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Dark blood from finger prick?

MsBea

Active Member
Messages
37
Location
Michigan, USA
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Other
Anyone ever see very dark blood during a finger prick test? Any idea what this means? Numbers are in normal range but blood is very dark. Thank you!! PS This is for my 14 year old son who was diagnosed with T1D in April. Thank you!
 
At a guess it would be a good finger prick with nearly all blood.
A poor finger prick (voice of experience) followed by a squeeze to get blood out can give you lighter blood because you also get some interstitial fluid (I think).

If you are worried, check with your healthcare team.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.
 
helensaramay said:
For me, the colour of my blood varies a fair amount.
My theory (although I have never checked it) is that my blood is darker when I am less hydrated.
It has never been something that has bothered me.
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Thank you so very much!! I really appreciate your insight. Another T1D mom told me that her (and son's) blood looks really dark when they have high blood sugar numbers, but my son's numbers have been normal yet we still get the dark blood.... maybe your theory is correct! Thank you very much once again for sharing. Really appreciate it.
 

Thank you very much! I appreciate it! Yes I have been a little concerned and I wanted to make sure all was well. I called his endocrinologist this morning and spoke with a nurse. I thought for sure she would say oh it's no big deal, don't worry about it... but she said she was going to reach out to the endocrinologist and get back to me with an answer. It's been a few hours and I haven't yet heard back. So I thought I would reach out here and see if anyone had the same experience/any insights to share since we are relatively new to this! THANK YOU again for sharing your insight, I really appreciate it! And Thank you for the warm welcome! I am very excited and thankful to find this forum!!
 
Yep, all the time. Sometimes it comes out as dark red and other times it comes out virtually looking like water, and every shade in between. I did notice that the darker the blood the higher the reading, only by half a point or more though.
 
KK123 said:
Yep, all the time. Sometimes it comes out as dark red and other times it comes out virtually looking like water, and every shade in between. I did notice that the darker the blood the higher the reading, only by half a point or more though.
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Phew! Very reassuring! THANK YOU!!
 
Hi again LGC, if you are reading this do you mind telling me how you put all that info in your signature? I like it and would like to do the same Thanks again!!
 
Venous blood is dark red and arterial blood is bright red. Although you are not finger pricking a vein or an artery maybe the capillaries that connect them also show the same difference - just a guess.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Venous blood is dark red and arterial blood is bright red. Although you are not finger pricking a vein or an artery maybe the capillaries that connect them also show the same difference - just a guess.
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Thank you very much Mr Pot! Much appreciated!
 
@MsBea
Welcome to the forum
Re Signatures, click on your avatar, then click on 'Profile', then 'Information'. Scroll down if you can't see 'Signature'. You can type any information in there
 
Energize said:
@MsBea
Welcome to the forum
Re Signatures, click on your avatar, then click on 'Profile', then 'Information'. Scroll down if you can't see 'Signature'. You can type any information in there
Click to expand...

Awesome! Thank you!! I scrolled all the way down and saw a section called "About You" and I entered a bunch of info there. Hopefully that did it I don't see anything reflected on my signature yet but perhaps that's because I am viewing as myself. Thanks so much for your help!
 
Hi, @MsBea, that's a very good question and one I have often thought about, but never taken it any further, until now.
I googled the colour of blood and these came up :-

Does the color of your blood mean anything?
The level or amount of oxygen in the blood determines the hue of red. As blood leaves the heart and is oxygen-rich, it is bright red. When the blood returns to the heart, it has less oxygen. It is still red but will be darker.10 Apr 2018

The color of human blood ranges from bright red when oxygenated to a darker red when deoxygenated. It owes its color to hemoglobin, to which oxygen binds. Deoxygenated blood is darker due to the difference in shape of the red blood cell when hemoglobin binds to it (oxygenated) verses does not bind to it (deoxygenated).
 
MsBea said:
Hi again LGC, if you are reading this do you mind telling me how you put all that info in your signature? I like it and would like to do the same Thanks again!!
Click to expand...

I am on a PC using a web browser.
Up at the top in the red bar on the Right Hand Side I can see my screen name.
If I hover the mouse pointer over that I'm offered a load of options.
Second one down on the left is "Signature".

That is where you enter the details which appear below your post.
 

yes! Thank you Robin for sharing that! I saw something like this online as well! And a couple of sites also mentioned something about how it should be different if it's a vein vs an artery based on the direction it is going. But ours is a finger prick and I just didn't know if it was anything to worry about if it's really dark. When I spoke with the nurse this morning she asked if it was black. I said no I don't think it's black but it's very very dark! I think this morning is the darkest I have seen it actually. So she said she would ask the endo and get back to me. Still waiting to hear back. Hopefully all is well! Thanks again for sharing
 
I've had a look for you and must admit it's not obvious. On a pc, don't click on yourself but hover and you'll find a list where you can choose 'signature'.
You've now put a nice piece of information on your profile, where it's only visible for people who click on your profile.

Oh, and I've never paid attention to the color of my blood. Probably will now I've read your post

edit: @LittleGreyCat already answered . I really should learn to refresh my page more often!
(And I don' know how to change your signature on a phone, perhaps someone else will come along to tell us.)
 

Oh my goodness! THANK YOU, I see it now hahaha! Not sure how I missed that earlier!! I will go play with it now!
 
MsBea said:
Oh my goodness! THANK YOU, I see it now hahaha! Not sure how I missed that earlier!! I will go play with it now!
Click to expand...

Looking good.
 

Thank you Thank you Thank you! Sorry I missed yours earlier, I had to run out to go pick up my son from school as they had an early release today Just got back now. YES it looks like I finally got it to work now lol! Thanks again I really appreciate it!
 
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