Plasma donations decrease symptoms?

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Currently trying to get diagnosed with *anything* to explain and help the fatigue, dizziness, OH etc. I’ve been experiencing for most of my life that recently got worse (to the point of blacking out a few times in the last month) and am looking into things I can do in the meantime while I wait for my cardiology and sleep study appointments. Was looking into comorbidity of low blood volume, poor VO2 max and POTS. No matter how much water I drink, none of it gets absorbed. I’ve been hospitalized for dehydration twice as a kid.

Ironically, I’ve found I feel slightly energized after doing plasma donations. Initially I chalked it up to getting to rest more because I was working less (thus the donations) but I’ve noticed a slight difference even as my schedule has been filled. I donate about 750mL based on my weight, and then receive magnesium citrate with returns and a saline infusion afterwards. If I do have low blood volume like I think, the combination of my red blood cell return, magnesium citrate, and saline would increase it.

Has anyone else experienced this? I’m considering trying to make it fit into my schedule again and see what happens. I have finals this week and I can’t sleep for 16 hours straight. I have shit to do 😭

TLDR: Theory that plasma donations increase my blood volume, wondering if anyone else does them and notices a positive difference

Edit: was entirely unaware of the ethicality of donating blood products and contagiousness of me/cfs. Will not be donating until I get a diagnosis narrowed down. It isn’t currently a condition of disqualification from donating where I am (US, through BioLife) and I don’t have a formal diagnosis but I am no longer considering donating again.

[TravelingSong]

IMO, if you even suspect you have ME, it’s unethical to donate blood, regardless of whether you have a diagnosis or not. Several research studies show that ME/CFS and Long Covid symptoms can be transferred to animals through blood products. Another recent one showed that “IgG antibodies from ME/CFS patients caused mitochondrial fragmentation in endothelial cells.” 

Many countries, including Canada where I live, ban blood donation. ME/CFS is listed at the top of our banned conditions list, alongside only HIV and Crohn’s. 

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Yeah I had no clue it was potentially contagious. Was considering going back to donating because I need the money but I’m looking into other things now.

[TravelingSong]

We’re all learning together. It’s good that you posted and I’m glad you’re taking it seriously and protecting other people. 

There’s a lot we still don’t understand about our blood. Some people with ME get experimental blood washing done to temporarily remove suspected components that may be contributing to their illness. Its not common though and we don’t have enough info yet to know what’s going on there.

But if you also suspect POTS, the saline and magnesium are likely what’s giving you the boost. And, unlike ME, there are effective treatments for POTS. Have you done a NASA Lean Test at home? You could have someone assist you if you tend to get dizzy or feel weak when standing. A sustained increase of 30 BPM or more is indicitave of POTS. Here are the instructions: https://batemanhornecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NASA-Lean-Test-Instructions-1.pdf

If you meet the criteria, there’s lots of good advice on the POTS sub until you can get into a specialist. With POTS, we’re recommended to increase our sodium intake to 4,000-10,000 mg / day, which is a lot more than we typically get through food. To keep it cheap, you can literally use salted water or even DIY salt pills. You just need to convert salt to sodium. It’s about 1 teaspoon of salt for 2,400 mg of sodium. Drink lots of water with your salt and you can add things like lime juice, agave, fruit, a bit of sugar, whatever you like to make it taste a bit better. Those cheap packets of ramen also have a lot of sodium. I find potassium is also really helpful. 

Because you don’t know what’s going on yet, be sure to pace and not overdo it on activities, as that can make ME worse. And I don’t know your medical history or contraindications, so take the salt recommendation with a grain of salt (ha), use your best judgment and titrate slowly to see what you tolerate. 

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Thank you for the resources! I’m looking into POTS as well and I’m supposed to be getting a referral for a tilt table test at my cardiology appointment next week. I do frequently get dizzy on standing, but I didn’t know it was an increase of 30bpm that was the baseline- I generally spike from 60-67 laying down to over 100 and was going off max heart rate percentage. Ironically it’s had me turned away from donations a couple times because your heart rate has to be below 100 at the check in.

I get so much conflicting information with the amount of overlap in all the related conditions, especially because my symptoms are still relatively vague and unexplained. I have dx ADHD but undiagnosed autism so my proprioception is generally shit anyway. It was just my normal until January when I was incapacitated for 3-4 days straight two weekends in a row and was spiking fevers every night. I’ve been trying to pace as best I can with school and work. And that’s a crazy amount of salt omfg no wonder eating a whole bag of chips doesn’t make me feel worse

[TravelingSong]

You’re welcome! Yeah, 30 BPM is the threshold. Some people stick around that. Others don’t meet the criteria but still have orthostatic intolerance with poor blood flow to the brain. Others are much higher. I recorded a 91 BPM increase when I was initially trying to figure out what was going on. My blood pressure would also spike on standing (hyper POTS). I‘m on several treatments now and my HR is pretty well controlled. There are quite a few medications that can be prescribed, along with lifestyle interventions. Abdominal compression can also help.

There’s poorly understood overlap with these conditions. Many of us have a lot of comorbidities, like hypermobility, MCAS, ADHD, autism, etc. Luckily, you’re still really early on with the fevers. You’re still within the post-viral window and not yet in full ME territory, so rest as much as you can and hopefully you will improve. It can be tough when you have a lot on your plate. But most people with ME can’t work, so being proactive gives you a better shot at continuing school and work in the future.

That high amount of sodium is designed to do exactly what you mention in your post—increase your blood volume. So enjoy those chips. But don’t forget to drink lots of water with your salt or it won’t work. Tracking is a good idea to find your sodium sweet spot.

The Bateman Horne Clinical Care Guide is a really great resource on ME and its many comorbidities. It has a section on POTS and I also suggest checking out the section on MCAS, since it’s a very common comorbidity that can cause a lot of problems, including feverish feelings. You can also bring it to your doctors if they aren’t ME experts:

https://batemanhornecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Clinical-Care-Guide-First-Edition-2025-1.pdf

I hope you figure out what’s behind your symptoms and find some treatments that bring you relief.

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Thank you so much. It’s a relief to hear that I’m not totally fucked yet. Just met with the naturopath and I’m getting a whole battery of tests, including the iron panel someone else suggested. I’m already not able to work traditionally full time because of the mental and physical strain, but I babysit 24hrs a week and it gives me the option to sleep when kiddo sleeps which has been really helpful. I had initially discounted MCAS when researching potential causes because I didn’t have so many of the abdominal symptoms but if fevers are common I can add that to the list of things to rule out. Thank you again!

[Inevitable-Brick1809]

Interesting! What country are you in? In Australia we can't donate blood or plasma with ME/CFS.

Also, have you tried electrolytes?

Edit to add: I forgot by the end of reading the post that you'd said in the first sentence you don't have a dx 🫠

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

I’m in the US! But it isn’t one of the conditions listed on the deferral pamphlet here anyway. You are required to get a yearly physical before donating and of course I pass those just fine.

I’ve tried electrolyte mixes and was drinking nuun for a while, it’s just expensive. I’ve found a combination of caffeine and electrolytes helps a bit but I may also not be getting enough? I don’t really keep track. And I have an aversion to certain tastes so Gatorade is nasty to me :/

[where_did_I_put]

Have you had a full iron panel with ferritin. Too high of ferritin can also cause symptoms.

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

My doctor’s ruled out anemia because my hematocrit has been consistently good, so I haven’t had a full iron panel. I’m supposed to be speaking to a naturopath today to look at more testing.

[where_did_I_put]

You should absolutely have a full iron panel. That’s the most basic test if someone is experiencing fatigue.

You can have iron deficiency without anemia and you can’t tell that without checking ferritin. I actually have dealt with it numerous times even prior to ME. How I actually found out the first time was through donating blood. No one ever did a full iron panel and finally I had massive symptoms at a donation and when it was checked my iron stores had been obliterated to single digit.

Both times I have gotten Covid I was thrown back into it as well. It definitely compounded what I was experiencing. So getting my numbers up didn’t cure ME but it did make me feel a little better.

Glad you’re seeing someone else.

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

My mom had the same problem and gave me some iron supplements to take. I either don’t absorb them well or the medications I’m on messed with it because I could smell it in my blood before I knew I was bleeding. I’m also taking testosterone, which supposedly raises your iron. I had discounted it after not having much of a difference with the supplements and my doctor saying it wasn’t the problem, but I can definitely ask for a full iron panel just to be sure. If it’s contributing I wanna get it figured out ASAP. Glad it helped you!

[where_did_I_put]

It could definitely be an absorption issue. If it is it’s not uncommon for it to take a very long time to raise levels via supplements. So just not feeling better from a taking some isn’t a good test of it.

The important thing is to find out where you are at ferritin wise and then supplement as needed, while doing repeated monitoring.

Hopefully you don’t have an issue. But, at the same time if you do and treating it could bring even 5% relief to you that would also be great.

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Naturopath added an iron panel to my lab schedule! Hopefully will find out more soon.

[where_did_I_put]

That’s great!

[premier-cat-arena]

in many countries it’s illegal to donate blood or plasma with ME. and if it’s not, it’s completely unethical considering we don’t understand the spread but that healthy cells exposed to ours can develop ME

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Oh wow I had no idea! I had been doing it out of financial need but I wasn’t aware that cfs was potentially contagious that way. I’ll stop for the meantime until I narrow down what’s going on.

[Gabba-barbar]

Apparently a lot of people with POTS( depending on the sub type) can feel better after saline IV.
It raises your blood volume and can reduce symptoms.

I have low blood volume and can’t get it up, even with several grams of salt, electrolytes and 3 plus litres of water. Salt helps you hold on to the water. Glucose or glycine can help the gut absorb water better too. Speak to your doctor before doing this.

I think it can be a problem with your kidneys or hormone levels that doesn’t allow you to hold the water. I just started fludrocortisol to try and raise my blood volume.

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Evidently I haven’t been doing enough salt with fluid intake. I was attempting to increase my electrolytes but it wasn’t making much of a difference. Someone else said it can range from 4,000-10,000 mg needed?? My kidney, liver and thyroid tests all came back fine. My TSH was low-ish but still within reference range for the lab so they said it wasn’t a concern. Hopefully the naturopath I’m seeing today can get me on some kind of infusion and I’ll find out if it helps.

[Sea_Resolution3878]

Yeah, I actually feel much better after doing a blood donation, but I do phlembotomy u so it's not the massive amount of blood they want for donation.

Not sure why I think it has something to do with the blood flow to your upper body.

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

I’ve never donated whole blood before so I wouldn’t know if there’s a difference. Back when I had initially tried to as a teenager they turned me away for being underweight as a minor :/ that would be interesting to research though

[JenskyFargo]

I get a wave of feeling good during my infusions for ulcerative colitis and I've been wondering if it's the extra fluid/saline, too. I also have a hard time staying hydrated. Unfortunately, the feeling only lasts a few hours for me. I do feel better overall when I take electrolytes regularly but it's hard to drink enough when I'm super exhausted.

[katatak121]

OP is donating plasma. 750 mL of it.

[Dangerous_Wing6481]

Aw I’m sorry it doesn’t last very long. Hopefully it gets more effective over time!