Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 12:33     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
What can you do now?

Well you can tell PCP you may have been exposed to Blood Borne Illness from needle reuse. You can get tested for Hepatitis, HIV, etc. Then retested in a while. You can get prophylactic medications.

Or you can call place and ask if you had a new needle.

Or you can stop runinatingl

Are you the frequent "talk me down" poster?
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 12:27     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
Was there blood in the tubing before she stuck you?
If not it wasn't reused.
It most likely was disposed of correctly they don't want to get stuck either. Even if not, not your worry.
Where was it? Some seedy storefront in a slum with no appointments and dirty clothes on the so called tech? Or a regular lab facility. Lol?
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 11:01     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
Anonymous wrote:You need to get some help for your health anxiety. I'm not being snarky, I'm being honest.


+1, also no snark, only empathy. As we get older, we tend to need more screening and health intervention, so this is a problem that will only become more burdensome with time if you don't get a handle on it now. It is completely normal to experience some amount of anxiety around something like getting lab work done, but catastrophizing about imagined used needles is outside the realm of normal and will not lead you anywhere good.

Talking to a mental health professional could offer you some tools to help you in the future, too. If something like this were to happen in the future, knowing how to calm your anxiety so that you are in charge instead of the anxious thoughts would help you to stop and ask a question in the moment, rather than allowing the fear to build and making yourself a passenger for the anxiety as it takes off.

It's just no way to live. And I've been there.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:59     Subject: Re:Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
I have blood drawn regularly OP. Without fail, the tech caps the needle and puts it in the sharps bin immediately after the draw. You barely see it is so fast. They’re not leaving anything around because it could risk their lives.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:46     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
Anonymous wrote:or she just needs more information
not everyone knows how these things work


Instead of asking the tech or someone else at the facility, or even calling them after she left, she is ruminating and posting about it on an anonymous message board. Anxiety 101.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:43     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
or she just needs more information
not everyone knows how these things work
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:43     Subject: Re:Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
You need to get some help for your health anxiety


or she just needs more information
not everyone knows how these things work
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:42     Subject: Re:Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
You need to get some help for your health anxiety


or she just needs more information
not everyone knows how these things work
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:26     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
They're designed to be single use, and you'd see blood inside if it had already been used.

It's going to be fine, OP. You need a little more tech education to understand that you're safe in this situation.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:23     Subject: Re:Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
You absolutely need to see a psychiatrist for your anxiety.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:23     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
You need to get some help for your health anxiety. I'm not being snarky, I'm being honest.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:22     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
Your tech had the equipment prepared and ready, that's all. Perfectly normal.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:16     Subject: Re:Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
As a nurse who uses butterfly needles all the time, I wouldn’t worry. You would see blood in the tubing if it had been used before, and butterfly needles aren’t easy to reuse.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:10     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
There is absolutely no way they used someone else's needle on you if that's what you're worried about. They're designed for a single use and the phlebotomy would be in danger of sticking herself if she tried to detach the mechanism to reuse it.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 10:08     Subject: Lab Blood work Safety Concern this AM-Please talk me down
I did not see the lab tech open a new needle package and clearly did not witness the disposal of the used needle as well.

I should have asked immediately but didn't and now am freaking out! The butterfly needle IV set was laying on the table already and draw my blood with it. They ask me to do the urine sample before the blood draw so assume they may have open it while I was in the bathroom, but clearly didn't see them disposing the needle in a container.
Left feeling very off and concerned .

What do I do now?