Why? How often? How do you feel after?
I used to donate blood every few months, then I needed the money so I donated Plasma twice a week for a couple years. Now I’m afraid the scarring on my veins would be too much so I try to avoid IV needles at all costs.
I haven’t yet, but plan to starting next month. I high key just want a little bit of extra change for my hobbies, hehe. If I could just grow plants with my blood, Little Shop of Horrors style, I would. Running it through a middleman is the next best thing.
No, I fell out of the habit when I started having lots of casual sex and I have reynauds disease making it a long and uncomfortable process. Also I have a scar on my vein from selling plasma
Yes, every 12 weeks, which is the minimum gap between donating in the UK. I always feel fine, usually I sleep for a longer period so I plan accordling and hace a restful day.
It’s the least I can do.
Yeah same in Australia for me. Fwiw it’s also a way to rid yourself of some of the forever chemicals lurking in your body, eg pfas. They worked it out testing firefighters* blood and the regular blood donors had less of the chemicals in their system.
*firefighters get excess exposure to the chemicals as they’re common in firefighting foam.
Most of my life I’ve not been allowed to donate blood because I’m a man who has sex with men. I believe I can now, but after decades of ineligibility it still feels weird to think about.
You are now eligible, they recently removed the requirement. It’s a nice thing to do, and I always urge people to do it if they can, but don’t give them your contact info because depending on your blood type they can be real vampires. Source I have O- blood and was contacted daily to donate blood for over a year, even when ineligible to donate blood (because I donated yesterday)
I tried once. But they said they couldn’t take it in a bucket and wouldn’t stop asking where I got it from.
Bender: I’m very generous! What about that time I gave blood?
Fry: Whose blood?
Bender: Some guy’s.
Bureaucracy ruins everything.
The only thing I can tell you is that based on how much blood is in this bucket, you are in desperate need of blood.
I do. I donate as often as I’m allowed, which is about 4 times a year. The only effect I’ve felt is that exercise, especially cardio, is a bit harder. My time on a 5k run dropped noticeably.
Donated 60 times in total so far, which means there’s more of my blood in other people, than in me. By quite a lot.
Generally yes, but for the past year or so I haven’t made it. Got a third child, wife is a lot busy, kids got wrecked with diseases. Lots of pressure.
I have barely got a Saturday able to wake up rested lately. So even though I generally want to, I haven’t had the time/energy and I generally forget if I do since sleeping an extra hour sounds like a dream.
Hopefully I can make it during Easter vacations where I can get relatives to babysit for a while.
In college we would donate then go get drunk off one beer at the campus pub then go to class
Hmm, you’ve gotta think whether the alcohol would be more potent since there’s less blood, no?
That’s the whole idea!
As someone who has received a blood transfusion, thank you random stranger whose blood is now inside me!
I want to “give back” somehow, but I obviously can’t donate blood (yet?).
I tried and found a cheat code! It turns out that if you pass out during the draw and then pass out again while recovering they’ll call and pay for a cab to take you home! They did imply that I shouldn’t come back for a while though…
On a more serious note I had donated blood twice before that with less dramatic results. I like helping people and they give me free snacks afterward. I’d been going every three months because I was in university and had a lot of time for such things. I seem to feel quite tired for the rest of the day following a donation, which I found nice and relaxing. Needle anxiety (and my weak-ass hemoglobin level) aside, it was a positive experience and I’d recommend it!
Ive donated about a dozen times, mostly when its convienent like when they call our local donation bus out to where ever im working.
For the feeling, almost no effect. I mostly spend my time there cracking jokes about how this is a good way to lose weight, or how im only really there because I want a juice box and a cookie. Its more of an excuse to not have to be 100% mentally there for the rest of the work day.
As for the why, Ill sign up and donate when I can, but I dont seek it out. I know its important, but it is a donation, which because of the US insurance and medical industries will be sold to the person who needs it most. (Someone who knows more about this please correct me on it if that assumption is wrong).
Yeah same here, just whenever work brings a bus out. I feel a little icky that they’re just gonna turn around and sell it into the system at exorbitant prices, but I at least feel better that someone who needs it will get it.
I’ve never experienced any side effects either, other than just taking the bandage off too soon and having a leaky arm.
Yes. I try to catch the blood mobile when it comes to town.
I think it’s helpful to someone and I like to think of it as an “oil change” for myself. Generating a fresh pint.
I used to. “Why not?” would be the reason. I never felt anything at all afterwards. I would schedule my donations so I don’t have any hard exercise later the same day, but otherwise it wouldn’t impact my life at all.
I stopped after going to my GP for an entirely unrelated reason and being told that I had severely low iron levels. I don’t believe it was related to donating, but it does mean they couldn’t use my blood.
You lose quite a lot of iron when donating blood:
Each time you donate blood, you lose between 220-250 mg of iron. It may take up to 24-30 weeks for your body to replace the iron lost through a blood donation. That time may vary, depending on what your iron level was before donating and if you take iron supplements or multivitamins with iron.
AFAIK many people are fine (no symptoms) with having low iron levels.
Financial incentive plus I have a blood group that’s beneficial to patients
Once around every 2ish to 3 months - essentially however often I’m allowed to
Usually good. Don’t feel dizzy or sick afterwards since I eat and drink well before donating.
I do donate plasma quite regularly too - around once a week - but have not four a couple months now since I got a new tattoo in November. For similar reasons as with blood donations
