Trung Tristan Truong, a pediatrician at MemorialCare Medical Group in San Juan Capistrano, California, tells SheKnows. "Needle-phobic people may have had previous painful experiences (learned conditioning) with injections or vicariously through witnessing a family member having had an undesirable experience with needles or injections," Dr. Mimi Trinh, a family medicine physician at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, tells SheKnows.īut there are plenty of psychological reasons behind having a fear of needles too. On a logistical level, a person (like myself) might have very small veins, which can make it difficult for blood to be drawn, sometimes necessitating multiple needle sticks as the clinician attempts to locate a good vein, Dr. Like many fears, trypanophobia can stem from a variety of experiences or conditions. But before I get into what ended up finally working for me, here's what I learned from speaking to two physicians about trypanophobia - a fancy word for the extreme fear of needles. This lasted well into my 20s, and every time the needle would come out in the doctor's office or lab, I'd try to convince myself that this time will be different and I'll be fine.Īnd strangely, one day, it was. For years, every time I had to get a shot or have my blood drawn, I'd be nauseated for several days before the injection because of the anxiety. As a peace offering, my mother made me draw an "I'm sorry" picture for the nurses at the lab, probably in the hopes that my terrible behavior wouldn't end up on my permanent medical record.īut it didn't end there. I knew the results of this blood test could mean I was sick enough to have to stay in the hospital overnight.Įventually, I did make it through all my appointments that summer, and my platelet counts returned to normal. I had always been scared of needles, but this time, it wasn't just a vaccine I was getting in the school nurse's office. As soon as I'd sit in that hard plastic chair with one elongated armrest, I would transform from a sassy but mild-mannered 7-year-old into a creature from a horror film. I'm not sure who dreaded these appointments more: me or the nurses tasked with collecting my blood samples. In order to make sure my counts weren't veering into dangerous territory, I had a standing weekly appointment for a blood test for an entire summer. ITP is a blood disorder characterized by low platelet counts and bruising very easily and can look a lot like leukemia. It was the summer between second grade and third grade, and because of complications with the chickenpox virus, I ended up with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, which meant I needed to get my blood drawn weekly. This may sound extreme, but it was entirely necessary, as I had a tendency to cry, squirm my way out of my chair and run down the hallway of the pediatric phlebotomy department to escape. Sometimes it took three nurses to hold me down.
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