Celiacs Get Paid $500 For A Plasma Donation

[Edo]

I wanted to know if anyone has any input or experience with this. I just came across some info that if you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, including celiac, certain plasma donation centers will pay you a pretty hefty sum for donating your plasma. I believe it's because the antibodies in the plasma are valuable for medical use/studies/etc. moreso than normal plasma.

The place I found, called Open Original Shared Link, says they pay up to $500 per donation, with a max of two donations per week, and cover all travel costs (even things like plane tickets and hotels!) if there isn't a nearby donation center. If this is true, wow. O_O

I do know that you have to be qualified in a number of ways and healthy enough to be able to donate in order to qualify, and I assume that some people will not receive the max of $500 due to various factors. And I think they only want the plasma if the antibodies are high enough (probably not high enough in celiacs who have been gluten-free for a long time).

If anyone has any experiences or insight on this topic, let's discuss.

And by the way, the reason I found out about this is because my household has been struggling terribly with financial issues and my boyfriend has resorted to donating his non-celiac plasma in order to make a little money. He makes somewhere between $40-$50 per donation, I think. And it's the highest paying "job" he has been able to get. Walmart fired him recently, and it was my having celiac disease that caused it. It was back when I was trying to start the diet, and was very sick and really overwhelmed with no one there to help me. I had a big emotional crisis the day I planned to start the diet, crying like a baby for most of it. He worked night shift and usually slept during part of the day, but stayed awake that day to support me, take me to stores as I don't drive, and help me buy the right things. That night, he was so exhausted that he dozed off for a few minutes at work. A manager happened to see it, and he was promptly fired. He's normally pretty much the best employee they have because he's amazingly efficient. But Walmart treats their employees pretty poorly; I have many more examples of that fact from both him and our roommate working there. But I feel terrible that he was fired and it was basically my fault. He needed that job BADLY. He has debt that is now piling up even more, and was about to go in for surgery for a really bad hernia he's had for years, which he now cannot have fixed because of course his Walmart health insurance was terminated along with his job. And the economy is so terrible, there are just no jobs out there. He hates that I have to feed him, give him gas money, and pay his share of rent and bills until he finds something. He faces rejection every day and keeps on trying, despite how disheartening it is.

So I figure, if I can contribute both to our current situation, as well as help some other people out there by donating my fancy celiac plasma, I would be proud to do it! What do you all think?

[ravenwoodglass]

This could be very helpful for many. Thanks for posting. I checked it out but unfortunately I don't weigh enough to donate.

[Reba32]

I've never heard of it before, but I filled in their contact thing to find out if there are any facilities near me.

[mommida]

I have always wondered about Celiac blood antibodies helping heal others.

I'm going to call because I've had many of the listed viral illnesses. Chicken Pox, Mono/Epstein Bar, CMV, and I have also had meningitis. Maybe I've had too many things, for them to use my plasma. I've never had the "official gold standard diagnoses of Cleiac".

Thanks for the link! Wouldn't it be nice to pay the mortgage in blood.

[tarnalberry]

It looks like the want to plasma as positive controls for laboratory tests. But if you're on a gluten free diet, you won't have any antibodies - your blood/plasma won't look any different from someone who doesn't have it. So why celiac? That seems potentially very misleading...?

[AKcollegestudent]

I'm a starving college student, so I figured that I might as well submit my form. (Doubt I'll get approved, but hey, what can it hurt? And if this does work, I might even have enough money to buy the bicycle I really, really want. The one that I wasn't able to buy last year because joint pain + mountain biking don't mix.)

[Edo]

It looks like the want to plasma as positive controls for laboratory tests. But if you're on a gluten free diet, you won't have any antibodies - your blood/plasma won't look any different from someone who doesn't have it. So why celiac? That seems potentially very misleading...?

Yeah, that's exactly what I was wondering about. I was under the impression that antibodies weren't present in the blood anymore once gluten-free. And as we know, sometimes not even detected in the celiac blood panel tests we get at the doctor (so many false negatives). I only know that Enterolab says antibodies stay in the digestive tract for over a year after going gluten-free, but that shows up in stool, not blood.

So yeah, I don't know why they are asking for celiacs if this is the case, since anyone who knows they are celiac is almost certainly gluten-free. And I doubt going back on gluten to donate plasma would be worth it to any celiac. I sure wouldn't do it.

I haven't contacted Access Clinical yet, but for anyone who has done so and has stated that they're a gluten-free celiac, let us know what Access Clinical says. Hopefully we can figure out if it is truly possible for celiacs to donate and be compensated this much. I know it would help a lot of us who are struggling in this awful economy.

[Reba32]

I wonder if it's something else in the blood from people who are prone to auto-immune diseases, and they've just categorized them? I have quite a collection of them myself. Or genetic testing or something.

[luvs2eat]

I signed up and received an email today asking for my latest bloodwork showing antibodies. The last time I had them done (actually only the second time... first time, before going gluten free, they were off the charts), they were completely w/in normal limits... cause I was gluten free!!

I'll email them back and tell them that... but I don't expect to hear much from them again. Weird.

[twe0708]

Maybe I don't understand the procedure, but why can't they just take your blood and then separate the red blood cells from the plasma? Why do they need to give you back the red blood cells?

[luvs2eat]

Here is the response I received when I emailed explaining that my last blood work showed normal levels of antibodies because I was keeping a gluten free diet:

"Thank you for the information you have provided below. Given this information, unfortunately you would not be a suitable candidate for our programs. I am happy to hear that staying gluten free but the donors in our programs are also on a gluten free diet, but they still have very high levels for Celiac. Not everyone qualifies for our programs because everybody has a different immune system.

We do thank you for your interest in the programs and wish you the best."

[tarnalberry]

"Thank you for the information you have provided below. Given this information, unfortunately you would not be a suitable candidate for our programs. I am happy to hear that staying gluten free but the donors in our programs are also on a gluten free diet, but they still have very high levels for Celiac. Not everyone qualifies for our programs because everybody has a different immune system."

Clearly, there is some ... misleading or misinforming going on here. If the donors are on a gluten free diet, they're not going to have high levels (unless they've got refractory sprue).

[luvs2eat]

Clearly, there is some ... misleading or misinforming going on here. If the donors are on a gluten free diet, they're not going to have high levels (unless they've got refractory sprue).

And the POSSIBILITY of being accepted and MAYBE earning up to $500 is not NEARLY enough to make me eat gluten so my antibody numbers are up!

[Edo]

Well unfortunately this is looking less doable every day. I had gotten my hopes up a little because my boyfriend mentioned hearing something about labs having the ability to stimulate antibodies after the fact (as in, as long as the plasma comes from a person with the autoimmune disease, even if no antibodies are there at the time, they can add some kind of gluten-substitute to the donated plasma to trigger the antibodies into appearing). Unfortunately, Access Clinical says they can't do this. I wonder where my boyfriend even heard it, lol.

Anyway, I sent them an email with some questions, and got a response today. Here is my original email to Access Clinical:

Hi,

I am looking into donating my plasma and I have several questions.

I am female, born 2/25/1986, 5'3" and 118 pounds, live in zip code 92081, and have the autoimmune disorder celiac disease. I am not on any medications except over-the-counter dietary supplements. As of 1/25/10, I have been diagnosed by Dr. Kenneth Fine, M.D. of Enterolab (an independent lab who uses stool testing) as having elevated levels of intestinal antigliadin IgA antibody and anti-tissue transglutaminase IgA antibody. The results are consistent with what is seen in celiac patients, but stool testing can only diagnose as far as gluten-sensitivity, not celiac. I have also had genetic testing by the same lab indicating that I have DQ8 and DQ6 genes, which are associated with celiac and gluten-sensitivity. I have also been on a completely gluten-free diet since 1/7/10 and have seen drastic improvement in my celiac symptoms. Is this enough to consider me diagnosed, or do I need my primary care physician to officially diagnose me as celiac in order to be qualified for plasma donation?

I would also like an explanation as to whether or not a gluten-free celiac's plasma is still usable, since there are no antibodies produced in the blood unless the patient is consuming gluten. Since I am gluten-free, will I still be able to donate my plasma? I have heard that perhaps once you take out the plasma, you can add something to the plasma to stimulate the antibodies to appear. And in that case, as long as I am really celiac and would produce antibodies if gluten was consumed, you would be able to stimulate the antibodies yourself and it would not matter to the donation process whether or not I was gluten-free. Is this true, or would I need to be consuming gluten so I would have the antibodies already in my plasma at the time of donation? Any explanation would be greatly appreciated. Many of my celiac friends are eager to donate and would like to know if they can, since they are gluten-free and plan to stay that way.

Also, if I was found to be eligible, and based on my above stats, what compensation would I receive? And could you let me know what location I would need to go to donate, etc? I am in Vista, CA 92081. Any other information I would need to know would be appreciated. A new donor packet sent to this email would be great. Thank you.

Here is Access Clinical's response:

Thank you for visiting our website and your inquiry below about becoming a donor in our programs. Now how did you actually hear about us? We are always looking for new donors for our programs and we like to know where people see or hear about us.

In response to your questions below;

We are always looking for more donors for our programs who have an actual diagnosis, and from what I read below you do have, although it was thru a stool culture/evaluation, none the less you have been told based on that, that you indeed have Celiac from what you have indicated. However for our programs you would need the actual blood tests/results showing the antibodies. The reason we require the blood testing is because our programs are blood/plasma based, you can have a positive stool culture but the blood can be negative and vice versa . Although you indicated you had/have the antibodies present on the test that was performed at the other lab, this does not necessarily mean that you have the blood antibodies as well.

The donors in our programs are also on strict Gluten Fee diets, but their immune system still maintains very high antibody levels even though they are not consuming any gluten products. So before we can even screen you we would need to see where your antibodies are on the actual blood tests. We look at the Gliadin antibodies as well as the Tissue Transglutaminase antibodies. Because our plasma is being used to create controls for test kits, those tests would have to be positive and at certain levels (they all don

[ravenwoodglass]

It sounds like the most suitable subjects are going to be folks who were just diagnosed and haven't had any time to heal yet. Those who are newly diagnosed might still be able to do this.

I wonder what this lab is trying to accomplish? A drug to stop the antibodies perhaps?

[Edo]

It sounds like the most suitable subjects are going to be folks who were just diagnosed and haven't had any time to heal yet. Those who are newly diagnosed might still be able to do this.

I wonder what this lab is trying to accomplish? A drug to stop the antibodies perhaps?

Yep, that might work too, but wouldn't that be a pretty small window of time? I've been gluten-free almost six weeks... I wonder if that's too long. Either way, it would be a real hassle for me to get a blood test at this point unless I had some guarantees. I'm not even insured, and it would probably take too long to have it scheduled. I doubt I'll still have the antibodies by that point even if I do now. And furthermore, I don't feel like subjecting my body to any more depletion of its substances. Though the plasma will regenerate in 24-48 hours, I still don't think it's a good idea to take anything else out of me while I am still recovering from celiac damage. I was planning not to start donating until I felt quite a bit better than I do. So considering everything, I've given up on donating. But I'm happy for my health on the bright side.

As for what they're doing with the plasma, all I've heard is they use it for diagnostic purposes and research. I wouldn't be surprised if that included trying to formulate treatments too. If they could actually make a drug for treating/curing celiac, that would be pretty neat.

As for plasma donation centers themselves, they only collect it because they can sell it to science for a LOT more than they pay their donors for it. O_O

[Reba32]

I read an article a few months ago about a lab in Australia that is testing intestinal parasites as a "cure" for Celiac.

[StacyA]

Your condition may not be severe enough to warrant this, but under the Family and Medical Leave Act, if someone's medical condition is so bad at times that they need cared for by their spouse, their spouse could turn in paperwork to their employer that protects them a little bit. Again, you may not be eligible. Your physician would need to fill out paperwork, and your doctor should only sign it if s/he truly believes your medical condition meets the criteria. (FMLA does get abused a lot.) This wouldn't help with your husband's past employment, but it could be a consideration for the future.

Oh, and I was curious and sent in a screening for that plasma thing. We'll see. I'm only 4 months into gluten-free and I'm still getting exposed at times.

- Stacy

[vark]

registered just for this thread. i'm a donor at access. my local branch is called saturn biomedical.

i dont have celiacs. they havent told me why they like my blood, maybe because i had mono once.

there's no harm in getting screened; either they like you or they don't. you guys have a higher shot it than most people. however, what they dont say in their ads is they turn down most people. they take maybe 1 in 20. your odds would be higher, but it's no sure thing. they pay $10 to screen, it takes about 2 weeks to find out.

they pay "up to" 400.. those are weasel words. in my case, i get $40 twice a week. i havent gotten around yet to writing to see what it is they like about my plasma. it is still much nice than the other plasma place i'd been going. i think the people on this forum are enough in their demographic that it is worth getting tested. they usually will send you to the nearest plasma center that is in their network; i just happen to live near the company-owned one.

plasma is just a side gig for me, my main thing the past four years has been being a guinea pig for drug experiments. found this site while googling to see if maybe another company will pay me more. - seracare is another company in this business.

so short version, it's a legit company, but not everybody gets in, and not everybody gets big bucks, but there's no harm in checking. some people really do get $400 twice a week for an hour's work.

[viviendoparajesus]

too bad the disease cannot work for us. what a weird set up. that sucks how your boyfriend lost his job supporting you. i feel so bad for everything my boyfriend went through when i was so sick right before i got diagnosed. i hoped and prayed he would be able to keep his job especially since he was supporting both of us. i felt bad having to rely on him especially since it left him with less to save or spend on fun stuff. i hope your boyfriend can find another job and that things get better for you all.

[Edo]

registered just for this thread. i'm a donor at access. my local branch is called saturn biomedical.

i dont have celiacs. they havent told me why they like my blood, maybe because i had mono once.

there's no harm in getting screened; either they like you or they don't. you guys have a higher shot it than most people. however, what they dont say in their ads is they turn down most people. they take maybe 1 in 20. your odds would be higher, but it's no sure thing. they pay $10 to screen, it takes about 2 weeks to find out.

they pay "up to" 400.. those are weasel words. in my case, i get $40 twice a week. i havent gotten around yet to writing to see what it is they like about my plasma. it is still much nice than the other plasma place i'd been going. i think the people on this forum are enough in their demographic that it is worth getting tested. they usually will send you to the nearest plasma center that is in their network; i just happen to live near the company-owned one.

plasma is just a side gig for me, my main thing the past four years has been being a guinea pig for drug experiments. found this site while googling to see if maybe another company will pay me more. - seracare is another company in this business.

so short version, it's a legit company, but not everybody gets in, and not everybody gets big bucks, but there's no harm in checking. some people really do get $400 twice a week for an hour's work.

Thank you for sharing. I had decided not to bother because I was so sure I'd just be turned down. I am also curious what they like about your blood; did they test your blood themselves? Or did they ask for lab results from your doctor? Intriguing stuff.

Viviendoparajesus: Thanks for the well-wishes. My boyfriend still hasn't found a job, mostly because no one wants to hire someone with a hernia when there are floods of able-bodied applicants to choose from. Our income has been way below the poverty line since, though fortunately that qualifies him for free surgery from a local charity. He is waiting on a referral any day now. So hopefully our suffering is coming to an end soon.

[badcasper]

I was just wondering what they put back in you after removing the plasma. I also wondered if that's what I reacted to. A few years ago I donated plasma. I was border line with the weight and blood pressure, but they let me. Low weight and blood pressure. When they was returning the blood to my body with whatever it is they add to keep blood from clogging, I became very dizzy. I felt like I was going to fall off the table and when I tried to alert a worker I was too out of it and nearly blacked out. I felt like I was losing consciousness and that I would surely be going to the hospital. I don't know how I pulled through it but I did. It wasn't a panic attack and it wasn't my first time. It was my third. If your not in perfect health, I would not recommend it. If I would have went to the hospital, my bill would probably been at least 20 times what I would have made. If you don't complete the process, you don't get paid either.

[kareng]

I was just wondering what they put back in you after removing the plasma. I also wondered if that's what I reacted to. A few years ago I donated plasma. I was border line with the weight and blood pressure, but they let me. Low weight and blood pressure. When they was returning the blood to my body with whatever it is they add to keep blood from clogging, I became very dizzy. I felt like I was going to fall off the table and when I tried to alert a worker I was too out of it and nearly blacked out. I felt like I was losing consciousness and that I would surely be going to the hospital. I don't know how I pulled through it but I did. It wasn't a panic attack and it wasn't my first time. It was my third. If your not in perfect health, I would not recommend it. If I would have went to the hospital, my bill would probably been at least 20 times what I would have made. If you don't complete the process, you don't get paid either.

 

This topic is 5 years old.  Most of the posters are not still around.

[sickgirl]

Hello, I cant seem to find where I can apply to donate celiac blood or plasma to get paid, can someone please direct me? Id really appreciate it thankyou

[kareng]

Hello, I cant seem to find where I can apply to donate celiac blood or plasma to get paid, can someone please direct me? Id really appreciate it thankyou

Like I said in the post right before yours - this original post is over 5 years old. Maybe they aren't doing this any longer? I suppose you could google using the original info and see what you find.