Posted on 04/11/2022 2:55:50 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Yes, my ferritin levels were very high at one point due to the many transfusions I’ve had. The iron from donors blood accumulated in me. There’s a couple ways to treat this.
Either blood letting (if iron is that high, you can’t donate. Plus, as an aml patient - I can not donate). The other way is via alpheresis. (Similar to dialysis, but the ferritin is removed).
Fortunately, the levels corrected themselves to a point where I didn’t need to do either. But, I’ll always be at risk. It’s not a big concern as treating it is pretty easy.
It’s the recipients of many transfusions who may need alpheresis, not the donor. The ferritin/iron build up from the donors blood accumulate in the recipient. It takes more than a few or several transfusions to be at risk of hemochromatosis.
No. You are on thinners. You can not donate. Not just for your sake. But, the recipients.
Glad you are better....I wish a donor could give directly to a person, but evidently it all goes in the same bank...from what I’ve heard.
This is true. My friends and fam wanted to donate to me and they were told the same thing. They were directed to the Red Cross.
Ps. Thank you for donating. Seriously. Leukemia patients, especially acute leukemia, would all die quickly without transfusions. Blood donors have a special place in my heart. Please don’t think it’s a small thing.
Plus you get paid to donate plasma. Healthy and remunerative!
I hope that they filter at least most of this crap out of the plasma and blood before giving it to people who are sick/injured enough to need it.
It takes more than a few or several transfusions to be at risk of hemochromatosis.
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Having more stored iron than you need creates problems.
If blood ferritin is less than 70 ng/ml, the person has an iron deficiency.
I’m just referring to the reason for blood letting due to hemochromatosis. Mine was significantly high, but they are not going to treat it until it remained at that level or higher.
For instance, normal hemoglobin levels are around 12. But they don’t give transfusions till it’s 8. And yes, you’ll feel bad at 9. Platelets, normal is 150-450. But they don’t transfuse till 15. (Perhaps even 11 ). Yes, you’ll bruise and gums will bleed under 50. After treatment I stayed at 70-90 for 3 years without problems. It was walking around around 5-10 untreated that could have killed me tho.
My point is they don’t treat blood problem just because it’s high or low. It has to be significant, prolonged, and side effects are problematic more than ‘tired’.
Trust me. As a blood cancer patient, this was my language. My life revolved around blood count numbers. It still revolves around those numbers. I recall when my in the hospital for AML my sister would text me asking how I was doing. I’d text back my rbc, anc (neutrophil), wbc, platelet, levels. Because that was how I was doing.
My point is they don’t treat blood problem just because it’s high or low. It has to be significant, prolonged, and side effects are problematic more than ‘tired’.
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If I have more iron than I need I treat it by donating blood.
I’m surprised they accept it if it’s that high.
If people have ferritin less than 70 ng/ml, they have a deficiency. Those with ferritin higher than 70 and less than 300 have more than they need, but it’s not high.
I understand. But not all not all deficiencies are treated by drs - as I explained in my post when I had deficiencies with leukemia. Only when they reach certain levels. So, for instance - even if I was not a recovering bone marrow transplant patient - the Red Cross would not have accepted my blood. The levels were too high. It would have been treated by blood letting (and throwing away the blood) or apheresis.
I consider donating blood good for MY health, too.
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