Red Blood Cell Infusion?

[Njovu]

Just to be quick - I am British and relocated back to the UK as I have no health insurance etc etc - I tried my last bit of cash on a liver (living donor from my wife) transplant that went wrong and they nearly killed me - I had to wait 6 months in the UK before the NHS would accept me - now am too late for the transplant list as out of milan criteria - I was also out of the Child-Pughs score for protein (went back home to Africa for one month and ate my normal food) but got back in - since then I am back and forth to the London Royal Free Hospital, scans, biopsies - come back every Monday but NO plan - signed up for a trial 6 weeks ago - still waiting no reply - driving me MAD

Anyhow I am back in Africa now for a week to export my support animal and darling of my life my African Grey Parrot (2500 pounds later in fees) - borrowed and broke -

I read somewhere that someone had a red blood cell infusion and they felt great? I have HCC and 10 tunours - just come out of liver now to first lymph. I have low hemoglobin, low blood cells etc - can I do this and where?

Thank you!

[Hidden]

A red cell infusion can make an anemic person feel rejuvenated, but the effect may not last long. Also... Repeated transfusions can increase iron in the liver, and elevated liver iron has been associated with HCC.

If your anemia becomes critical, your doc will probably prescribe a transfusion, but I wouldn't be eager to get started on these too soon.

Besides iron, Vitamin B-12 and Folate are required for red cell production, so you might ask your doc if levels of these might be checked and possibly supplemented. Folic acid (the most common supplemental form) may feed cancer, so you need to be careful about this type of folate. There is a natural form of folate "L-Methylfolate (5-MTHF)" that might be safer. Foods high in folate are beans, broccoli and romaine.

Your doc should know about these factors, and can check your B-12, folate and iron (ferritin/TSAT) levels with blood tests. If you are low on any of these factors, boosting the deficient one may help.

Vitamin-E can help red blood cells last longer (reduce hemolysis), and thus help maintain red cell counts, but supplemental E will also thin blood so this may be contraindicated if your platelets are low or if you are at risk for a bleed. Increasing dietary Vitamin-E (almonds, avocado, sweet potato) might be helpful.

Please go over all of these possibilities with your liver doc before you try them.

[Njovu in reply to Hidden]

Thank you- I used to have high iron etc as have hemochromotosis and went to 9800 iron count - did two years of phlebotomy (sometimes twice a week) - my wife did it for me as I lived and worked in the bush away from medical facilities - I did have two bad GI bleeds and lost a lot of blood - hence anemic now! iron is also low! The iron caused the HCC - two small pockets that turned bad....

[briccolone in reply to Hidden]

You come across as very well informed met. Keep at it- we need this kind of valuable info cheers

[Hidden]

Thanks for the kind words briccolone. I work in healthcare all day, & research health & longevity in the evening. What better hobby to have than stayin' alive.

Njovu, has your doc looked at B-12 & Folate blood labs? If you have HH (hereditary hemochromatosis), you should still absorb dietary iron like a sponge, even after initial de-ironing or GI bleeds. The body should be able to rebuild red cells within a month, even after a serious depletion if it has all the materials it needs (much like it does after phlebotomies).

Unless you're eating vegan/vegetarian, with HH you should be picking up all the iron you need form dietary sources. That leaves B-12 & folate as possible suspects for deficiency related anemia.

If your doc has you on PPI meds (acid blockers), these can inhibit absorption of dietary (or supplemental) Vitamin B-12. A single B-12 shot should rule out this angle, and the shot would probably cost about as much as the blood test for B-12 deficiency. A true folate deficiency would be less likely, as food fortification of folic acid was increased a decade or so ago to reduce birth defects in pregnant women.

Find what's truly lacking and perhaps you can rebuild your own red cells.