Our girls do great with the blood draws, however my son, now 10yrs old, has always had a very difficult time.  Even when he was two yrs old and he saw me get a flu shot - he almost fainted!  It used to take several of us to hold him down!  His anxiety goes way up the day before the draw and lasts until the moment the needle is in.  As soon as it is in he relaxes, turns white, sweats and almost faints.  We have tried several different coping alternatives, praying, breathing, visual imagery, giving dolls blood draws and nothing seems to help him.  Actually, in April he fainted and cracked his forehead open just from the blood pressure. 

He had to have another ACTH stim test several weeks ago and because of his anxiety, they gave him anti-anxiety meds.  However, they now know that the anti-anxiety meds suppress your adrenals, so he is having it redone Monday.  Since our son is older, we basically have left his emotions in his hands.  He can choose to freak out or he can rest on the truth that it really does not hurt and there is nothing to be afraid of; that he can handle it and he has proven to himself that he does handle it!!  If anyone ever has any suggestions, I’d like to hear them as well!!