Sweet 16 and never had a vaccine

Two Toed Sloth

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Two Toed Sloth
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Jun 13, 2010
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Hello All,

Well not 16 actually, more like 21.

It seems that I was unfortunate enough to be a child at a time that the link between vaccinations and autism was being heavily publicised by the British press. My mother denied me the MMR jab (In fact I haven't had any Jabs as far as I know, although I assume I had some as a baby) so I am now a substantial risk to myself and others.

I've been thinking that I really should get vaccinated now. I keep putting it off as although I've never had an injection I know I'm phobic of needles (I think I've just built it up in my head too much).

I was just wondering If there are other people on here who didn't get vaccinated for similar reasons and whether they too have developed a phobia of needles.

(first time posting a thread, If it is in the wrong place or just completely irrelevant I apologies)


Kind Regards,

Sam
 
You've benefitted from herd immunity

Consider yourself fortunate. However, the more people who don't get vaccinated, the higher the risk to people like yourself.
 
Two Toed Sloth said:
I was just wondering If there are other people on here who didn't get vaccinated for similar reasons and whether they too have developed a phobia of needles.
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I doubt that your fear of needles is caused by your lack of vaccinations. For one thing, most vaccinations take place before the age of three and leave no imprint upon the memory. For another, vaccinations hurt (at least for a moment), so a baby that had been stuck with needles would have a much more concrete grasp of needles=pain than one who had never been stuck. Last, i know plenty of people who have been vaccinated who are phobic of anything medical.

I, for example, am a diabetic. I give myself between two and six injections a day. I absolutely hate needles and am terrified of shots. The constancy of my situation has not led to habituation. Indeed, I feel like every single time is worse than the last.

So, follow your doctor's advice and get those vaccinations from which you can still benefit. Fear alone is a poor reason to abstain from anything.
 
As my dad always says Don't let nothing but fear stand in your way. Oh wait. That's crappy advice. The shots are going to hurt. But they aren't going to hurt very much for very long. Ever had a headache? That hurt more than the shot will. Ever banged your elbow against something and you get that pain that just shoots up arm? That hurts more. Or a paper cut? That hurts like a son of a bitch. Vaccinations aren't that bad.

You'll be okay and ultimately better off for having done it.
 
I had a terrible needle phobia, caused by the cack handedness of some old dear of a doctor who'd been trundled out of retirement to do childhood vaccinations; she virtually took a run up.

When I was 20 I was admitted to hospital with pyrexia, a blinding headache, photophobia and a stiff neck. You don't need to be a doctor to know where all that points, I'm sure.

So, in casualty (that's the ER, USAians :P) they drew 6 tubes of blood, then once I'd been taken up to Derriford Hospital's shoddiest neuro ward, they took more blood, gave me 2 Megaunits of pennicillin and a paracetamol suppository. Ten minutes later I got a lignocaine local injected either side of my lumbar spine, followed swiftly by spinal needle (if you haven't seen one they're like a knitting bodkin) in between two of my lumbar vertebrae to extract a sample of cerebro-spinal fluid. I'm wriggling about in my chair just remembering it. An hour or so later, lying weeping and in agony, I was cheerfully told that I had viral meningitis, which should clear up within 24-48 hours, rather than the considerably nastier menningococcal variety.

About six months later Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust changed it's policy with regard to meningitis diagnosis; if there is no purpuric rash there is no need for a lumbar puncture.

A rather miserable experience, but it completely cured my needlephobia. After all that, a little jab in the arm is nothing.
 
Mention to the nurse/doctor giving the injection that you are afraid of needles - it is a situation they are well used to handling and have a few tricks up their sleeves to make it easier for you.
 
Professor Yaffle said:
Mention to the nurse/doctor giving the injection that you are afraid of needles - it is a situation they are well used to handling and have a few tricks up their sleeves to make it easier for you.
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When I got a flu shot last year they just assumed. It was an odd drive through deal where cars drove through the fire department and they administered shots through the window but anyway, I was staring at the spot they were about to poke and the nurse smiled and told me they preferred if I'd look forward. I didn't even feel the shot but only bothered to look over when she put a bandage on the spot.
 
TTS, it's unlikely to be seriously painful. Less than a stubbed toe, by a mile.

My godson refused to have a meningitis vaccine because of needle phobia, and also puts up with migraine rather than inject Imuran (the oral version doesn't seem to do it for him). Well, the migraine is his own problem, but I hope to hell he never encounters the meningiococcal bug.

Just don't look, and it will all be over in a couple of seconds.

Rolfe.
 
Two Toed Sloth said:
I was just wondering If there are other people on here who didn't get vaccinated for similar reasons and whether they too have developed a phobia of needles.
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No. I've been stabbed with too many needles myself and developed a massive fear of them. I got over it, eventually.

But I can see how one would build up more and more fear of the unknown.

All I can say is that it's really not so bad. If it goes very bad, it'll hurt a little and you walk away with a little bruise. Worse thing can and do happen to you - quite regularly, I assume.
 
Lot of students get booster MMR around that age. Those with fear of needles seem to cope.
 
I've never had fear of needles, until I started thinking a lot about it before the flu vaccine last year. When I got around to it it was disappointingly pain free.
 
When I went back for my Master's, my college had changed its policy regarding the number of MMR booster shots.

I have to say, needles don't bother me, so that wasn't an issue. But the dosing did burn, which surprised me. It was a very temporary effect though, and it wouldn't and hasn't discouraged me from getting a round of Hep. A/Hep B. vaccinations (which I would recommend to anyone that travels).
 
RussDill said:
When I went back for my Master's, my college had changed its policy regarding the number of MMR booster shots.

I have to say, needles don't bother me, so that wasn't an issue. But the dosing did burn, which surprised me. It was a very temporary effect though, and it wouldn't and hasn't discouraged me from getting a round of Hep. A/Hep B. vaccinations (which I would recommend to anyone that travels).
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You know what really burns going in? Morphine.

But very shortly after that, the burn turns into... something wonderful :D
 
MattusMaximus said:
You know what really burns going in? Morphine.

But very shortly after that, the burn turns into... something wonderful :D
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Oh yeah, you can understand why people do it for fun...and why it becomes such a habit. I didn't actually notice a burn, but it may be because my pain centres were overloaded by the tiny calcium chip making it's way out of my left kidney at the time :P
 
Naddig74 said:
Oh yeah, you can understand why people do it for fun...and why it becomes such a habit.
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No kidding, if I had easy access to morphine and too much time on my hands... the implications are a bit scary. I can see how people get hooked on the stuff.

Aside: I find it interesting when people ask "why do people abuse drugs?"

Duh, the answer is simple: because drugs work.
 
I have a bit of a puzzler that I guess this would be as good a place as any to pose.... I suppose :).

Though, to the OP, make note that in this story I say (as others have said) that the shot really doesn't hurt that much at all.... even back when needles where a bit bigger.

This was when I was very young (less than 10, more than 5, I would guess), and I had 2 shots. Sorry, but I don't remember specifically what each was, so I don't want to guess. They did one in my right upper arm, and one in my left. The one in my right they said that people find tends to hurt a bit after the actual shot part (I believe a previous poster referred to this as "burn").

Well, that wasn't bad at all (the burn pain in the right arm), and the shots themselves didn't hurt either (as someone above said, a paper cut is actual pain, getting a shot is nothing comparatively).

Except! The one in the left arm (it was definitely not the one they said should have any after effects) had a very deep, slow throbbing pain for several days if not weeks.

What probably happened? Did the nurse injure/damage a muscle perhaps? Or even nick the bone? It definitely felt like one of those 2 things happened.

*note: I was very skinny at the time, so I really can't blame the nurse.
 
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