Weary over needles

Hi there,

I have recently been told I should be posting in here. I have a fear of needles and bloodwork. Recently I had to go and get tested for some things. I remember sitting down, but never looked at the needle or anything after that. The anxiety I have been having is over the fact that I didn't see them pull out a new needle, and worried that perhaps it was from a previous patient. I have gone so far as to worry about HIV over such things.

In the end, I feel I have some sort of anxiety issue and fear of HIV in general, as low risk situations have bothered me for months. Am I being far too irrational? Are the practices at lab tech locations safe enough that this should never be a concern? Thank you in advance.

[greenlydia]

Your fear of needles is very common, as I'm sure you know. Aside from some adversion therapy, I suppose some talk therapy could help you out, but I think it would be a waste of money. You said you also have a fear of bloodwork. Most of us with anxiety issues have fears when we go for any kind of test, be it bloodwork or an X-ray or CT......so this is also very common. You said you just had some blood work done and you obviously survived, but now you have a fear that they used a dirty needle. I can assure you that any reputable lab will ALWAYS use a clean needle and if you watched, you would see them open it. Most labs techs, who are highly trained phlebotomists, now make it a point to open the new needle in full view of the patient for just this reason. If you can manage to watch that much of the procedure, do........then, if you need to, look away while the actual draw is being done. That would be a great start in learning to overcome this fear unless you're getting yourself so paranoid that you think they pulled the old "bait and switch" while you weren't looking, threw the new needle away and dug through the sharps container for a used one! THAT kind of thinking WOULD be irrational.
If you have fears about HIV but consider yourself to be at low risk, I think it's time to have a talk with your doctor, a pharmacist, call one of many STD Hotlines or get on the STD Forum here and refresh yourself on safe sex practices. If you are doing everything you can to protect yourself and your partner(s) then relax!
If you open up to the tech who is drawing your blood and tell them you have some anxiety about dirty needles and/or the entire process, they can talk you through each step and you may actually find the entire porcedure far more interesting than frightening! Do you know how phlebotomists become licensed? By lots and lots of schooling and by practicing drawing blood on fellow students, and having fellow students practice on THEM! By the time they graduate, they have had their own blood drawn probably a thousand times! Who better to talk you through it?
Peace
Greenlydia    

[stupid_stress]

Thank you for your detailed comment, I really appreciate it. All was well for me  until I watched a local news broadcast.. and out of coincidence with the situation I am experiencing I suppose.. a hospital a few hours away has been found to be having unsafe practice with needles for several years. They are requiring a bunch of people to go through testing for HIV and hepatitis. Ugh this kind of stuff has me so freaked out!!

[stupid_stress]

In another followup, would it be easier for somebody to reuse needles if they are for instance... giving somebody a shot opposed to taking blood? I can't recall how the needle worked, if they need to detach something from it in order to take the blood sample out of the needle.

[stupid_stress]

Article on recent incident.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=7b020d08-fd99-4f2d-8860-b43d5f1fc25e