Needle Phobia situation - thinking ahead

[nadaley]

My husband and I have been together nearly ten years (married for almost one) and have been discussing trying to start a family later this year. The only problem is - and its a rather large problem - I have a very real needle phobia. It's a proper phobia, not just a fear where right now I couldn't entertain the idea of injections/blood tests etc so I'm curious if anyone else has been in the same position and what they did to cope with the situation. More than anything I'd love to have children but if we're fortunate enough to become pregnant, I'm terrified of everything that follows.

I was in the same situation, I had my first baby 14 years ago and it was horrible having to go through the injections for blood tests etc. I wasn't / aren't scared of the pain as some people think, but just an irrational fear of the needle itself.
I really struggled with the first, but with my next two pregnancies I found a way to deal with it. At first I would have blood test done while keeping eye contact with my dh, then talking to him, etc etc
The biggest part was visualising what was going to happen, how I was going to walk in, sit down, how I would feel ( calm and safe), what would happen step by step. I never visualised the injection itself, because I wouldn't be looking at it in RL.
I don't know if this sounds a bit weird or new age rubbish, and I really didn't think it would work but last week I managed to have my blood tests done on my own, I did have ds1 (3months) on my lap. I was very proud of myself!! I know it seems like an impossible task, but you can do it. You have to believe that you can, visualise yourself doing it and remember to breathe!

I really appreciate the advice Micha. I know that it can all be sorted by taking little steps in the right direction and I've really improved from a year ago by putting myself in situations where I have to cope with things out of my comfort zone but like you say, its an irrational fear of the needle, I know its not painful. Its just something that's built up over 23 years and is going to have to be dealt with somehow. I did used to work for a doctor and spoke (through tears) with a nurse that worked there about getting blood taken. Since the bend of my arm bit is the real deal breaker she mentioned that although it's less common, its possible to have it taken from your hand which I still would be too scared to do but don't feel quite as strongly about. Guess it's just trying to find ways around things and maybe communicating with key people throughout the process. I think its just the idea that you can only do this after the point of no return and then its too late...

Last time I had a blood test I was chatting to the nurse and she said that she had a lady with a needle phobia in who had hypnotherapy for it and was able to go into a mild trance and was fine..

I'm going to hypno birthing and its really good - I also had it for smoking.

Pickled...Ive been considering giving hypnotherapy a go. I'm really willing to try anything after this long because I know I can't avoid all this forever! It's reassuring to know it works for some people :)

I have a very serious phobia which includes anything needle related and had pretty much resigned myself to the possibility of life without children until I fell pregnant by mistake

After hiding under the bedclothes and crying for the first couple of days I realised I'd have to face it (and it was a very wanted baby, my DH had trying to talk me around for ages). Unfortunately I had no success with hypnotherapy (with NLP) or CBT, despite spending more money than I care to remember. I think the hypnotherapy works best on simple phobias where there are no deep seated reasons behind it. The same but to a lesser extent with the CBT. I also tried EFT despite being convinced it was modern day quackery, but actually came away with a minor improvement.

What got me through in the end was a great deal of introspection and very critical analysis of my fear, coupled with working with my lovely midwife (who did all the blood draws) to establish lots of trust. It took loads of hysterical tear-filled appointments before I had my first set of bloods taken, but did eventually and was progressively better at each subsequent appointment. The first set were taken at home after a few cups of tea and a 45 minute chat in my kitchen! You will have to be quite assertive to get the medical support you need, but midwives are generally a lovely bunch and will go above and beyond to help you.

I am still very, very phobic and am not always terribly proud of the decisions I make in my own medical care, but it's such an enormous relief to know that I can overcome it if I absolutely, absolutely need to.

I went on to get pregnant with my second very soon after and was much better with the blood work. I was very lucky to have easy, uncomplicated and needle-free births with both.

Feel free to message me or post here if you have any questions about the more technical aspects of it all.

Neverquitesure, it is amazing to hear from someone who sounds like they're exactly like me. Like you I'm not proud of how I've looked after myself in the last 23 years which has seen me avoid many situations where needles may have needed to be used.

A year ago I freaked even if a needle free syringe was anywhere near me (that includes ones out of medicine bottles and to remove printer ink from cartridges) and ending up working in a doctors surgery and now a pharmacy has helped me to take baby steps towards taking control of this a bit more. The people I work with understand me the best they can and are helpful when I need it, but it's nice that I can try and be in situations with these things in my own time, at my own speed and with no pressure. I understand theres no miracle cure, and your honesty has been refreshing and youve probably saved me a lot of time and money in the long run. I guess I'm just wondering which bits you definitely need injections etc for?

So far the standard needles I've come across have been one for the booking in appointment around 8 weeks and one for the nuchal test around 12 weeks. I'm 20 weeks and don't have any more on the horizon for now.

The nuchal test is optional! (Though depending on how bad your phobia is I wouldn't discard it based on just that).

Really good luck with your journey! I hate injections and so far have got DH to squeeze my hand and distract me with unrelated conversation. I haven't got a phobia so don't know if this will work at all but just thought - would it help to take a favourite bit of music with you on headphones to help you zone out of the worry? I think music has magic calming properties!

I started to type a reply, but it was long, boring and had some personal details so I have PMed you instead.

All of the blood tests & jabs are optional. You may decide it's wisest to have most or all of them, but the point is they are all optional. It might be worth researching which are the ones you will subject yourself to and only those, might make the challenge seem more manageable.

I refused all blood tests thru 2.5 pregnancies because they made me ill. No regrets.

It would be worth looking at how to manage this because it won't just be for duration of the pregnancy but also your DC/s that will be affected. My DS had jaundice and therefore needed heel prick tests twice a day for a week. There is also the Vitamin K injection and all the vaccinations after that so it is a long-term issue.

Friends and family have used CBT to manage their phobias so may be worth looking into. Good luck

I'm pregnant with my first and I panic and hyperventilate when I see needles, but I think you have to have an open mind... I'm half way through and need numerous jabs in the next few weeks and I have to go in and tell them I'm scared, have a chat to relax and look away, whilst having someone else there to talk to me! You should be fine if you take your mind off it x

I absolutely despise needles.

My OH has to hold me, and i have to lie down or i become very faint and drop like a sack of spuds. I shake and feel physically sick and cause myself headaches.

I had a firm chat with myself. Sounds odd. But i'm having all these tests and things to help my baby.

I'm 30 weeks today, a few days ago i had to have Whooping Cough in one arm and bloods taken out the other. What got me through in the end was looking at a magazine which had a naked David Haye in it!

I certainly wouldn't just boycott injections and bits, with all the whooping cough cases and poor ill children, even some that have died, i wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing because i couldn't face my fear, my baby was so poorly.

I also had Flu jab, my downs syndrome was low risk so we didn't need to have the needle for that, although we had decided before, if it was high risk we still wouldn't go for it, our baby would be loved no matter what. Had several bloods, especially since my first midwife didn't do it right. Also had kidney problems, and was in hospital with a drip and several drugs all going in me at once!

You'll go on a long journey. But you'll find new strengths within yourself. Good luck :)

Hello - I hope I'm about to make your life much easier...

I also have a massive needle phobia and I didn't know how I could cope with pregnancy. I tried all the hypnotherapy, regression therapy and CBT - none of it helped. I was so worried and so (when I went for fertility tests) my GP prescribed me EMLA cream. When I went for my first ever blood test, I cried and shook so much that they shut the door (normally they did 2 patients at once) and let me lie down. Seriously though with the EMLA, I felt nothing - not the needle going in, not the blood being taken, nothing. When I got pregnant I was still scared and also worried because EMLA can make blood harder to get (it is vasoconstricting), so I did some research and found some cream that you can buy over the counter called Ametop. It has a vasodilating effect so makes blood even easier to take and I used it throughout pregnancy, labour, post-labour... I'll be honest though, neither cream really works with normal jabs because it only numbs the skin, not muscles, but it is fabulous with blood tests.

I'm now PG again and this time I'm much less worried. Don't get me wrong, I'm still phobic (needle phobia is notorious for not responding to treatments in the way that other phobias do) but I now know that I have a strategy. Still sh*&ing myself about the whooping cough jab though

HTH