PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

I might avoid going to get bloodwork done...

2 days ago I decided that I will do my bloodtest, last time i was in 2017 and for some reason when i stood up I started to feel dizzy and I couldnt see anything, I didnt fainted but i was close to it,the nurses quickly layed me down, and then i was fine, but the whole day my body was shaking. I was afraid of blood test, and i always avoided it, but my health anxiety got worse cause i was afraid everytime that i have cancer but i cant check it cause im afraid of bloodtests. This year i had to do other medical tests and now they asked me to do bloodtest too, and 2 days ago i said okay this week i will face this fear. And i felt excitet, motivated and happy that finally i will face my fear. I did not cared if i faint cause it might not happen but if does I can handle it, i will feel good after i wake up. But someone after some hours, the fears came up, and i wanted to face them (cause people say you need to challenge the thoughts) so i tried to challenge them and find ways that i will handle those scenarios, but after time i got stressed cause i didnt know how to respond. If i faint and then vomit and feel sick and vomit alot of times cause im also panicking to the point they have to take me to the hospital... this jist scared me. I dont know how to handle that panic. The body will react to the blooddrown so either way i will feel bad. And im afraid of it and I cant deal with that fear.I dont know what to do if i will feel sick the whole day, if i will vomit the whole day and faint because of stress. This might be catastrophising but now these thoughts comes up, if i imagine myself being there and getting my blood drawned, i imediatelly feel the panic and these scenarios come up and then i dont know what to do so i just panic... Last night i asked help from others and it helped that some said that its pretty rare that you will vomit after blooddrawn, people who do are sick already or they are really scared. And this made me feel good but then i read about it and i found out that its pretty common that people faint, or vomit or fo both after blooddrawn... and now im just thinking about not going... i cant deal with it cause idk what to do. Breathing techniques didnt worked for me, if im panicking and i try to relax by breathing, i get more stressed cause my brain knows i do it to calm down and the panic is a danger so i get more panic... idk what to do.

Health Concern OCD

Anonymous

Date posted: 10d

The only way to conquer the anxiety is to do things anxious. I know it sucks but on the plus side you’re in a medical environment so if anything were to happen, then you’re already in the best place to be to get immediate care. There’s bloodwork and getting blood drawn for donation… I can see these being more likely to happen when donating blood but not bloodwork. I’ve been in the same boat and showed up shaking and shivering and terrified. I did it and left still shaking and shivering because it’s my anxiety… not the bloodwork itself. But in the end, everything WAS ok. I was having a lot of health issues at the time on top of my severe panic attacks that left me bedridden. Getting the bloodwork done was my first time out of the house in a week… so imagine the fear I felt. Today I am so much better. I promise you, you will be okay and you can get through this

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

How you handled nausea? Im dealing with severe nausea, today i was getting a haircut and i was in war with dizzyness and nausea, and at the end my stomach started to hurt to which was pretty similar feeling when i was sick and throw up so i thought i will throw up, but luckily it happened when i was done so then it went away. If i get these feelings when im doing the bloodtest how should i react cause i dont know.. people say "well just accept" that wont help cause i will panic myself till a faint... I know i have to feel the feelings but i dont know what to do with them. This haircut was a horrible experience too

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 When i start to feel like i will vomit what to do? When i feel like i will faint what to do? Cause then i jusz shut down and go into panic, i cant stop it. Thinking clearly is not possible in that situation

Anonymous

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 I’m so sorry you went through that. There is nausea medicine that you can take called Zofran. You can ask your doctor to prescribe it.

Anonymous

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 Have you tried any anxiety medications before? Like an alprazolam? That could help both with the nausea and the anxiety

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

@Anonymous Isnt there a natural way that i can deal with? I dont like meds, i take them if i really need them

777Q

Date posted: 10d

Personally for me when I get blood work done I try to show a little humor with the phlebotomist to break the tension. Also if there is a pleasant painting on the wall I will focus on that not on the blood being drawn . Lastly I was ask the phlebotomist at the end if I can sit there for an extra minute or two because occasionally I do feel a little faint after bloodwork.

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

I will still know that im doing it to not think about the thing im trying to avoid. Like if theres a loud noise that bugs me, and i say that i will try to change my focus to not hear that noise, i will still think about the noise while im trying to focus on something to not think about the noise... its really annoying and it makes me angry

777Q

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 I do understand what you mean . Bloodwork is important for me to get done . I try to show extra interest in the health aspects of it and it helps get me through it under the guise of “ the greater good “. Hang in there 😊.

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

@777Q That's understandable, maybe i should view it like that. I just dont know what to do when the dizziness feeling or nausea hits cause i will start to panic. And the panicking makes me panic more😅

777Q

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 All things shall pass , I convince myself of this and it helps me with many awkward moments.

Steve

Date posted: 10d

Maybe watching some videos of people getting blood drawn and allowing yourself to imagine being there is an option to prepare yourself

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

Maybe but i realize that im more afraid of the feelings. Im not afraid of the needle. Im afraid that a sudden bad feeling will hit me like nausea or dizziness and i will faint or vomit or both and feel horrible the whole day.

Steve

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 Try to think of those things while looking at a video .maybe. or write out an imaginary exposure with your fears. If you need a script on how to write one I'll post it here. I've had this passing out one even after being a paramedic for 24 years and having never passed out. Have you ever done erp therapy?

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

@Steve I did yesterday and thats why i feel bad now. I wrote it down that i imagined every bad scenario that can happen and then i felt like i cant find solutions to them. I dont know how will i handle if they have to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital, or how will i handle if i'll keep feeling bad and vomit and faint at home... i dont know

Steve

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 When you're trying to find solutions you're actually doing a compulsion which makes the uncertainty worse. I know this is hard. If you continue to use the paper you wrote without trying to solve it and just experience the fear it will help as you do it repeatedly over time. It does take time. The anxiety will worsen at first so don't be surprised.

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

@Steve That just makes you depressed... i heard others said too that you dont have to imagine every bad scenario that your mind comes up with and then accept, mine is so creative it will make me faint if it wants... i would just stress myself out...

Steve

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 I understand

Recoveryisreal

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 Discomfort is not danger. No matter what happens in life, you can and you will handle it. You got this

garlicgorl13

Date posted: 10d

Hello! I'm pretty awful when it comes to getting bloodwork done even though I recognize how important it is. The last time I had it done I told the phlebotomist that I have very bad anxiety during blood removal and let them know I would need to look away from what was happening. Communication in the medical field can go a long way. They were very understanding and made it as fast as they possibly could. In your experience, I would say they may let you stay to gather yourself until you feel okay enough to get out of there on your own :) I hope it goes well!!

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

Did you had nausea? Im afraid if i go and already have nausea i will vomit

garlicgorl13

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 You might! But you also might not

PRIV8

Date posted: 10d

@garlicgorl13 Now i feel like i will go... i still have alot of time till morning, so anything can happen, but for now im like i will go.

garlicgorl13

Date posted: 10d

@PRIV8 You can do it, friend! I believe in you! We all do 🙌🏻

nae nae

Date posted: 24w

I'm sorry. Just need to vent. :(

This might contain triggering content, but I'm also wondering if others have dealt with this similar thought, and if so, how to deal with it? Overall, I've been doing so well these past few days. I'm able to eat again, which I hadn't been able to do because of how much anxiety I'd been experiencing. I'm spending time around loved ones and not just rotting in my room, and I've been able to wake up without immediately being bombarded by intrusive thoughts. When things first got really bad, I'd wake my mom up every night for reassurance, but I haven't done that in a while either. I'm really proud of myself, but there's still this nagging thought in my mind... While looking through others posts on here, hoping to find advice that'd fit my situation, I ended up making things worse. Someone mentioned how they had a fear that they'd purposely search for illegal content (related to POCD). I panicked, and "what ifs" flooded my thoughts. "What if the intrusive thoughts affect who I am as a person, and I do that?" I'm terrified that I'll search for those things, which I know means I wouldn't do it. But then, another person on here said they'd actually looked for those things, and that freaked me out even more. Does that mean it's possible for that to happen to me? I don't want to do that, but I keep having intrusive thoughts surrounding it. I've been doing so well these past few days. I'm just... stuck. I don't know what to do. I've spoken with other people who have the same fears, but how do I manage this? It's not something I've even thought about before seeing those posts. I've been practicing accepting the uncertainty, but I'm really struggling with this one. I hate this. This morning, I woke up, and the intrusive thoughts were back. It's just disheartening.

Anonymous

Date posted: 18w

I am scared I might die within the next few days

I'm currently living through a massive health scare with really scary symptoms. I am scared I might have an aneurysm due to my symptoms but despite that the doctor's don't think it's urgent. I have some test scheduled but I will have to wait weeks for some of them. I don't know how to get through this knowing I could die any moment. I live in constant terror ever since those symptoms started. I can't function. Can anyone here please help me with this??? I don't know what to do?

Lizethh

Date posted: 17w

I don't know what to do

I don't know what to do anymore, the fear of psychosis and schizophrenia is so bad in so hyper aware of everything I hear and everything I see, I've always had eye floaters now I convince myself that it's really me hallucinating, I've always had tinnitus but now I'm convinced it means I'm going to go crazy soon, I can't sit in quiet because all I'm focusing on is what I'm hearing, and searching for any sounds I can't distinguish, when there's background noise I get so anxious if I think I heard something but im not sure I did or I'm just anxious, I'm terrified I'll start having delusions and sometimes my brain confuses some sounds for other sounds for example say I'm hyper focused and I breathe and my nose makes a whistling sound my mind interprets it as a scream and I freak out thinking I'm hallucinating only to focus closer and realize it's my own breathing, earlier I was so anxious that I couldnt tell if I had an intrusive thought or heard something, I don't know how to make it stop, I've been through this theme before I just forgot how hard it was I'm having a panic attack please help

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I might avoid going to get bloodwork done...

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