How to lower Red Blood cell count????

[Soybean70]

I have not tried double red cell donation. It takes about 30 minute more than a whole blood donation. They can take twice as many red blood cells, but then you have to wait twice as long between donations. So you kinda end up at the same place.

There is supposedly an advantage. According to the Red Cross web site "With all of your platelets and plasma returned to you along with some saline, you don't lose the liquid portion of your blood and may feel more hydrated after your donation."

So if you think this would help you, try a double red cell. I don't seem to notice the missing plasma and platelets ... the body replaces the plasma in like one day so it's no big deal (for me at least).

Perhaps someone can clarify ... for a double red cell donation - do they need to insert more than one needle (one for the blood and a "return" line for the plasma). This is not a deal breaker, but I try to minimize those vein punctures.

That's my plan. I don't think I will have any trouble with the double red. Shouldn't have the blood pressure drop like a full donation.

 

[Alpin]

Published accuracy of the ultrasound-based readers like the Ultracrit is better than 0.5% hct. Maybe there room for operator error somehow. I admit that a 5% drop seems almost improbably high.

I don't see how hct can spike with T or T/E ratio. Spike suggests a rapid rise and subsequent fall. Not even blood loss will cause a rapid drop in hct, until plasma volume is restored. Why do you say that T/E ratio influences hct?

Who knows. Both docs I saw said the labs I had (done a week prior to blood donation) is more accurate than the finger prick test at the blood donation centre.

 

[Alpin]

1 week prior to blood donation blood test results:
HEMO: 15.1
HCT: 46 %

Day of donation:
HEMO: 17.3
HCT: 50%

Something had to give here.