[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! I’m going in for my ten week appointment soon and they are pretty much insisting they take my blood.
I have a very severe needle phobia. Like, they come at me with a needle and I have a panic attack, faint, and then vomit all over the office when I come to. I am starting to sweat just typing this.
It is my understanding that they are going to check my iron levels, for various STDs, and immunity for certain diseases.
Has any one else ever gone through pregnancy with a needle phobia?
[name_m]How[/name_m] did you get around blood tests?
Are there tests they can do as an alternative?
My fear is a needle in my vein, not shots or finger pricks.
I’m not pregnant, but I have had a fear of needles since I was a young child. When I was younger they actually had to have at least three nurses hold me down.
Talk your doctor ahead of time. I’m sure they have experience with this and have ways to deal with it. Also bring a distraction. I suggest a sleep mask and a mp3 player/ipod with headphones(during the blood draw).
I am right there with you. I have very high anxiety about needles, but only when it comes to blood being drawn. Before I was pregnant, I think they had to give me Valium to draw my blood. I don’t mind shots though either! I was even on Depo as my birth control. Your case sounds more serious than mine, but I will try to help.
Here is what I did. I told the office about my anxiety ahead of time. They did all the other exams first, so I felt a little more acclimated to being poked and prodded (hate that too!) The nurse had me lie down, and kept talking to me in a steady stream. Lying down was also helpful in that I couldn’t see all the preparations, which always freak me out. If I focused on her face, I was fine. Other than that, I just had to tell myself it was for the baby.
I had already spoken to the nurse who called me to schedule my labs, since I have to do those before I can see my midwife, and she was not very caring. She just said “Well, you’re just going to have to do it.” I don’t know that a lot of people actually understand the severity of a fear like this until they see it first hand. We shall see though…
I definitely think I’m going to take your advice, r_j, and try to lie down, but I have a really hard time forcing myself to let it happen. I get the fight for your life instinct.
I’m just sort of an anxious wreck waiting for it to happen.
I’m the same. I hyperventilate, throw up, sweat, can’t breath…I bit a nurse last time I had to get a shot.
For me, they took the blood from the back of my hand. It’s a TEENY needle that barely goes in there, it hardly felt like anything. It made it much easier. It’s so shallow and my nurse was good. That’s how I moved past it. I had my husband hold my other hand and I squeezed really tightly, cried, tensed my other arm, they made sure to do it really fast and to take as little as possible.
I never had to have my blood drawn for the rest of the pregnancy. The only other needle I had to deal with was the IV and it was fine. Back of my hand and all.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] talk to them about it. They’re likely to be understanding and know how to help you, but I don’t think you can avoid the test. It’s to make sure your baby isn’t in danger from something you don’t know about. If they don’t do the tests, they might miss something that could have helped your baby.
I am sorry they were so callous. You’re so right that people tend to brush off your anxiety. People have all kinds of phobias that other people can’t relate to, but that shouldn’t matter. I don’t dismiss the fears of a claustrophobic or someone who is afraid of heights, even if I can’t relate personally.
I really think lying down will help. For some reason, I had never thought to do it before, maybe because I am the type of person who doesn’t want to “cause a fuss” even if it’s not a fuss, haha. It made all the difference in the world. It still wasn’t pleasant, but it was so much better.
That sounds doable, dantea, because it really hadn’t occurred to me that they could pull it out of anywhere other than that place on your arm where they normally do it that I totally can’t think of how to describe.
You’re actually one of the first people I’ve met who could relate to my phobia on my level, and so I guess it’s nice to know that people like me can get through it okay.
Hopefully I can talk a friend into going with me since my husband will be out of town for a couple months when I go in.
I didn’t mean not doing the tests totally, but more alternatives to blood draws. Like I know they can just do a finger prick for the hemoglobin test, and urine for a couple of the STDs they like to check for.
Try watching this video and doing the same thing at home. Instead of thinking about chickens, think about needles. I have used this technique to get people over severe phobias of birds, ducks, and worms (so far). It will work for needles, too. If you want a private session via Skype, PM me your Skype name and we can set up a time. I’m doing this for free right now as I am still in training to become a practitioner.
My response isn’t nearly as bad as yours, but needles do make me very uncomfortable.
I normally tell the technician that needles make me anxious. I always close my eyes and turn my head away from my arm. Not sure why the head-turning is necessary since my eyes are closed, but it makes me feel better. Usually the technicians are really good about distracting me with questions or jokes while the blood is being drawn. If not, I try to focus on my breath.
mrstoon, I am worried that at this point the stress of trying to get over my fear would cause far too much stress on my unborn baby, though I will probably look into it after my child is born so I don’t have to go through this again in future pregnancies.
iamkasey, the technique is very easy and fast, and will not require you to do more than you are willing. It should take ten or fifteen minutes to have you feeling significantly less afraid of needles, so the next time you actually need to face one in person, your body wont flood with stress hormones and adrenaline. I plan on using this technique to get me thru the fears around labor and delivery, to address physical pain, and anything else that comes up. Best of luck, whatever you decide to do!
[name_u]Kasey[/name_u], I’m so glad to help you. The last time I had my blood drawn that wasn’t for the pregnancy, I remembered at some point in the middle of panicing while the doctor tried to force my arm down I asked if I could slit my arm and he could just collect the blood instead. I completely understand.
I also how just thinking about it can make you sick. I’m sort of there at the moment. When I go to the doctor, I’m sweating and crying by the time I get to the office. I get it. But I can’t even do shots or the iron test either without panicking, so maybe I’m a tad worse than you since you said you can handle shots.
I don’t know if the thing in the video will work or not. I know I’ve done something similar with my psychologist and it just put me in the same place as when I know I’m getting one, sweaty and crying and scared. I’m sure it works for plenty of people though, so you try it if you think it will help. However, if you are worried about the stress, you know your fear better than any of us on the internet. If you think it will be too much stress for your fear to handle, then you know what’s best for your body.
All the best luck to you. I can truly sympathize but just know that it can be over come. Ask for them to take it from your hand. It’s much less scary. The needle doesn’t have to go through any muscle whatsoever, which is the painful bit, and it barely hurts. With someone to distract you, you should be able to work through it better. hugs
My suggestion is that you look into natural birth with a midwife, possibly at a birth center cause (while I haven’t experienced that method myself) it seems like the main philosophy is that it’s less invasive & less medical than a hospital birth.
I did a hospital birth with an epidural and they hooked me up to an IV which stayed in until after baby was born. It’s hard for me to remember how many shots or blood draws I had because they don’t bother me at all.
I do think that as a pregnant woman you have the right to refuse mostly any test you’d like, though I’m sure a great deal of them are rather important for baby.
I do know that you will have to get blood drawn for the glucose test, so if you want to avoid that one it would be best to try to keep your weight down and your pregnancy active & healthy. The glucose test is awful and I think I will refuse it next time!
It sounds like the office you’re using isn’t very understanding. Unless you have a strong reason for using that office why not call around and see if there is anyone else who is more willing to work with you and help your fears instead of discount them? You’re still really early in your pregnancy so it should be easy to switch. Or at least look into it.
I haven’t read all the comments so I’m no sure if someone has already mentioned this but there is an over the counter cream called Emla that is a topical anesthetic which would eliminate the pain of a needle poke. It is used all the time on ped units in the hospital but they think adults should be able to suffer through it so they never mention such things to them. If you know it isn’t going to hurt it might help you be less scared. Good luck!
I just read the comments and just wanted to add that you can refuse any test you want. I am on my fourth pregnancy and have never done the glucose test because I don’t want to drink that gross stuff and if you have gestational diabetes you will have other symptoms show up. I am now a SAHM but prior to I was an RN so I respect the wish of the physician to want to check and make sure everything is ok but I also realise they tend to check everything even when it isn’t likely to be a problem. For most people it isn’t a big deal to have their blood drawn so they order all these tests but when it is causing you such distress he should sit down with you and go over everything and explain why he feels he need to check it and potential problems that could arise if he doesn’t. It should then be your decision, weighing the pros and cons to decide if it is worth it to you to go through the test. Your iron for example, if you are taking a prenatal vitamin you are getting an iron supplement already so it is unlikely that you would have a deficiency. Another thought is that if you do absolutely need to have a blood draw, there is no reason that you couldn’t have a one time dose of Ativan (antianxiety drug) to calm you for the blood test. Most doctors won’t want prescribe benzos to a pregnant woman but when a blood test is actually inducing a panic attack most would agree the panic attack is worse for the two of you then the benzo. Best wishes.
My fear of needles isn’t so bad as yours, but it is pretty bad. Bad enough that when I had a bleed in late pregnancy I howled and screamed til my husband agreed I didn’t need to go into hospital, and I could just wait til morning to see if it got worse. I was terrified they would put me on a drip, and having a catheter in my arm makes me a bit hysterical.
For my blood tests, I spent the days beforehand telling myself ‘I am a warrior now, I have to be a warrior for my child’. If you can hold onto an idea like this, and picture yourself as a strong warrior (I pictured myself as an Amazon - I know, I know, embarrassing) it might help you get through the tests.
Otherwise, I agree with AJH. Find out exactly what each blood test is for, and ask yourself, ‘do I want or need this?’ What would you do, realistically, if a result came back that was bad? Our mothers and grandmothers never had these tests done. They aren’t necessary unless you want them done.
First of all, as stated in a few of the previous comments, they can’t make you do any test that you don’t want to have done. People have been having babies for millions of years and somehow we managed even before all of these tests came about (or needles were invented!).
With that said, is it the pain of the needle itself that is frightening to you or is it more…seeing the needle? You could close your eyes, put some headphones with loud music in, ask for a local anesthetic and ask them to tell you when it’s over. Realistically, it’s hard to get through an entire pregnancy without being poked at least once so I’d look into ways that you can manage your fear or distract yourself from it
Hate hate hate needles…I cry and panic before and pass out frequently after blood work.
That said, I didn’t refuse any tests during pregnancy: initial screening, NT scan, quad screen, glucose, and rhogam shot. We went down the list at the beginning but then I actually told my doctor not to tell me which appointments (and resisted over-googling) came with bloodwork…yes it’s good to be informed, but if I knew when things were coming, I’d make myself sick worrying about it. Instead, I’d just show up and yup, heading to the bloodwork room…2 minutes to worry and then it’s over and done and everything is okay again.
Honestly, pregnancy helped me get over some of my fear. I still hate it, but it’s not the paralyzing fear that I had before. I even got a flu shot this year voluntarily and was pretty gosh darned proud of myself.
Anyway, do whatever you have to do…but refuse tests because you don’t think theyre necessary and you’re okay with that decision for you and your baby, not because of the phobia, you can find a way to get through it.
I don’t have a needle phobia, but I was just watching an old episode of “Pregnant in Heels” and one of the pregnant ladies had a severe needle phobia that sounds like yours. She never got over the phobia in the episode, however, she learned some breathing techniques that seemed to help with her anxiety. Those breathing techniques helped her get through all the tests before birth and the IV drip being inserted at the hospital during her labor. Maybe you could take some birth classes that teach those techniques. Good luck
