I had to get some bloodwork done for my integrative doctor's appontment next week. After a few bad reactions in a row--one where I felt super lightheaded and sick (though that was partly because I waited till 11 to do a fasting blood draw) and a few where I felt shaky and panicky, I researched ways to avoid that. Apparently, it's from the vasovagal reflex, where your blood pressure drops as a reaction to the blood draw. And one website said a way to help keep your blood pressure up during a blood draw is to tighten your, uh, butt, abdominal, and arm (on the non-blood-draw arm) muscles for 10 seconds, then release, then repeat. While breathing normally.

So after sitting in the chair today and almost being like, "Never mind, I can't do this" and running screaming from the chair, I decided to give the clenching thing a shot. And...it definitely helped! I still felt slightly shaky, but not nearly as bad as the other times (and this was 5 vials). And the nurse doing the draw didn't ask me what I was doing or if I was OK, so apparently I concealed it well enough.

So, if you get shaky from blood draws, try the muscle tensing thing!