Necro-posting here for the benefit of someone who may read this in 2031 or thereabouts... I detail how I take my own blood and replenish iron stores afterwards. I'm 4 for 4 successful with this method with no bruising even.
I do have skin stains from a couple iron shots done too shallow into fat tissue as I was a fat ass at the time. Fat ass fixed via diet.
Step 1: prepare! Spend lots of time reading up on phlebotomy procedures: what vein to use, how to place the needle, etc. Also prepare per the advice for giving blood: lots of water, good sleep, and a good meal beforehand.
2) Gather supplies:
-Kawasumi blood draw kit (600 ml bag with 16g needle)
-Quick release tourniquet (preferred) or BP cuff
-Coban wrap
-Medical or scotch tape
-gauze pad
-scissors
-alcohol swabs
-phone stopwatch
-scale for bag.
3) get ready
- bag on scale on floor, then zero scale
-2 or 3 pieces of 4" tape stuck to something easily reached by your free arm
-stopwatch function ready. Place by bag.
-18-24" coban strip cut and ready, gauze opened and ready
-tourniquet on arm on bicep, at least a few inches above elbow crease with release buckle visible. Tighten till veins pop up
-written procedure on floor by bag
- swab inner elbow crease, use the median cubital vein. This is where they usually take blood tests or donations.
4) go!
- hold needle with wings pinched between fingers, bevel pointed up away from skin
-start stopwatch
- at a very low angle (30 deg or less) insert needle in one smooth motion. Level it flatter as you advance it about 1/2" into vein. Blood should flow very fast down tubing into bag
- tape onto safety device just behind needle wings
5) Flow
Gently open and close hand repeatedly, every few seconds to keep flow faster. Watch weight on scale, it should increase 1-2 grams per second at good flow rate. 2+ grams/sec is ideal. Collect anywhere from 400 to 600 grams of blood. 750 grams is possible but takes a while as that's about the absolute max bag capacity.
****If you feel weird at any time, follow steps below to stop blood draw and don't worry about the stop watch****
6) after *MOST IMPORTANT STEPS*
-stop stopwatch
* -CLAMP TUBING*
*-RELEASE TOURNIQUET*
*-GAUZE READY ON ARM*
*-remove needle by pulling on tubing with hand of bled arm in one quick motion, immediately applying gauze with firm pressure once needle is clear*
-wrap coban firmly around arm. Leave on for at least two hours to minimize bruising and scarring.
Scarring happens due to lack of applied pressure allowing needle slit to open and ooze blood. Opening fills with scar tissue, so keep it closed with applied pressure
Iron replenishment.
One shot can easily replenish all the iron lost in a pint of blood or even more
1) Supplies
-pharmacosmos uniferon 200 iron dextran 100 ml vial.
-1 or 2% plain lidocaine
-23g 1" needle (draw)
-23g 1.5" needle (inject)
-alcohol swabs
2) get ready
- swab vials
-draw 1 to 1.5 ml lidocaine into syringe, then equal amount of iron dextran.
It's very dark brown and kinda thick, be patient
-ideally, heat syringe to body temp
3) inject into dorsoglute
- use minimum length 1.5" needle to reduce chance of permanent skin staining
-z track! Pull skin sideways before insertion
-walk around and do stuff afterwards to reduce soreness once lidocaine wears off
Mg iron lost= HCT % X ml blood drawn.
Example:
50% HCT X 500 ml = 250mg iron
40% HCT X 500 ml = 200mg iron
50% HCT X 300 ml = 150mg iron
Sorry for formatting, hard to space and align sentences without them exploding.
