I was deferred twice in the last two weeks for low hemoglobin. Today, after five finger sticks and a week of spinach salads, I was able to donate 🌈❤️

I was wondering if any donors have any “self-care routines” after donating blood, such as something they always eat or do to recover. Especially for people who find themselves quite physically affected by donating.

Today was donation no.5 for me and being a petite female close to the UK minimum weight limit, I always find it knocks me out.

Band aids over the tape, any day!

Hey guys 👋 So I was a first time donor. ... One of the nurses asked me why, my response was a ridiculous "because you should just do it" It got me thinking as to really why I was sitting in that chair.. and honestly, I think, it's because I firmly believe we should all be assisting one another - and I have no fear of needles or blood ( I might even have a weird fascination for blood) .. so why not help when you can with what you can!

....it went well.

And I was dismissed to go, and all of a sudden I heard a train going through my ears, everything was spinning, my heart started clenching, I couldn't see and was sweating TONS.

Apparently it was my blood sugar as I hadn't eaten before the donation 💁‍♀️ super embarrassing haha ... But brushed it worse off and I went home.

And I haven't felt the same since. Now it's only been a few days... But I feel like I have the flu, I keep getting dizzy, the fatigue is so so deep ( I slept twelve hours) and my legs are in so much pain, like cramping while simultaneously weak...

Should I be concerned ? All I can think is, that was my life source and I just gave it away, what if I'm never the same 🤣

Anyways any help is greatly appreciated.

My hemoglobin was pretty low, only 131 - I've battled low iron in the past.

Thanks 🌷

Today was my ~17th platelet donation and first infiltration. I’m a little bitter and the pain was intense but brief.

I do double platelets every two weeks and it usually takes me 1.5 hours to just under 2 hours but today the machine said about an hour and 5 minutes and I even asked if it was a single or double because that seemed extremely short and they told me it was a double. The phlebotomist I had today I’ve only had once before and last time she switched me from a double down to a single without communicating that because the time went up about 5 minutes during the donation. Today I was the last platelet appointment and it was a slow day with few WB donations.

Is it crazy to think that she programmed the machine faster than usual to get me in and out and that might have led to infiltration? When it happened, a more experienced employee took over and mentioned return speed as one of several possible causes of infiltration. Overall everyone working talked to me as little as possible once it happened and the experience was very weird.

I realize this is a risk of donation but would it be reasonable to call the blood bank and mention these two incidents with the employee?

Just completed my 28th donation with a PB 5 minutes 23 seconds

Marking this as spoilers and donation experience, hopefully it will make sense by the end of this. In 2016 when I became pregnant I had a good deal of blood work done and found that I am type O- and, long story short, I have lost both a fight with a window and a burst artery in my stomach and won both times from transfusions. Since then I have really wanted to donate but have heard that having "prison tattoos" (i.e. stick and poke tattoos made with pen ink) immediately disqualifies you from being able to donate. I understand that my blood type is relatively hard to come by and would love to be able to give back and help someone else who might have a situation similar to mine.

ETA the spoiler tag is for the sh scars, they are old and am in 10 yrs of recovery, you can get through this alive!

Hello everybody!

My donation center is encouraging me to donate platelets. I want to, but I’m nervous about not being able to use either of my arms (my center uses both in the donation process) for a few hours.

Can anybody tell me about their experience using both arms for platelet donations and help me muster up the courage to do it?

Thanks!

So I have high Hemoglobin so my doc told me that I needed to get donations once per Quarter.

I got it done today and the Nurse indicated that I should get it once a week for the next 3 weeks to get it down. I was doing research and the CDC says you shouldn't get it more than once every 2 months...

Is this recommendation common?

Well another pint is gone. Hopefully a pint of me will help someone who needs it most. I find donating blood to be the most important thing a person can do for another. If you haven't yet please do. It can save a life as they say. :-) and if you do need a donation there might be a slight chance at I will be inside you. So bonus! Take care of yourself you all.

I got rejected for the second time because of high pulse. (105 the first measurement today, 101 the second) It really hurts because I want to donate blood so badly. It's like the screening process just makes my heart rate jump up 40 beats. I measured my HR at home and it was 66. I sat there and did breathing exercises in the room, and nothing happened. I want to donate so badly and help people... any other tips? I've read so many threads on here and tried some of the things on them and they just don't seem to help.

Hey y’all, I have been getting nonstop calls from America Red Cross, sometimes multiple times a day.

Anyway, because of this, the last phone call I had with one person I told them I recently tested positive for Hep C. In order for them to stop calling, as I know you can’t donate if you test positive for either Hep B or C.

I feel kinda bad, but now I won’t get calls, so idk 🤷

On the questionnaire that I always have to fill out I get asked if I had more than 2 sexual partners in the past 4 months. I'm going through a bit of a dry spell so until now that (sadly lol) wasn't an issue. But I've improved my tinder game and got 2 dates lined up this week so chances of me having more than 2 hookups in the next 4 months aren't that unrealistic I suppose.

Does this mean I soon might not be able to donate any more? Or is it one of those "we just gotta know and put it in the file, just in case" questions, like recent vaccinations or time spent abroad?

Okay, so I play hockey. It's all I care about and why I started TRT. Love TRT, hate blood draws. The reason is I was always a tad high on my HCT Hg, then went in the red. in 2016, pre TRT everything I was at 16.5 Hg, and my HCT was 47.3 before TRT. 6 weeks in, HG 17.4; HCT 52.4. Asked clinic, they said do double reds!! Okay...well I did and now all my stamina is gone for hockey. WTF! SO they said maybe naringin...would help. Then we get the people fighting over that and it's like who's right. Switched to IM .25mg EOD. Willing to do other things but not blood draws. Anyone else need their endurance? WTF do you do?

Hi folks,

Planning to donate blood in a month or so from now (first time). My question is: can I ask that the techs/phlebotomists use a vein that isn’t my AC? I’ve got super prominent veins so I’d think that finding/sticking a vein farther down my forearm wouldn’t be any issue, but I’m wondering if it would flow too slow to be usable.

I only ask because I really, really hate the feeling of an 18-20g sitting in my AC for my annual physical (think tiny vials), and the thought of having to sit there for sn hour with it is almost enough to put me off donating altogether.

Thanks.

Firstly, I noticed my SHBG goes down, making my testosterone go up after donation, which is good for athletic performance obviously.

But, for example, my brain fogs fades and I’m able to think clearly for like 2 weeks after donating. Additionally, this is a weird one, but I usually have this veil over my vision, like when you blow warm air on a mirror, but very slightly, to the point where you can still see everything perfectly, just a tad washed out. Had my eyes checked, and apparently everything is supposedly great. I also have visual snow.

After donating blood, I can see clearly, like ultra 4K HD again for like 2-3 weeks as well, and then it slowly goes back to the way it was, but not as bad.

What exactly is the blood donation doing that allows my body to be more…optimal ?

The 2 things I can somewhat think of is, my blood might be a little too thick, or, maybe iron deposits somewhere in my body.

Cannot really ask my Dr, since I’m in the UK, and the doctors here unfortunately are not the brightest. At least not in my area.

I have always wanted to donate plasma, I’m AB+ and know there’s a huge need. I heard that if you go to a for-profit donation center (where you get paid), your donation goes to expensive medications, not the people who need it right away.

I live in Iowa and can’t find anywhere in 100+ miles to donate plasma directly to patients, but I can donate platelets at a NP. Is it worth donating my plasma to big pharma or should I donate platelets at the nonprofit near me? Does it actually matter or am I thinking too hard about this?

Would love to hear other takes on this!

I think I’ve made the mistake of not supplementing with iron between donating whole blood. I’m getting dizzy if I stand up too fast and it’s incredibly hard for me to get up in the mornings. I don’t have my next physical and blood test for a few months

Curious if anyone has good signs of low iron? And do you regularly take iron or just after donating blood? 18 or 36 daily? In one go or two?

Any general information would help

This was my second time of two finger sticks. My hemoglobin went from 12.3 to 12.8 but still too low. Got a new appointment for next Saturday, gotta start eating Cheerios. 🤞

Hello! I have been donating whole blood & platelets regularly through ARC at various locations for the last ~13 years. I'm moving to Essex County, NJ, soon and it looks like there is only whole blood donation available through ARC in that area. Do I need to switch to another blood bank to donate platelets? Is it legit to donate whole blood with ARC & platelets with another group? Where do others donate platelets? Thanks!

I broke my collarbone just over two weeks ago. From what I've read, part of the healing process for a broken bone uses your platelets and blood in general. I'm certainly not going to donate while this process is happening as I want to heal as fast as possible, but what is a safe and reasonable amount of time to wait? Anyone have any insights?

I’ve donated my blood since high school. Once, they learned I was O-, they called me a lot. I’ve always tried to give when I could.

Recently, I’ve been of the mindset that perhaps we should be reasonably compensated for our rare blood.

Why should these blood banks profit off of us? Everything is a business in life. Even if the Hospitals don’t “pay” for blood, they still “pay” via fees.

In other words, they are profiting off of us.

Yes, it’s good to help others, but maybe my time is worth something as well. If money wasn’t being exchanged at some point in the chain and it was all good will, I wouldn’t say anything and just give for free. But, that’s not the case.

Does anyone else agree?

Hi! I’m a fairly new donor (I only just donated for my second time today!) and I’ve only ever donated whole blood!

My blood type is B+ and I’ve been reading into platelet donations and saw that it might be more useful than donating whole blood.

I know it's a more lengthy process, but I’m still not quite clear on what the difference is and was hoping someone could explain it in more detail and maybe also share your guys’ experiences of it!

I’ve also seen certain sources saying that females shouldn’t donate platelets. Is this true or just a myth?

And my last question is if there’s a stricter criteria for platelet donors as compared to whole blood donors? And if there are differences in the criteria, how do I know if I am a suitable donor? TIA!!

I donated whole blood several times a few years ago using the typical US recommendation of 8 wks between donations and eventually ended up depleting my ferritin & getting rejected for low hemoglobin.

Decided to get back into it, and this time around I saw on UK sites (NHS etc.) that they recommend 12 wks for men and 16 wks for women between donations — anyone know why the guidance is so different? I’m a female vegetarian so that doesn’t help, but I feel like if I had waited 2x as long between donations it would’ve saved me a lot of trouble and fatigue!