Donating (Selling) Plasma?

[chicoborja]

I have an ignorant question to ask as a poor college student. How safe is it to donate plasma on a regular basis (2x week) for a prolonged period of time (1-2 years). I was unable to find the answer to my question via Googling and I thought someone might be kind enough to enlighten me here. I found several articles focusing on the stigma of selling plasma versus donating blood but could not find many on the safety of the practice. I did find an American Red Cross statement saying that it was perfectly fine because the body replenishes the depleted plasma within 48 hrs but then it states that one can only donate 12x year. I was under the impression that some people donate semi-weekly on a nearly year-round basis. Thanks for any feedback.

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[chicoborja]

Would somebody be so kind as to take two minutes and please respond.....I just wanna know how many times a month is considered safe and what risk it may entail (weaken immune system??).

 

[yaah]

I don't know the answer. Perhaps you should call the red cross - they are very helpful.

 

[Rustico]

Would somebody be so kind as to take two minutes and please respond.....I just wanna know how many times a month is considered safe and what risk it may entail (weaken immune system??).

I donated (sold) my plasma 2x a week off and on for about 2 years. I was in a donor program for people who have high titers of HBV Ab. At first everything was fine…and I was using all the money I made to make my car payment. Later I started having some trouble. My albumin levels dropped so low that I ended up with edema. I guess my liver couldn’t keep up with the demand. And eventually my HBV Ab titers became undetectable and, despite getting a series of HBV booster immunizations, I did not have detectable HBV Ab titers for about 1 year after my last donation of plasma.

I also became one of those people who is chronically sick with URI. I don’t know if my newfound predilection for infections has anything to do with my plasma donations, but it seems likely that if my HBV Abs were depleted, other protective Abs probably were as well.

On the other hand, I had several friends who donated as often as I did who never had any problems. Perhaps I just have a “weak constitution”??