Good blood or not so good blood ????

[Kiwi Ken]

Each time I have a transfusion my energy level is never the same. Sometimes I fell I can jump over the moon, other times I hardly have enough energy to walk to the front gate. I usualy transfuse between 85 and 90.
How do some of you get on?? will be interested to find out
Tks Ken

[Mary4Mike]

Ken,

My husband gets transfused when his HGB hits 9. He can tell before he even gets the lab results that he needs blood. His chest and legs feel heavy. He has had 55 units of blood and in the beginning he used to get more of a “jump” from it than he does now. Also, our doctor told us that blood from a male donor can sometimes push the HGB up higher than from a woman. My husband has noticed a better result when he has received a larger bag of blood. Sometimes the bag will look much more full than others.

I don’t know if this answers any of your questions……

Blessings,

[Neil]

Hi Ken,
Do you get a HGB reading after each TX?
If so are the HGB levels close?
If you do not know Your HGB after a TX there might be a variation that may account for thee way you feel.
Toward the end of my radiation treatment my HGB dropped from the 11.1 range to 8.7 and 8.8. At this point I cant feel any difference between 11.1 and 8.7.
We moved the Aranesp interval to 2 weeks and am now at 9.1. Hope the closer interval and no more radiation and cetuximab will result in my counts going back to the way they were— crummy as they were I was acustomed to them and was able to deal with them.

[Kiwi Ken]

Thanks Mary and Neil, Good to hear you are on the mend Neil.
No I do not get HGB tests after Transfusions, I try to limit the number of tests as my viens are getting scared.
When I was testing the HGH would increase from 90 to 104 with two units. The difference was always between 13 and 16, never mush more or less.It is hard to do it right, unless I have a test one day before and one day after the tests don’t mean that much. I would rather save my viens.
I am on Cyclosporin to try and stabilise my immune system and was wondering if this would make my energy level fluctuate?
Thanks for you help and ideas
Ken

[Neil]

Hi Ken,
I can appreciate the scaring! After 11 years I would not even guess how many CBCs I’ve had.
There might be a way of getting before and after Hemoglobin levels from the poke you get for the TX. They can take a sample before connecting the TX line. I think there is a way to get a sample after the TX is over. You may have to wait a bit so they are not sampling 100% TX blood. Worth asking the question.
I looked up the side effects of Cyclosporin, but did not find a reference to fatigue.
Maybe someone else on the Forum has something to contribute. It would not surprise me to find there could be an effect on energy levels

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