oops! Wrote a really long message then lost it. I am new to all this! Oh well, start again...
Since I can remember I've had a fear of blood, Not 'gory' things, I have no problem with blood outside the body, just with it circulating! Since I was about 11 I have also had an excessive fear of needles. I thought that if I ignored it it may go away, but unfortunately I am 21 now and it has got progressively worse until I now faint after every injection.
I really want to do something about it, I don't want my life to be controlled by this irrational fear. Also (thinking ahead here) I want to have children, and I know that pregnancy involves many blood tests which at the moment are a real source of anxiety. I also don't want to pass on my fear to my children and want to make sure they are properly innoculated.
The symptoms of the fear are pretty extensive. Even typing this is starting a mild form of it! I go very weak and don't want to be in contact with anything, my breathing gets irregular and my tongue feels too big for my mouth. I twitch quite a lot and I start to hear churning noises before blacking out a few minutes later. It's really very frightening.
If anyone else feels something similar, knows why it happens (I haven't always been this bad) or what on earth I can do about it, I'd really appreciate hearing from you! It's great to be able to chat about something that people usually see as 'weird'!