UK: has anyone had a blood volume test? Which one?

[keenly]

The test I had involves the same process as Daxor - a small amount of your own blood is taken out, labelled with a tracer and injected back in, then further blood tests are taken at intervals to measure the tracer's concentration in your bloodstream.

Daxor is a brand of automated machine that does the same thing which is only operating in the US, but the standard nuclear medicine test that I had generates the same information in the same way.

Basically, the more concentrated the tracer in your blood, the lower your blood volume and vice versa. Say you have 100mls of orange cordial and you mix it in a small amount of water, your drink will be very strong, but if you add it to a large volume of water, your drink will be very dilute. The amount of tracer and concentration in your body after mixing are known, which enables calculation of the unknown quantity which is your blood volume.

Results are given for your total blood volume and also plasma and red cell mass, which together make up the total.

I had this test due to severe POTS and all the same symptoms of hypovolaemic shock - tachycardia, cold extremities, non psychological anxiety, pallor, slow capillary refill etc. Blood pressure is not a good indicator of shock as it can be normal or raised in stages 1-2 hypovolaemic shock due to compensatory sympathetic activation. I pee up to 6 litres a day and don't hold fluids. At night after drinking salt and water all day I am at my best, and worse in the morning after no fluids all night, which strongly implicates blood volume for me. I also believe Dr Bell was spot on with his research on blood volume.

I will post my results when I get them.

If I can prove volume depletion, this may help me access drugs that help with this such as fludrocortisone and desmopressin, on prescription with proper monitoring of electrolytes. I have seen a private cardiologist who is also potentially open to perscribing intermittent IV saline for me. If red cell mass is low, there is also erythropoeitin but this is expensive and requires injection. Also you do not want to increase red cells alone if your plasma is low as you will then end up with blood that is too thick and can clot.

If I were to need surgery/anaesthetic, it would also be really helpful to be able to prove volume depletion in order to get extra fluids and reduce the risks of complications if the surgeon and anaesthetist wrongly assumed I had a normal circulating blood volume.

I would really like this tests and I am going to request it! Thanks for input and keep us informed.

 

[bombsh3ll]

I'm just writing to update regarding the outcome of my blood volume test at the BMI. I had high hopes for this proving hypovolaemia. Unfortunately there seems to have been a laboratory problem and the result I received was meaningless. I was reported to have a red cell mass nearly 200% the expected value. This would be far higher than Lance Armstrong had whilst winning the Tour de France jacked up on Epo, and is probably incompatible with life as it would mean blood as thick as treacle.

My plasma volume, which is what I was interested in, was reported as being 20% higher than expected, but with the clearly erroneous red cell mass, the reliability of the whole test is seriously questionable.

The hospital are now investigating this and worryingly have found that other patients' red cell mass has been reported at values that are so far out from normal as to be almost certainly inaccurate. I have a complaint in and am waiting for a refund.

 

[Binkie4]

@bombsh3ll
Thank you for feeding this back. I am sorry you had this dreadful experience. I hope you did not have to expend a lot of energy you couldn't afford on dealing with this. Very disappointing and I hope you get full recompense without too much effort. I too had hoped to find out my blood volume but obviously not there. Do you think this is a hospital issue, or a problem with the technique? I have only heard of the Daxor machine as a blood measure but in the US. Good luck with your complaint.

EDIT: I had an anaesthetic a month ago and was able to have saline. I wish I had the evidence from an accurate test for ongoing treatment as you describe.

 

[Wisdom]

Daxor： Maintaining Optimal Blood Volume in COVID-19 Patients

https://www.technologynetworks.com/...imal-blood-volume-in-covid-19-patients-333093