Diazepam for child’s blood test

[Ohnotrobbieagain]

My 6 year old has been really ill over the summer, she’s developed high anxiety, following illness. She needs blood tests to find out what’s going on. She’s petrified of getting them done, I tried with her, was very positive, brought along a little bag full of a few, new toys to open to distract her. She got in the chair but then was hysterical, wouldn’t let us anywhere near her and it was impossible to hold her down, I just couldn’t do that as I could see the anxiety was just far too high.
The dr has suggested we give a small
amount of diazepam beforehand and said she’ll probably be asleep for it, this seems an extreme thing to do, is it? has anyone else done it? She really needs these tests.

Ds is 2 and dh had to hold him down to have a blood test.

There’s many definitions of anxiety, not only the mental health condition. The word has many uses, try looking it up.

Diazepam will block her memory. They use it for patients that are phobic of dentists. It doesn't send you to sleep completely. But it will mean she won't remember after and therefore be traumatised. It's a safe drug. I would do that rather than use physical restraint if you can't talk her round

Vets use it in tiny kittens. It's very safe and they will give you child the right dose for her size

I would do as the doctor says. But of course it's not for regular use. It's very dangerous to get addicted to and causes dementia. But for short term things like this it's fine.

It is. But it is also a very extreme reaction. She needs those tests done or she will get sicker, so unless there is another way, then she will have to be sedated.
Must be horrible.

What did you say to her before she went for the blood tests? I don’t understand why she would think this was a cause for concern at her age unless it had been described to her as something that could be worrying/scary? When my children had to go for anything like that the conversation was ‘we are going to doctors for a quick check up’ and no drama. Of course I was worried but they had absolutely no indication of that, wondering if it was projected at all?

@shrumps Of course it wasn’t. She had tests at age 4, I personally thought the staff were fantastic but Dd was v upset afterwards and has remembered it since then. She is also ill at the moment so anxiety is high

@planAplanB She has anxiety, diagnosed by a child psychiatrist this summer, following illness

Ask for advice from the children's blood clinic, not just your gp. They should have psychologists and play specialists that can help. They will have far more experience of helping young children undergo medically necessary tests

Hi OP,

I'd definitely give her the diazepam as a one-off, since it's the doctor's recommendation. It sounds like you really need to get the blood tests done and there isn't a better option than this.

I assume the GP will tailor the dose to her weight. Children are given far stronger drugs all the time when they're needed (was just in hospital with my daughter, who'd broken her arm - they gave her a hefty dose of fentanyl, among other things!)

Do they not do the numbing spray anymore?

it’s the same as the magic cream so to speak but works instantly

I think it's a good idea, it's obviously safe or else the doctor would not prescribe it. It will mean you can get the blood tests done without it being traumatic for her. Wishing you and your daughter all the best OP, it sounds tough 🫂💜

My daughter accidentally fell on something pokey and it became wedged into her knee and we had to have it removed at the hospital - she has extreme (diagnosed) anxiety and also hates needles etc so they gave her laughing gas to calm her.

My son needed a blood test when they were concerned he had mengitis - they had him sit facing me, put his arm under my armpit between my arm and my rib cage - effectively poking his arm out the other side of my body so he could not see when and where the needle was going in and then they told me to keep him still. It was over very quickly.

I'm not sure where you are that the GP is doing the blood test? Ring the local hospital and speak to the peds department about options.

@WowSpeechless The gp isn’t doing it, we had an appointment with her and I asked about what I could do for her anxiety as struggling to get the tests done

They do but for someone with severe anxiety it may not be enough as the whole event causes anxiety and they may not cooperate as they are still fully aware and understand what is happening

Can a play specialist get involved? They are amazing at distraction when it comes to procedure with kids.

Do the diazepam and the cream? Covers both then
It can get better, I had to be held down as a child and now I have tattoos and do my own injections!

@Ohnotrobbieagain My dd had to have a procedure at hospital. First time went pretty smoothly but second time she couldn’t cope with it and was not allowing the doctor to perform the procedure. The children’s hospital that we went to (we are not in the UK) had a child therapist who helped children with anxiety or fear of hospital treatment. She said that it is common for children to remember the pain of a previous procedure (in your dc’s case blood test) and to react this way. In the end the doctor prescribed a sedative that initially I thought was a bit strong but was assured that it was a child’s dose and safe. It really helped her.

Discuss your concern with the doctor but trust that they wouldn’t prescribe a medication that your child can’t have. Sedating her might really help her.

My 2.5 year old had blood tests. Sat on my knee, my mum holding him on one side, me and a nurse holding him and the arm they needed super tight, and another nurse taking the blood. Pretty much just has to pin him so he couldn’t move.

This. Of course let her have it.

Diazepam is very pleasant. It's not as though she'll get addicted on one dose. She'll get her tests and have the nap of a lifetime.

Can't believe this is even a question.

Jeez, if a doctor offers sedation, always take it. You’ll only traumatise her more if you don’t.

The nasal drops mentioned upthread sound amazing.

It might not be enough this time, but when my DS didn’t want blood tests at a similar age it really helped him to have a process. He drank plenty before hand, ran up and down the carpark outside and put a warm top on so that it’d be nice and easy to find a vein. Having tasks to focus on helped distract him and I think he felt more in control of the process. He then sat on my lap so I could hold his arm in place and we went for a treat after. He’s ok going for tests now, but he went through a phase of trying to refuse them.

The last time I took a child for a blood test they asked if he had much water to drink that day as apparently dehydration makes it difficult to find vein. So drink a good glass water before

This sounds like an insulting comparison but I don't mean it that way, my dog (roughly the same size and weight as my dc was aged 6) gets diazepam twice a year for extreme anxiety with fireworks and it can make him sleepy but he's not shocked out of his sleep, if he wakes up to a bang he is far, far more relaxed about it. The reason I bring dog up is the first time we did this we got a double dose so we could see how he reacted to it before he was in the stressful situation, I didn't want to combine fireworks and a drug he hasn't had before. Not sure if it's a possibility with diazepam and kids but we found it very helpful