this is more for karsten who asked about the health hazards, here yah are buddy....

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the main dangers from drinking your own blood (and cutting yourself, for that matter) are of infection, and interference with your own immune system.

You would suppose that it is 'safer' to drink your own blood, but the fact remains that blood is not designed to be drunk in the first place, which is probably why many people complain of nausea and stomach problems with it (I'm afraid the evidence is largely anecdotal here, but the medical community largely agrees that blood is an emetic ie enough of it will make you sick).

Because blood contains so many elements, including waste elements from the body, drinking it is actually creating an imbalance in the body: you're taking in a small amount of toxins, whilst the act of bleeding in the first place is depleting your body of white blood cells designed to fight the bad stuff. In very small amounts of course this isn't a big deal, but over a length of time, nobody really knows what that will do to you. It's a big unknown., but infering ideas from the way other diseases work, a repeated behaviour or trauma in a certain way creates changes in the body that can result in, for example, cancer and lowered immune defences. This is a matter of conjecture as so many studies remain to be done, but it's worth bearing in mind.

We know that certain acts of self-cannibalism (*****, it's the only word I can think of) create health problems. Mostly this has been restricted to brain matter but in general you have to remember we aren't designed to eat ourselves...again, I have nothing concrete to show you but most medics agree that it's simply not a good idea.

Wound site infection, however, remains the greatest risk, as does the possibility of 'going too far' (I did this once and nearly lost the use of my arm). Infections are one thing but there are also lots of freaky viruses that depend on finding a breach site to enter the body. Are you up to date on your tetanus injections?

Licking a wound may seem natural but the human mouth contains more bacteria than a dog's mouth apparently. Yum.

Psychologically, cutting oneself I have found, creates more problems than it solves. In one sense it acts like an addiction, you find you need a little bit more each time to achieve the same buzz or release, and that in itself is dangerous. Add to this the life-long scars that can create problems socially, and it scares the hell out of those people closest to you.

As to your question about storing blood: you're right to worry. Blood contains many elements as we know and all of them are appealing to bacteria. I don't believe there is such a thing as fresh blood, but that's my opinion. It would also worry me that you would want to bleed a 'storable' amount. Although they appear take a lot off you at blood donation , the human body can only afford to lose 1/5 of it's blood store before going into hypovolemic shock. In some cases it takes even less. I've personally never tried to fill a bottle of blood myself, but there's a reason why medics take it from the vein: you can't 'squeeze out' that amount on your own without risking serious damage to your tissues, and taking it from the vein with anything larger than a needle is REALLY DANGEROUS. Don't even think about trying to prick a vein without medical supervision. Just a smear of unsterilised material and it's heading straight for your heart.

Ok that's my lecture over. A lot of it is anecdotal i admit, but you asked, I answered.

---- Info given to me by the member Night Vision of Vamipre Forums
posted to answer a member's question on storing blood

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So as you can see, drinking your own blood is a very stupid thing to do
and as Karsten said, it's for twisted goths *laughs*

Dammit, now I'm hungry.