Hacker News Reader

Comment by leethomas | Hacker News Reader

They said it's normal to faint after receiving a flu shot? Hasn't heard of that happening to people before. What was the explanation?

View on HN

It's not the shot itself, it's the injection/getting stabbed. I think I fainted four or five times in my life due to injections/blood draws. I have to lay down look away and control my breathing otherwise I'm gone. It is a pain in the ass and I get light anxiety from it.

Same. I also realized I can't get acupuncture due to this, I will just faint

I’m curious if there’s a refractory period. (I.e. if you faint and come to after the first needle goes in, then maybe you’re “past it”, and the rest won’t bother you?)

I'm really curious but I don't think I could get myself to try it.

My gut feeling is that there is a refractory period but it would still feel like shit because it takes time until my blood pressure returns to normal.

Normal maybe isn't the right word, but it's an expected possibility, the FDA has a page about it [1], and that's one reason FDA recommends patients be observed for 15 minutes after a vaccination, especially for types they haven't had before.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/fainting.html

Somewhere in EU, I (and everybody else) was told to wait 15m before leaving the area after the vaccine.

This is no doubt because of the possibility of such events.

In my school, they started taking blood tests during annual medical checkup. (certified doctors & parents permission).

100 students participated in the blood tests out of which I think atleast 4 fainted. The test was done by just piercing a small needle, & not the actual extraction of large amount of blood. The analogy is slightly different than a vaccine shot, but nonetheless the setup is same by using needle.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com