Getting over fear of needles

[NightWing]

It re-hit me of how poor I'm going to be this coming fall.  I plan to both move out and start T and that's gonna be hard.  But hey, I need a challenge, I've been too bored with my life.  The only thing is, I may have to do needles.  I don't know what the prices are going to be for me, but it's pretty much universal that injections are the cheapest.

The only problem, I have a HUGE phobia of needles.  I WILL pass out if I watch myself get stuck or anything.  I can't even stand cartoon needles or anything.  It makes me cringe and go light-headed.  So how the hell do I get over that?  I'd much rather do the any of the other options, but if money is tight then... 

[Nygeel]

You can ask your doctor to inject you in your butt. You won't see it at all.

[NightWing]

Isn't it more expensive to get doctors to do it?

But actually, if I close my eyes it isn't so bad.  That's the only way I can like, get blood drawn without freaking out. 

[Sharky]

Desensitize yourself. Start watching videos of people injecting online.

[V M]

Sorry to be a girlie interloper, But I was afraid of needles for years... What got me over it? I did the plasma gig for $$$... It took a lil while, but now a needle is just another poke... No big

Besides, plasma saves lives

[NightWing]

Hmm, all good suggestions. 

Sorry to be a girlie interloper, But I was afraid of needles for years... What got me over it? I did the plasma gig for $$$... It took a lil while, but now a needle is just another poke... No big

It's fine, I don't care if girls post here  I sadly can't donate anything though.  I don't weigh enough 

[xAndrewx]

Desensitize yourself. Start watching videos of people injecting online.

That's what helped me. I'm a needle-phobe too. They terrify me. I have my mom do my shots in the thigh, I don't look but I do get all the stuff together myself and force myself to remember every reason I want to be on T which seems to help. As the changes have started coming it's gotten easier to handle the needles. Getting my blood drawn though... well I'm still working on that but I'll force myself to do it since it means staying on T, ya know? With the shots I know it's just a little stick that usually I barely feel.

[Lee11]

Try using an insulin syringe...one of the larger ones....you won't feel a thing.....

[Robert Scott]

Rain I don't know where you live but in the Twin Cities of Minnesota is the free shot clinic...maybe there is some place similar around you.

[mr_marc]

You can ask your doctor to inject you in your butt. You won't see it at all.

Was going to say exactly that.

[Rileyyy]

i was really terrified of needles until i had to get a blood test in december. my mom couldn't get the time off, and i didn't want my dad to come with me, so i decided to go to the appointment alone. i was really nervous while i was sitting in the waiting room, but i kept taking deep breaths and reminding myself that there was nothing terrible that could happen to me while getting my blood taken. typically my fear of needles has been less focused on the sensation of it, and more the fact that i am trusting someone else with my body, and fluids that are going in/out of it. what really helped for me was to reassure myself that the nurse that would be taking my blood wouldn't do anything to hurt me, and that even if the needle hurts going in, it'll be over in less than a minute. when i was in the office, i barely felt the needle go in at all, and i was looking right at it. i counted up from zero as the nurse was drawing blood, which helped keep me focused so that i wouldn't faint. it wasn't a bad experience at all - it was nothing like i had imagined.

because of the good experience with the blood test, i was less nervous than usual when i went to get my first shot of T. everything was fine while i was sitting with the nurse and listening as she taught me how to self-inject, but i started getting scared as the time came for me to get my shot. i told the nurse i was nervous and she told me the best thing for me to do was to look at the needle, and to help her hold the syringe as she was injecting the T. i expected the shot to be painful, but it wasn't. it was actually the strangest sensation i've ever felt in my life; as if my muscle was being pulled and squished at the same time.

i guess what i'm trying to say by recounting my experience is that, even if you're afraid of needles, getting a shot or getting blood taken will never go the way your fear makes you imagine it will. i'm not saying it'll be the next best thing after eating chocolate or anything, but it's not as absolutely horrible as you might imagine. it's uncomfortable, and yeah it takes getting used to, but it's not terrible.

[Rowan]

When I was a kid I was terrified of getting shots. To the point where I would suddenly realize that in a few months I MIGHT have to go to the doctor, I would flip out right there for fear of getting my blood drawn. (Been hypothyroid all my life, so at BEST I've gotten yearly blood work, more often than not though, ever few months) I don't know what got me over the hump, but suddenly I didn't care anymore. I stopped listening when the nurses told me not to look, or that I'll feel a pinch. It helped me to watch every step of the way. Only thing I really dislike now is that my arm feels like spaghetti for about a day afterward.

Getting a shot is nothing now. Oh, you're not even TAKING anything from me? Sure. Can do a shot standing on my head. When I was a kid, however, I had to be restrained to get shots. I was that nightmare child that screamed bloody murder at the doctor. Yeah... And now I have a crapload of tattoos, and have been pierced more times than I can count.

I suppose you could think of it this way:

You're in control of it.
This is something you REALLY want.
The poke it's self is what, a few seconds of your entire life.
Think of all the times you've stubbed your toes, scraped your knees, or gotten a paper cut. All that crap hurts way more than a poke with a needle. A thing designed to do just what it's doing.
It's not actually a big deal. Sure in your mind it's a big deal, but in reality it's a tiny little flash of an experience that impacts so little in the grand scheme of the universe, that it's hardly worth putting so much energy toward dreading.

I dunno. Do you like candy? Get a bag of skittles, or m&m's or something, then set forth to youtube and watch injection videos. Reward yourself every time you get through one. Try to start associating needles with something happy. Stickers? I know it sounds really dumb, but giving yourself a little gold star every time you succeed in getting over a hurdle, really helps.

[xAndrewx]

Stickers? I know it sounds really dumb, but giving yourself a little gold star every time you succeed in getting over a hurdle, really helps.

Rowan- I just wanted to say that is an awesome idea. I have to get a new calendar when I get my check, maybe I'll pick up a pack of cool stickers and give myself one every time I finish a shot

[Just Shelly]

I was one never to have much fear of needles, I didn't like them but not a big deal.

THEN! came self injecting. The nurse went through all the precautions, recommendations and such.

Ya I can do this!

My first injection literally took me 30 minutes 29 to talk myself into it 1 to do it.

I am now fairly use to it, but I still need to give my self a little pep talk before.

Shelly