Tips for having a jab if it's ages since you've had one

[bellinisurge]

Until Covid, I had having MS related b12 jabs in my arm every month. I stopped because they weren't essential for me. I also get annual flu jabs. Anyhoo, I'm a "getting a jab" veteran of some years.
These tips might help when you eventually get the vaccine.

First - relax your arm as best you can. Shake it a bit first if that helps.
Second- take a deep breath and try and breathe out long and slow as you are jabbed - make a woosh noise if that helps. The needle is uncomfy but so is any stuff as it goes in so make it a long "wooosh"
nurses don't care about that comedy noises you make.
Third- ask for a little plaster on the jab site.

Points to remember: it's in the muscle of your arm. Sometimes it's a bit painful to get a jab there and sometimes it isn't. Everyone experiences it differently every time because we are all wired differently. You are not a wimp if it hurts. You are brilliant for getting it.

Thank you for doing it.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat can they prescribe any kind of relaxing medication for you?
I don’t mind needles. Thankfully as I need regular blood tests.
Phobias are completely unlike a normal “fear” and simply can’t be reasoned away. I’m sorry not all health care professionals have been understanding.

As someone with a severe needle phobia, I have used Emla cream and as long as you put a large amount on for around 60-90 mins before you have it you can’t feel a thing! I was really reluctant to believe it worked but when I used it for a blood test I had to ask if they had done it!

In a funny sort of way it's helping @OpheliasCrayon! I'm taking on board the tips for coping so when I'm there (which won't be for a long time yet) it'll give me something to think about and any coping strategies will help.

Don't mention the dentist @veeeeh! I have to go for two large fillings, one of which may end up being root canal. Needless to say I'm terrified! I've found a dentist who deals with nervous patients and who has said he will make sure I am completely numb before I have it done.

@OpheliasCrayon my long lost crayon cousin

That’s so strange as I also have twins. The nurse said it was scarring from endo which made it so painful but maybe it’s a cervix problem as well. Before pregnancy it was not the most pleasant experience but generally OK.
I’m overdue again partly Covid related but mostly scaredy cat related.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

In a funny sort of way it's helping *@OpheliasCrayon*! I'm taking on board the tips for coping so when I'm there (which won't be for a long time yet) it'll give me something to think about and any coping strategies will help.

Well fair enough! I mean try emla cream, it does numb your skin to an extent. I think you just kinda feel the weird sensation that you get after (which I can't describe) but you wouldn't feel the sharpness

@veeeeh I tell my dentist I am needle phobic.

He is lovely and he & nurse spend time being gentle & calming. I weep & try not to panic throughout.

In case it helps anyone else, I sometimes talk to myself during injections, and I sometimes talk out loud about imaginary things I am doing that I like (hugging the kids etc)
I tell the medic I might do that to keep myself calm.
I have also in the past put on VERY loud music (that I love) on headphones so all I can think about is the music.

My grandpa always said to wiggle your toes! It’s worked for me every time 😄

This thread is actually quite reassuring for people with phobias. Not so much the "woman up" comments :o

I have got used to blood tests and can cope with those now although they can still make me feel a bit faint. IM injections are really painful to me though and make me go all woozy.

I am struggling a bit with the pictures of people being jabbed everywhere too :( it's making me anxious and I don't even need to have a corona jab as I'm pregnant!

I find that having a conversation also helps or counting to 30 in a foreign language as you know when you get to 30 it's done. For an injection it's probably way less than 30.

[quote Redcrayons]@OpheliasCrayon my long lost crayon cousin

That’s so strange as I also have twins. The nurse said it was scarring from endo which made it so painful but maybe it’s a cervix problem as well. Before pregnancy it was not the most pleasant experience but generally OK.
I’m overdue again partly Covid related but mostly scaredy cat related.[/quote]
Crayons are great!

I had a singleton pregnancy and after that they could do smear tests and get a coil in with just mild discomfort.

But then after the twins, my gp was trying to do both things at one time, managed the smear but then couldn't get the coil in. I was crying in pain. So she had another look with a torch (VERY dignified!!!!) And then realised that my whole cervix had tilted so she was never going to be able to get it in and that's why I was in so much pain.

Shes a gynaecology specialist GP (she'd trained as a gynaecologist and then swapped to being a GP for family reasons I believe ) and she didn't spot it easily so you never know yours could have done likewise ... She said (because she'd seen it prior to twins!!!) That it looked like the weight of them and the fact it's more weight more quickly had caused it to move.

I did lose one of mine at 32 weeks, and had an exceptionally traumatic EMCS so she didn't know if anything that had happened then had contributed. Howveer... Maybe worth asking if you're struggling with one in future if they can see if anything has moved....

Thank you so much for this @bellinisurge. I have a needle phobia that stopped me getting teenage vaccinations (not TB one though) and although I am a little better now I still panic and burst into tears. I just tell the nurse or phlebotomist to ignore me as I am all wrapped up in making myself sit still and not run out of the room.
There is absolutely nothing going to stop me having this vaccination, certainly not my own wimpyness!

It looks bad on the TV but it's the same as the flu jab, sleeve up, look away, "have you done it yet?", "yes, next patient please."

You will barely feel it!

mmm... I had to get a load of jabs 5 years ago to go to An African country. All done by same nurse in a 5 minute window. The ones that I barely felt on the day made my arm sore for days afterwards. The ones that hurt in the moment had no after effects at all. I definitely didn't get a 'barely felt it' reaction.

Hi, I have a phobia of needles and medical procedures. I had a baby this year so obviously had to deal with it.

My tips

• have headphones in with loud distracting music.
• sit down.
• hold a stress ball in opposite hand
• keep repeating, it is all in your head, it doesn't hurt, it wont harm you.

I started this thread because I saw a picture of the wonderful Kamala Harris having hers done today. And she was holding her arm so stiffly! I just wanted to make sure people know that a relaxed arm is better.
Never tell anyone to "woman up" . You are bloody brave for having one even if, like me, you are pretty used to getting jabs.
If you need an excuse for treating yourself afterwards, here's a reason for doing that.

How do those with needle phobia get on at the dentist, just wondered, they give you several depending on the job being done.

Ridiculous as it sounds, I used to have a dental work done without anaesthetic. Needlephobes aren't scared of pain. That's not the problem.

Do posters saying “woman up” understand what a phobia is? It’s irrational, that’s part of the definition!

IVF needles- I was so stressed about this on the lead up and had a mini meltdown with my first one but it was fine in the end. DH would inject and I would look away and used a distraction technique- saying the alphabet backwards, saying American states, elements of the periodic table, anything to keep my mind occupied. I iced the area which you perhaps can’t do for a vaccine, but you can use the cream as suggested above. Just a word of advice, for my first surgery I had cream put on my hand to numb it before they put the needle in and had a rash from it so might be worth testing out the cream in advance. Don’t be embarrassed if you cry, I’ve cried loads of times through IVF procedures, pretty sure medical professionals are used to it and everyone is kind.

@MrsA2017

Do posters saying “woman up” understand what a phobia is? It’s irrational, that’s part of the definition!

ETA - I’m not saying this because I have a needle phobia, but I’d be pretty pissed off if someone told me to “woman up” regarding my phobia of heights! So I sympathise.

I used to faint before having them and it was a nightmare, since pregnancy though had to have a fair few and also IVs etc, plus those little shits you have to do every day for 10 days after birth in some situations so I don't mind them now. I just chat to the nurse about a load of random stuff to be honest, I used to look away but have a glance now. I always pack a bottle of water and a small bar of chocolate in my bag for afterwards in case.

I used to have a needle phobia. It started when I was 6 after having a lumbar puncture.

Funnily enough, it was a lumbar puncture that cured me of the phobia in my mid-twenties! I got a horrific post-dural headache, and ended up having an epidural blood patch. They couldn't get blood from my veins and ended up getting it from the tops of my feet. That really was a piece of piss in comparison to that fecking headache, and nothing will ever come close.

My top tips are:

• look away
• take a deep breath and relax your muscles as much as possible. If you're tense it will pinch more.
• go to your happy place. Sounds daft but when I know someone's coming at me with a needle I send my mind to a white sand beach and imagine how it feels on my face and feet. It works for me!

Also agree there's a difference between being apprehensive and having an out and out phobia!

@MrsA2017

Do posters saying “woman up” understand what a phobia is? It’s irrational, that’s part of the definition!

Only one person said that, I was questioning it not agreeing.

My daughter would rather have the jab than the test as she has a phobia of vomiting and I mean a phobia so anything that involves gagging causes her to pass out.