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Anxiety about upcoming Angiogram

Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Mar 22 6:23pm | Replies (27)
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@jenniferhunter

@gregy I was the same way. The absolute worst pain I have ever had was a spinal injection. I got an intense pain during the injection and stabbing electrical pain into my arm. I was laying on the table shaking uncontrollably and about to pass out. They reminded me to breathe and I played my music routine in my head and breathed slow and deeply. I imagined I was an eagle flying high above everything and it worked. I regained control and was able to lessen the pain to degree. When I compared others things to that, they didn’t seem so bad and I knew that I had mastered my response to a painful event. Distraction really helps if you can take your mind away and go someplace pleasant. It turned out that I likely reacted to something in the injection . I had stabbing pains for 6 weeks after that. Gratitude also helps if you are thankful for the help you are getting from the doctors instead of fearing them.
Jennifer

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Replies to "@gregy I was the same way. The absolute worst pain I have ever had was a..."
gregy | @gregy | Mar 19 1:10am

What I always do when having a blood draw (I'm having one on Friday)
1. Make the Phlebotomist aware of my phobia and ask them to take extra care
2. Always lie down when having a blood draw - I can probably now do it while seated, but why take the risk of falling off the chair, injuring myself or Phlebotomist
3. Have a drink of water before leaving home and sip more water while waiting in the waiting room
4. Sit up slowly after the proceedure and make sure I am ok to walk away
5. Take a small gel ice pack with me. I walk back to the car and put the ice pack on the puncture site and hold it there for about 10 minutes. Stops any bruising and takes the sting out of the puncture site

Oh, another trick I learned from the Hypnotherapist, was to push the nail of my thumb into the pad of my index finger (on the opposite arm of the test) and push really hard until it hurts and hold it there during the blood draw. The pain on the opposite side of the body helps to distract the mind from the puncture
Some good information about needle phobia can be found on the Future Science webpage, click on the article "Needle Phobia Page"

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