake and ice cream to celebrate my bravery.
I think exposure therapy would probably work pretty well for a phobia like this. Like you say, chances are pretty good you will run into unavoidable needles some day. Or just get an Ativan prescription.
I wish I knew. It’s a visceral thing. A desperate need to RUN AWAY. Chest pounds, jaws clench, my neck feels so tight I can’t breathe. I don’t mind seeing other people get shots though. I used to but I grew out of it I guess. When I was a kid I was afraid of sharp objects in general. Maybe something happened to me back then that I’ve blocked. It’s not the pain though. I’ve suffered pain much worse than a puncture wound. It sucks, but I don’t have the same anxiety.
I have other phobia and the fear of heights; that one is so bad I will retch if I catch a glimpse of a “bird’s eye view” shot on television.
I love spiders and other creepy crawlies, by the way.
On the pain issue, it makes a big difference if you can relax the area where the injection will be. It hurts A LOT more if your muscle is clenched. Maybe practice ahead of time focusing on clenching your fist while keeping your legs relaxed?
I sympathize, needle phobias are hard to “get over” and it was more than annoying when I had some health stuff that involved a lot of needles and everyone said “oh, well, you’ll get over it when you have to have them all the time!” Um, no.
In addition to not looking at the actual procedure, I also tell the staff I am nervous and most of them are really good about keeping the equipment out of sight (to the extent possible) until right before they need it, and then whisking it away right after.
Another weird trick I use to distract myself is to “count” my breathing while it’s happening, but with random numbers, like “31, 12, 45, 106, 27.” I used to count like a normal person, but I found that when I got up to “… 8, 9, 10…” I would start getting spazzed about how long it was taking, so I switched to random numbers which made it harder to focus on the time.
I had what was probably a normal aversion to needles up until I joined the military. When you have no choice but to stand in line and be stabbed, you just flip a switch in your head to the “no big deal” position. At least, that’s what I did. Zen out and deal with it.
Thanks for these responses. It seems it depends a little on the person, although most folks seem to have that “visceral” component in common. Don’t get me wrong; even though I don’t have this particular fear, I can totally relate to that reaction. For instance, I have a fairly major fear of having my head under water. Sure, it’s partly that drowning = bad, but it’s much more than that. It’s severe enough that I hold my breath when I face the shower. If there were actual pain involved, I can imagine it would be much harder to overcome.
You definitely deserve ice cream and cake, pbbth! And valium.
I have severe needle phobia, just like the OP, and I avoid seeing a doctor for anything that will require blood being drawn. I get a tight feeling in my stomach, clenched jaw, sweats, I get all of that just from thinking about needles, don’t even ask what it’s like when I actually get stuck (I start bawling like a little girl with a skinned knee. I’m a 30-yr-old man, BTW). I also hate veins, I think they’re the most disgusting things, I hate it when I can see people’s veins popping out from their skin. Blech.
I tried to force myself to face this fear by watching Trainspotting without turning away or closing my eyes. I lasted 15 minutes.
I never, ever watch! I have 1 vein from which blood can be drawn. I now have a small black spot, because it’s THE best place to get a needle to go in.
