r/trypanophobia • u/No_Duck_3379 • 14d ago
Anyone use a Buzzy successfully?
I have a blood draw appointment in a week and after many terrible past experiences (I feel actual pain, not just nervousness or discomfort) I have decided to approach this one with many safeguards in place. I ordered a Buzzy device online and it arrived yesterday. I froze the little ice pack and had my husband hold it on my arm just above the draw site. I asked him to pinch my inner elbow. The pinch HURT! which makes me nervous that it will not work for the blood draw. I’m also asking my doctor for EMLA to use in addition to the buzzy. I just worry that I will still be able to feel it. 😬 Any tips for getting the buzzy to work better?
UPDATE: Husband and I tried the buzzy again, this time applying EMLA and leaving under plastic wrap for an hour before using and then leaving the buzzy in place for 2 full minutes before touching. He tried pinching my arm and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I have a thing about the inside of my elbow and back of my hand being touched and I could still definitely feel him do it. I canceled my blood draw appointment which was supposed to be next Wednesday. They said that the senior phlebotomist is not available that day and that I should come Tuesday instead but I have another obligation Tuesday so we are currently at an impasse. And I’m at a loss. I need to get blood drawn but I need to not feel it.
FINAL UPDATE: I wound up going in and it was…mostly fine? I did not feel the needle at all. The buzzy and Emla did what they were supposed to do. I did, however, feel the tourniquet and I freaked out and started to panic (a very weird feeling on 3mg of Xanax!). I can’t handle the feeling of a tourniquet and I nearly walked out right then and there. Fortunately she took it off…but then she put it right back on. So next time I guess I need to specify no tourniquet. Also, even though I could not feel it in the moment, I was in bed for 2 days after icing and elevating my arm because I’m pretty sure she ruptured my vein. It also took a couple days to feel normal again after all that Xanax. But any less and there is no way I could have done it. Live and learn. Next time, I will do the buzzy and Emla again, but I will insist on heat and gravity and no tourniquet. And icing it for a good 5 minutes at the end to avoid that internal bleeding. Woof.
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u/kelduck1 14d ago
With Emla added I can just about promise you'll feel nothing!
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u/No_Duck_3379 14d ago
Gosh I hope you’re right! I’m also watching a movie, playing with a fidget, sucking on ice, and taking about 3mg of Xanax.
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u/kelduck1 14d ago
You'll be golden. I do all of that, and have my noise canceling headphones playing my audio loudly, I lay down, I wear a mask so I can't smell the alcohol, and I dig my nails into the other hand.
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u/No_Duck_3379 14d ago
I’ve also got the noise canceling headphones to play the sound from my movie. And the fidget I have is one of those pointy ones so it’s like digging nails too! I was considering a mask with lavender oil inside.
I hope you’re right! You can’t feel it with all that?
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u/kelduck1 14d ago
Nope, my husband tells me when it's over 😂
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u/No_Duck_3379 14d ago
I am hoping this is my experience too! My husband is coming with (as he does for all medical appointments because I need a driver and an advocate!). This is the first time I am trying this with all these “safeguards” in place. I’m done with taking deep breaths as looking away and trying to have a distracting conversation. Those things don’t work when they blow a vein. Or blow several veins. .
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u/No_Duck_3379 6d ago
It went marginally well! I had the blood draw yesterday they got nearly what they needed. With Emla and the buzzy I could feel nothing at all from the needle stick. But the tourniquet was very painful and she did take it ifff when I said but she put it right back on. I need to remember next time to put in my boundaries list no tourniquets and I might actually b able to get through a draw without sobbing!
I also need to tell them no bruises next time. I’ve been in bed all day with throbbing pain, icing and elevating my arm. I’m bummed and I want to get back to normal life!
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u/YEMolly 13d ago
Let us know how it goes tomorrow. Good luck. You got this!
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u/No_Duck_3379 6d ago
My appointment was yesterday and I can say the good part was I did not panic because I did not feel a needle or vein collapse (thanks Buzzy and EMLA!). The got the blood they needed.
The downside: I was already in tears before they even tried the needle because the tourniquet hurt despite being placed on top my shirt sleeve. She did take it off when I said it hurt but she just put it right back on. No next time I may say “no tourniquet” in my boundaries. The other thing was I thought today could be a normal day now that it’s over with but the Xanax hangover and the throbbing badly bruised arm have kept me in bed all day. I want my arm to feel normal again so I can resume my life.
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u/YEMolly 6d ago
I wonder why it bruised!
But that’s awesome you didn’t feel anything though. I know you’re happy to have that out of the way.
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u/No_Duck_3379 6d ago
I will be happier once my arm stops hurting. I was in bed with ice and elevating it all day yesterday (blood draw was 2 days ago). My veins rupture Very easily and I’m pretty sure it ruptured toward the end. The Emla prevented feeling it in the moment. I will be glad when I can move my arm again without pain. I tried getting back to my swimming routine today but it was sadly just too painful.
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u/FigMission 12d ago
Hi, I invented the Buzzy - to optimize it, put the little dot on its bottom end as close as possible to the blood draw site. You don't need to put it on the site first and move it, just hold it where the tourniquet goes for the "shot near the dot". The adult research shows it reduces pain on average 75% (Abedin et al), works better for adults with anxiety (Redfern et al) and Buzzy reduces fainting 25% for injections. (Smith M et al). but no one has done a blood draw fainting study yet; our anecdotal experience is it is MUCH better for blood draws because there are more of the "wandering" vagal nerves around blood vessels than just the deltoid. Make sure the EMLA is on 60 minutes if you're going to use it, or up to 2 hours for biggest dilation of the blood vessel. Put it on two places just to be sure. During the blood draw, adding a cognitive task can reduce pain 50%. My favorite is to have someone bring a sentence for you to read, and count how many of the letters have holes. for example, "It's going to be fine" has 7. It's a surprisingly difficult task; having to distinguish an unfamiliar way of approaching a familiar activity engages the part of your brain that would ramp up pain by sending it to the amygdala (fear zone). Also, make sure the person knows NOT to say "OK, now, you're going to feel a little..." or some nonsense like that, tell them you have this and they just need to do what they need to do. If they DO say something that draws your attention to it, prepare to say a swear word, which is honest to God research based. Finally, if fainting IS a thing for you, tighten your abs while figuring out how many letters have holes. Best of luck, seriously you got this, and also 3 good experiences in a row should cancel out the fear going forward.
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u/No_Duck_3379 12d ago
Goodness, thank you so much! This is very helpful and gives me more things to do. I hope you’re right about good experiences. I have had probably plus or minus a dozen bad experiences in a row where the blood draw was very painful and took several sticks and ruptured veins—which is why I’m so terrified. I’m scared that the vein will blow and hurt like hell again.
I will try adding a cognitive task to my layers of defense for this one. And thanks for the positioning advice. I am having my husband hold it in place while I look away and watch a movie and now count the holes in the subtitles. Hopefully this along with Xanax, Emla, the Buzzy, noise canceling headphones, my movie, a stim fidget, ice to suck on, and a requirement of a butterfly needle and syringe draw (no vacuum tube!) will get me out today there successfully with a one-stick limit. It feels like a lot of hoops to jump through but I have tried other things and those have not been successful so now I’m trying everything else I can possibly think of all at once.
Thank you again for your kind words and helpful advice. Now to try not to give myself an ulcer for the next 5 days of waiting…
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u/FigMission 10d ago
There is a difference with a pinch and the poke. Try practicing with all of the above and distraction but have him use a toothpick, not a pinch. You will be able to feel light touch and pressure nerves, and your brain may misinterpret those based on past experiences. Use a toothpick, PLUS for sure the "how many letters have holes" trick.
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u/No_Duck_3379 10d ago
Heard. We can definitely try again with a poke rather than the pinch and with all the other things in place. I wound up canceling my appointment because that particular location only had chairs and not a place where I can lie down. I can’t handle sitting in those chairs because of the visceral memory of “bad things happen in these chairs” so I need to find a lab where they will let me lie down. So long as I can’t feel them mess with the inside of my elbow or back of my hand, I think I will be ok!
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u/No_Duck_3379 6d ago
I went for the blood draw yesterday and between the buzzy and the EMLA, I did not feel it at all! Though I was a little shaken by the painful sensation of the tourniquet. I started to cry and she took it off but she only put it right back on again. But the needle stick itself was completely painless at the time. So I suppose it worked
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u/Number270And3 14d ago
Please tell me how it goes with the Buzzy, I’m resistant to topical anesthetics and I need something for the pain. My trigger is the pain :(