As part of ruling out thyroid issues suddenly causing my flair up of anxiety my doctor ordered some bloodwork. I knew the blood draw was going to give me tons of anxiety because I've never had one before so my doctor said to take a pill of Xanax beforehand to help combat the anxiety. The Xanax helped keep the edge off right up until the nurse was about to put the needle in and do the blood draw, and then suddenly my entire body was screaming "Don't do this, stop, you can't do this!!!!!" and I told the nurse to couldn't do it. In the end the nurse said I could do a finger prick, but that I'd have to come back because this location didn't have the supplies for it.

Thing is, I don't have a needle phobia, so I don't know why I couldn't get myself through this. I get a flu shot every year with little issue. I got my COVID shots earlier this year with little issue as well. I've also gotten a tattoo on my forearm, which is obviously quite a bit more painful and unpleasant.

But, this felt too invasive? Idk. I've always been squeamish if a show or movie has someone getting injected with something (even though I know it's fake) so maybe it's something related to that. 

While it most likely won't be a problem for this specific instance, I know I can't avoid a regular blood draw forever. How am I going to be able to do that in the future? Stronger meds? Something else? Idk.