And on a positive note

[cjsmith]

I got blood drawn today and I only got the FAINTEST of signs of being woozy, sweaty, dizzy, etc. Woohoo! I am counting that as a major success. (Not that I have the slightest clue what I did.)

If this trend continues, some day I'll be able to have blood drawn when I'm sitting up. :-)

Comments

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

I'm fine on a blood test as long as I don't look. I have a friend who is faint prone though.

Hope everything is ok on the test.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I used to be fine until around high school when I had a couple bad experiences in a row giving blood. I'm no longer eligible to do that (ever again), but the memories have stayed. I know know know know that my response is driven by the mind -- but that's maddeningly frustrating to know, because that doesn't mean I can stop it!

Musta done something right this time though. Cool. If only I can repeat it. :-)

Thanks for the good wishes. I'm sure it'll be at least mostly okay; it's a regular annual checkup. (crossing my fingers about my cholesterol)

[joedecker.livejournal.com]

Congrats!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[abz6598.livejournal.com]

Geez, I used to give platelets every two weeks at the Red Cross. I used to do the finger-stick test myself and wanted to put the needle in too but they wouldnt let me. My own blood rather fascinates me and I have no probs with it....other peoples, on the other hand, should stay the hell in their body and away from me unless I explicitly ask for it.

I have, though, caught a fair share of fainting/swooning people in all the time I spent at the Red Cross.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I have no problems with blood; I have problems with needles. Specifically, hollow ones taking stuff outta me. I don't have this reaction if I slice myself by accident. I'm likely to say "Oh, coool!" and try to look inside the cut. Seeing other people injured is slightly more nervousmaking for me, but only slightly. Needles, though... I had better sit or lie down.

One Army sergeant didn't believe me once, and booted me outta the chair. I did, and passed out in the middle of the hallway. He had to move me. Dumb shit.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

With me, it's blood. My blood, your blood, movie blood, hell I'm getting dizzy just talking about it. Needles don't bother me at all. Putting stuff (medicine, earrings, whatever) into my body, ok, I'm fine with that. Taking stuff OUT (blood, uteruses, whatever) -- now that's another matter. I just seem to have this deep sense that this stuff belongs inside where we can't see it, and nowhere else. Despite the fact that as a mother of three rowdy boys, a rather clumsy person myself, a former menstruater, and one-time hospital volunteer, I've seen a fair bit of it in all manner of places.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Despite the fact that as a mother of three rowdy boys, a rather clumsy person myself, a former menstruater, and one-time hospital volunteer, I've seen a fair bit of it in all manner of places.

Rather weakens any desensitization theory, doesn't it? Ah well...

Re:

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and I even seem to be getting worse with old age ... ????

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Same with my reaction to needles, this last time being a notable exception. Who knows.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see this happens to you too. I don't usually have to lay down, but I do have to be careful to stay sitting down until after the dizziness passes. You're right that it isn't something you can just will yourself past.

If you're like me, you can cut yourself while working and it's no problem. But something about the needles triggers something very deep that sends you into a mild shock response.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And shock is very like what happens (if not exactly what happens); my blood pressure goes extremely low, I get clammy, my lips are white, the whole nine yards.

I have idly wondered if a hypnotist could fix it.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

My darling rivka, who is a Pshrink, tells me that the condition can sometimes be helped by conditioning exercises. I'm not sure how much hyptnotism would be involved in that.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Some day this will probably move high enough on my priority list that I'll try to DO something about it...

[thorswitch.livejournal.com]

Its one of the funnier things about my husband that, as a lover of excessive gore and violence in movies and a strong fetish for horror in general, he damn near faints at the sight of blood, and usually passes out when he has to have any drawn. For me, though, it's not that big of a deal. When I had mono, pneumonia, hepatitis and strep in college, the Nurses always seemed to want to take blood from the same spot in my arm, and the skin there is virtually numb. I barely feel a thing (though if you try any other spot, it hurts like the dickens). In one doctors office, I was often the "guniea pig" if I happened to have an appointment when they had a nurse-trainee around who needed to do a blood draw for the first time. One poor girl was so nervous, I had to give her instructions on how to do it... cracked me up.

Glad to hear it went better for you, though -- that's always a good thing :)

Kriselda

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh wild. I've never had problems with the sight of blood. (If I did, I expect I'd have trouble with gory movies too! After all, it looks the same on screen... no? Or I imagine it would to me.) Nor have I ever had trouble with the pain; my arm isn't at all numb, but the tiny sting of a needle is *nothing*. I know from experience that I can take a lot more pain than that without getting any kind of shock-like reaction. I just don't know what it is about having blood drawn.

As I said in a previous response, I have idly wondered if a hypnotist could fix it. Hopefully it is fixing itself!! Yeahhhh!

[abz6598.livejournal.com]

So does this mean no body piercings for you?

As an aside, I thought you might find this interesting - I was chatting on AIM with someone the other day and was being very supportive about some problems they were having and they said "Thanks for the cjsmith-like comments".

;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, both my piercings went fine, and I didn't have this reaction! Go figure. I had thought I'd be out cold in no time, but I had no problem with it. (Nipples. Left one's back to plain now because the piercing started migrating. Right one is still pierced. I like the contrast.)

Hee - I'm glad to know "cjsmith" is a synonym for supportive! :-) Must be someone who knew me. There couldn't be any other equally supportive cjsmith out there. Just not possible.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Hey, that *is* a major success! If you ever figure out what you did, let me know, would you??

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely.

Here are the things I know were unusual this time:
1) I was in a Very Bad Mood that morning and all the previous day
2) I had not eaten for over twelve hours
3) On the drive over I visualized having blood drawn, as a tiny attempt at getting my reaction "over with"
4) The doctor did it because the tech wasn't in that day

I'm guessing 1 wouldn't matter, 2 would make it worse, and 3 and 4 probably helped. Next time I will again make sure to picture it in my mind beforehand.