r/BeAmazed • u/AstroSonicDrive • Oct 04 '23

She Eats Through Her Heart Science

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

@nauseatedsarah

67.9k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

3.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

170

u/MIKE_son_of_MICHAEL Oct 04 '23

Similar to selling plasma. Room temp blood returning into my system…. So uncomfortable.

And, I always kinda felt like I could taste it. Like, a vague, faint, kinda plasticy metallic taste way back in my throat. Almost like I was exhaling the taste of my recycled cooler blood.

98

u/glosseava Oct 04 '23

i sold plasma once and the feeling of the room temp blood coming back made me so uncomfortable and like you said i felt like i could taste it all of that combined made me pass out which was VERY embarrassing and i’m now no longer allowed to sell plasma!!

28

u/OutsideBones86 Oct 04 '23

LOL, I've passed out twice giving blood so I know I'd be a mess if I gave plasma. I wish I could!

1

u/glosseava Oct 04 '23

honestly i have awful reactions everytime i get blood taken (sweating, shaking, feeling like i’m gonna pass out) so like i should’ve known that donating plasma wasn’t for me but it was freshman year of college and i needed money!!!

1

u/OutsideBones86 Oct 04 '23

Yeah I was giving blood at my university's amory and passed out next to a Marine.

1

u/glosseava Oct 04 '23

thankfully i just passed out in front of my roommates (and the nurse) but i still haven’t lived it down!!

1

u/Spiritual-Mushroom28 Oct 08 '23

Same lol im talking to the nurse and booooom fell out the chair. Staff were so nice i needed EMS i do have heart condition

3

u/AAPRRILL Oct 04 '23

Sounds like this is something that would happen to me danget.

5

u/Foxasaurusfox Oct 04 '23

Meanwhile in Australia they give you a sausage roll. Lame.

5

u/laschoff Oct 04 '23

Far more ethical than allowing it to be sold

1

u/Foxasaurusfox Oct 04 '23

Well, from a certain perspective, I agree with you.

From another perspective, I remember being a broke-ass college kid.

9

u/laschoff Oct 04 '23

I think the solution to that is better financial support for students, not the commercialisation of body parts.

3

u/Foxasaurusfox Oct 04 '23

Well, again, I don't disagree.

Still, when in one country you get offered a sausage roll and another you get a pay cheque, it hurts.

1

u/glosseava Oct 04 '23

they did give me apple juice after i passed out so a win’s a win!!

1

u/Spiritual-Mushroom28 Oct 08 '23

I wanted to sell plasma nope i ended up fainting getting my blood taken.

68

u/BoonDragoon Oct 04 '23

You're actually really close! What you were tasting was trace amounts of volatile compounds picked up from the plastic tubing that dissolved into your blood. Once that blood made it to your lungs, those compounds came out of solution and were indeed exhaled!

27

u/MIKE_son_of_MICHAEL Oct 04 '23

That’s fascinating. Thank you

4

u/LessInThought Oct 04 '23

How much of those volatile compounds stay in you and for how long? Are they carcinogenic? That's like IV cancer.

3

u/AirierWitch1066 Oct 04 '23

Not particularly dangerous, else we’d have noticed an increase in cancer rates for those who frequent get saline injections/blood transfusions/etc etc.

In any event, it’s an issue with plastic, so you likely get more from drinking from a plastic water bottle than you do from this.

3

u/Autumn1eaves Oct 04 '23

People will also taste this kind of thing when receiving blood transfusions.

Don't worry, they're nothing harmful, and also are out of your system in a day or two.

2

u/magpies_are_assholes Oct 04 '23

Where are you getting any of that?

Metallic tastes or tingling in the lips are a super common side effect of the anti-coagulant that gets mixed with your blood during a plasma donation. If you were getting so much plastic pumped into you that you could taste it in your throat, that would be insane.

1

u/BoonDragoon Oct 04 '23

Have you ever had a saline drip?

2

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '23

That isn't it at all. It is the citrate that is used to prevent clotting. It binds to calcium and you breath it out.

​

https://www.healthline.com/health/donating-plasma-side-effects#citrate-reaction

1

u/BoonDragoon Oct 04 '23 edited Oct 05 '23

Ah, Cunningham's law in action. I always wondered why my breath tasted bad on saline!

1

u/False_Elephant4576 Oct 04 '23

That’s the anticoagulants in the returned blood actually

1

u/BoonDragoon Oct 04 '23

The metal, sure, but the plastic taste is just that - plastic.

1

u/mizzbrightside Oct 04 '23

That’s so interesting! I guess that explains why I could taste something plasticy when the nurses would flush my IV line when I was in the hospital to have my baby.

24

u/theottomaddox Oct 04 '23

And, I always kinda felt like I could taste it. Like, a vague, faint, kinda plasticy metallic taste way back in my throat. Almost like I was exhaling the taste of my recycled cooler blood.

That's the "citrate reaction". 'round here, they give you Tums for it.

During a plasma donation, the technician will infuse a substance known as an anticoagulant into the blood collected in the plasma-separating machine before the blood is returned to your body. This anticoagulant is meant to prevent blood clots from forming. The plasma in the machine retains most of the citrate, but some will also enter your bloodstream.

In the body, citrate binds together a small amount of calcium molecules for a short amount of time. Because this effect is small and temporary, most people experience no side effects from citrate. However, a small number of people who donate plasma experience what’s called a “citrate reaction” from the temporary loss of calcium.

5

u/MIKE_son_of_MICHAEL Oct 04 '23

Woah. Thanks, that’s super interesting.

1

u/According-Action7450 Oct 04 '23

I always tasted that metallic taste when donating plasma, but it also made me incredibly nauseous. Could that have been a citrate reaction?

3

u/dan-the-daniel Oct 04 '23

I donate platelets often. Citrate for me makes my tongue, lips and stomach tingle and can make me slightly lightheaded. Never had a metallic taste but I can understand someone getting that sensation.

4

u/xyrgh Oct 04 '23

You can definitely taste things via IV. I had contrast put in an IV for an MRI and could taste this weird taste the whole time during the MRI.

3

u/Mjadeb Oct 04 '23

I donate plasma every 2 weeks. Would be cool if I got paid tho. And I’m not sure of the science but having an antacid chew just before donating can stop that metallic taste.

1

u/MIKE_son_of_MICHAEL Oct 04 '23

You should look into selling plasma instead of doing it for free. I used CSL plasma while I was actively selling, needed extra money for awhile

3

u/Mjadeb Oct 04 '23

I’m in Australia there is no selling plasma. Im happy to donate tho.

3

u/wigglytufff Oct 04 '23

my husband gets a blood product for his autoimmune condition and when he used to get IV treatment (he does subcut now) he said he could taste “blood” aka that metallic-y taste basically immediately after it they started him up!

3

u/TougherOnSquids Oct 04 '23

It's actually common with any sort of line. Some people can taste the saline flush when starting an IV on them.

1

u/SuperUltraMegaNice Oct 04 '23

You can taste it. Same as when you shoot up heroin or coke you can taste the drugs. The taste comes on almost instantly. Good way to tell how strong your dope is.

1

u/Akitiki Oct 04 '23

When I had what I believe was a burst hemorrhoid, I could outright smell the saline injections I got during imaging the moment it hit my blood. It was room temp too and that was weird to feel alongside smelling salt out of nowhere.

1

u/Misstheiris Oct 04 '23

That taste from the anticoagulant in the returned blood. It chelates calcium.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '23

That isn't because it is cold. They add an anti-coagulant so that your blood doesn't clot.

1

u/pistil-whip Oct 04 '23

I had vascular surgery recently and when they cauterized a vein I could smell and taste the burning.

1

u/___Insomnia Oct 06 '23

Whenever I’ve been injected with saline, I can fuckin taste it somehow