As some of you know, I have a needle phobia. How embarassing is that? "Neener neener neener! The shot-giver can give it but he can't take it!" I have a history of getting overly anxious and passing out. I blame it all on my childhood dentist who was a shoemaker from Romania. He really did not change his profession very much. I have passed out numerous times since, gone to the light, and they tell me it isn't my time yet and I wake up (usually on the floor) feeling nauseous, sweating, and then throwing up with a splitting headache. "Sorry" always comes out between heaves. And there was that one time when I woke up with my pants down around my ankles with the needle still in my butt and the doctor's voice boomed out towards the nurses desk on the other side of the waiting room, "Nurse! He just fainted!" So much for patient confidentiality and the HIPAA laws.
Honestly, I am not afraid of the needle so it's not a true needle phobia. And I'm usually not afraid of the shot-giver although there have been a few impatient nurses with a zero-tolerance policy that seemed determined to call me a "panty ass" without quite saying so. What I'm really scared of is loosing consciousness again. Once I reach that point where I'm panicked and the ringing in the ears starts, there is no stopping me. I don't even have time to warn anybody.
But there is a redeeming quality to this. I am often told by patients that I am one of the best shot givers ever. I know all the tricks to minimize pain, distract, and reduce anxiety. Other phobics seek me out!
Personally, I let my own history be known to my practitioner and somewhere along the line I was introduced to Valium. Let's just say it was a sympathetic dentist who believed me when I warned him of the inevitable and he gave me the medicine to keep me calm before, during, and after the procedure. Now I dose myself an hour before based on the anticipated anxiety and viola! Dina leads me in there grinning and kind of points me in the right direction. I sit there drooling a bit like a dog staring at the anatomical charts on the wall as if they were pictures of steaks. I usually get a bit giddy at first, then emotional like,"No one has ever been this nice to me before," and then it's done and I'm grateful that I didn't swan dive or rag-doll off the exam table. Success!
Today was such a day. I got updated on my vaccinations. I've never had such a great team in the health unit before. Thanks guys!
