Monday, March 30, 2009

Donating Plasma Might Permanently Damage Your Digestive System

(Update: 8-29-2018. This sickness happened years ago, and I am mostly better now. I wrote this post in 2009 I think it says, and the actual incident happened in maybe 1998? 1999? The original title of this post, "permanently damage," is misleading - whatever it did, I have *mostly* recovered from, but it does something that can last for many months.  I don't know if it's the heparin that they inject into you along with your blood cells, or something else.  This is one of my most popular posts, and a lot of other people are having the same problem.  It was so long ago I don't remember exactly what I did, but it eventually went away.  If I recall, probiotics helped, but I don't normally advocate probiotics either - I feel that there should be something you can do that doesn't involve buying pills.  The only reason I say "mostly better" instead of "100% better" is because I still have a slightly sensitive stomach and can't just casually wolf down as much food as I want.  Maybe there was liver damage?  I don't know.  I also have chronic fatigue syndrome and don't know exactly what caused that either.)

I was reading about how vaccinations can lead to permanent infections in the gastrointestinal tract. These infections were shown to be the same strain of viruses that were in the vaccines. The body could not fight off the 'weakened' or 'killed' viruses in the vaccines, and instead, the viruses were alive and well, but ended up permanently infecting the intestines and negatively affecting how people absorb food, for a very long time, possibly the rest of their lives.

Well, while reading, I remembered something that was similar to this, but not the same. When I sold plasma, many years ago... (oh my gosh, I just remembered something else. Holy crap.)

I lived in a house with several roommates. I learned about selling plasma when one of my roommates told me he was doing it. (I am still in shock from what I just remembered. This is very, very serious.) I decided that I would try selling plasma too.

Well, I stopped doing it after an incident where they had trouble putting the needle into the right place because of my 'small veins,' and they injected the blood cells into the muscle of my arm instead of the vein. But I was glad that I stopped, because I realized I was having health problems while donating the plasma.

First, I had the ordinary and well-known problem of dizziness and faintness. I almost passed out when I went to work one day. But I also began having severe sensations of burning in my stomach, and was becoming nauseated and sick every day. I had never had stomach ulcers before, but this felt like stomach ulcers.

When I stopped donating plasma, the 'ulcers' feeling went away and the nausea did too.

Here is the thing I suddenly remembered while typing this blog. I remembered that my roommate, the one who sold his plasma, ALSO HAD severe stomach problems. He was a very picky eater, and he told me that he would vomit if he ate meat, and he became a vegetarian. I don't know how long he had been having that problem, and I'm very tempted to say that it was caused by donating plasma. However, he might have been that way before he ever donated. I didn't think to ask him about it, because back then, I didn't have this theory, and it wasn't important to me.

I don't know HOW you damage your stomach by donating plasma. It could be that you weaken your immune system, causing the stomach to become more vulnerable to infections with helicobacter pylori. Or it could do this in some other indirect way, maybe by reducing the amount of acid in your stomach. In my experience, every time I've taken an antacid pill, I quickly developed sensations of sharp, burning pain in my stomach afterwards, as though I was getting an ulcer. You should never try to reduce the amount of acid in your stomach, because acid protects you against infection with helicobacter pylori.

So again, I don't know how it happened, but I think I had stomach ulcers while donating plasma, and I remembered that my roommate also had severe and unusual intolerance to certain foods, and would vomit immediately after eating them. He told me it was meat. A year or two after donating plasma, that was when I developed the extremely severe and long-lasting digestive problem that made me unable to eat because I felt like I would vomit. It was mostly with fatty foods, or foods that had been cooked and reheated, or held on heat for too long.

I'm starting to think that any procedure that injects anything into your bloodstream is potentially able to cause long-term damage, and for some reason, it seems to target the digestive system. I could change my interpretation later on when I learn more. So, this includes all intravenous procedures: reinjection of blood cells and saline solution after plasma donation, dialysis, vaccinations, and all other intravenous injections of anything, including plain saline solution or sugars.

I would like to know more about this so that I can interpret it more clearly.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

They have to add anticogulant to your blood during the procedure while it goes through the centifuge to keep it from clotting. For some people they can feel nauseous or get chills from it (I'm one of them for the nausea). All you have to do is take a few antacids w/calcium before you go, it works fantastic. Take some extra ones with you if you start feeling alittle nauseous.

What you're feeling is not dangerous.

eagledove9 said...

Actually, that's a lot like what was happening with Heparin, the anticoagulant used for hemodialysis. I kept reading news stories about problems with Heparin, like low blood pressure. Now that you mention it, that would explain a lot!

Elliott Broidy said...

I had no idea

Benitto said...

Read useful information and reviews for digestive health products http://www.the-healthiest.com/archives/category/health-products/digestive-health

Anonymous said...

I began having stomach problems immediately after I began donating plasma several years ago. I only did it like 5 times and quit. But my friend she also donated plasma and immediately began experiencing stomach problems. I was later on diagnosed with IBS but I'm positive plasma donation had something to do with it. There should be a lawsuit against these guys. Omar

eagledove9 said...

It's interesting to hear that the same thing happened to somebody else. I can tell you that I eventually got better, but it was terrible for many months. And yeah, the plasma companies and other medical companies should not be allowed to do this.

Unknown said...

I recently started donating plasma and my stomach hurts so bad .. I was just thinking that I might have a ulcer until I read this article ??

Anonymous said...

It happened to me my stomach hurted then it felt like I was fina fall out

Anonymous said...

I just started having these issues i am nauseous and severe heartburn i have been donating plasma on and off for a few years i am done i was very pale today i couldn't hold anything in my stomach and i believe plasma donation have caused this

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edith curtis said...

OMG. I have been donating for about 4 mths. n I feel nauseated all the time. When I get up in morning my stomach area is sore n I have gas. My back n pelvic area is sore too. After I move around I'm ok. I almost threw up just from eating a small sausage.

Unknown said...

I just donated plasma last week, im 123 pounds and donated 690 mls. I got so sick that night i had to call into work the next day. It has been 4 days now and i still have stomach pains everyday a few times a day and i feel like if i eat my normal amount im going to throw up, so ive been eating very small meals and im worried ill never be able to fully eat a bacon cheeseburger again😯

eagledove9 said...

It did get better after a while, and it was so long ago that this happened to me, I can't remember exactly how long it took to get better. I was eventually able to eat things like bacon cheeseburgers again and I eat greasy fatty foods all the time now. But yeah, for a while, it was always when I tried to eat anything with grease in it that I would feel like throwing up.

You could possibly try probiotics. I know I tried them at one point, and I don't remember if they helped. The reason I can't remember is because I had several different illnesses that started around the same time period, and I have been trying to piece together what might have caused them. The plasma donation was one of the factors. Plasma donation *did* make me sick on a short term basis when I was doing it, but I'm not sure how long that lasted after the plasma donation.

During the worst of it, my sickness went on for several months and I lost a lot of weight. I know I had to change my diet, because I suddenly became unable to eat foods that I was perfectly able to eat before. However, eventually I went back to eating those foods. The particular things that suddenly started to make me sick were: anything greasy, milk, and coffee. I know I tried the probiotics during that time. And that might have been what helped, because it did get better on its own after a few months, even though no doctors could do anything and nobody had any idea what was going on. It was so frustrating that everyone was clueless and I had to just deal with it myself. But now, I drink milk, and coffee, and greasy foods again.

I think the worst thing that might happen is you could be sick for several months but then it would go away on its own - that is what I am hoping.

Unknown said...

I got completely destroyed my first donation I can't digest any foods my health is horrible any ideas of what helped restore digestion my stool comes out undigested completely

Unknown said...

I got completely destroyed my first donation I can't digest any foods my health is horrible any ideas of what helped restore digestion my stool comes out undigested completely

eagledove9 said...

I only know that my digestion went back to normal over time. I don't recall exactly what I did, but I know I tried probiotics at one point. I think that was what helped.

Anonymous said...

Donated my first time last Thursday and second time today. Experiencing severe abdominal cramping. It's been almost 3hrs since my donation time. I've had cramps for over one half and hour.

Anonymous said...

I recently started donating, noticed sever cramps pelvic pain abdominal pain. Shortly after donating

Anonymous said...

I am having really bad pain on my left ovary and hip pain and lower back pain on the Left side after donating plasma

Anonymous said...

It's been two weeks since I started donating. Ive had severe heartburn and pain in the center of my stomach to the point where it keeps me up at night. Im trying not to worry about it, but the pain is unbearable at times. Ive also had a mild case of diarrhea and gas.

Unknown said...

Yea Man. Stomach Ulcers Are Horrible and They Are Permanent. And Ive Felt That After a Donation Thats Because You Need To Eat Before and After... If You Eat Before You Will Feel Fantastic.

Unknown said...

Sound like You Already Had Acid Reflux. And The Donation Is Making It Worse. But Only Cause You Have To Treat Your Acid Reflux. And Eat After Your Donation

Unknown said...

EAAT.!

Anonymous said...

Another possibility is that the change in liquid volume in your body causes the stomach acid to become more concentrated. This can lead to many different kinds of digestive complaints.

Anonymous said...

gggggggg

angelbites62 said...

I've been literally bed bound for 5 days. I was 1 pound over the smaller amount of plasma so they did the full bottle and replace with more of the clear stuff. I've had stomach aches before but nothing that put me in bed for 5 days on the 4th of July weekend. I'm worried. The pain goes from 6 to 9/10. If I move, cough, flex stomach muscles at all - It's bad. It would be ridiculously expensive to go to ER and get little help around here. I'm trying to hang in there and hope this calms down. I've never had a fire, stabbing pain like this. A few hours after I donated I had very sharp left low back pain which went away as I slept and woke up to this insanity in my stomach area. Im just trying to see if anyone else has experienced this. Of course, I am not 100% sure it's tied to donating... but I am.

eagledove9 said...

I don't remember what I did that helped me the most, but I remember, I tried taking probiotics. At some point, I did get better. A friend of mine was deathly sick during the time period when he donated regularly, and got better after he quit. I had food sensitivities, such as being unable to drink milk or coffee. I temporarily stopped, then eventually went back to drinking both, and was okay. I never had those weird food sensitivities before. All i can suggest is trying probiotics experimentally, but I just don't recall how well they helped. I'm sorry you're having such a problem and I believe you, it's something about donating plasma or getting the heparin or whatever.

Unknown said...

Are you a doctor or a nurse or a health scientist if not keep your opinions to yourself.

Unknown said...

Get an attorney and sue them . . there's nothing in their information they have you read that says you could experience moderate to severe pain in your stomach from giving plasma, they claim its safe but my doctor at the mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota says otherwise to giving plasma too often and can ruin your health.
Maybe if enough people can get a class action law suit going they will have to shut these places down because they will have to pay out millions or billions of money to people they have damaged by not informing them of all the potential hazards of doing plasma on a regular basis.
I for one am pursuing this with my attorney because I have permanent stomach damage and I will never have anything injected into me again or taken out you can take that to the bank.