Do you donate blood?

I would love to however , when I went to donate they told me I do not weight enough!!

I give everytime my time comes around. I am 0- so they love it when I give. I love the feeling of knowing I am helping someone. I also hate the finger stick but it has gotten better.

I'm not allowed to donate anymore. The last time I went I felt fine, until I stood up. I lost all sense of balance and coordination and fell back into the chair. The nurse called all medical staff over. I had 3 nurses and 2 doctors around me. I still to this day (that was about 8 years ago) do not know what happened. They just kept telling me not to close my eyes to keep my eyes open. One doctor kept saying things like let me see your eyes, oh, blue very nice, oh let me see it looks like you have bits of brown and green too, let me take another look. I don't remember anything except for everyone telling me to keep my eyes open between the time I fell back into the chair and some time later when I remember sitting at a table with loads of ritz crackers and cheese and grape juice and a nurse telling me to eat and drink more.

I donate as regularly as I can. I had a low iron issue, and now I have to wait until July because of the grace period after getting a piercing. Since I don't have a problem with needles or anything, and I'm O-, I might as well!

Also, I'm pretty vain, so I'd rather donate my blood than my hair. IMO, blood saves lives, wigs don't..

I try to! The past 2 or 3 times I've gone my iron count has been too low. So I get the "thanks but no thanks"

I'm B- so I am very thankful for all that can and do donate!!

Some people struggle with iron. Women, particularly so. You might want to look into raising that number, because it might help with your health overall as well (iron is a vital component in red blood cells, and a chronic lack of it can affect your blood's ability to transport oxygen).

Eggs (with the yolks intact) are a great source of iron, as are beans, nuts, and red meat. You'll have a much more effective absorption of iron if you have a little vitamin C at the same time.

So for a couple of days before donation, have a small helping of steak-and-eggs for breakfast with a small glass of orange juice.

I kept getting deferred. Now I take a multi-vitamin as well as an iron supplement and haven't been deferred since. I've questioned and researched getting too much iron but have not come anywhere close to being in danger of it. This is something I went out of my way to do to donate, with the added side effect of feeling a bit more alert.

I used to donate platelets a LOT (in fact, I have donated at least 76 times over the last 14 years). But after my last pregnancy I developed an antibody of some sort that can cause a life threatening reaction in some rare cases (it can happen after pregnancies) so I'm not allowed to donate anything now :sad:

My favorite part was knowing I was helping somebody, especially since the place I donated serviced a major children's hospital and a major cancer center here.
My least favorite part became the needle stick. That many donations have built up a bit of scar tissue and sometimes it was no fun pushing past it (the other veins in the arm, and in the other arm, didn't do well with the "rinseback" that is part of a platelet donation).

<--- O- I used to donate a lot when I was younger, even though it made me black out because I know how important it was for O negs to donate. I quit when I started having kids, but my youngest is now 4 so I suppose it's time. I HATE needles. Ugh.

nope nope nope.

1. super scared of needles
2. rarest blood type. Even if they did want my Xanax-tainted blood (cause that's the only way they are coming near me with a giant needle), my blood would sit unused until it was thrown out. All that anxiety for nothing? Nah.


I work with at-risk youth and help them get their GED. That's my contribution to society, but I have to keep my blood to myself.

Yep, as often as I can (I'm O+). Just got my 3 gallon pin a few months ago.

I remember going to the blood bank with my mom when I was a kid and waiting for her to donate. I'm hoping my kids will donate when they are old enough.

I love that I can help someone in need and get a snack when I'm done. :bigsmile: There isn't anything really that I dislike about it.

I am not allowed to (banned) because my vains roll and hide. They say that they do that when they have been poked too many times. Maybe after I get lower they won't be able to hid as much and I can start donating again.

:-)

I'm banned too... for a year due to fainting. It makes me sad.

I can't believe you actually get banned for fainting! I was VERY close to fainting but not banned. I mean, they flipped my chair upside down and brought me a soda and a bunch of wet towels when I said I was feeling very lightheaded. I guess they just want you to say something before you faint if you can so they can try to prevent it.

I think it's because they don't want me to cause myself harm. My body doesn't handle it well and it was the third time I've fainted after donating. The way I see it is, I can handle fainting... it's no big deal. I'd rather go through that and save some lives. Haha! They don't see it that way I'm going to try again in a year.

I'm banned too... for a year due to fainting. It makes me sad.

I can't believe you actually get banned for fainting! I was VERY close to fainting but not banned. I mean, they flipped my chair upside down and brought me a soda and a bunch of wet towels when I said I was feeling very lightheaded. I guess they just want you to say something before you faint if you can so they can try to prevent it.

I think it's because they don't want me to cause myself harm. My body doesn't handle it well and it was the third time I've fainted after donating. The way I see it is, I can handle fainting... it's no big deal. I'd rather go through that and save some lives. Haha! They don't see it that way I'm going to try again in a year.

I wonder if you can just warn them that you're prone to feeling lightheaded and bring a soda and a wet washcloth or something with you (if that would help).

Sorry to the OP for getting off track. :flowerforyou:

The first & only time I tried I passed out so hard & long they nearly called 9-1-1 & told me to do all of Medic a favor & never try to give blood again. I am an oncology nurse & give blood regularly to my patients but respect not all of us can. Some of us have incredibly strong vagal responses & it's not worth the time/effort to deal with us when so many others can give fine. Also, sometimes after one person passes out it starts a chain reaction of others passing out to the point they have to shut down drives. It's just easier for them to have the fainters be the cheerleaders instead of the players.

I'm not eligible because I get a lot of tattoo work done and travel to countries like Mexico and Cuba.

I do.. I love to know I am helping someone else. I almost died when I was 13 due to loss of blood and now I feel its a way to give back!

The best thing about it is eating the stuff afterwards LOL The worst is how long it takes