Blood letting question for Bass...

[Pale1]

Well guys, I've got good news to report. My latest attempt was a success. I think the aspirin helped, & I also think I was pumping up the manual BP cuff too much, possibly cutting of circulation.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone. Hopefully next month I will be able to pull this off without turning myself into a human pin cushion

[bass]

good job Pale!

[jasondd1]

Might just give it a try

[NACH3]

Just got the 5/32" tubbing - I'll report back in a few days - hopefully w/pics to show(thx bass... Bonaparte for your help along the way)! Been taking 2-3 baby aspirins a day for a wk now... Should be good to go!

This is a great thread!

Btw - sorry for updating an old thread :/

[mike198]

Just got the 5/32" tubbing - I'll report back in a few days - hopefully w/pics to show(thx bass... Bonaparte for your help along the way)! Been taking 2-3 baby aspirins a day for a wk now... Should be good to go! This is a great thread! Btw - sorry for updating an old thread :/

Interested in the results. I may self bloodlet with future cycles.

[Beethoven]

I'll also be interested in how it goes Nach. Good luck.

[tectime]

Hey Nach! Just follow Bass vid man ! Works great brother ! I didn't-don't have any issues!

[NACH3]

Well I did it 2 days ago and I didn't have a cuff - I used a tourniquet - too much pressure - started draining good then as I tried to grab a tennis ball to pump my fist with - my eye came off the spike for a sec and bam came loose!

It was easy - for sure - I may use the 3 hole method to speed it up(been taking aspirin 3x daily for about a wk) it's not so much my crit but my platelets/& monocytes(highly elevated) from not having a spleen - so a DRBC would be pointless(as it returns your platelets/& plasma back to you) plasma would be great since it holds outer hormones lol

I got a quarter of a pint the first run(going to try again today) - anyone know where to get a butterfly(21g) I think it'll be fine - or I have 18g spikes(it's the twist on but has lil hooks on each end making it more difficult to slide in) but it didn't hook in like the one on bass' vid so I taped it - worked fine! Just a lil slower so going to drill 3 holes and suck through the one!

Here's a pic



Gonna try and play a joke on a roommate too hahaha! I know it'll get easier - I just have to be a lil more patient all in all it was nothing guys... Would have been a full success had I had a cuff and had I not moved around so much lol

[SEOINAGE]

I lost the needle out of my arm once, made a big mess. I just use the 18 gauge needle, but if you have tape or someone to help out it is always nice.

[TShoot]

Just crazy, I will pay the $80.00 fee.....

What is the $80 fee for?

[NACH3]

I lost the needle out of my arm once, made a big mess. I just use the 18 gauge needle, but if you have tape or someone to help out it is always nice.

d

Yeah the tape worked fine(and I actually drilled out the tubing a lil for a better fit - worked fine! I had my roommate there but it's two girls(and she almost fainted when she saw the end result lol... Just need to get a cuff & another person would be a lil better atm lol

[NACH3]

What is the $80 fee for?

For a therapeutic phlebotomy! They discard the blood and have to use different location than the AC branch(at elbow)... Your paying for the therapeutic phlebotomy

[TShoot]

For a therapeutic phlebotomy! They discard the blood and have to use different location than the AC branch(at elbow)... Your paying for the therapeutic phlebotomy

Hmmm, I thought it would be much more than that.

How long does this process usually take to fill a pint bottle - 15-20 minutes? And, besides keeping the pressure around your upper arm lower than your systolic pressure, do you need to be squeezing a tennis ball or something to keep the blood flowing? Does it help speed up the process significantly?

Might make a run out to the local hardware store tonight and try it.

Can't donate blood to the Red Cross because I spent time in the military in England from 1982-1986 (permanently deferred)

**Persons who have spent long periods of time in countries where "mad cow disease" is found are not eligible to donate. This requirement is related to concerns about variant Creutzfeld Jacob Disease (vCJD). Learn more about vCJD and donation.

At this time, the American Red Cross donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:

You are not eligible to donate if:

From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or
From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK) or France. The UK includes any of the countries listed below.
•Channel Islands
•England
•Falkland Islands
•Gibraltar
•Isle of Man
•Northern Ireland
•Scotland
•Wales


Gotta love it. I donated blood multiple times before that without any issues. You would think there would be a test to see if you have it or not by now. They have to be excluding a lot of the population (if they were truthful on their questions).

[Beethoven]

Hmmm, I thought it would be much more than that.

How long does this process usually take to fill a pint bottle - 15-20 minutes? And, besides keeping the pressure around your upper arm lower than your systolic pressure, do you need to be squeezing a tennis ball or something to keep the blood flowing? Does it help speed up the process significantly?

Might make a run out to the local hardware store tonight and try it.

Can't donate blood to the Red Cross because I spent time in the military in England from 1982-1986 (permanently deferred)

**Persons who have spent long periods of time in countries where "mad cow disease" is found are not eligible to donate. This requirement is related to concerns about variant Creutzfeld Jacob Disease (vCJD). Learn more about vCJD and donation.

At this time, the American Red Cross donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:

You are not eligible to donate if:

From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or
From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK) or France. The UK includes any of the countries listed below.
•Channel Islands
•England
•Falkland Islands
•Gibraltar
•Isle of Man
•Northern Ireland
•Scotland
•Wales


Gotta love it. I donated blood multiple times before that without any issues. You would think there would be a test to see if you have it or not by now. They have to be excluding a lot of the population (if they were truthful on their questions).

I'm with you on that. How many donations I've made before living overseas became an issue. I still do therapeutics there at no charge.

[TShoot]

I'm with you on that. How many donations I've made before living overseas became an issue. I still do therapeutics there at no charge.

Red Cross will let you do a therapeutic phlebotomy at no charge?? I never heard that.

[NACH3]

Red Cross will let you do a therapeutic phlebotomy at no charge?? I never heard that.

Me neither unless insurance covers it?!

Beethoven your on HRT - legit right?? Your INS cover your phlebotomies?

[NACH3]

Hmmm, I thought it would be much more than that.

How long does this process usually take to fill a pint bottle - 15-20 minutes? And, besides keeping the pressure around your upper arm lower than your systolic pressure, do you need to be squeezing a tennis ball or something to keep the blood flowing? Does it help speed up the process significantly?

Might make a run out to the local hardware store tonight and try it.

Can't donate blood to the Red Cross because I spent time in the military in England from 1982-1986 (permanently deferred)

**Persons who have spent long periods of time in countries where "mad cow disease" is found are not eligible to donate. This requirement is related to concerns about variant Creutzfeld Jacob Disease (vCJD). Learn more about vCJD and donation.

At this time, the American Red Cross donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:

You are not eligible to donate if:

From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or
From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK) or France. The UK includes any of the countries listed below.
•Channel Islands
•England
•Falkland Islands
•Gibraltar
•Isle of Man
•Northern Ireland
•Scotland
•Wales


Gotta love it. I donated blood multiple times before that without any issues. You would think there would be a test to see if you have it or not by now. They have to be excluding a lot of the population (if they were truthful on their questions).

I drilled 2 holes - if you do a 3rd and put another piece of tubing in and suck thru that one - itll greatly reduce time - otherwise it woulda taken about 20min(I got a 1/4 in 5min) but I also didn't have the cuff and the tourniquet was too tight - I tried to loosen it and bam - plus it stopped the flow :/

[TShoot]

I drilled 2 holes - if you do a 3rd and put another piece of tubing in and suck thru that one - itll greatly reduce time - otherwise it woulda taken about 20min(I got a 1/4 in 5min) but I also didn't have the cuff and the tourniquet was too tight - I tried to loosen it and bam - plus it stopped the flow :/

Okay, so around 20 minutes or hopefully less if I get my stuff right. Does squeezing a tennis ball or something similar help?

[NACH3]

Okay, so around 20 minutes or hopefully less if I get my stuff right. Does squeezing a tennis ball or something similar help?

It did for me - but I'm assuming even w/the cuff(able to pressurize or decrease it w/out loosing total pressure w/a tourniquet) - I noticed when I did squeeze on it it drained a lil faster - my tourniquet was too tight I think but when I released it it totally stopped on the one side... So I just switched sides right away! And if you miss on one arm ya got one more shot on your other arm(as you don't want to use the same vein twice in a day - why I'm letting it heal up more... Not necessary I could've done it again yesterday - just gotta get more tubing - since I know what kind of spike I have....

GL - and I'll post another pic when I do it - either today or tomorrow! Plus we're playing a trick on my roommate hahaha!

[TShoot]

GL - and I'll post another pic when I do it - either today or tomorrow! Plus we're playing a trick on my roommate hahaha!

OMG, I can only imagine.........

Thanks again for your feedback.

[TShoot]

Tried this last night. Could not find tubing to go inside of the 18 gauge needle so I bought tubing that fit on the outside. Ran it into a pint water bottle vented at the top.

Used a manual blood pressure cuff set to 120 (since my upper number is usually around 140). It started to feel really tight a couple of minutes in to the process.

Got about 1/3 of a pint before it stopped. I tried lessening the pressure on the cuff and it didn't help.

Switched arms and tried a 20 gauge needle with the same process. It stopped faster this time. All in all, I got about 1/2 pint of blood but both arms are fairly swollen around the injection sites and significant bruising despite putting on pressure immediately after withdrawal.

Trying to figure out what I could have done different. Did I screw up by using a larger diameter tube that went over the outside versus one that would go on the inside?

Should I have turned down the blood pressure cuff to something around 90 versus having it at 120 which was closer to my systolic rate of 140?

Looking for thoughts about how to improve my process. Today will definitely NOT be an arm day.......

[Beethoven]

Me neither unless insurance covers it?!

Beethoven your on HRT - legit right?? Your INS cover your phlebotomies?

Yes. I have a script for the therapeutics because of my HRT . Here they are called one blood but it is what used to be the red cross . They have never charged me for therapeutics , even though I don't need them very often anymore.

[Juced_porkchop]

Just crazy, I will pay the $80.00 fee.....

Im with you on this one...

[jasondd1]

Ive self bled 6 times. My hemo was 20 so my blood was thick and would clot very fast stopping the draw 1/4 of the bottle. I did 2 holes. one for the blood and one for the tube to suck on. I sucked until the bottle was pretty much constantly emploding in. I used 18 gauge needle. I started with a very tight cuff like 180-200

[NACH3]

Ive self bled 6 times. My hemo was 20 so my blood was thick and would clot very fast stopping the draw 1/4 of the bottle. I did 2 holes. one for the blood and one for the tube to suck on. I sucked until the bottle was pretty much constantly emploding in. I used 18 gauge needle. I started with a very tight cuff like 180-200

How'd you like the extra hole(in all seriousness) lol

That's what I'm going to do this next time - I didn't do it last night - and won't today - tomorrow or the day after is looking better!

[NACH3]

Tried this last night. Could not find tubing to go inside of the 18 gauge needle so I bought tubing that fit on the outside. Ran it into a pint water bottle vented at the top.

Used a manual blood pressure cuff set to 120 (since my upper number is usually around 140). It started to feel really tight a couple of minutes in to the process.

Got about 1/3 of a pint before it stopped. I tried lessening the pressure on the cuff and it didn't help.

Switched arms and tried a 20 gauge needle with the same process. It stopped faster this time. All in all, I got about 1/2 pint of blood but both arms are fairly swollen around the injection sites and significant bruising despite putting on pressure immediately after withdrawal.

Trying to figure out what I could have done different. Did I screw up by using a larger diameter tube that went over the outside versus one that would go on the inside?

Should I have turned down the blood pressure cuff to something around 90 versus having it at 120 which was closer to my systolic rate of 140?

Looking for thoughts about how to improve my process. Today will definitely NOT be an arm day.......

Try what jasondd1 did(3 holes 1 vent on draining one sucking through - giving you more pressure to drain)....

[TShoot]

Ive self bled 6 times. My hemo was 20 so my blood was thick and would clot very fast stopping the draw 1/4 of the bottle. I did 2 holes. one for the blood and one for the tube to suck on. I sucked until the bottle was pretty much constantly emploding in. I used 18 gauge needle. I started with a very tight cuff like 180-200

A hemo level of 20 is pretty low isn't it? I thought that meant anemia or something similar. Normal range is from like 37.5-51% on my test. Mine is 45.

My MCV and MCH values are 4-5 points ABOVE the high value..

I think I am going to try the other tube for suction like you said but my arms are going to need a rest for a while. They look like a war zone. Definitely look like an IV drug user.

My wife almost had a heart attack last night when she walked in the bathroom and saw my "McGyver" blood draw setup. I told her about it beforehand but I guess it looks much worse from an outsider's view. She was like WTF???? Mentioned something about a reminding her of a backyard abortion clinic and walked out.

Told me to sit in the tub or shower next time in case my mad invention went wrong and shot blood everywhere (didn't want it on the walls or grout on the floor).

[jasondd1]

You are thinking hematocrit. I was posting hemoglobin. Hematocrit is hemoglobin x3 or 20x3=60. Yours being 45 you have no reason to self bleed. I never dip below 48.

A hemo level of 20 is pretty low isn't it? I thought that meant anemia or something similar. Normal range is from like 37.5-51% on my test. Mine is 45.

My MCV and MCH values are 4-5 points ABOVE the high value..

I think I am going to try the other tube for suction like you said but my arms are going to need a rest for a while. They look like a war zone. Definitely look like an IV drug user.

My wife almost had a heart attack last night when she walked in the bathroom and saw my "McGyver" blood draw setup. I told her about it beforehand but I guess it looks much worse from an outsider's view. She was like WTF???? Mentioned something about a reminding her of a backyard abortion clinic and walked out.

Told me to sit in the tub or shower next time in case my mad invention went wrong and shot blood everywhere (didn't want it on the walls or grout on the floor).

[TShoot]

You are thinking hematocrit. I was posting hemoglobin. Hematocrit is hemoglobin x3 or 20x3=60. Yours being 45 you have no reason to self bleed. I never dip below 48.

You are completely right. I was thinking hematacrit not hemoglobin.

My test shows "11.1-15.9 g/dL" being in the "normal" range so you were quite a bit above normal.

My MCV (Mean Corpuscle Value) number is high, although not terribly (101 on a range of 79-97) and my MCH (Mean Corpuscle Hemoglobin) is almost over the high limit.

One of the ways to lower both MCV and MCH values is through more frequent blood donations hence the desire to do the blood draws. I wanted to see if this actually lowered the values.

[NACH3]

You are thinking hematocrit. I was posting hemoglobin. Hematocrit is hemoglobin x3 or 20x3=60. Yours being 45 you have no reason to self bleed. I never dip below 48.

Damn 60 on crit... I bet your blood was coagulating quite quickly...

[Beethoven]

Damn 60 on crit... I bet your blood was coagulating quite quickly...

You must not have felt very good. We're probably a stroke just begging to happen. Lol

[jasondd1]

You must not have felt very good. We're probably a stroke just begging to happen. Lol

No more afternoon naps at work. But other than being tired I didn't notice much

[TShoot]

No more afternoon naps at work. But other than being tired I didn't notice much

What was your blood pressure readings prior and after doing the blood draws?

[jasondd1]

What was your blood pressure readings prior and after doing the blood draws?

160 ish over 100. Now 130-140 over 80ish

[TShoot]

160 ish over 100. Now 130-140 over 80ish

That's great. Just what I wanted to know. Thanks!

[Beethoven]

160 ish over 100. Now 130-140 over 80ish

That's one of the first things I notice is elevated bp . I pretty much stay on top of it though, even though I go 3 or 4 months between therapeutics . I still get tested regularly but don't let it get past 48 or 49.

[TShoot]

That's one of the first things I notice is elevated bp . I pretty much stay on top of it though, even though I go 3 or 4 months between therapeutics . I still get tested regularly but don't let it get past 48 or 49.

Do you guys use automatic/electronic BP cuffs on your own or wait until you see a health practitioner?

[jasondd1]

Do you guys use automatic/electronic BP cuffs on your own or wait until you see a health practitioner?

This iphone app is surprisingly accurate

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inst...835333129?mt=8

[TShoot]

This iphone app is surprisingly accurate

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inst...835333129?mt=8

Looks very easy and functional - thanks! Doesn't appear to be a similar app for android. Only logging programs but nothing that actually reads your blood pressure.

That would make it too easy. I need a new phone.

[NACH3]

So decided to give it a go again w.out cuff(obviously need that lol) - no crime scene this time lol - got a lil more than a quater full(just used one side/one vein) I've gotten more than hlf a liter in the two(first was a fiasco compared to this... Both roommates gone for the w/e(if I sprayed I was leaving it)

So in conclusion, definitely get a cuff!