I’m not usually squeamish about giving blood or needles. I don’t look, but that’s more about not seeing the needle go into my arm than anything else. When an experienced nurse does it, I can barely feel it. The nurse was not great at putting in my IV needle. I was feeling the pain of it, plus she wasn’t getting any blood flow. I started to feel nauseated, light-headed and broke out into a cold sweat. They took the needle out and tipped me back to get some blood back into my head before I fainted. It is not uncommon for your body to react this way to giving blood, but it had never happened to me before. They cooled me off with cold washcloths and let me return to normal. They put the IV in a different vein and it went better the second time.
I Feel Faint
