autogolus serum -how much more blood is drawn for higher concentrations?

[jenny2008]

ok so those of you on this blood serum drops i am taking 20%... will they have to draw more blood from me to make the same amoutn of supply
(3month supply) if i go up from a 20% serum drop to a 50% serum drop??

if anyone who has jumped up in %s can tell me i would really appreciate it ..thanks so much!!!!

[jenny2008]

does anyone who is on blood serum drops know the answers to the above?? the lab has no idea and my doc doesnt usually prescribe these types of drops..so i am at a loss. i want a 3 month supply. it cost me 175.00.. i just wonder if more blood has to be drawn..? can someone who has had this done tell me..? thanks so much if somebody can help..)))

[PotatoCakes]

My understanding is that the amount of blood you need is dependent on how much serum they get out of your blood. Each time I have a draw, they take 10 vials from me (I know there are others who have as many as 20). I was on 50% and getting approximately 12-14 bottles of drops, which, if my eyes were doing relatively well, would last me over 3 months. My physician let me know that they had found that drops were less effective after the 3 month period so I asked to have my percentage upped to 75%, since I was getting so many vials. At 75%, I get at least 8 bottles but have gotten 10 1/2 before, depending on how well hydrated I am.

[Guest]

Hi Jenny,

Here's how you figure it out... for the purposes of this example, we'll pretend you need 100ml of drops to last you 3 mo, and we'll pretend that half your blood is serum.

Let's say you're on 20% serum drops. 100 ml of drops contains 20ml of serum (0.2 x 100ml) so you'd need them to draw 40ml of blood (which would yield 20ml of serum) for your 3 mo. supply of drops.

Now let's say you increase to 50% serum the next time... This time, they'll need to draw 100ml of blood (which contains approx. 50ml of serum) Since for the purposes of this example your blood is approx. 50% serum, to get 50 ml of serum, they'd need to draw 100ml of blood for your 3 mo. supply of drops.

Now let's say you want 100% serum drops. Since we're pretending half your blood is serum, and we're pretending you need 100ml of drops for 3 mo, they'll need to draw 200 ml of blood for a mo. supply of drops (which will contain the 100ml of serum you need).

So in a nutshell, the higher the percentage of serum drops, the more blood they need to draw for the same quantity of eye drops.

For me, I use the 100% serum drops. I need about 50ml of serum drops to last me 3 mo if I use it 4 times per day, and when they draw my blood, a little less than half of it is serum. They take about 13 x 9-ml vials of blood for a total of 117 ml of blood and this gets me about 50ml of serum.

The percentage of serum in your blood will vary depending on how hydrated you are. More hydrated = higher percentage of serum in your blood. Less hydrated = lower percentage of serum in your blood.

Hope this helps!

P.S. You'd asked me in a PM if the serum drops burn my eyes - no, they don't burn - I've only used 50% and 100% serum - I find the 100% serum to have a nicer "feel" in my eyes.

[jenny2008]

thanks to both of you! SAAG this is very detailed thanks so much! i guess i will just tell the lab i need more drawn if i go up to 50%...because i still want a 3 month supply and dont want it to cost more... are you both staying on these drops indefitinely?

SAAG how did you know exactly how much blood they took and for what %s? i am so glad u know its just that my doc acted like he didnt know and neither did the lab as they have only made drops with 20%... ahhhh

[Guest]

I'm nosy haha

I asked the lab tech how many ml's of blood fit in each vial and how many they are taking... I've found that since I'm their only patient getting 100% serum, if I don't tell them how much blood to draw, they take too little... The whole thing was very frustrating for me at the beginning because the lab techs doubted me and didn't believe me when I told them how much blood I need for a 3 mo. supply of drops... it used to take convincing each and every time... but now they know me well and just ask me how many vials I want them to take

And yes, I plan on using these drops indefinitely... unless I am forced to stop. I applied to move to New Zealand with my family, and from what I can tell, I can get serum drops in Auckland... but I don't know if it'll take convincing or a long time to get it all set up over there since no-one will know me (well, IF we're lucky enough to get picked to move there!!!)

[jenny2008]

thanks so much andgood luck with your move ! how exciting!

ps it doesnt look like they have to draw very much more blood for 50% compared to 20% ? just another 10ml??

[PotatoCakes]

Unless someone comes up with a cure that works for me, I'll be on serum drops forever. I'm hoping for a cure but serum drops are the next best thing.

[icycarol]

Can I ask how long can the serum last if I keep them in refrigerator? I'm afraid the component might degrade if I keep them for too long. Thank you!

Carol

[joanna]

icycarol, there is a new post in the blog about storing the serum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22955119

Looks like you can keep it up to 6 months in the freezer.

The conclusion is not very clear about the storage at 6°C.

I am going to have my serum done in Poland and I will need to transport it 1800km so I wander if I can take it in a small car fridge, the trip takes two days.

So my question is, anyone had to transport their serum so far by car?

[Guest]

icycarol, there is a new post in the blog about storing the serum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22955119

Looks like you can keep it up to 6 months in the freezer.

The conclusion is not very clear about the storage at 6°C.

I am going to have my serum done in Poland and I will need to transport it 1800km so I wander if I can take it in a small car fridge, the trip takes two days.

So my question is, anyone had to transport their serum so far by car?

I think the less time it's thawed the better. That being said, one bottle of serum lasts me maybe 4 days or so and I keep the bottle that I'm using in the fridge (the rest are in my freezer). I wouldn't worry about having it in a fridge for a couple of days in the car... I'm sure it'll be fine since the fridge will keep it chilled. As soon as you get to your destination, you can put the leftovers in the freezer, while keeping the bottle you are using in the fridge still.

[joanna]

SAAG it's not about the leftovers, I am going to buy my serum and I would transport all the supply back home.
I wouldn't freeze them before the transport, only after arriving home.
I heard you need to freeze the serum straight after picking up from the pharmacy, so I wander if I can have the serum for around 3 days in the fridge and freeze them later?

btw, can you thaw the serum and freeze it again?

[Guest]

There are no issues with freezing and re-thawing that I know of. Maybe some day someone will study it and we'll have a 100%-for-sure answer... but I don't think anyone has done so yet.

[PotatoCakes]

Could you use something like dry ice to keep your drops frozen / super cold while they are in transport, IcyCarol? 3 days is longer than I'd feel comfortable with (I'm pretty uptight about this stuff though). If you're in the car, I think you could use dry ice. Also, if you have a fridge, you could try packing it with ice (in bags to prevent leakage), to get it even colder and store your drops in the center of all of the ice.

When I travel, I use a small Thermos, that has been in the freezer and pack it with mini ice packs. It's not uncommon for my drops to freeze when they are in there. You could ask that your drops be frozen before starting out and in a fridge full of ice, they'd stay frozen for a while. Then maybe you could replace the melted ice with fresh ice periodically?

[No tears in ATL]

Not to hijack this post, but my compounding pharmacist advises me to keep the drops for 10 days (thawed) while I'm using them and then throw them out. Anyone else advised to store theirs that long? Seems like 5 days is about the norm on this board.