I have been a long time hemochromatosis sufferer and have always been treated by phlebotomy -- one unit every two months.
I read about a procedure called apheresis which is also a phlebotomy but it only uses the plasma A centrifuge machine returns the platelets and whole blood cells to your body. The process takes a little longer than a "regular" phlebotomy. A smaller guage needle is used.
Just wondering which method takes out more iron per session.
New forum user.
Many thanks,
John
It seems to me like they would also be returning iron to your system. Don’t really see the point in over complicating things, one pint every two months is no big deal. Stick with regular phlebotomies.
Apheresis removes platelets not the red blood cells that contain iron and is of no use for someone with haemochromatosis.
You may be confusing this with a double red blood cell donation in which they filter out the RBC's and put the rest of the blood components back. They do it every 16 weeks instead of 8 weeks and take about 500gm of iron each time instead of 250gm with a regular phlebotomy.
I've been doing DRBC for about a year and like the convenience of only having to go in 3 times a year instead of 6 times. As It removes twice as much iron each time the place I go to requires a higher hemoglobin that a regular phlebotomy but mine is always high anyway. They use a smaller gauge needle so its easier on the veins.