Blood loss.

efreysson

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I'm jotting down ideas for a vampire story I'm going to write as soon as I'm done with my current WIP, and obviously blood loss is going to feature in the plot.

The idea is that the vampire feeds on people as they sleep, and the protagonist gets weaker over a period of several days without realizing what's going on until it's almost too late.

I want to get the symptoms for this kind of slow blood loss right, and have a general idea of:

*What the victim would experience.
*What the symptoms could be mistaken for.
*How much a person can lose before being severely disabled.
*And how long it takes to replenish the loss.

Thanks!
Oh, and the setting doesn't have modern medicine.
 

jclarkdawe

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Quoting from wikipedia:
Hemorrhaging is broken down into four classes by the American College of Surgeons' Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS).[4]

  • Class I Hemorrhage involves up to 15% of blood volume. There is typically no change in vital signs and fluid resuscitation is not usually necessary.
  • Class II Hemorrhage involves 15-30% of total blood volume. A patient is often tachycardic (rapid heart beat) with a narrowing of the difference between the systolic and diastolic blood pressures. The body attempts to compensate with peripheral vasoconstriction. Skin may start to look pale and be cool to the touch. The patient may exhibit slight changes in behavior. Volume resuscitation with crystalloids (Saline solution or Lactated Ringer's solution) is all that is typically required. Blood transfusion is not typically required.
  • Class III Hemorrhage involves loss of 30-40% of circulating blood volume. The patient's blood pressure drops, the heart rate increases, peripheral hypoperfusion (shock), such as capillary refill worsens, and the mental status worsens. Fluid resuscitation with crystalloid and blood transfusion are usually necessary.
  • Class IV Hemorrhage involves loss of >40% of circulating blood volume. The limit of the body's compensation is reached and aggressive resuscitation is required to prevent death.
Best of luck,


Jim Clark-Dawe
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I lost about 25% of my blood as a result of a tonsilectomy just before my 10th birthday. It took me twice as long to recover from the surgery as my brother, who had his the week before mine. I was very weak for at least a month. I did not have transfusion.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Amber Nae

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Since this isn't during an era with modern medicine it's hard to judge how long it would take for the character to replenish. With blood loss they would become weak, tired, and pale. They would not have any energy to get up and do anything. Im assuming this would be before they could give them a blood transfusion, that being said I do not know what treatment could be done, other than not being fed on while her body replenishes itself. Some of the symptoms could be confused for the flu.