It’s the first time I publish here, although it’s not the first time I donate. I must already have about six donations. I do it for purely altruistic reasons, but it strikes me that the gift you receive when donating in Madrid, Spain, are these socks in winter and a fan in summer. I think it’s a shame that in Spain the tradition has been lost that, from what I see in this sub, is preserved in other countries to deliver military-style medals when certain numbers of donations are reached.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the socks they have given me. I will donate again in two months!

Second one went a lot better than the first (very sore arm, large bruise). I think they just placed the needles better. The first was 3 hours long and beeped constantly. This one was just barely over 2 hours and only beeped like once and they fixed it. My arm feels only a tiny bit sore. It was three units of platelets. Last time my arm was so sore I couldn't eat with my right arm for two days

I was on the aphersis machine for about 150 mins

I know this has been asked a bunch but I donated whole blood for the first time on Monday at ARC and just got my blood type back. A+. I was honestly surprised. I know my mother is O- and my father was positive due to some stuff my mom told me. I just expected him to be O+ because he is Latino and over half of the Latino population is O+ lol. Anyways, I know that A+ donors are recommended to do platelets generally and I know I have a pretty high platelet count at baseline, but the phlebotomist on Monday took a look at both arms for access (I’m a lefty and asked that she check my right arm first) and based on what she said I don’t have great access in my right arm 😔 I know that using both arms for platelet donation can go faster which I would prefer because I am a full time student and work part time so don’t have too much time to set aside for donating. Should I just stick to whole blood for now and try platelets when I have more time?

Hello! I haven’t donated since high school (nearly 10 years ago!) but my job did a blood drive today with the Red Cross. I signed up for a whole donation, since i didn’t know if I was the right blood type. I think i’m A-, but it has been nearly a decade. Since we didn’t know my blood type, they asked me if I wanted to do a Power Red donation and we could find out. I agreed, and the donation went off as painlessly as a needle-phobic person could describe it, minus the headache and slight off-balance. Staff was wonderful, they explained what Power Red was and that its for Type O and negatives, and all was well.

I realize after leaving that i didn’t ask them a question i think Reddit can answer: what happens if my blood comes back as any blood type that isn’t usable for Power Red? I’d like to believe it would at least be kept for research purposes (per the waiver you sign before donating) but would they really discard it?

(Location: South Carolina, USA)

If you missed the tickets at the beginning of the month, they’re giving them away for a shocking second time tomorrow. Went in on Wednesday only to find out about it and rescheduled. I never go, but my friends do, so I’m happy to earn another ticket for them. There’s also a free decent quality blanket and cholesterol screening rn.

I 23f have passed out for the first time donating blood :”)

For context it’s my 4th time donating and usually after or near the end of the donation I feel faint but get over it and am fine. I ate, drank nothing but water and was prepped to go in.

It was going super smooth, and didn’t feel rough at all throughout the donation. They take the needle out- and I go head over to get some snacks. I drink one whole juice box and as I’m opening some fruit snacks apparently I dropped them on the ground and pass out. I wake up to the person who took my needle out rubbing my arm and saying my name. I passed out :”)

Honestly it was more embarrassing over anything.. I want to keep donating but I do not want to pass out- is there anything more I can do to ensure I won’t next time ? Or maybe might feel less rough?Thanks !

Hi, so I am sure I aint the only one. Some other people must have had this problem, so I am interested in knowing how did you work this out. I live in Ontario, Canada.

I am a regular whole blood donor. I regularly donate whole blood every 2-2.5 months for few years now. I recently have started going to gym to work out 2 hrs a day, 5-6 days a week; 1 hr weight lifting and 1 hr cardio. I have been consistent for 2 months now.

While I have never felt any negative side effects ie never felt light headed or anything, I also go to 1 hr cardio including 15 minute HIIT on the same donation day. Today, I talked to my family doctor to find out that my ferritin level was 22 ng/ml. He said, its very low. It surprised me a bit because I dont think my gym performance was bad and its also because I never felt anything off. Then it came to my realization that since the beginning of my gym journey, I must have been performing underwhelmingly due to my low ferritin.

My doctor advised me not to donate whole blood for at least 6 months and if I want to go to continue my gym routine, I should limit to 2 donations or just once a year.

So if you ever had this problem, how did you fix the issue? Did you just simply donate less frequently? Or did you take any special supplement that can only be prescribed by medical professionals?

Today was my 8th donation and I didn’t even realize that it was my 1 gallon mark until the receptionist congratulated me and gave me a pin. It made me happy! Also got a cool Halloween inspired shirt :)

Went to donate blood for the first time, was pretty excited and ended up fainting after she took out the needle since the vein moved 🤡💀😭

Hi all, yesterday was my second time donating blood and it didn't go as well as the year before.

I felt really nervous before the donation just like last time, but I felt fine during it and immediately after it, until I walked into the dining hall to get the food provided for us after donation.
While taking some coffee and sandwiches, I suddenly felt extremely sweaty and I knew what was coming, so as my hearing got muffled and my eyesight blurred, I quickly sat down on the floor so I wouldn't fall while I fainted.
Obviously there were people immediately helping me when they saw me go down, and I'm not sure but I must have fainted for at least couple of seconds.
I don't know because as I was helped to lie down, I closed my eyes because I felt like I was filled with cotton and felt really comfortable and kinda wanted to fall asleep lmao. I did open my eyes as I heard someone yell through my muffled hearing that I have to open my eyes. I survived that episode and was surrounded by professionals, so I wasn't worried.

After I got home couple of hours later, I still felt quite faint especially on my legs and had couple of times I had to sit down quickly, because my legs wouldn't hold me up and i started feeling lightheaded. This went on almost every time I had to get up, but I made sure to drink lots, eat and rest. There was no feeling of fainting, just weakness.

This morning as I woke up and went to the bathroom, I still felt my body be extremely weak and I felt like all my muscles went through strenuous physical activity. My legs especially feel like I've been running and are now weak from lactic acid buildup.

This is quite different compared to what I had my first time donating last year, where I felt completely fine afterwards and just a tiny bit tired the next day, and the only difference I can think of is that I'm almost 10kg lighter than last year.

I also slept pretty badly last night as I didn't feel comfortable on going to sleep very early, wanting to make sure I'm properly fed and hydrated before sleeping, and then I woke up very early in the morning.

Has anyone else had this drastic of a difference between donations?

I donated whole blood for the first time a while ago and after looking at other people’s experiences and advice I realized some inconsistencies with my own experience.
First of all, we were not allowed to film or use our phone in the collection room at all.
Secondly, I have heard and read a lot about applied muscle tension exercises and that I had to squeeze the ball but I was told to relax my body instead and that I was squeezing the ball too fast and too hard. Like they told me to relax my muscles cause they were too tense and stop squeezing so hard.
Thirdly the sensation of the needle under my skin felt slightly euphoric as my arm started relaxing more and more as blood started flowing out which was unexpected as the bloodletting made me more relaxed.
Fourth thing, when I got away, I walked a bit too quickly and felt slightly weakened so a doctor went to check up on my blood pressure and it slightly increased as well as my pulse instead of the expected decrease but it passed away like two minutes after I drunk some juice. I have heard a lot of people experiencing a drop in blood pressure, not an increase in it.
Fifth thing, they didn’t do a hemoglobin quick test or a rh determination one, telling me that those are done at the blood bank instead.

LifeStream has a drive at USC tomorrow, Oct 14. It's at 985 W Jefferson Blvd. Figured I'd pass it along for anyone nearby. My sister needed transfusions when she was going through leukemia, so I've been that guy reminding people about blood drives for years now. She's doing well these days, thankfully. Still hard for me to scroll past one without sharing it.

I also wanted to spread the word about the Goodlabs option at this drive. You can get bloodwork with your donation but you have to book through Goodlabs first if you want that part which in my opinion is a great initiative. A regular LifeStream appointment is just the donation and please eat before you go. An actual meal. Coffee and half a granola bar don't count as breakfast.

I have donated 252 pints since the '70's. Due to a new drug I need to take, I won't be able to donate my O negative blood. I will contact the Red Cross soon to ask about volunteering. I'm hoping I can choose where I want to volunteer. Saint Louis, south.

I did my first donation two sundays ago. Tried last Sunday for platelets but was deferred bc of my pulse. Thought it was funny that somehow a week after donating blood my hemoglobin went up. I did eat steak twice and started taking vitamins again so maybe that’s it lol. Is this odd?

The required hemoglobin for donating is 12.5gm/dL where I live. I am very often under that. It discourages me because over half the time I’m turned away. The thing is, I’m already supplementing iron and vitamin B. My last blood test measured iron: 107ug/dL, ferritin: 78ng/mL, B12: 527pg/mL, and a hemoglobin of 11.8g/dL.
I have been taking 65mg of iron daily with vitamin C for a year, and a vitamin B complex daily for the last three months. I avoid teas and coffee when taking my iron as well.

Why isn’t my hemoglobin increasing?

Got my answer, thanks! I'll go get checked eventually and hope I can donate when I'm sure I'm healthy!

I got this email a few days ago about my last whole blood donation. It's traveling all the way from me, in southern California, to Jackson, Mississippi.

While there may be some differences between us, across different states, different regions, different faiths, different skin colors, different sexes and genders, different religions and faiths, different politics, and different views...at the end of the day, we all bleed the same color. A single donation doesn't seem like a major act, but it could completely change the course of someone else's life, perhaps across town, or perhaps thousands of miles away. And that is why I will keep giving.

I participated in oral sex with a new partner in the last three months, and I donated blood today, but answered no on my questionnaire as I was under the impression that it was regarding vaginal and anal sex only after reading various resources. I have already called and spoke with the donation center to confirm with them.

My question is, is it standard practice for donations to be deferred/excluded if it is oral sex only? I honestly feel horrible having donated today and knowing that it can’t be used.

Edit: updated oral to vaginal

Hi back in June I got a Kenalog injection to stop hayfever. Before I got it I checked the nhs website (didn’t mention kenalog specifically just injections) and even called them to make sure it was ok and both said yes. Lovely, it was my first year without hayfever and it was great.
I went to donate a few weeks later and was told I can’t donate for 6 months because of the injection.
Last week I went to Google it to see if anyone had the same issue and saw the nhs website has been updated to say that specifically kenalog is fine.

When I called to see if I can donate next week and get my 6 month waiting period removed I was told no.

Anyone else had an issue with hayfever injections?

I just arrived in Newark on a flight from Portland, OR. These Red Cross boxes were the last items to come from the cargo hold. I guess someone on the east coast needs platelets.

I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance, Im covered in tattoos and piercings and I sit really well for them + general blood drawing + vaccinations.

But oh lord, I was unprepared for donating blood.

I tried donating once before but the flow stopped part way and we couldn't restart it so we gave up. That was in another country several years ago. Since then I didnt weigh enough (until recently) to try again, so this was my first 'real' donation.

The needle was fine, my nurse was an angel and I barely felt a thing, the donation went by so fast and after it ended I was telling her how easy it was.

Then it went to hell, pride cometh before the fall and all that.

She went to grab a water for me and as she came back my stomach dropped and my vision became spotty, I managed to calmly tell her that 'I feel dizzy, I might pass out'.

Next thing I know Im being woken up (from what felt like a very interesting dream, was kinda annoyed to be woken lol) and asked if I know where I am and what happened. Apparently I fainted and was unconscious for like 10 minutes or so.

When I woke my ears were ringing and everything sounded very far away and I had hot and cold flashes and sweats. Shortly afterwards I had to vomit, the entire meal I had prior to donating made its way back up.

I felt so embarrassed and gross but thankfully I passed out in the chair and they had puke bags available, so it couldve been worse.

Awhile later after some water and chips, I was feeling much better but suddenly had to vomit again. I stayed for awhile till my partner came to get me and the nurse cleared me to leave, but upon getting home I got hit with diarrhea too.

I thought people saying they passed out or threw up were being dramatic, turns out that there's no choice involved in such a response and I have been humbled.

Im still proud of myself, if embarrassed, and will donate again once the 6month ban they put on me has lifted. After all it could've been worse, the diarrhea couldve hit while I was in the chair.

Hoping for a better experience next time.

Ps. I did eat and hydrate well prior to donating, am healthy, did the muscle squeezing techniques recommended.

Edit: spoke to the nurse today bc she called to check on me, apparently I was only unconscious for 15 seconds, I must have misheard the duration when coming around.