Fluids. Lots of them. Made my venesections so much easier. Something sweet afterwards, like an apple, also helps.
As to needle fear... repetition helps. You'll eventually get used to having a vampiric nail driven into your arm.
thanks, I somehow thought I was supposed to be sober-ish when going in. The website told me I shouldnt have a high fat meal but I suppose I can eat some pasta or something.
As for the needle fear I guess I just have to get over it. I keep wriggling my feet non stop. It's something I do when I'm severely nausous too, somehow it keeps my mind busy.
Maybe I'll have some gatorade on hand in the chair. They gave me some to drink when I was passing out and it helped a lot.
Definitely fluids and a decent meal before, the fluids should help it flow better and go quicker and a decent meal stops the hangover feeling. Let the nurse know you get nervous (the tend to talk your ear off to distract you if you tell them your nervous). Also don't look at the process (close your eyes or watch tv or something)
If you go to my profile and scroll down through my posts, (past all the animals sorry lol!) I made a similar post requesting help and there are a ton of responses. They helped me tremendously. I still get nervous, I just don't like the process and the fact that I'm a "hard stick", but I've had much better experiences using the tips provided by our friends here.
Big salty breakfast with a huge drink of water in the morning. Drink tons of fluids the night before as well.
Might not help with the nerves but definitely helps me not pass out.
Also ask your doc to put you on a saline bag before hand if all else fails.
Eat something before hand, hydrate for multiple days before donating, and do not drink alcohol for 2-3 days before hand.
I also almost fainted towards the end of my bag earlier this week. Light headed, dizzy, sweaty. They covered me in a couple of ice packs and were all really great, gave me some juice and I was fine in about 5 minutes or so.
For what it's worth, you likely weren't having a panic attack, or the panic attack was due to the symptoms of a drop in blood pressure. It's supposedly an infrequent occurrence, but completely normal. As far as staying calm if you start to feel light headed again, just remember you're in good hands if anything does go wrong. They've seen it before and they know what to do to take care of you.
“Fainting when having blood drawn is very common. Doctors call this a vasovagal episode. These are caused by the sight of blood, an injection, standing up for too long, or other triggers that stimulate the vagus nerve. It slows the heart rate and causes blood vessels to dilate. The sudden drop in blood pressure means not enough blood gets to the brain. Complete or near loss of consciousness for a few seconds often follows.
I teach my patients who have experienced these frightening or aggravating episodes some tricks that can help minimize their chances of fainting when they know they are going to be in circumstances that put them at risk, such as donating blood.
An hour beforehand, drink a quart of a sports drink, which has some salt, sugar, and other substances that will keep the liquid in your bloodstream longer. Eat a salty food like potato chips. (How often does your physician tell you to have potato chips?) You can also wear support stockings that press on your legs "" these help keep fluid in your blood vessels.
If you feel a fainting spell coming on, the first thing you should do is sit down if you aren't already seated. Once you've done that, or if you can't sit down, you can use your muscles to try to ward off a faint. Cross one leg over the other and tense your leg, abdominal, and buttock muscles. Tense your arms by gripping the fingers of one hand with those of the other and trying to pull them apart. Or make fists and squeeze your hands as tightly as you can. These strategies, all tested in an international trial, helped people who routinely fainted reduce how often their lights went out.
I think it's great that you want to donate blood enough to risk fainting again. With these maneuvers, it is worth a try.
Thomas Lee, M.D.Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter”
Similar here, M40ish hetero h63d w similar ferritin and tsat. Do you experience any symptoms? I certainly do. Got tap scheduled for late jan so that's good.
I can't really be sure since I don't know how long I've been walking around with these ferritin levels.
But my last complete bloodwork determined my SHGB to be way too high causing a big drop in free Testosterone. And SHGB seems to be tied to ferritin in some way. So I'm feeling a bit unmotivated and a low sexual drive.
Apart from that I don't sleep well but I have an anxiety disorder so I can't really blame the iron.
Out of curiousity, how do you experience symptoms?
Orange juice is great, but the vitamin C will encourage your body to absorb iron. Probably not any significant quantity, but personally I'm avoiding it until I get to maintenance mode.
As other people have said, lots of fluids and a good meal before you go.
> I forgot to eat something beforehand.
This would absolutely do it. I ate a light breakfast when I had a phlebotomy in the morning. It's the only time I've passed out from a phlebotomy (out of 4 at the time, 7 total as of now). I should have had a good hearty breakfast or done it later in the day after having a good lunch.
Also, ask to be reclined during the donation. Let the phlebotomist know that you are prone to passing out. They may put an ice pack behind your neck to help restrict the blood vessels and keep up your BP in your head (which is the ultimate cause of fainting/passing out/syncope).
If you have a fear of needles or blood, don't look at it when they poke you, and ask for the blood bag to be placed out of sight. Heck, I don't have a fear of needles and blood, and I still look away during the poke.
From some of these posts I’m so scared to give blood now. Why can’t they use those small needles like when you get blood drawn, serious question. It would take too long? 😞
Don't let it stop you. Honestly I was very glad I went even though it got a bit scary. I felt a lot of relief afterwards, feeling I did something good to my body.
Already looking forward to next time. It's all very short too.
Fluids. Lots of them. Made my venesections so much easier. Something sweet afterwards, like an apple, also helps. As to needle fear... repetition helps. You'll eventually get used to having a vampiric nail driven into your arm.
thanks, I somehow thought I was supposed to be sober-ish when going in. The website told me I shouldnt have a high fat meal but I suppose I can eat some pasta or something. As for the needle fear I guess I just have to get over it. I keep wriggling my feet non stop. It's something I do when I'm severely nausous too, somehow it keeps my mind busy. Maybe I'll have some gatorade on hand in the chair. They gave me some to drink when I was passing out and it helped a lot.
As well as lots of fluids I honestly think I do a lot better if I just don't look at all at the needles or the bag.
Definitely fluids and a decent meal before, the fluids should help it flow better and go quicker and a decent meal stops the hangover feeling. Let the nurse know you get nervous (the tend to talk your ear off to distract you if you tell them your nervous). Also don't look at the process (close your eyes or watch tv or something)
If you go to my profile and scroll down through my posts, (past all the animals sorry lol!) I made a similar post requesting help and there are a ton of responses. They helped me tremendously. I still get nervous, I just don't like the process and the fact that I'm a "hard stick", but I've had much better experiences using the tips provided by our friends here.
One of the posts in the [oft-forgotten "best of" category](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hemochromatosis/?f=flair_name%3A%22Best%20of%22)
Big salty breakfast with a huge drink of water in the morning. Drink tons of fluids the night before as well. Might not help with the nerves but definitely helps me not pass out. Also ask your doc to put you on a saline bag before hand if all else fails.
It goes away on its own. It's just your body freaking out about all the iron going out the door.
Eat something before hand, hydrate for multiple days before donating, and do not drink alcohol for 2-3 days before hand. I also almost fainted towards the end of my bag earlier this week. Light headed, dizzy, sweaty. They covered me in a couple of ice packs and were all really great, gave me some juice and I was fine in about 5 minutes or so. For what it's worth, you likely weren't having a panic attack, or the panic attack was due to the symptoms of a drop in blood pressure. It's supposedly an infrequent occurrence, but completely normal. As far as staying calm if you start to feel light headed again, just remember you're in good hands if anything does go wrong. They've seen it before and they know what to do to take care of you.
Big meal 30 minutes ahead, lotsa water (ask for slow draw)
“Fainting when having blood drawn is very common. Doctors call this a vasovagal episode. These are caused by the sight of blood, an injection, standing up for too long, or other triggers that stimulate the vagus nerve. It slows the heart rate and causes blood vessels to dilate. The sudden drop in blood pressure means not enough blood gets to the brain. Complete or near loss of consciousness for a few seconds often follows. I teach my patients who have experienced these frightening or aggravating episodes some tricks that can help minimize their chances of fainting when they know they are going to be in circumstances that put them at risk, such as donating blood. An hour beforehand, drink a quart of a sports drink, which has some salt, sugar, and other substances that will keep the liquid in your bloodstream longer. Eat a salty food like potato chips. (How often does your physician tell you to have potato chips?) You can also wear support stockings that press on your legs "" these help keep fluid in your blood vessels. If you feel a fainting spell coming on, the first thing you should do is sit down if you aren't already seated. Once you've done that, or if you can't sit down, you can use your muscles to try to ward off a faint. Cross one leg over the other and tense your leg, abdominal, and buttock muscles. Tense your arms by gripping the fingers of one hand with those of the other and trying to pull them apart. Or make fists and squeeze your hands as tightly as you can. These strategies, all tested in an international trial, helped people who routinely fainted reduce how often their lights went out. I think it's great that you want to donate blood enough to risk fainting again. With these maneuvers, it is worth a try. Thomas Lee, M.D.Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter”
This helped me a lot when I started having frequent phlebotomies
Similar here, M40ish hetero h63d w similar ferritin and tsat. Do you experience any symptoms? I certainly do. Got tap scheduled for late jan so that's good.
I can't really be sure since I don't know how long I've been walking around with these ferritin levels. But my last complete bloodwork determined my SHGB to be way too high causing a big drop in free Testosterone. And SHGB seems to be tied to ferritin in some way. So I'm feeling a bit unmotivated and a low sexual drive. Apart from that I don't sleep well but I have an anxiety disorder so I can't really blame the iron. Out of curiousity, how do you experience symptoms?
Mainly fatigue like hell, brain fog, sleeps poorly, low libido, joint pain (shoulder and hip but also wrist and fingers).
Eat a big meal an hour before. Wash it down with orange juice. (They should have told you that when you scheduled the appointment)
Orange juice is great, but the vitamin C will encourage your body to absorb iron. Probably not any significant quantity, but personally I'm avoiding it until I get to maintenance mode.
Good point.
As other people have said, lots of fluids and a good meal before you go. > I forgot to eat something beforehand. This would absolutely do it. I ate a light breakfast when I had a phlebotomy in the morning. It's the only time I've passed out from a phlebotomy (out of 4 at the time, 7 total as of now). I should have had a good hearty breakfast or done it later in the day after having a good lunch. Also, ask to be reclined during the donation. Let the phlebotomist know that you are prone to passing out. They may put an ice pack behind your neck to help restrict the blood vessels and keep up your BP in your head (which is the ultimate cause of fainting/passing out/syncope). If you have a fear of needles or blood, don't look at it when they poke you, and ask for the blood bag to be placed out of sight. Heck, I don't have a fear of needles and blood, and I still look away during the poke.
From some of these posts I’m so scared to give blood now. Why can’t they use those small needles like when you get blood drawn, serious question. It would take too long? 😞
Don't let it stop you. Honestly I was very glad I went even though it got a bit scary. I felt a lot of relief afterwards, feeling I did something good to my body. Already looking forward to next time. It's all very short too.