Fear of Needles

[Mehita]

How do you deal with a fear of needles? This goes beyond the natural tendency of kids just not liking them. High anxiety, shakes, sweats, etc.

 

[Devynnsmom]

Devynn was like that before diagnosis. Now she is so used to having blood drawn every time we go. She was a lot younger (8) so I would promise her something small after every poke. She was the same way you described We tried the numbing cream (she had a skin reaction so we didn't use it again) and closing her eyes, holding my hand etc. Then I decided to try to bribe her because I was out of ideas and it broke my heart to see her in that state. I think it helped to think of something positive (in her mind) coming out of having a poke. Now she goes in, rolls up her sleeve and is completely calm. We would usually hit the dollar store and she could pick 2 things (for a simple blood draw, anything else was a bigger *prize*) or stop for a donut, hot chocolate, or her favorite... Starbucks decaf moca somthing or other. lol That was only if her older sister was with us because I would not let her drink the whole thing (small of course) but I find them disgusting. Good luck!
Someone posted about the buzzy bee, which is supposed to vibrate I believe and take the pain away. But I couldn't find one in Canada and after the reaction she had to the numbing cream she didn't want to try it.

 

[greypup]

I'd turn it over to a therapist. Two of our kids who have had fears, anxieties, etc. have done so well in therapy and overcome their anxieties. The right therapist makes everything easier on the child and the parent ;-)

 

[Mehita]

We tried Buzzy. I think there has to be some amount of open mindedness that it will help, so it didn't work for DS.

I feel kind of bad for DS because now that he's older I see that his reactions are embarrassing to him, yet it doesn't seem like he can control it.

Psychological?

 

[Tesscorm]

Poor kid, I'm sure it is partly psychological but, even it if is, it doesn't make the fear any easier to bear. (speaking from my own total fear of bees! :lol: utahere

This won't address the 'fear' but may help him deal with the situation at the moment... when Stephen had some rough moments a few years back (ie a very painful draining of his knee), I would have him count backwards from some random number but counting in multiples of three, ie 57, 54, 51, etc. I counted with him and would pull him back to the number counting when the pain was pulling his focus away. It did help him because when we had to go back to do the procedure again, before the doctor started, he asked me to do the counting with him again.

:ghug:

 

[DanceMom]

I mentioned this in the other thread but the Child Life Specialists have been very helpful in dealing with this sort of thing. They taught A to count backward from 100 (she's only 8 so that was fairly challenging and a good distraction), take 10 deep breaths, imagine beautiful scenery and describe it (with her eyes closed), and also to distract herself by playing simple games on an iPad. Once she realized that she truly was in control of her body things became easier and now she just rolls up her sleeve and chats with them as they are sticking her.

 

[my little penguin]

Find a therapist ( psychologist ) who deals with medical kids.
DS talked through his anxiety over humira shots .
It really helps
Also
Ipad with a movie on and a headset do he can't hear what is going on .
Maybe a scented cream below his nose so he doesn't smell the antiseptic stuff

Much bigger distraction than buzzy .
Buzzy helps with pain not the anxiety of the needle .

But mainly a therapist since things can get bigger as they get older .
Easier to handle now .
Our kids love going to "talk"
We do it as a family so any issues can be covered quickly before they become a bigger problem.

 

[Johnnysmom]

We used a lidocaine cream that would numb the area and it turned Johnny's skin white so he knew that it was numb and would not hurt. Then we have him look away and distract him by asking him questions about homework, sports etc. I was afraid that doing this would cause him not to face his fear and always have problems with needles, but slowly he got over it. He is fine now at blood draws without the lidocaine. It took about a year and a half but he did it!

Also, we have had someone in training do the blood draw several times. It never goes well. ALWAYS ask that you have someone who is experienced. I understand that people need to be trained but if there is a genuine fear for your child, they need to train on someone else. We had a "trainee" a few weeks ago. Johnny handled it well even though she didn't do a great job and it had to be redone. A year ago it would have really been hard on him and increased his fear.

 

[Mehita]

He gives Child Life specialists a run for their money.

Distraction hasn't been working lately. He just sort of goes into this zone, but not a calm zone, more of the anxious panicky sort. Sometimes I have to pinch him (of all things!) to pull him out and look me in the eye and that's the creepy part... I can kind of see him coming in and out of where ever his mind is taking him. It reminds me of people who are hypnotized.

I didn't like our last psychologist. He passed us off to an intern and after four sessions they were still talking about what emotions are and only spending 15-30 minutes with him every other week. She said teen boys don't talk much. Duh!

 

[Maya142]

We saw three psychologists before we found the right one for my daughter. She's really helped us over the past year. My daughter is also the kind of kid that doesn't talk a lot - quiet and shy. But her psychologist is very good at getting her to talk and has taught her a lot of relaxation techniques.

 

[Jmrogers4]

She said teen boys don't talk much. Duh!

Isn't that there job to get them to talk??

 

[greypup]

we also had to visit w/many psychologists until we found the right one. i began to interview them over the phone first to get a feel for their patience and personality. i also sought one out that had experience w/adolescent PTSD. that is the psych that ended up being the right one and did an AMAZING job for our daughter.

 

[Brian'sMom]

Our GI has a psych they use so she deals with a lot of kids with crohns. She also showed Brian that he is in control of his body. She told him if he gives in to the anxiety then its far more scary and it hurts more too. She gave him some simple relaxing techniques. She had him write down things he would say to his anxiety. His blood draws are no problem anymore...but the Humira...and now Cimzia and even the MTX are a different story. He has to calm himself and then we can proceed. He likes to watch the stick (to make sure we're doing right he says) and then he distracts himself with his phone or gameboy. Deep breathing and he closes his eyes for a minute. He can stop his shivering. But the therapist helped him to realize he had this power already in him.

 

[Stephyjane]

I agree with what everyone else has said. My daughter was absolutely fine having all the blood tests etc, until a trainee dr tried to insert a cannula and failed twice and said he kept hitting scar tissue. It was incredibly painful for her and she is so scared every time now. She gets whole body shakes and cries. We have spoken to the psychologist who has given Ella some relaxation and distraction exercises to do. I agree with johnnysmom and I always ask now for an experienced registrar to do Ella's bloods/ cannula etc. Ella holds my hand and we talk loudly ( so we can't hear any dr talk) about anything. I really feel for you as it's not something that is going to stop for out children. I definitely think if you go in with a plan of what you are going to do it helps. Your son is a very brave boy and it doesn't matter how old he is. Another parent on here a long time ago mentioned bravery beads, I do that with my daughter, we collect all different beads, crystals, heart shaped stones and they sit on a large silver heart shaped dish on her dressing table, it's been a brilliant non expensive way to show her how brave she is.

 

[CrohnsKidMom]

My 9yo son has been always been terrified of needles, and he now gets weekly MTX shots. I would put on a movie, try to get him to relax, and he would try, really try, to mentally prepare himself. One night it took two hours of sitting on the stool trying to get his courage up, trying to mentally prepare himself. Of course, that just made matters worse. I finally realized that he is just too young or emotionally immature, to be able to do this himself. So, I told him I was going to take control and when I said it was time for the shot, it was time for the shot. I allow him time to take one deep breath, that's all. I realize this is not going to work for every child, but it is working well for us.

 

[Rocking on]

My worst fear is a bad nurse trying to put an IV in me after I am dehydrated. I am 46 and still look away when they put needles in me. Such a petty concern in light of every thing i have gone thru but it still makes me woozy.