Blood donating?

Former Member · July 2006

had my first joint after 5 months three days ago will this stop me from donating blood for the first time tomorrow?
thank you
have a good wkend!

Former Member · July 2006

i've seen you ask this 3 times now..

according to blagsta, no it doesn't stop you.

Former Member · July 2006

sorry and thank you!

Former Member · July 2006

Tis best to ask, the guidelines change quite a lot.

You can ring the phoneline and ask without giving any details and they will also tell you whether you need to put it on the questionnaire or not.

It would come under the medication/drugs in the last week section on the form. One thing you must NEVER do is LIE on the forms.

Former Member · July 2006

yeah it was fine until she put the needle in and within seconds my arm started swelling up she'd put the needle thro' the vein instead of down so blood rushed into my arm and its all bruised and painful! but i'll do it again!

Former Member · July 2006

ricdiculous wrote:

yeah it was fine until she put the needle in and within seconds my arm started swelling up she'd put the needle thro' the vein instead of down so blood rushed into my arm and its all bruised and painful! but i'll do it again!

They did that to me last time and I was bruised for a fortnight. Its a good thing to do, a hell of a lot of people dont do it. I have a needle phobia, and I still go and do it.

Former Member · July 2006

Last time I checked on the website I wasn't heavy enough to give blood?! Do they actually weigh you when you go?

Former Member · July 2006

I don't know, they never have me but then I don't look like I'm likely to be light enough to need weighing.

The weight restriction is for your own benefit, if you don't weigh much your body probably won't be able to handle giving blood.

Former Member · July 2006

I've wanted to give blood but I pass out when they take blood for the doctor, before one vial is even half done $:\$
I guess once I'm passed out though they can just keep taking it and I won't notice or care.
Plus they always have trouble, the bloodflow will occasionally just stop, usually happens twice in a taking, every time.

Are people typically good with taking blood? Nice and caring when bad things happen? Or are they all mean people like the tv makes them out to be.

Could they handle my sporadic blood flow and neediness of juice boxes? Or would they probably just reject me from the get go.

Former Member · July 2006

katralla wrote:

Last time I checked on the website I wasn't heavy enough to give blood?! Do they actually weigh you when you go?

It's for your safety...
Blood is actually about 7% of your weight, and when they take blood they take between 400-500ml... So if you weigh 60kg, means you got around 4 litres of blood in you and if they take an eighth of that, it is a lot...

I used to know more about this...

Former Member · July 2006

My arse has grown

I can now give blood according to the questions on blood.co.uk I knew there was a reason why arse spread was a good thing

Former Member · July 2006

My_name,

If you faint they stop taking blood, fainting is a defence mechanism and continuing to steal your blood after that would be rather cruel to your system.

I wouldn't try giving blood until you can manage a blood test, they probably wouldn't go through with it anyway.

Former Member · July 2006

I tried donating blood once. Unfortunately they don't accept donations by post.

Former Member · July 2006

I'd love to do something good like give blood.

Unfortunatly just the thought of it makes me feel wierd, sick, and makes my arm turn to jelly. Im really bad with needles

especially needles that take things.

Indrid Cold · July 2006

Blah wrote:

I'd love to do something good like give blood.

Unfortunatly just the thought of it makes me feel wierd, sick, and makes my arm turn to jelly. Im really bad with needles especially needles that take things.

The same. And I feel a bit guilty, because when I managed to get a blood test a couple of years ago they told me there was absolutle nothing wrong, or on the verge of wrong, with it.

Former Member · July 2006

I read through the list of whether or not you could give blood and it said you may never give blood if "You're a man who's had sex with another man, even "safe sex" using a condom".

I was wondering why is this and would it not be the same for a hetrosexual couple having anal sex? It only says two men, not a man and a woman.

Former Member · July 2006

I can't give blood due to a couple of the rules, which is a bit of a shame, cause I really wouldn't mind doing it, and have nice big juicy veins that just bleed and bleed.

If my circumstances change, I'll definitely become a donor.

Former Member · July 2006

squeal16 wrote:

I read through the list of whether or not you could give blood and it said you may never give blood if "You're a man who's had sex with another man, even "safe sex" using a condom".

I was wondering why is this and would it not be the same for a hetrosexual couple having anal sex? It only says two men, not a man and a woman.

It's based on the old fashioned idea that gay men are more promiscuous and are therefore at increased risk of STIs, including HIV and Hep B. There was a move to change it but as yet it hasn't been approved. Condoms do fail with some regularity and anal sex increases that risk too. The rules are designed to decrease the possibility of taking blood from someone with a blood borne disease because of the miniscule but real chance of passing that blood onto the recipient or the phlebotomist through a needle stick injury.

Former Member · July 2006

It's also I believe still based on what I think is fact that sexually active gay men are statistically more likely to be disease carriers than heterosexuals.

Its a similar logic to the one they apply to anyone who has been paid for sex.

While it seems judgemental it's in the best interest of the sick people who need the blood.

Blood donating?

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