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My second Ven.

Posted , 4 users are following.

ellen12819
ellen12819

Yesterday I had my second Venesection, 2 pints of water before I arrived and a good friend by my side. Determined to just get it done and kick this needle phobia into touch ... its not a lot of use in my/our situation. First my numbers were higher than the first one 😱 second my veins that were jumping up last week were buried this. Once done I was a little woozy, dying for a pee but feeling queasy. Maybe its the norm I wouldn't know because none of this is ... not yet. I was almost sick in the car coming home, slept for three hours when I got back and it has continued as I am queasy this morning still. My question is "is this just the way it is?"

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • peekay
    peekay ellen12819

    Posted

    I know how you feel. I was never exactly over the moon at the needles. After half-a-dozen weekly venesections I was almost volunteering to do it myself. And I seem to go to sleep for 36hrs afterwards
    • ellen12819
      ellen12819 peekay

      Posted

      Thank you just knowing what is normal for this abnormal helps me a lot. Take care.
    • peekay
      peekay ellen12819

      Posted

      Oh, and don't worry about the numbers being up'n'down like the proverbial brides nightie, that's entirely normal. As long as the general trend is downwards then things are going in the right direction

    • ellen12819
      ellen12819 peekay

      Posted

      Then I will hope the third ones begin to come down... love the humour, you just have to find the funny, I write (when my mind isn't fogged with iron) and Blog so I put an advert out for a vampire... hahaha! No takers yet.

  • GillianA
    GillianA ellen12819

    Posted

    Hi Ellen,

    I also felt woozy and had to stand up very slowly and carefully so as not to pass out after my first few phlebotomies, despite drinking more water than usual ahead of time.  (I could never manage 2 pints of water all at one time, though - that's a whole litre!  That would definitely make me feel queasy.)

    Then I figured out why I was getting woozy - my diet is fairly low in salt and when blood is removed, salt is removed along with it, so having a phlebotomy was running me short on salt.  Once I increased my salt intake from about 1/2 tsp of salt per day (from all sources) to 1 tsp or so a day for a day or two before a phlebotomy plus a good salty breakfast the morning of, then I didn't get woozy any more.

    If you also tend to have a diet that's low in salt, maybe try drinking a bit less water and getting in more salt ahead of time?  

    The day of, I also take along a bottle of a home-made electrolyte solution made up of 1 cup of water, 1 cup of mango juice, which is my favourite juice (juice provides sugar and potassium, plus it tastes good!) and 1/8 tsp of table salt for the sodium.  Then I sip on this during the phlebotomy.  The general idea is that as fluid and salt comes out with the blood, I'm putting fluid and salt back in at the same time.

    • ellen12819
      ellen12819 GillianA

      Posted

      Thank you for the advice i will give a salty breakfast a go. Have a great Sunday.
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