Finger prick blood test - gentle squeeze finger top before stabbing - gamechanger for me?

[Sleepman]

Stop press - risk Anaemia test may fail - MMH said I should not have done it as may cause Haemolysis is where the red blood cells in the collection tube start to break down and release their contents. They are not keen at all on squeezing end of finger, not sure if they understood I did it briefly and gently. Let's see if I get a reading on test.

1 failed due to haemolysis,the others because even though posted Wed AM, they did not receive till Sat AM. Ferritin, folate and B12 remain unknown to me.

Hello kind wonderful team.

Over last year I have done maybe 7 blood tests, many failing to get enough red stuff.

Getting enough blood out has been a nightmare for me ... thank you monitor my health for sending me retests and not banning me,

Video below says squeeze top of finger before doing the lancing - Wow.

Gamechanger for me or my wife has been slipping me secret blood thinners ?

Warning it has blood in it .. youtube.com/watch?v=OYWns6G...(Not working as expected?)

Doing my failed purple top anaemia/B12 test /iron today -first failed last week, again!

Purple top tube. 3rd attempt at this full lot over last year. Doctors ignore me.

Kind member said swirl as you fill . Also I will now always do this purple tube first.

Also swirl mix gently invert for 30 seconds after the lid is on

I had done normal :

drunk more water etc before hand

jog/moved/jump round house

warmed hand in hot water - hot as I can

shook arm vigorously to "fling" blood into my fingers

Got really good flow this time, not always having to scrape each drop.

Monitor my health sent another yellow top tube so I got that to overfill too, with only 3 lancets.

Well over 600 mark and even had to put a plaster on to stop blood after ...

How life has changed 😉

[RedApple Administrator]

Very interesting Sleepman. Hopefully today's tests won't fail at the lab. Keep us posted!

[Sleepman in reply to RedApple]

Stop press - risk Anaemia test may fail - MMH said I should not have done it (squeeze end of finger) as may cause Haemolysis is where the red blood cells in the collection tube start to break down and release their contents. Not sure they understood, I only did it briefly. Now I know I think I can also do it more gently in future.

Let's see if I get a reading on test that I am hoping will come in today.

What is my problem ?

a) getting enough blood for tests

b) failing folate/B12 etc with breakdown of blood Haemolysis and also clotting

Researched a bit and found this New Zealand health care advice on Haemolysis

Seems it's all about squashing and breaking delicate red blood cells.

lab.waikatodhb.health.nz/as...

"Excessive shaking of the tube.

Samples should be inverted gently 10 times to mix with additives. Shaking will damage

RBC’s. (Red blood cells)"

It seems you break the red blood cells and they have to be treated really gently.

Excessive shaking is likely some of my previous fails on these tests!

I think the pressure on my finger tip end was more to get it plumper and the lancet to get a bit deeper than a real strong squeeze that may break cells.

I have definitely been squeezing my finger in the past, in desperation to get enough blood out, may have started with gentle massaging ...

I live away from places where I can get blood drawn easily, which is why I keep going with the self testing.

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Sleepman]

Oh dear, the risk of Haemolysis is what I was wondering about. Maybe the fact you did finger massaging before the stabbing will lessen the risk. I don't know.

Many of us are in similar situation to you, with not being able to get blood drawn by a phlebotomist, so have no option but to do our own.

There is a new device being trialled called a Tasso, which you put on your arm and it draws blood out for you from there. Desperately hoping it will be rolled out by our preferred testing companies very, very soon, most especially for thyroid testing. tassoinc.com/tassoplus-video

[J972]

That’s great, sleepman, I’ll definitely try that next time 🤟🏻

[J972]

This method works wonders!! Did the easiest sample collection of my life this morning. Although I agree that the method could be problematic when testing iron.

Thanks for sharing that vid!

[Sleepman]

Good to know not just me.

I think just gentle press should not break the red blood cells for iron tests? I am ordering a new test.

Knowing why you have to be gentle helps my sort of brain.