Reminder for non coffee & tea drinker

Allergies, blood and immune system
1

Just found this out but not after going through hell - As a non coffee Or tea drinker I more Or less drink pure orange Or water (Boring for some I know biggrin  First bleed was fine just went back to wrk had a glass water that the nurse gave me no prob - the second bleed I had on a Monday and drunk a couple glasses of water before & after was ok then by about Thursday I was seriously struggling to get through the day with cold & clammy hands and the shivers by Sat I wasn't feeling gd at all and felt dizzy and totally spaced out and taking paracetmol my BP was tripping all over the place so took myself off to A&E (Not like me at all particuarly as I work in the same trust) My BP was checked by the A&E doctor and was suggested I should go on a BP tablet and I was sent home with this in mind on what I needed to do. I was due to be bled on the Mon and really wasn't looking forward to it as I felt very unwell but spoke to the haemotolgist on the unit who reassured all was ok - So I went ahead with it and really did trip the light fantastic smile Never felt so ill in my life I was ok with the needle going in & during the bleed but afterwards I lost all my senses and was sweating buckets - I continued to feel unwell but returned to norm with my BP in the unit to which I was sent home - Ever since then I have been feeling like I was drugged up and had a intermittent headache which been taking paracetmol for. By Thursday this Wk I could take no more phoned in sick - As my BP was dancing all over place and felt very unwell - Managed to get appointment with my GP after a lot bartoring with the reception sad My BP was taking and it was high to which I was asked about going on a BP tablet I said it prob wasn't the ideal thing to do as it was going up & down and asked for a 24 hour monitor to be put on (Pain arse to sleep with had one on back 2007) With this I was told this was all contracted out by GP's to a third party company and would have to wait approx 2 Wk's- Unreal I felt totally [****] and never had no probs before they started bleeding me now I was going round like a zombie. I come home and something told me to go buy big bottle lucozade as thought its poss that my sugars had become low - yes they are extracting iron but also extracting all gd to. Guzzled this down last night - I'm not a fizzy drinks drinker normally and felt very sick last night in bed - This morn got up still felt groggy but after few hours started to feel much better this suggests to me that my sugars had dropped low I had a appointment with Cardiologist this morn and his confirmed all is ok No BP tablet required what so ever. but you must take a sugary drink with you when you are bled - Lesson seriously learnt  - Years ago use get tea & biscuit unfort they can only stretch to water in the units now so be warned!  Take a sugary drink with you always

Emis Moderator comment: I have edited this post due to the swearing. These are open forums so as per the T&Cs please do not use offensive language in posts otherwise they may be deleted.

2

Hello Paul,

Jeez, sounds like you've had a rough time of it.

I've got my first bleed on 9th April then every week after that.

I'll take your advice and take a sugary drink.

Cheers

3

I have headaches too. I will try sugary drinks.. Because they just say drink water.. Thx

4

Hi Paul,

In my experience, bleeding goes much better when I prepare by:

1.       Making sure I have a good sleep the night before

2.       Being warm and dressing warmly

3.       Having eaten a solid meal ahead of time - (i.e., what my grandma would have called a "stick to your ribs" meal containing protein, fat, and veggies or whole grains so that it is absorbed slowly and steadily).  The trouble with a sweet drink – whether soda or juice or sugared tea (or, for that matter, any quickly absorbed carbohydrate like a cookie), especially if taken on an empty stomach, is that it can spike your blood sugar up, but as soon as it is all absorbed from your stomach, your blood sugar will fall down quickly and may fall down too low.

4.       Having enough salt on board – this isn’t likely to be a problem if you eat processed foods, which generally contain quite enough salt, but it may be a problem if, like me, you cook all your food yourself from scratch and don't use much salt in cooking

5.       Having drunk enough fluid ahead of time - a couple of cups ahead of time works fine for me, you might need more or less

Also, while being bled and right after, I drink at least a couple of cups of an electrolyte-replacing solution.  I use half juice, half water, with a two-finger pinch of salt.

I had some really woozy episodes during and for 24 hours after phlebotomy until I figured out the above.  I didn't get my blood pressure measured, though, so I don't know what it was doing.

Hope some of this might help for you too –

5

All interesting replies & tips!  Now the unit have been advised by the Haemotolgist to give me a saline drip after every bleed to replace the volume. I had this on Monday and it made a complete difference I returned to wrk today feel back to myself. Think the prob is they think everyone will be the same and wrk to a SOP for all patients  When will they learn that no two Or 3 Or even 100 people are the same we are all different in our genetic make up. Unfort think the prob is the same in the NHS every where theres no time and its just ship them in and ship them out  - Lets see wat April brings in way of change on this smile

6

Great news and good for your haematologist!  If saline replacement works, that sounds as though not having enough salt and water on board was your problem.  I followed the drink-lots-of-water-ahead-of-time instruction faithfully, but you're right, nobody mentioned getting enough salt in ahead of time, and for me, as it turns out, salt is important.  We are indeed all different . . . .

7

How about coconut water - it is supposed to have natural electrolytes.  However, you might need to water it down as too much might have you running to the loo.

Great idea getting saline - another who usually contributes to these HH posts finds it necessary to have before and during as well as after.  She says she is quite small in build so the loss of a pint of blood is a big deal for her.

The only time I had those symptoms during venesection was when I did not raise the foot part of the chair.

Now and then I have problems with my blood being so black and thick they have four goes to try to get enough blood out of me.  That is despite having 4 glasses of water and a cup of tea just before and during.  Plus whatever I had earlier in the morning.

I would avoid the sugary drinks myself but I don't add salt to my cooking so maybe I ought to, at least before a venesection?  However, my BPs are always low and good.  I thought salt raised BP?!!!

8

Guess some people it as absolutely no effect on - Cardiologist reckons its because I run each day my body is wondering why its being trumatised each wk so its reacting by tripping the BP - seems to think it will settle down but having the saline as seriously helped   

9

You are so lucky they found a solution to your problem. I always feel better if I eat a healthy meal before I go and a bottle of water before and after and I drink tea. I always go to bed early that night. I schedule my blood lets for 4:30, so that I do not feel like crap all day. In the morning, I am feeling about 90 percent normal.

10

I only had problems with thick blood in the beginning. I was 1475, just got new count which is 275, I am feeling better. I drain really fast, 15 minutes and I am out of there.

For me and I know there are many symptoms, but I am less hot, I am not forgetting as much, I think I was depressed as I feel a little more refreshed. I have not had mri to see how much damage was done, kinda scared of that.