Just did my first self-phlebotomy

[mdwilson2011]

Even as a skinny natural distance runner my crit would routinely be over 50%, so this is something I’ve struggled with my whole life. I guess my body loves to hold onto iron and keep making RBCs.

My hematocrit snuck up to about 56% on Friday, and I was definitely feeling it. I’m lucky and can check this at work just about whenever I want to. The problem was I just recently donated blood about 4 weeks ago, so what’s an iron hoarder to do?

I dumped about 350ml of my own blood using a 17g needle and about 12" of tubing leading into a 500ml mason jar. I got myself all prepped in a similar manner to pinning, trying to make it seem normal and routine. I uncapped that 17g needle and thought to myself…fuuuuuuck. It was like my first pin all over again. Heart started pounding, but I was determined to do it. Went in nice and slow, stabilized myself, and slowly drained it out.

It was cool, because I literally started feeling lighter and had less head pressure as the blood was coming out. I felt SO MUCH better afterwards and still do. This may be something that I start to do routinely to manage iron overload.

I know this isn’t groundbreaking and many of you do this already, just thought I’d share my first experience. @“Dexter” Is there anything you would recommend here?

 

[r_on3]

Oh man I would never have the balls to do that lol. I’m like you my hct like to stay up all the time. I used to be a marathon runner but for the last 5 years just been doing jiu jisu and lifting. My hct was at 58 and didnt really have any symptoms. Took about 4x of donating blood every two months to get it down under 50. I dontae every two months now and it keeps it at mid 40’s.

 

[superawesomename]

I cannot advocate enough to talk to your physician about blood letting, and can’t stress enough to those considering this to do so as well.

 

[mdwilson2011]

superawesomename" pid='70150' dateline='1569842626:

I cannot advocate enough to talk to your physician about blood letting, and can’t stress enough to those considering this to do so as well.

While we’re at it, let’s go ahead and let them know we blast testosterone, tren and a whole host of other chemicals that were synthesized in China and made into finished product by a guy or two, not formally trained, with makeshift “labs”

 

[Black.Beard]

mdwilson2011" pid='70146' dateline='1569834225:

Even as a skinny natural distance runner my crit would routinely be over 50%, so this is something I’ve struggled with my whole life. I guess my body loves to hold onto iron and keep making RBCs.

My hematocrit snuck up to about 56% on Friday, and I was definitely feeling it. I’m lucky and can check this at work just about whenever I want to. The problem was I just recently donated blood about 4 weeks ago, so what’s an iron hoarder to do?

I dumped about 350ml of my own blood using a 17g needle and about 12" of tubing leading into a 500ml mason jar. I got myself all prepped in a similar manner to pinning, trying to make it seem normal and routine. I uncapped that 17g needle and thought to myself…fuuuuuuck. It was like my first pin all over again. Heart started pounding, but I was determined to do it. Went in nice and slow, stabilized myself, and slowly drained it out.

It was cool, because I literally started feeling lighter and had less head pressure as the blood was coming out. I felt SO MUCH better afterwards and still do. This may be something that I start to do routinely to manage iron overload.

I know this isn’t groundbreaking and many of you do this already, just thought I’d share my first experience. @“Dexter” Is there anything you would recommend here?

Thanks for sharing, definitely a route many can take if they have the balls for it. I did it twice with great results. It was scary and fun at the same time. Very satisfying afterwards and felt like a million bucks.

 

[superawesomename]

mdwilson2011" pid='70154' dateline='1569849977:

superawesomename" pid='70150' dateline='1569842626:

I cannot advocate enough to talk to your physician about blood letting, and can’t stress enough to those considering this to do so as well.

While we’re at it, let’s go ahead and let them know we blast testosterone, tren and a whole host of other chemicals that were synthesized in China and made into finished product by a guy or two, not formally trained, with makeshift “labs”

Entirely different than putting yourself in a vulnerable/life threatening situation without someone else there to help you. Even I a perfect world shit can go side ways and you could lose consciousness;that’s a stupid way to die when most can easily find a physician or nurse willing to help them.

You can have multiple doctors, and you can tell your doctors anything you’d like. Half of this board isn’t even prescribed test, so they aren’t ‘risking’ much by finding a doctor that will aid you in monitoring your health.

I’m all about people doing what they want, I never said not to, there’s just much safer ways of broaching something like this in my opinion. Again to each his own but stay safe and educate yourself on all available options in your area.

 

[Dexter]

If your hct is high and your head is pounding draining off blood is an almost euphoric experience, peaceful calm feeling comes over you.

Donating blood is actually good for you, there are downsides, but obviously the Red Cross with FDA standards and American Blood Banking Association standards is probably the most thoroughly regulated organization in healthcare. They publish two thick manuals every year detailing every procedure and precaution. So if they set the standard that a person with normal hbg can donate whole blood every 56 days then we know overall it’s a very safe practice.

Just observe some basic precautions.

Check your CBC(microcytosis from low iron) and Ferritin level before drawing off blood for prolonged periods.

Always have someone around while your drawing off blood. Wife, girlfriend, brother, sister, mom, dad…ect.

My procedure forces me to draw back each syringe full, there’s no auto pilot with this. If I start getting light headed, the procedure stops.

If you put your blood in a mason jar add some bleach and let it sit for a few hours. I still prefer the kitty litter method and it needs to be disposed in a fashion that wouldn’t expose anyone else to your blood, so glass jar disposal isn’t an option.

Telling a doctor about what you do is an option, but if your healthcare provider is through your place of work, if you work in healthcare and your provider leaves a question mark as far as confidentiality because of electronic medical records that are easily snooped, then you are better off either finding a doctor outside of the system(without electronic medical records, because the government spies on this stuff as well), or educating yourself as much as possible to keep yourself out of harms way.

Working in healthcare for 22 years has taught me that doctors unless they are set up for trt/hrt and have experience with guys that use UGL, would be completely out of the loop of understanding what they are dealing with. Most would freak out and decline the offer to be your care provider.

Doctors are trained to do no harm, so most are extremely conservative, they would rather you feel like a pile of shit and have good lab values, then risk feeling fantastic with a few outliers. They are more likely to let you wallow in misery and hand you a few bottles of anti-depressants, then to work with you in your journey that includes China UGL cooked up in some guys basement.

 

[bubba_bob]

I’ve tried to do it but was never able to get an artery with one hand.

I probably should try to find a spot on my leg or foot where I can use two hands.

 

[Dexter]

bubba_bob" pid='77689' dateline='1577470032:

I’ve tried to do it but was never able to get an artery with one hand.

I probably should try to find a spot on my leg or foot where I can use two hands.

You don’t use your artery, in this case the brachial, or if you really wanted a challenge the radial or ulnar arteries that lead to your wrist.

Therapeutic phlebotomy is usually done dead center in your Anticubital(AC) fossa area usually in the medial vein. Some people might use the outside of the AC the cephalic vein, but the medial part of the AC has a large nerve that is very close to the brachial artery and if you hit it it’s not gonna feel good.

The skin is usually tougher around the cephalic vein, making it more painful and harder to stick if you don’t have good veins. That’s why we stick to the middle of the arm at the joint, avoiding the outside and inside of the arm.

Some might think you need to stick an artery if they don’t use a syringe to draw the blood out, but your arteries will clamp off if they aren’t threaded with a catheter and you don’t want to risk any damage to your arteries, so don’t mess with them as you need them for collateral support to the radial and ulnar arteries. Always use a syringe to draw off your blood or a peristaltic pump(if you have someone assisting you to make sure to turn it off when you have drawn off 500cc or less).