Effects of repeated, long-term blood donation

[banespawn]

I'm writing a fantasy novel in which a character has a curse that makes his blood the source of all magic. This curse only afflicts one person at a time. When that person dies, someone else inherits the curse. This has been going on for a thousand years and the current cursed individual has been held prisoner for 15 years, during which time his

Comments

[smillaraaq]

Seconding all of this. I had a pretty bad runin with anemia due to chronic heavy bleeding a couple years ago and those were my symptoms to a tee. I didn't *hurt* anywhere, outside of the occasional menstrual cramps, but I was horribly fatigued and weak all the time, no matter how much rest I got. I was used to taking long walks every day, but when the anemia was at its worst even just walking on level paved ground to the mailbox on the corner of my block felt like struggling uphill through deep snow, it took that much effort and left me so wrung out; I'd have to stop periodically to stand still and rest for a few breaths, just to try to muster up enough strength and willpower to walk a little further. Have you ever had a bout of the flu that was so severe that just getting out of bed to walk to the bathroom or kitchen felt like an exhausting effort? It was a lot like that, just without the deep body aches that you get with the flu. Weak, chilled, occasionally dizzy or light-headed, weird cravings and pica but almost no appetite, and just endlessly, crushingly tired all day long.

[naamah_darling]

So much sympathy, here.

[smillaraaq]

Thanks, and same back to you.