Kids Fainting While Having Blood Drawn - Do They Outgrow It?

My husband is like this. He has to be laying down and looking away.. Seeing his own blood makes him faint...

Ssshh... No one else knows this but me.

My husband (57) passes out every time, or close to it. He now knows to request that blood get drawn with him laying down not sitting up, AND NOT TO LOOK!

My step-father still faints. He's in his 60s.

My wife passes out to this day (she's 42) having blood drawn.

I had the exact same thing happen to me. I was fine in early childhood. Then I saw an allergist. I fainted for the first time in my life while at the allergists office getting all those injections - I think I was 10-11. After that I couldn't get a shot, have blood drawn, anything with needles without fainting. I didn't outgrow it until I was in the middle of my first pregnancy - you get so much blood taken during pregnancy that I guess I finally got used to it and stopped passing out around 32 weeks.

Easiest thing is to know that it's an issue. Whenever a needle is involved - tell the dr's/nurses and they should have her lay down to have it drawn, have a sugary drink ready for her, and will also bring in the most experienced phlebotomist.

there's no one answer. for some it's a childhood fear that they outgrow, for others it's just hardwired in. we've all heard stories of Big Strong Men fainting at their wives' childbeds, haven't we?
just keep the catcher's mitt handy.
:) khairete
S.

sounds like it is just something that runs in your family. i had no idea i was a "fainter" until i was in my early 20's.

make sure she's not watching and make sure she's had something to eat and drink prior...but unfortunately...some people just do.

i can NOT watch blood going from a needle into a syringe, dripping onto the floor, or "moving" in any way. it's not something i can control. i don't "freak out". my body just DOES it. on it's own. no matter how calm and mentally prepared i am....*shrugs*....

if you can narrow down the actual cause it might help. is it the sensation, is it seeing it, etc.....good luck! (and you know, i'd ask her doctor too, just to be thorough. what do we know? lol)

I am sure some outgrow it, but no one I know has. My father in law is 56 and still passes out at the sight of needles or blood and when getting his blood drawn. My husband, 34, is the same way. I don't ever expect them to outgrow it. So as you can imagine, I handle ALL boo-boo's in our house!

Some out grow it and some don't.
My Mom's cousin always fainted at the sight of blood.
Her eldest almost bled to death because she could not stay conscious enough to get him to the emergency room (this was the 1960's) but Dad got home from work in time and he took him.

At 20, mine still fainted. You have a while.

Mine is almost 18 and it happens every time she has to have blood taken. Ask them to lie her down and maybe she won't pass out. If my daughter lies down, she has no issues... Sometimes that just isn't possible.
It's gonna be a while.
LBC

im not anxious over it and not fearful of needles yet i pass out...well actually i dont anymore because i realize that i have to lay for a while...when i try to get up i get dizzy and lay back down a bit until im ok. so i dont actually pass out anymore but i would if i didnt take the percautions of laying dowm. when i start to walk too soon, i get lightheaded, my sight starts to go, hearing starts fading, and then i sit really quick before i pass out. your daughter can be aware of the signs that its coming to prevent it

Some outgrow it, some don't. I know adults who faint at the sight of a needle or blood.

I am hypo tensive with a blood pressure around 80/50 which is low. All my life I have struggled with dizziness after large volume blood draws or even fainting. I have to lie flat if I donate blood for almost an hour before I can sit up. For me, it's purely physical. Not a mental thing in any way. What helps is lay down when they draw blood, have small volumes drawn at one time and to eat something before and after( like juice and a protein bar). Some of us are just born this way!

I was fine with it through HS. For whatever reason i started getting faint about it in the college years. That continued until I was pregs. At that point, I got so used to being poked and proded, that frankly, a blood draw no longer phased me.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

It's a vasovagial reaction. I used to get it for every blood draw and sometimes shots. I was really worried during pregnancy, but I guess I grew out of it. I once took a header getting a booster shot before college. That was ...fun. Having to fast can make it worse.

I would anticipate that there MIGHT be a reaction, tell the practitioner, and have her lay down and try to zen out. If it happens at other weird times, then I'd have it looked into further. I just heard about an acquaintance who cannot bend more than halfway over or she faints.

I'm 52, and I still faint. So, maybe not. I keep hoping I'll outgrow it though.

some folks do this their entire lives..

I have gotten a bit woozy with some painful things.. of course some blood draws hurt like heck and others you don't even feel.

It is pretty common, I believe for kids to faint when having blood drawn. I don't think it is the needle stick nor the anxiety over it, so much as it is having blood removed from the body (the removal of blood).
My daughter had no anxiety either and fainted (and then denied fainting, lol)... when she had a tube drawn last year. She was 11 at the time. Son fainted when he had it drawn for allergy testing and cholesterol screening (several vials) when he was also 12.
As an adult, removing a tube of blood usually doesn't have that same effect. I think it is b/c proportionate to the body's blood volume, it isn't that much. But for a child, it is.
Many adults faint after donating blood, b/c the volume of blood removed is higher than for testing purposes.

So yes, I think they outgrow it, but not because it it mental. I think it is more physical and blood volume removed vs. blood volume remaining in the body thing.
But I didn't do any research or ask this specifically. I just know that I was warned both times by the nurse drawing the blood, that it may happen. And I haven't been warned (except the first time I donated blood) for myself, ever.
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http://www.phlebotomytraining-classes.com/why-do-some-peo...

It could be a vaso vagal response. I developed it as a part of peri-menopause. What I do to help prevent it is hydrate well and lay down with my feet up if I start to feel funny. I hate it when it happens if I'm out and about...

I'd talk to the doctor about it just to make sure that there's nothing more than a fear of needles.

She may not "outgrow" it. It's a natural response. It may not be an anxiety response at all.

It is probably a vasovagal response. as a kid i was fine, enjoyed watching and enjoyed blood work and other procedures, even watched them do foot surgery on me at age 19. But in my early 20's I had to fast for some testing which included bloodwork. I apparently passed out when they were drawing the blood, no signs before, no feeling woozy or loss of vision or hearing, I went right down. I came to with smelling salts, not fun. after that I thought it was a fluke and but next time I had bloodwork, I fainted again. I quickly learned that I had to lay down for bloodwork or IV's. Since laying down I no longer get dizzy or pass out, but if i sit up too quickly after I get dizzy and need to come up slowly. She may have this for a long time or she may outgrow it. I would tell her to lay down for blood draws, etc. and tell her that make it so she won't pass out. That should help the problem and any future anxiety she may now have due to the last episode of passing out. If she lays down and doesn't pass out for a while, sometimes it can retrain your body's reaction and she may stop passing out.

Not sure how she will deal with it in the future. I still just about hyperventilate each time, unless it's over an extended period. I'm 39 and was reminded yesterday morning to breathe.