Sensory issues and needles/shots

[Pokey Oaks]

Hi, as I've mentioned before I have a teenage daughter with AS. She's 13 and I'm not yet keen for her to use the forums herself, so she has asked me to ask a question, and we'll go through the responses together. With that in mind, I was wondering how those of you who have been diagnosed with AS, and are most sensitive to touch, deal with having needles..or shots I think you call them in the US. My daughter has tried to have her vaccines, but the fear of something touching, and then piercing her skin has her running and hiding every time. We have attempted several times to have it done, but the result is always the same, total meltdown. She really wants it done, knows why it's being done, and believes in the benefits, but at the moment the nurse starts walking towards her, it's all over.

As my second daughter has recently been diagnosed with AS (or technically now it's high functioning autism), the leading children's hospital in the country would like to do a chromosome study on the family for research purposes. We are all keen for this to happen, but don't know how we're going to get past my eldest daughters fear. Has anyone out there got some advice, it would be very much appreciated.

 

[Flinty]

Yes, I had this problem, but not as severe.

Oddly, I got over it about a year later. Maybe time will heal.

If it's that severe, there exist non-injected anesthetics, but that sounds like an expensive solution.

 

[zurb]

You will probably find once the needle is in she will be fine. The worst part is thinking about it in the time leading up to it. We find distraction helps to some degree. You can talk about something totally different and keep her eyes focused elsewhere in the room. But even then, anxiety might make it difficult to think about anything else. Sometimes I think a general anesthetic would be the easiest answer.

 

[wyverary]

I think something like Valium could help tremendously, actually. See if you can convince her doctor to give her a dose and take her in for the shots once it kicks in.

 

[Cerulean]

I tell the nurse performing it that I need to be distracted to stay calm. They are happy to talk to me and give me things to look at in order to have a calm patient. I can't look at them or the needle but if there is enough other stuff for my brain to process it doesn't pay so much attention to the needle.

 

[zurb]

Doesn't solve your immediate problem, but there is hope for the future. Check out this TED Talk:
Mark Kendall: Demo: A needle-free vaccine patch that's safer and way cheaper | Talk Video | TED.com

 

[Stacey]

Ask the nurse to apply emla or to spray freeze the area. This numbs the site, she won't feel the needle. Ask her to close her eyes and count to 100...count with her so that she can hear your voice.

 

[Dusty285]

Along the way I often had no choice at all. (Military.) I learned to look elsewhere and concentrate intensely on pleasant things.

Much or most of the fear of needles is fear of pain. Good nurses lightly rub the immediate area where the shot/needle will do its thing and that desensitizes the site briefly. The actual needle penetration is only a slight sting for a small part of a second or often no feeling at all.

I took 3 grandchildren for flu shots one year. I volunteered (this was a children's doctor; I was not eligible for a shot but they did it anyway to help the little ones). I just stood unconcerned (outwardly) looking away and being still and the children (a teen-ager and 2 sub-teens) meekly followed my example.

Fear of a thing is almost always worse than the actuality of the event itself. There are many stories, movies, videos, etc explaining or showing a child that this is true. Or a single person the child will trust? One Granddaughter sometimes needs eyedrops. She will allow her Daddy to put them in her eyes but cannot make herself let anyone else do it, not even her Mother.

 

[Dusty285]

Instead of giving the child something as serious as Valium, try something more benign. Specifically, buy a small (the cheapest 'unit price') bottle of vitamin B-100 (an over-the-counter in the United States) and give her one of the tablets (if she takes pills; this one is usually a large solid capsule but could be cut into smaller chunks?) each morning for several days to a week before the event. All the Vitamin B vitamins are water-soluble in the body, have no bad side-effects, wash out quickly and do not build up. The B-100 can be used instead of the common 'happy pills' (like Vallium) for diagnosed depression and have almost none of the negative effects or consequences in long-term use. It might help. No promises. Give it for long enough (a few days or a week) beforehand. Stopping it will be a non-event afterwards.

I take a B-100 every day. It is good for the heart/circulation. Has calming effects (two friends who were diagnosed depressive told me they took B-100 because they became wary of the observed side-effects in all the other prescription pills after they took each and all of those pills for a length of time). One of the 'B' vitamins seems to make humans taste bad to mosquitoes and taking the B-100 can often reduce the number of bites experienced.

 

[Flinty]

That reminds me...

Has your daughter ever been bitten by a horsefly?

You can tell her that the two are comparable, because they honestly are.

 

[zurb]

The actual needle penetration is only a slight sting for a small part of a second or often no feeling at all.

Sorry to be aspie for a moment but this very much depends on what the vaccine is, where and how deep it has to be applied.

 

[Flower44590]

Valerian and skull cap also having calming effects. They are herbs available in many forms.

I have found that the anxiety of being touched so much is what gets me with vaccines. I have piercings and I can tolerate that, but having a chemical injected into my body to be part of it or having part of my body taken out of me(blood draws) ::gasp:: too much...no.... Can't do it without hitting panic mode. I have found that announcing "I hate needles. I will probably freak out and I need to be sitting and be able to see exactly what is happening," has helped. Then I can melt down and not feel any remorse. Everyone was warned.