I have quite bad needle anxiety. It's not the needle itself but the actual penetration that is so painful to me that it is rather self-fulfilling- I get extremely anxious leading up to it and because I'm tense it hurts again... and I'll avoid injections if at all possible.

That said, I'm a blood donor, because I felt that my anxiety shouldn't get in the way of saving people's lives. I've donated twice and nearly been kicked out both times. In a month, my due date is up again and I wondered if there is any advice for me to try to calm me down (I'm fairly sure that getting mildly drunk is not an option ) because already I'm getting anxious and I'm not sure how many times I can put myself through this and whether there is anything I can take (like herbal remedies, I don't take pharmaceuticals) that might be ok to take while donating...