tankasnowgod
Member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2014
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@tankasnowgod @Tarmander @mayweatherking @dbh25 @Regina @lisaferraro
To everyone who has experience with blood removal/donating/letting: Did you ever experience any signs of "estrogen reduction" removing blood? Like decreased edema, lighter skin, less noticeable moles, etc? Any improvement with allergies?
Maybe @haidut would also know something about this: Is there any scientific basis for blood removal lowering estrogen? Would you say blood removal is overall more stressful or beneficial (in terms of hormonal effects)?
Would removing 50 ml of blood every few days be less stressful, and equally as beneficial, as removing the whole 450-500 ml at once?
I didn't notice any of those particular things, although in my case, it did seem to improve mood and energy levels.
As far as doing a smaller amount over a longer time, yes, it should be just as effective at lowering iron. I don't know if it would be less stressful, however. You would be repeatedly be puncturing your skin and veins, and that may lead to greater stress. It would also be a much more demanding schedule (In your example, nine mini phlebotimies as opposed to one larger one), although you may not have to take things as easy on your donation days. Probably similar to having a blood test done. In fact, I believe Haidut actually ran into this iron lowering effect at a time when he was doing several blood tests over a relatively short period in time.