Does anyone else get arm pain after donating? I primarily use my left arm for donating and for blood work. The veins in my right arm never want to cooperate. I've noticed over the years that my arm will hurt where the needle went in and the pain will radiate from that area down into my hand. Carrying things without pain takes about 1-2 weeks. Has anyone else experienced this?

I donate regularly at NYBC. Thus far, whole blood, and I got my gallon donor card, so I think I just did my 9th donation today. I've been asked about other donation types, and I may be ready to try donating platelets-- as requested from me today. But today I did whole blood and am contemplating for next time.

The first time I donated blood, I had a panic attack. I already have an anxiety disorder, so I'm guessing my brain was very good at creating a nocebo effect. Blood should be in my body. It leaving is bad, etc.. Over several donations, I began to trust that I would be ok, and I don't feel the fear or dizziness I did. Granted, I still feel rather tense during the donation, as though I'm holding my breath until they take out the needle. Not literally, of course-- I try to practice mindful breathing.

Anyway, that's context for my anxiety. I'm quite afraid of feeling nauseated or otherwise anxious and spiraling into a panic attack. I suppose I would be fine regardless, but that would be unpleasant and embarrassing. At the same time, I feel I might be ready to take the risk and just try....

Any thoughts? Advice? Seasoned donors I can donate with and see in real time that it's a totally reasonable and routine process that I don't actually need to feel terrified about?

Are most people nervous the first time they donate other types?

tl;dr I'm scared of donating platelets. Hoping to hear some thoughts, encouragement, advice, warnings maybe, etc..

today i donated blood for the first time ever, i can’t lie, the needle hurt SO BAD, and just when i thought it was over, apparently i still had more to go. This is coming from someone who has no issue with/anxiety around needles—usually they never hurt. this time, it hurt a LOT and for a while, even as the blood was being drawn it hurt, and in the end the blood wasn’t even usable because the needle ended up falling out while they were taking vials of blood (after the blood bag was full).

They stuck me once more do to a ‘bilateral’ (what they called it) but the vein on my other arm is very hard to find and ended up drawing no blood. so basically the blood i donated has to be thrown away. im wondering if blood drawing is always supposed to hurt like crazy or if the person who was doing it was in inexperienced. Also wondering if this type of thing happens a lot—where the blood as to be thrown out. idk, i was really excited to donate and i dont think i want to do it again if its like this. maybe i’ll try again if i can hype myself up for it, i was just hoping at least the pain would be worth it if i was helping someone.

I went to give blood 7 years ago. However, I learned that I was barred from donating having lived in Europe during an outbreak of Mad Cow. I was also told that my name would be on a list of barred individuals and donating would be a crime. The question about Mad Cow has been re-written and I would now be eligible to donate. What can I do at this point?

1/5 of my donations ends with me smelling ammonia :( (just the past 3 years or so ) Today was donation #58 and with 20 minutes left of my platelet donation - I began to sweat like crazy and feel nauseous. Cool towels on my head and throat, feel elevated, a fan blowing directly on me and few coughs after ammonia is passed inter my nose - and i generally feel better

My question is - Will there ever come a point where they decide that it happens to often so they don’t want me to donate anymore. And - any tips to avoid this?

Earlier this week when I was donating blood at the red cross, the phlebotomist stated that they were using a special blood bag that is used for ambulances and other emergency situations. (It involves taking the samples first instead of after donation). This confused me since I'm o+ and not o-. I think the phlebotomist explained my blood was somehow special in that any blood type can use it? I'm not sure if I misinterpreted what they were saying. I was wondering if anyone had an explanation of what that blood condition/type would cause that or to tell me how I'm misinterpreting the purpose of the new bags. Thanks.

My school was having a blood drive so I signed up. I did research and found out how useful it was, so now I have 3 platelet donation appointments and another blood donation appointment already set up!

I’m a regular plasma donor in Canada. The donation center i go to often have new nurses in training. They always ask the donors if they are comfortable having them to do the job.

So one day, I went there and they ask me if I’m ok having the training nurse for my donation. I was totally fine with it, they usually do a very good job.

Everything goes well but when she was about to stick the needle in my arm she said:

« Alright… take a deep breath »

Me: « It’s fine! I’m use to it! »

She looked confused and add: « Oh! Erm.. Yeah… take a deep breath too! »

Donated for the first time yesterday and found it a great experience. All of the NHS Blood team were really nice. Managed to fill the bag in 3:47 and was told that was really fast by the technician. Does cardiovascular fitness effect the speed at which you donate? I do a fair bit of exercise, otherwise I would say I'm fairly normal compared to the rest of the population. Waiting to see how I feel on my next run after donating!

So, the date of donation is 12th Nov, while my talent show is 13th Nov

I wanna donate the blood so badly to experience how it would be, but I'm also worried about my talent show performance that I'm gonna do afterwards. Will I feel fatique? Will I do good even after donating the blood?

I donated blood for the first time today! It was going great and then right at the end I began feeling nauseous and my vision blacked out. I threw up while I was unconscious and then again once I came to. I’m very curious if anyone knows why this happened. I drank a lot of water and also had a snack right before donating (on top of regular food intake). I’m quite disappointed because I really want to be a regular donor, but after this I’m not sure if I should.

Here's a link to my previous post about my citrate sensitivity: https://www.reddit.com/r/Blooddonors/comments/1g5ba6u/citrate_reactionwould_appreciate_some_guidance/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Thanks so much to those who commented with tips and suggestions. I followed all of them (well, I had actually followed them prior to the second donation), BUT this time, I had a great phlebotomist, and I spoke with her explicitly about this issue.

I said, I really want to continue to donate platelets if I can, but I need a little extra help. She got it immediately and knew just what to do. She turned down the "flow rate" AND flagged me as "citrate sensitive" in the system. I ate Tums at the beginning and then again about halfway through. She checked in on me and kept a close eye on me even when she wasn't right next to me. When I was about 70% done, she brought me a coke and I sipped some. I felt great afterwards, enjoyed my nutter butters, and drove home without incident. I thanked her profusely and I'm going to mention her by name in the survey as soon as it shows up in my inbox. I really appreciate the extra care she gave me... I never want to make anyone's job harder, but I needed some help. She didn't seem to mind at all.

I already made my next appointment, and I feel good about continuing with this. Thank you all again for the encouragement and suggestions.

Which donation would benefit most from AB positive?

I'm in the US and my regular undergrad donations were held at a church by the Red Cross. I think it was the church that provided the food, which comprised freshly baked cookies from a legit Otis Spunkmeyer oven and freshly cooked beef stroganoff.

That was my first donation experience over a decade ago and they set me up for disappointment when I learned that packaged chips, cookies, and juice are the standard. Not that I don't appreciate the snack and it's not as if free food is WHY we donate, but hot, meaty stroganoff just hit different than some lays and lornadoodles, especially as a young broke college kid.

I noticed some posts from outside of the US where it seems some of ya'll get hot meals on a plate? Just curious to see what everyone else has had.

I was incredibly nervous going in, not about seeing blood or needles. More about the possibility of fainting in front of everyone haha. However, I am happy to report I experienced no side effects at all! I made sure to hydrate starting yesterday and eat lots of nutritious food.

So for anyone else on the fence out there, I think you will be probably be fine if you follow directions for the day before and the day of?

Also just stopping by to ask if this is generally normal? To feel nothing after? I should note that my red blood cell count and iron runs normally high. Not like medically significant just the very high side of normal.

10/10 will do again!

Hey everyone! Today was my third time donating and I have a pretty bad needle phobia (it's gotten wayyy better in the last year), so I had a vasovagal response the other two times I donated. I was trying to practice breathing techniques when I heard a ding and was told I was done! Just wanted to share a positive experience :))

Not the best experience (appointment was delayed 20mins, staff were training new people so everyone was very slow and it took a long time to “unhook” me after I was finished), but not the worst.

There was a blood drive at my school on October 22nd so i decided to donate. My appointment was at 1:30 and i finished around 2:35 (most of that time was waiting) but i had boxing at 5 so i still went but i didn’t break a sweat because i took it light BUT (sorry for all the buts) i still punched our 180lb-ish bags as hard as i could. Flash forward to today and the spot where they “stabbed” me is hurting with a sharp pain every time i throw a punch that makes contact with something. Basically did i just screw my self over?

After my first time donating in HS, I got a letter telling me about a rare blood antigen that I had. I didn't pay any attention at the time to what the details were. But I was looking at the card I got and I wondered what was the meaning of what was written next to other. Any ideas?

https://preview.redd.it/9im5n9cmjixd1.jpg?width=1201&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18b0e1e03c66b2a9ac5fd2ed466a9088fd7445ad

I've donated whole blood in the past, and it takes me a long time to get to feeling back to normal, so I'm trying platelets to get some of my fluids back. A little nervous about not being able to move my arms for a couple hours, so anything to read would be nice.

I haven't donated blood since June (ive been busy and sick the past few months) but the exact spot where I donate blood from has continued to have this weird soreness when I move it. I feel it especially when my arm is fully extended. It's weird to me that I would have this soreness when it has been so long. Is this normal?

Went to donate whole blood this last Tuesday, and the drawer moved my needle twice, only to not get enough blood to even fill a flat bag :( He said my blood was flowing slow and had me to the stress ball, but i was fully hydrated

I’m donating for the first time on tuesday, and i’m really nervous im going to get turned away. I’ve always had pretty low iron levels but i’ve been taking supplements for a few months now. i got some blood work done about a week ago and my hemoglobin is 12.9. I know the minimum is 12.5 but i’m still nervous they’ll turn me away

My new year resolution was to donate platelets, at least enough to get my name on the site plaque. :) Best new years resolution I've EVER done. Just gave my 18th donation last Wednesday. I'm typically a triple donor, and of course a bonus Plasma every month or so.

I'm not gonna stop, now that i hit the 18 required, now I'll just see if a I can cap myself out for the year, and then do the same thing next year.

So, a triple takes me between 120 and 130 minutes. (two arm) I'm okay with that, but notice that some donor's take less time. Made me start wondering what the variables are. Is it the Platelet density, or possible flow rate of blood? Is there anything I can do as a donor to make it go slightly faster? Better hydration?

Again, I'm not going to stop donating because others seem faster. This is just a want for better understanding. Thanks in advance for your knowledge and tips!

I was turned away from donating plasma today because they couldn’t find a backup vein. I though I was staying hydrated but apparently not enough. Is there anything else I can do to help veins be more obvious next time besides just drinking even more water?