Ok my good friends know this about me, but I ALWAYS pass out when I get shots and blood draws. Maybe not full unconsciousness, but sweaty hands, faint feeling, racing heart, tunnel vision, loss of hearing, gotta lie down and drink sprite etc etc. the docs call it a vasovagal response. Well, pair that with an overactive imagination and panic disorder, and I DREAD going to the doc. It’s embarrassing, annoying, super inconvenient. My brain and my body play a trick on me and convince me fully that I’m going to die.
Well, yesterday I tried something different, and it actually worked. No panic, no passing out. I know for many people this is dumb and you’re thinking just toughen up. I wish I could! I had to address both the psychological side and the physiological side.
What finally worked?
I listened to a lot of podcasts about fears, and about trauma and panic. I also researched the vasovagal response and built an understanding of the interplay between mind and body, so I could make a plan.
The plan:
For my mind/panic- I took half a klonopin about an hour before the appt. I did this once before, and experienced way less anxiety, but my body still did its thing and had the vasovagal response.
This time, I added a physical component that I read about and practiced before I went in- basically, clench your abs and leg muscles like you’re about to do a squat. Hold for ten seconds. Release for ten seconds, repeat the whole time. It increases your blood pressure (which counteracts the drop that is associated with the vasovagal response).
So I went in, told the nurse my plan, and we did it. I still had a little bit of nerves bc I didn’t know, but I didn’t experience any symptoms of the usual response. And guess what, that’s a huge win. I can start to build a case to myself that it’s not scary, that I’m safe in that scenario, and the fear will hopefully dissipate or be “extinguished” as they say.
Thanks
@hubermanlab and others for sharing free resources online to help people like me.
