In Certain Rare Circumstances Your Blood Type Can Change

ay receive blood transfusions from a donor with O-negative blood, sometimes referred to as the "universal donor" type of blood.

"An AB patient may receive enough O blood units during a transfusion that nearly all of their red cells type as group O," Our Blood Institute explains. "Within a few months, the patient’s bone marrow should naturally replace the transfused blood with his or her original blood type."

This brings us neatly to bone marrow transplants. Red blood cells are made in your bone marrow, and if you receive a bone marrow transplant from a donor of a different type, your own blood type will change. This, of course, has practical implications for your medical care.

"If you received stem cells from a donor, your donor may have a different blood type than yours," Michigan Medicine explains. "A blood bank technician will provide you with a blood ID card with your current blood type and donor’s blood type. To assess changing of blood type, we will do frequent blood-type tests during your stay. This will help you to prepare for future transfusions. It will take approximately one year for your blood type to convert."

It is also possible, though rarer, to temporarily appear to have a different blood type as the result of a bacterial infection. Known as the "acquired B phenomenon", it only affects people with blood type A, and usually in patients with sepsis, colon cancer, or bowel obstruction.

"The acquired B antigen is a special situation that occurs when a group A patient during an episode of infection when certain gram-negative bacteria secrete enzymes that can modify the A antigen on the RBC surface, which is N-acetyl-D-galactosamine to D-galactosamine that resembles D-galactose (the B antigen) and will cross-react with anti-B reagents," a review of typing discrepancies explains. "This phenomenon will resolve once the patient recovers."

So while most of you will have the same blood type for your whole life, it's possible, in certain circumstances, for your blood type to change. Fortunately, your blood type can quickly be determined by a simple blood test.

health-iconHEALTH AND MEDICINE health-iconMEDICINE clock-icon PUBLISHED 3 days ago In Certain Rare Circumstances Your Blood Type Can Change In some cases, the change can be temporary. Author JAMES FELTON

comments icon 3 Comments share 38 Shares article image Transfusion can (in some circumstances) temporarily alter your blood type.

At some point in your life you have probably learned your blood type, before forgetting it and guessing the most-common blood group (O). But even if you know your blood type, in very rare cases it can change.

Sometimes, the change can be temporary. People with rare blood types may receive blood transfusions from a donor with O-negative blood, sometimes referred to as the "universal donor" type of blood.

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Thank you. I noticed that too. I’m an allo SCT recipient. With a tad bit of gvhd. Been blessed as it can be a pretty serious ordeal. (You can see Post 11).
Just curious as to how you know this? It’s not typical info most know unless they have personal experience.

There should be nothing painful about the actual stem cell transplant.. it’s basically a transfusion. There may be some bone pain as the cells rapidly grow in the marrow. (I Had one). But, I’ve never heard anyone call the process painful.
Most pain crime from gvhd or chemo related issues .

I also am an administrator on a sct/BMT page (for 7 years) with about 15k members.

Ive never heard of pain occurring with changing of blood type. The bone marrow has basically been killed off by chemo (and radiation if used). Honestly, 7 personal years and thousands of posts on the page, I’ve never heard this. Perhaps, your friend misunderstood the dr.

I really dont know. She told me that the daughter had significant pain with the change. More the blood type change than the transplant itself.

She never really recovered and is extremely disabled.

There is/can be pain because of the rapid new cell growth in the bone marrow after the stem cell transplant, but, that’s not from blood type change. I too experience the deep ache. And then 7 years of Neurapathy from the intense chemo for AML and the SCT.

She sounds similar to what I’ve been thru.
Let her know to come join our page . We are a great group who support each other. No one really understands the physical/psychological aftermath . I’ll send it to you in DM. Those who use their own cells bounce back much better. The effects from the intense chemo and the restrictions to avoid gvhd is life changing.
Just recently (October) I forced myself to get a 16 hr/week job.(4 days 4 hours) to make myself get out of the house. I was heading down a bad road over the years letting the pain dictate my life. I do need medication to tolerate it, but it’s been life changing to get this lil part time job.

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