The behavior of my LBA hydrogel has changed - shrink

Recently, the form and spread of the hydrogel in the LBA have been different.

I recently made my own LBA and checked the conditions. I was surprised to see changes in the hydrogel and the networks forming at the edges of the slide. I observed two changes:

- The network only formed on two sides of the slide, not all four sides as it had for the past two years.

- The behavior of the hydrogel spread has changed; it can even shrink back.

Previously, the hydrogel spread in a way where the initial circle or other shapes of hydrogels would break out at one or couple of points and, like a river, zigzag their way as they grew. They maintained this form even after a month, without changing shape or behavior.

BEFORE

On the next day and after that, it always remains in this form.
(Red arrow: original hydrogel, when I put the drop of blood on the slide, blue arrow: net between the hydrogel.)

NOWADAYS

As I begin to examine the fresh LBA, the hydrogel begins to spread. 24 hours later, I looked back at it and was surprised that the spread of the "river" that had started during the original examination had shrunk back to its original state. This has never happened before, the "rivers" remained, even 1 month later.

Other hydrogels did not spread like a river on the slide but increased their size where there was room. (1st picture).

pic1: not a river-like spreading
pic2-3: “river-like” spreading during the examination (0 day)
pic4: 24hrs later, the hydrogel had shrunk back. (The red lines show where the "river" was located and now there are empty spaces left after their withdraw.)

Video about how "river" spreads:

24 hours later, the "river" has receded, and the hydrogel is in its original state:

48 hours later, I checked the sample again. The hydrogel was in its original state. After observing the hydrogel for about a minute, it slowly began to spread. This time, it didn't spread like a river but instead increased its area.

While I was watching and the microscope light was shining on it, the hydrogel started to spread. After this, I examined the rest of the slide, and when I returned to the hydrogel 3-4 minutes later, I was astonished to see it had almost retracted to its original state. I hypothesized that the microscope light triggered the growth, and when the light was removed, it retracted.

To test this, I kept the hydrogel under the light and then moved to another area of the slide. When I returned after 1-2 minutes, it had visibly shrunk back.

When I came back after about 5 minutes, the hydrogel had retracted again, but it took longer to "warm up" and needed more light time before it slowly started expanding. When I left it for only 1-2 minutes, it began spreading almost immediately upon my return. It never happened before.

In the video below, you can see how the hydrogel slowly begins to expand, increasing its size. In the meantime, it also forms a small island of RBC.

After 1-2 minutes, I returned and saw that the hydrogel had visibly retracted. A reference point could be the small RBC island and the two hydrogel circles around which the larger hydrogel spreads. Since only 2-3 minutes had passed between observations, the hydrogel was still "warmed up," so it didn't take long for it to start spreading again:

Here are 2 photos from the above video. 2-3 minutes passed between the two images. The red lines indicate where the hydrogel expanded while I was observing it under the microscope light:

As I mentioned above, not only has the behavior of the hydrogel changed, but the networks have changed as well. Recently, fewer networks have been forming along the sides of the slide. In the sample I just examined, networks only formed on two sides.

Based on my observations, some kind of hydrogel also spreads along the edges of the slide, where networks then form. I have a lot of videos showing the formation of these networks. Circular nets form around RBCs. I think it's because there's room. Where there are no RBCs, straight meshes are formed, connected to each other. Here’s one of them:

The result:

Unfortunately, I don't know what has changed in the conditions to cause the hydrogel's behavior to change. I reviewed old samples over a month old, and the hydrogel on them hasn't changed, remaining in the original "river-type" form.

I take various supplements in cycles. I started my current cycle two months ago. Before that, I was only taking certain vitamins and supplements every few days. My last LBA test was about three months ago when the hydrogel still behaved in the "usual" way.

In my current cycle, new supplements include: Feverfew, EPA/DHA, more NAC, Ox Bile and Plaquex (Phosphatidylcholines (PC)). I only started taking the last 2 one two weeks ago. (I tested the PC with LBA by adding a solution of PC and distilled water to a blood drop, but it did not change the hydrogel's behavior.) (The base supplements: Multivits, Berberin, Serrapeptase, NAC-500mg, Milk Thistle, Schizandra, Electrolyte - 1000mg K, Curcumin+ginger, cinnamon. )

The ambient light hasn't changed; I always leave the samples on my desk, not in a box.

I’m not sure if it’s good for me that the hydrogel is behaving differently, but I do like that fewer networks are forming at the edges of the slides.