Hey, since we’re talking about giving blood today – a friend of the family got in an accident yesterday due to a vagus event after a blood draw. He had never had one before. My wife gets these somewhat frequently, so:
If you’ve never passed out after a blood draw or injection, you should wait at least fifteen minutes after an injection or blood draw before you drive or do anything where a sudden loss of consciousness could cause you serious injury – climb a ladder, use a sharp knife, etc. If you ever have, you should wait half an hour.
Our friend is okay. He was driving below the speed limit and wearing his seatbelt when he briefly lost consciousness. His car is totaled, but he’s okay.
Please be careful. I know we’re all really busy, and we’ve all got a million places to be, but you can’t tough your way through your body deciding it needs to reset itself by passing out briefly.
I also really recommend bringing a cookie or granola bar and water (or any little snack) if you’re getting a blood draw so you can have that after
This is especially helpful if you had to be fasting for the test
Oh for sure.
To be clear, y’all, every place I’ve ever been that you give blood or get it drawn for tests recommends that you stay for 15m.
A lot of people don’t do that. We’re all busy, and I don’t think most of us know what might happen bc if you’ve never had vasovagal syncope/a vagus event… you don’t know how completely out of your control it is. You’re busy having a normal day and then you wake up on the floor.
A friend of mine nearly had a Very Bad Day the day before yesterday.
I took that as an opportunity to remind people to take care of themselves.
That’s all. :)
Things you should take with you if you want to give blood:
Water with high mineral content (iron, potassium, magnesium etc.),
Alternatively, dump electrolyte powder in your normal water (hangover stuff is helpful here)
If you have somebody who can get some time off to go with you, you can ask them for help in getting back home safely. I always go with my mom so I don’t have to get back alone.
Yes, that’s good advice.
Again, friends, I’m talking about a blood draw for tests or an immunization as well. You don’t have to have a pint of blood taken, or any blood taken at all, to have a vasovagal syncope/vagus event like my buddy had. He had a blood draw for tests.
I do my wife’s E shots bc then she can just stay in bed afterwards bc she had a vagus event after her first HRT shot. My other wife passed out on a nurse while getting rabies prophylaxis shots in the ER after we woke up with a bat in our room. These things sometimes happen immediately but can happen on a short delay.
Nothing you could do within those 15-30m is more important than your safety.
Huh… Yeah, that’s probably what happened when I got me ear pierced.
And yeah, I think tumblr’s reading comprehension is striking again. This is ANY blood draw OR injection. It has nothing to do with hydration, salt, or blood sugar levels like you’d see after donating blood. This is basically any time you’re stuck with a needle, see blood, fear bodily harm, or any number of other triggers.
As far as I can tell, this is the thing that makes some folks faint at the sight of blood. It’s a nervous system… malfunction? You get some stimulus that makes your body think it’s losing blood, so it slows your heart rate and dilates blood vessels to pool all your blood in your legs, causing a rapid decrease in blood pressure.
In theory, I could see how this might make you lose much less blood if you were actually wounded. In practice, taking your blood pressure off a cliff like that can make you lose consciousness.
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