+ 16 How to draw your own blood 101 - A short guide for good health and emergency interventions
Thought I would share a little how-to for drawing your own blood. If you cant get a therapeutic phleb or cannot donate for whatever reason, this is an easy and great option and I cannot stress how good you feel after doing this.
This morning I hit a 50mcg Lr3 + 2iu;s GH shot. It sent my BP north to 165. Had been increased from the GH and I had been managing it with dandelion extract water pills. When I showered and brushed my teeth, my gums bled a little, bright brilliant red colour, sure sign RBC's and likely hematocrit are up a good notch. This is a double whammy, time for a serious intervention and blood draw is needed, at least ~1 pint.
I buy my blood bags from a local online med supplier. They have a 16g needle and take 450mls of blood, they also have some anticoagulants.
My first draw failed because my blood began to clot in the needle and the bag like a slimy spagheti. Not good, this means my blood is well sticky, so triple whammy, need to get it out NOW. I hydrated with a few pints of water, took some aspirin and went again. Flowed fine this time and took about 3 minutes to fill the bag.
Here is how you do it.
Drink lots of fluids, water, cooler drinks, not coffee.
If using a 16g, a small anaesthetic helps, I used tattoo spray which has lidocaine. (had it from a previous self surgery where I had to actually inject it... dont ask!)
Take a tourniquet, apply 60-70% tightness, let the veins pop, dont squeeze release, but just squeeze hand, veins will pop. Best vein are the Cephalic or Basilic veins.
Use an alcohol swab to clean around the veins.
Put the needle in at 15-30 degrees to the skin, it may seem tough to break through so be careful not too much force and when it breaks the vein you then run under, parallel with the skin along the vein.
Tape it down or as I do hold it steady. immediately release the tourniquet and open the valve on the tube to set flowing.
Place the bag at a lower level to your arm to assist with the flow. rest your arm and if you suspect the flow slows then squeeze hand again, I had to constantly do this due to the stickiness of the blood.
If for any reason, such as clotting, the blood flow stops, dont let it sit there, keep watching for this, make sure there is a flow into the bag and the bag is filling. If not or when it has finished remove the needle or you can cause thrombosis in the vein, or a serious bruising which isnt very nice. Thrombosis is a real concern though, so just be wary.
Wipe blood and apply sterile tissue or cotton bud to stem the flow, this also prevents bruising/edema. Tape it down after a minute and off you go to flush your nectar down the bog.
Hope this helps others.
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I just ordered this same kit ironically. I'm used to needles and hitting veins from past habits but I'm still worried none the less. Since I'll be on anadrol, npp, test and bold cyp mainly through different points of the cycle I knew I needed to do this. My BP was 165/90 to 165/100. Crazy
If your BP is that high consistently, it's a bigger problem than a phlebotomy will sort.
Short esters are vicious on BP, adrol on top is worse again.
Mind yourself.
Yeah well I cut the npp all together. One because of the BP and two my libido tanked. I adjusted some other things as well. No anadrol either. Oh, and I was able to draw my own blood but I only got a half a pint. Regardless, my BP has gotten a bit better and I'm about to cruise for a good while. In fact I may taper down off the cruise and go to a straight PCT protocol. Thanks man.
And I'll add this to my other reply. I would suggest that you stop all Anabolics right now until you get your other issues sorted out. If you still pct and are not on trt I would start that this week and if your on trt on just go back to that for now. Start thinking long term and not for the moment. That's just my 2 cents. It's your body and your going to do what you want but if it was me that's what I would do until I had the other issues worked out and was in a better situation physically and mentally to run a cycle.
Hey man. What's your BP been running lately. It's a silent killer man. See it all the time in my work. It affects so much internally. Heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and the list goes on. It's really an easy fix for most people. Something as simple as taking 1 pill every day can fix it without side effects if other options have exhausted themselves such as diet ex. Sodium and so forth. I've been on BP med for 10 years now with no sides. Definitely go over it with a Dr and get it in a good range. Can take years off your life and most of the time we don't even realize we have it or since most of the time it's asymptomatic we just tend to overlook it.
So right now it sits at anywhere between 135/70 to 155/90. I purposely just checked it to answer your question at my present state. It was 150/90 heart rate at 78BPM. Soooooooo,, yes I am a bit concerned. Luckily my Dr knows about my PED usage(she's very against it) and my last appointment regarding my BP was 1 month ago. I see her this Tuesday and she had said if it doesn't get better we would look into medication. Now, I don't mean to talk your ear off but there are definitely some other culprits to this besides AAS and genetics.. With increasing anxiety and stress as of lately that alone could increase my BP. Plus, I smoke and the anxiety had me up my smoking from half a pack to a full pack a day. I also take in alot of caffeine. I'm an idiot...lol...and I tend to drink 3 monsters a day. I also take a nice sized dose of modafinil daily. 400mg in the am and 400mg in the evening. Worse of all the is my diet. It freaking sucks. I get in my 200gtams of protein a day but it's mainly powder supplements but I eat like shit. That's been the hardest thing to get right. I'm sure I take in a large amount of sodium but then there's all the other junk and additives that probably assist in my bad BP. And GOD DAMN,,,my diet is ruin8ng my BB goals. Like,,it's great and all to get more and more muscular and to literally feel mysf getting stronger but at the end of the day,,,I look in the mirror and I ain't content. My gains are hidden behind fat/stored fat..just sloppy. Sorry for ranting. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment and trying to help point me in the right direction. It surely wasn't in vein. You made me think a bit deeper about some serious things impacting my health and mortality as well as my aesthetic goals. I'm grateful for guys like you and this forum. It's time to make some changes for real. I'll start with the Dr this Tuesday and I'm most likely hiring a personal trainer/nutritionist as well to help hold me accountable. Hey man thanks alot. Be well.
Well you have definitely listed some definite contributing factors for elevated BP. You already mentioned them so no need in me going over them and telling u to quit them. I may suggest that you could possibly mabey lower your usage of said products. I know smoking is a very hard habit to break. Mabey you should set yourself some goals such as I'm only allowing myself to smoke this amount today or this week and just gradually cut them down some. I won't get personal about your stress and anxiety but you know what you need to do there. Some how you have to limit that in your life. Talk to your DR about that also. There are great meds out there for that as well. And not talking about Xanax or anything like that but way better things where u don't get high and definitely helps with your stress and anxiety. Well you have identified a lot of the causes of your issues now all you have to do is modify your bad habits. Set some short term goals for yourself such as this week I'm cutting my smoking g back down to half a pack instead of a full pack. I'm going to order a chicken sandwich instead of that triple bacon cheeseburger. Just small obtainable goals then build on those once you accomplish those. I'm not advocating to go to the DR and get a pill for everything that is wrong in your life but medicine is useful sometimes especially whenever it comes to your heart and cardiovascular system. So definitely take advantage of your upcoming Dr visit get that BP under control and don't forget to mention your anxiety issues and everything. Let me know how that goes and give me a holler if you have any questions about certain meds they may want to prescribe you or anything else. We only have this one body and life is so short so try to take care of what you have while your still able to do so.
Hey, thanks alot. I'll touch base with you after this Dr's appointment actually if you don't mind.
Buddy, I'm not knocking Giars post as it is very informative and helpful - But I would still go and get this done by a professional who knows exactly what they are doing and where to go into the vein. I also ordered all the equipment required during one summer where adrol and tren sent my BP sky high, I was determined to pull a pint out no matter what. What ended up happening is the blood would initially come out then clog up the needle or the IV line into the bag. You need a very large needle to be sure you draw correctly and for long enough which hurts when it goes in. Trying to do all this with only one hand makes it very tricky and hard. On my final attempt I ended up temporarily damaging the vein and when I pulled out it immediately ballooned up and bruised and went black. Seriously bud, book an appointment at a local blood letting centre and have proper piece of mind - this isn't something to be taken lightly.
I can't disagree. My Primary doctor is aware of my AAS usage. They have been opened to my lab requests but when it comes down to prescribing serms or a phlebotomy they say I'm own my own. That the solution is to just stop. Needless to say my Primary doctor is out of the question. Luckily I work in health care tho so I can just get one of my friends trained in this to do it for me. God forbid they all said no...then I'd start brainstorming but yeah, the idea of myself doing it sounded good in my head but in reality it's something I just can't do myself. Anyways thanks for the feedback and advice. I really do appreciate it man.
I have been giving the last couple years. Between the Red Cross and Versitti, I can even go more frequently than every 60 days if I feel I need it. It takes me 6-7 minutes to fill a pint. Easy breezy
I need to donate more. I can tell I don't donate enough because of the amount of time it takes me to donate
I have a phobia with needles. Anything involving the vein gives me extreme anxiety. I would never be able to do this. I have to donate blood. I can't even look at the phlebotomist when they're inserting the needle.
Its not for everyone Achak. As long as you look after it somehow, that's all that matters
Hey Giar - I am in need of your Blood Guru Knowledge!! Lol
As you know I am currently trying to get my blood pressure down due to this heatwave we keep having, got the balls up to go for a full on home draw about an hour ago. Had some 19G needles already connected to a tube and was gonna just do a pint into a Lucozade bottle.
Had 2 good attempts into my arm, got into the vein but on each occasion got about 6 drops out then it just clogged in the tube and would give no more :-( I've run out of damn needles now and I don't think greens will do it will they? I should have taken an aspirin after the first attempt.
I've looked online at Blood donation venues and everything is full up for the next 3 months!
What I am asking is do you think if I went into A&E and complained of bad headaches and that I took my own BP reading and it is way high, do you think they would take a pint there or just tell me to go and donate? Big Thanks for any help you can give.
Cheers My man
Go give blood brother !!!!!!
Every 12 weeks problem solved plus your helping someone. The blood gets filtered and any steroids contained in 1 pint of blood would be filtered out along with any other meds
A&E would probably try to admit you, get you statins, maybe keep ypu in...
I'd go to a GP and ask for a phlebotomy
Have you a sympathetic GP mate?!
I have the clotting thing. 16g harpoon sorted it, but I think the main reason for lack of flow was that my needles weren't in the vein properly. i.e technique was the prob. My clots were like spaghetti, freaked me out.
Its most likely technique coupled with super thick blood
I'd be inclined to go to a GP???
Are you on short esters? Might be a case of long for the summer??
Yep you are very probably right on this ......
SO that's just what I do then, go to my GP and ask for Blade's Fantasy? Lol This is actually something they will do? I guess they will if its required won't they ....
Yes I think its the same for me - you virtually have to be a properly qualified nurse don't you to know what you are doing with it 110%
Cheers for all that mate
The bloodbags are a gift. Before i got 1 I was at this..https://www.eroids.com/pics/httpswww.eroids.comforumgeneralgeneral-talks...
Show them that and tell them you are gonna do it 8f they won't help lol
Think a 16 g is what they use. Plus if you are not use to IV'ing a needle in your arm properly it can cause anxiety, frustration, be difficult, depending on the veins in your arm could be a hardstick and maybe done incorrect.
Prob. best getting it done by a professional bud.
Yeh I read before somewhere they use the Fat 16g's - 19G is the biggest I can get unfortunately. I still think its clotting in the tube though. I have ordered some more 19's last night and they will arrive tomorrow, I will try again but this time take an aspirin before I do it and do it at the end of the day when I am fully hydrated. I tried to do it after only being up an hour and this was a stupid idea in hindsight.
With these fat needles they are fine going in the first time but if you need to pull out or it comes out which is what happened to me then they quickly blunt and are virtually impossible to get back in a second time. Its something I really want to be able to do myself and I am determined to be able to do it! Lol It is not going to get the better of press LMAO.
Maybe try taking the aspirin daily until you try it again to see if they may then out the blood as you mentioned.
Golden post
Seemed like a good idea at the time lol
That is hardcore. Man, guess I am lucky I can go to Red Cross to donate. Don't think I could do it myself. Fiance is also an IV tech/EMT/nurse so I guess she could do it in a pinch, but noway could I do it myself.
I wonder was there a time when we all thought the same way about that first glute pin?!
Fella, if the red cross fails you, got have staff to do the job for you lol Nice work! Not only can she do the blood draw for you, if needed, but she can resuscitate you if it goes wrong!
;-)
Picture above of the that blood makes me sweaty, I would faint before the process even started lol
I showed one of the lads in the gym yesterday he said the same thing. Apparently on his last blood draw he fainted (this guy is a lovely bloke now, not a pu$$y bone is his body, it just happens to him), fell over and smacked his forehead on a metal sideplate, had to be bandaged!
Great post man! I’m supprised you have been able to find the bags I’ve looked at several places for them and can’t find them. There are several reasons why I can’t donate blood now so I’ve been wanting to do it myself my hematocrit has been high for 3 weeks now.
I had to search around too P.
There seem to be different terms; Blood bag, blood collection bag, phlebotomy bag, venipuncture bag
and so on
The trick for me was to find a supplier not selling them in bulk, but 5 bags for an order, for example.
Yes mate this is what I found also. A few places want orders of 500 at a time.
Found one that sells anywhere from 5 upwards so buy 20 as and when.
++ for the grate post as always mate ;)
PM en route!!!
I shall PM you as well. This is info I wanna keep in my back pocket for the "just in case" scenarios!
sharing is caring lol
I sent you an FR. If you add me, would you drop me a PM with your supplier? (I've done some research on good ol' google, but I'd like to pick your brain privately too.) No rush, no worries, chat whenever. Cheers!
Another great post.
Im donating at the red cross tomorrow. I try to donate every 8 weeks but work gets in the way. I never go more than 10 weeks without donating.
Drawing my own blood would make me nervous so i think im going to stick to fhe red cross haha
Rob Id do the very same if i could man haha!
I have been just giving to the red cross lately but I did it myself for years.
That seems to be a big thing in the US? We dont have that over here. I think that they went into lockdown after the hep crisis but also the mad cows disease crisis here too. I'd do the same as you if I could tbh.
Yea they even ask us on our questionnaire beforehand if we have lived in Europe or the UK during certain years due to Mad cow.
I'm not surprised. It was a pretty scary time.
Check page 2 of this out: https://www.giveblood.ie/Old-Site-Documents/Blood-first-time-questionair...
The gay lads get a pretty hard time.
Impressive. More so that you share a detailed account step by step. As I read this I envisioned physically doing this. Pinning is easy....this is a different dedication in my mind.
Giardap I have mad respect for you. True vet. Peace out +1
Needs must, ya know?! We all get inventive when we have to!!
Yes I agree.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions.
Have a great day. I learn everytime you post.
Thank you, Giardap, for sharing this info with the community. For those who need it, this is thorough and well informed.
Cheers Z, you are a gent.
I got my Dr to order me therapeutic phlobotomy. I have a standing order for 1x a month in place of the typical 1x every 8wks Bloodaoyrce allows. I also have to get labs done 1x a month pre session to make sure my bloods still call for it as I don’t want to have it done needlessly and risk an issue.
1 a month is pretty heavy. How does your body handle that C?
well my first session came almost a month after my bloodsource donation and no ill effects. I lingered a little bit longer than normal afterwards. They drew 500ml. Only problem I had was the fucking harpoon they used on me to draw.
Interesting, thank you, I am too considering do it myself. I have one question.
You wrote "Put the needle in at 15-30 degrees to the skin", I have read somewhere that the direction is important depending on the blood flow ? I mean you could put the needle towards you or in the opposite direction ? like / or \ Sorry for my English.