What are the pros and cons of selling plasma?

As a Linux nerd, I thought you're talking about KDE Plasma lol

So I worked at a plasma donation center and in a hospital. I will tell you that the training at the donation place I was at was very brief and you are somewhat practice for many new phlebotomists. I will also say I cared for at least two patients that were hospitalized after people missed their sticks at the donation centers and the patients had infections, pain, and huge vascular issues after that.

That being said many people do it and it turns out just fine. It’s easy money if you can tolerate it. But I would not recommend it, as it can eventually cause scarring to your veins and it may be difficult to start an IV when you are older and actually really need that access site.

pros: money

cons: needles (some folks have a phobia), track marks/scarring, possibly infections.

I've donated for a few months at a time back when I was dirt broke. In the short term the extra money can be a lifeline but in the long term it has more health risks associated that I'm comfortable with. There's a lot of conflicting pressures in the actual donor center too. On the one hand they need you to donate at least twice per month to even get enough plasma that it can go to an eligible donor, and they incentivize you coming back as many times per month as is legal; I think it's 8-10 times per month. On the other hand donating that much clearly isn't healthy if you aren't in excellent shape yourself. Do it too much will will make you more anemic and increase your overall fatigue, weakens your immune system, can lead to scarring in your elbows and a fuck ton of other lower chance but more serious complications.

DON'T donate plasma if you're broke, or malnourished, or alcoholic. especially if you drink alcohol on a regular basis.

I went in feeling perfectly fine for a donation. Later that day I noticed I had a cold developing which later turned into a bit more. But since I JUST donated plasma it made me feel like absolute shit. Can't remember every symptom that it added, but I know I had very little energy and it took longer to recover.

So as a con, if you are unlucky and donate while feeling fine but coming down with something it is going to hit you hard. And since most places have you donate twice a week your odds are higher of having that happen compared to donating blood (which is usually every other month I think). They do take your temp and ask if you feel fine prior to the donation... But there be a loop hole.

Another con I haven't seen mentioned is they can get busy. My local one was starting to see hour long waits to get seated. Which sucked as it is, but since you are usually hydrating extra that day by the time you get done you REALLY need to go. Place took appointments, but they were pointless as you could make your appointment while sitting in the car outside the building.

Also, not sure if related but when I first started it was very easy to draw blood for me and it went pretty quick. By the end it took them longer to stick me, sometimes multiple tries and my time donating increased a lot with far more errors to clear an air pocket or something. Luckily I started donating blood instead and it seems like my veins are easier to find again and the machine rarely gives an error.

I wouldn't recommend it overall.

If you don't need the money desperately and have the opportunity, consider donating blood instead.

Also, how much are y'all selling your plasma for?

I donated ~9 times in college, til the one time I had a bad technician person and ended up with a significant subdermal hematoma in my arm. It was painless and resolved itself but freaked me out enough I didn't want to do it anymore.

Pro you can get hammered with just a bit of alcohol.

Pros: u get money Cons: human traffickers can make ton of money