Giving Plasma tomorrow - nervous

[Blue565]

Just that really, had Covid-19 back in April and am giving now Plasma. I've given blood before is it like that? Feeling a bit apprehensive 😬

No insight but just to say, thank you very much!

Tbh I thought they just separated it out from whole blood donations so I imagine it would be pretty much the same procedure.
DH had to have platelets and blood transfusion once. I’m a blood donor & there is never a separate donation option.

Found this which also suggests it’s the same so don’t worry.
www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/plasma-trial/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Plasma_Donation&gclid=CjwKCAjw2uf2BRBpEiwA31VZj8c5aNG41iVenopmieWpdnGC2dLGTIDtVC5zDiypfOEewfOAQisf8RoChkQQAvD_BwE
Glad you recovered from covid, you could help so many!

Thank you so much OP.

Wow they called me about this yesterday so I would be interested to hear about it too if anyone has any experience

Good luck OP. Let us know how it goes. Have you since tested negative or are you completely symptom free? I am asking as I would like to do it but am still getting some symptoms - not the 3 that are the current criteria for testing though. I'm getting retested tomorrow but that's for a study on how long it persists.

I'm totally symptom free now, not sure on my antibody count but apparently they find this out from the first donation?

They will write to me in 3 weeks and if I have a large quantity of antibodies I can go back every 2 weeks.

I'd like to do this!
I tested +ve back in April and totally symptom free now.
I registered online and received a thank you reply yesterday but no appointment - this is probably due to where I live but I have a long commute to a place that's within 2 miles of a donation centre.

I've done it. The machine draws off blood, separates out the plasma and puts back the blood. Does about a minute of drawing off then a minute of putting back. Feels slightly strange. Took 40 minutes. They want a pint of plasma.

I just had symptoms in march, no test, and got a letter through today saying my plasma did not have enough antibody to be useful. It did not say whether I had any or not which I would obviously like to.

I've signed up. Not confirmed case as was back in end of March and avoided hospital.

Hoping I get contacted as if they discover I didn't have it I'd love to help anyway I can for those recovering.

I was petrified and that was a non hospital case. I cannot even begin to imagine how scary it is for those really bad cases.

Many years ago I was a plasma doner. Very like giving blood but it takes quite a bit longer. I donated every fortnight, if you are a regular donor you used to end up with quite a few needle marks in the crook of your arm which can raise the odd eyebrow but I’m pretty sure the kit today is much more subtle. Always had a pint of Guinness afterwards to make up the volume 😁

@purple

Why did you do that rather than blood? Was your plasma particularly useful for some reason and they wanted it from you particularly?

No it’s the same.
Did you know that along with transfusions it has other uses in the hospital, we use small amounts of plasma in the lab I work in, one bag lasts us about 4 months.
Thank you for helping us do our work!

Totally unrelated to Covid, but my dog had major eye surgery on Sunday and is on plasma eye drops. No idea why, and not sure if it’s human or canine in origin, but it’s kinda cool. (She also had a graft made of human amniotic tissue, which just blows my mind.)

Just got back, they were unable to find a good enough vein so wasn't able to donate completely wasted trip to the hospital.

Feel quite down about it

OP, don't feel down! Your post on here may give the idea to others who would not otherwise have thought of it, so you'll still have helped.

What Lilypond said. Sorry to hear it happened, OP. I assume they tried both arms? I have my results now from my 2nd PCR test which was negative this so I'm going to wait a few weeks and then look into it.

Negative this time, I meant to type.

@Blue565 please don’t feel too down, you are part of something so much bigger you should be proud to have just turned up, many wouldn’t or can’t.

Did they say if they’d recall you? Try and make sure your super hydrated in the days leading up to and including the day itself.

OP- you inspired me to register.

Thank you. DH's uncle's life was saved by plasma in the US.
You're doing an amazing thing.