Drain blood via a syringe during venesection

Hello again Paul,

I saw my consultant yesterday. My level was 1421 when I started venesection about 2 months ago. It's currently 698.

Hopefully if it keeps dropping at this rate I'll be below 50 by Christmas.

It is a pain in the arse going every week , it's a pain trying to organise it around work.

The nurses where I go are good as gold. Also when you sit there looking at all the poor sods that are there to have chemo you realise that there are a lot worse things to have than Haemochromatosis

Yes, me too last venesection.  2 hrs and 4 attempts to get less than 400 mls.  My blood is often black and thick as it was that day.  3 nurses had a go.  Drank one cup of tea and 5 glasses of water while in the chair - had to have a pee break.  I believe the waiting can be a problem, so I try to walk up and down the corridor waving my arms around like a madwoman.  Getting cold while waiting - sometimes I am offered a hot blanket.

Sometimes it goes easy, others like above.  I am also fighting fatigue and body pain even though I have been 'deironed' for years.  I began thinking no wonder I feel like I am dragging around a heavy chain and anchor, plus the body pain if my blood is so thick and black like that.

When I complained to haemotologist, it must have been the nurses fault.  Of course it isn't, although some a better than others.  No answers to my problems - I just should not be having them because I am 'deironed'.  So off my own bat, I decided to try thinning my blood down with aspirin.

100mg daily with breakfast.  Within less than a week, I started to feel like I WANT to do things, walked faster, lighter.  Because I now go to the gym 2-3  times per week to try to regain some strength and muscle lost over the years therefore pushing myself even further I still do crash and burn and while I get to a point after dinner that I can't remain upright anymore, I can take stuff to bed with me to continue to do while propped up.

My next venesection is due mid June.  Can't wait to see what happens.  I am not advocating it.  But so far it is working for me.  So it is under personal trial.  I missed two days of taking the aspirin and really noticed the difference, then realised I had missed two days - aspirin has days marked on the press out bit.

I had thought of asking nurses to set up a saline solution feed at same time, but that could mean that they were collecting more saline than blood.  So I will see how I go.

The weird thing is that all the time in the past, whenever a dr has tested my circulation  on my ankle and groin points, they say it is very good.  My oxygen level pre venesection is never less than 99% so one would think everything was perfect.  it goes up to 100% after venesection, which could be a telling point.  My BP is always low to good too.

 

Never heard of this. I was a little slow in the beginning they said my blood was thick. .as my ferritin went down it was faster. In 7 months of weekly treatments.. i am at 167. i noticed that drinking tea with every meal or milk. Really moved the numbers..but when i used the cranberry pomegranate juice, which chelates iron.. i really improved. I did have a glass of wine now and then..with cheese.. my liver was tested recently and my counts are on the low side of normal. I started at 1600. I googled everything on the subject. Tried lots of things.

I think your blood is just a little thick for niw. Weird barbaric way to get it out.