Donating blood

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I did this today, as well as had myself added to the bone marrow donors registry. It was awesome.
This is the first time in six years I have been healthy enough to do this - healthy weight range, no prescription medications, no drinking, no surgery within the last 12 months, no contraindications.
And because I wanted to get this done before I went and got more tattoos.
It was a bit awkward as I have some really weird information that required them looking up three manuals and then calling their head office to advise, so in that sense it was a bit uncomfortable because I had to be open about my weirdness, but they assured me this only has to be done once. When I donate again or get chosen to be a marrow donor, they will already have all my weird differences recorded so there will be no need to go into it again.
The needle was a big gauge, and they take more than your average blood test, but it was really no trouble. There is no bruising at the site, just a small hole, and I didn't feel faint or ill or anything afterwards. I didn't interpret pain correctly so felt nothing, but the venepuncturist did know what she was doing so that may have helped.
I'd encourage others to do it if you haven't, it's hardly a trouble for the donor but can really help other people.
Anyone else donated blood? Would you consider doing so? Why or why not? Ever been a marrow or other transplant donor? Have an opinion on this kind of thing?

between age 24 and 33, donated blood 27x. even a phlebotomist told me that it was a lot of times.

got rejected a lot of times. one time, got rejected b/c blood pressure too low. upper number 80.

all the other times, got rejected b/c hemoglobin too low.

a couple times, donated blood while sick. but did not get rejected.

one time, phlebotomist told me that the vein collapsed. one time, phlebotomist told me the blood was siphoning "too slowly". (whatever that means.)

yeah. anyways. the thing is though. feel anemic a lot. tired/fatigued/exhausted. spent. going to donate blood less often from now on. for about one year or so, donated blood every time the time quota expired.

ferritin

hemoglobin

https://healdove.com/misc/Donating-Blood-Caution

If you want to donate blood but have low hemoglobin, buy iron supplement pills you can get over-the-counter at any pharmacy.

I've been a blood donor since I was 18.

If you want to donate blood but have low hemoglobin, buy iron supplement pills you can get over-the-counter at any pharmacy.

I've been a blood donor since I was 18.
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yes i did that. then a medical doctor told me not to do that, b/c it made bowel movements take 1 hour each. and 3x per day.

Yah, I read that the red cells can take 4 - 6 weeks to fully replenish, so I intend to take some iron supplements for a while to help that process, especially as I'm vegetarian.
There are a lot of exclusions - I was surprised that if you have ever injected anything you shouldn't have, you are excluded indefinitely, or taken aspirin within the last two days, you can't donate a "whole blood" sample.
And the sex questions - you wouldn't want to be shy about your sex life. I was fine on that score, not having one.

No one would want to touch my blood with a ten foot pole.
No blood donations in my future.
Can't even donate my organs.

After reading that article if I wasn't afraid to be a blood donor before, I sure am now.

It figures. Many if not most of these medical people aren't asking for blood because they have a kind heart and want to help save people's lives. They're just in it for the money. I don't know how bad it is in Canada, but I know it really is in the States. I even saw a video last night that showed how drivers react to an ambulance with the siren going. China and the US wouldn't let the ambulance get past (they're more alike than they really want to admit), and it forced to move as slowly as the rest of the traffic, even with it's siren wailing away. In Germany and Poland, however, the cars all moved to either side of the road and stayed there to let the ambulance pass. It's like they actually CARE that there's someone in there who is probably barely clinging to life, even if it's not anyone they know, and every second counts instead of seeing it as just a nuisance.

They didn't show anything from Canada, though. Go figure. When I see an ambulance it's usually whizzing right by though, but that might be only because the traffic isn't usually that heavy. But I digress. I'm thinking of donating my body to science, since you're always hearing how insanely expensive it is to throw someone into the ground, anyway.

I've been a blood donor for a good number of years, as well as being signed up to be spare parts should the situation arise. I wish more people would at least donate blood; it's such a small sacrifice of time and a small pinch, for somehting that may well save lives. plus, cookies!

Obviously, I'm in it mostly for the cookies and the cute nurses.

Yah, I read that the red cells can take 4 - 6 weeks to fully replenish, so I intend to take some iron supplements for a while to help that process, especially as I'm vegetarian.
There are a lot of exclusions - I was surprised that if you have ever injected anything you shouldn't have, you are excluded indefinitely, or taken aspirin within the last two days, you can't donate a "whole blood" sample.
And the sex questions - you wouldn't want to be shy about your sex life. I was fine on that score, not having one.
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something like 4-6 weeks to replenish. and the blood donation center allows donations once every 8 weeks or so. which i used to do. anal retentively. for a long time. but then i noticed that i am just exhausted. tired. fatigued. paranoid about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. fibromyalgia. and i am 34 years old. i am getting old. and under 110 pounds.

for a while i took iron pills. they made me more constipated. and i was already pretty constipated. so stopped.

yeah i used to be a vegetarian 13 to 19 years old. and then gave it up. quit. when i was veg, my health seemed about the same as now. all other things being equal. which they are not. but it was just so inconvenient, to have to keep explaining to precious lil "people". and having to pick meat out dishes. and then what, throw it away? that's just as bad morally. if not worse. and seriously, granted, eating animals (meat) ain't great morally. but plenty of things are morally bad. but living things have to hurt other living things to continue living. right now, i eat about 1 serving of meat daily. seriously 1 serving. and usually it's the chicken or pig from the dumplings. and i hate cooking.

when i was 18, cooked bread, scones, pancakes, eggplant parmesan. but it just seems like it ain't worth the effort. and no matter what i do it is wrong. ate dumplings for dinner. for a lot of consecutive days. not consecutive days. but when i cook, it's always dumplings. never anything else.

spinach, broccoli, lentils, kale, bok choy, baked potato, sesame seeds, cashews, soybeans, dark chocolate, tofu, kidney beans contain a lot of iron.

but yeah. all other things being equal, it's harder to get enough iron as a vegetarian than as an onmnivore.

tofu makes me constipated. but. i. love. tofu. pretty much any method of cooking. inari from inari sushi. deep fried tofu. epicurean tofu. ma po tofu. i love tofu. even raw Silk tofu. although cooked tastes better. tofu has the umami taste. kind of like potatoes. savory. with fat. from getting deep fried. seriously i love tofu.

once in a while, i eat spinach.

sesame seeds come with the inari sushi from Whole Foods. four pieces for seven dollars.

safeway inari sushi does not have sesame seeds. yeah i noticed that. four pieces for five dollars. actually i like safeway sushi more than whole foods. safeway sushi is sweeter. and the sushi sticks more. although i suspect that what makes it sweeter is that it took less money to make. and boiled the rice with too much water. but whatever.

i love inari tofu.

but the rest of them i do not eat.

:waves at fellow blood donors:

I donate blood, and take iron pills because my iron levels are often too low.

I didn't qualify due to the height and weight restrictions! I'm apparently under the blood volume level at which it is safe for me to give blood.

You must be a really small person, Birdie. I sensed that you were about my height (5 foot 5) for some reason.

You must be cute as a button

A small person yet one who packs a mean wallop

Maybe like "Little Miss Dynamite," Brenda Lee.

It was the same for me for a long time too. Too thin. I guess packing on some weight when I was ill had one good side effect - I'm now heavy enough to donate!
People always move aside for ambulances here. Always. In the city, I've seen people drive up onto empty footpaths so an ambulance could get through. That really sucks that some people don't. Why would you be like that???

Haha! Funny you should mention little miss Brenda Lee; I once did a stint as a backup singer for a musician couple and their band who did some standards, and one old classic 50's song I got to sing at rehearsals, they said to me "Woah -- Brenda Lee! We didn't know you could sing that way!" They let me do the song as lead singer at their gigs. Although I also do a passable Dusty Springfield -- though Dusty was taller....

I've been 5' 1" most of my life, but recently measured myself against the door as now being. . . .4ft 11! That's what I get for being in my fifties, the incredible shrinking woman!

I have small rolling veins that make getting my blood drawn difficult. They also sometimes have a hard time getting all the blood they want for test. I sometimes have to get pricked in a couple spots for blood-tests. i never donated blood. I'm on a lot of meds & I'd have to be off one of em for over a year before I could donate.