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Give Blood!

What is your blood group?

  • O +

    Votes: 69 22.7%

  • O -

    Votes: 25 8.2%

  • A +

    Votes: 63 20.7%

  • A -

    Votes: 12 3.9%

  • B +

    Votes: 20 6.6%

  • B -

    Votes: 4 1.3%

  • AB +

    Votes: 13 4.3%

  • AB -

    Votes: 5 1.6%

  • Don't know

    Votes: 93 30.6%
  • Total voters
    304
Doctor Q said:
Giving platelets takes longer, and can make you cold during the process (they put blankets on us), but it's actually easier on the body overall since you don't lose red blood and fluid volume.
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I did red-cell-only last time, and I didn't get cold at all. Granted, I'm usually pretty warm anyway. They replace the red cells with saline anyway, so most people usually feel great afterwards.
Daveman Deluxe said:
Interesting. The American Red Cross allows donations every eight weeks.
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16 for red-cell-only donations. I donated a few weeks ago, so now I can't until January. I'm almost halfway to a mug! :D
 
Doctor Q said:
Sit down, put your head down near your knees, breath at a normal pace, then buy yourself something wonderful from the Apple Store. That's sure to make you feel better!

My sister's 50 donations were of platelets. You can donate platelets once or twice a week (guidelines vary), but you can donate blood only every 8 weeks because it takes longer for your body to replace them. The actual time it takes an individual probably depends on personal factors, but the donation centers I know hold to that 56-day standard for everyone.
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Heh, if only there was an Apple store near here...and if only I had the money for that :)

I think I'm still going to give it a try...It's important to me, I just don't want to pass out during it or anything. I lose my calm almost instantly once I feel the needle. It's worth a shot...
 
AB+ here, fairly rare type that no one else can use. The good news for me is I can use virtually anybody's blood. Since it's kind of rare I get calls from time to time when they need type specific blood for a planned operation.

I have been donating blood since 2000 and started because I had a needle phobia. Call it white-coat syndrome, but has a kid I had an adverse reaction to a penicillin shot (turns out I am allergic to the stuff) which put me into a minor seizure. After that anytime a doc took a needle to me I had to warn them that I was feeling as if I was going to pass out.

The Blood Bank of Alaska has one of those motor-homes that they drive around and collect from various business locations. They showed up at work one day. So, I told my self that enough was enough and I was going to get over this phobia once and for all. I climbed aboard and gave my first pint. Since then I have no white coat syndrome at all! That and I got over the needle thing when I had to administer shots to my wife.

Before you donate, make sure that you ate a good meal AND are well hydrated. The only times I have felt strange after a donation was when I had no advance notice and did not drink some extra fluids in preparation. Other than that, there is no reason not to donate.

Anyone who doesn't donate really should...you never know when you might need it yourself.:cool:
 
Finally giving blood

I know it's not that special, and a lot of people do it, but I just wanted to let everyone know that despite my fears, I'm going through with my blood donating adventure. I signed up for the blood drive on the 26th, and I'm going to try it. I've been really worried because I have a tendency to pass out/hyperventilate/freak out while getting blood drawn (let alone a bigger needle, and a hell of a lot more blood). I'm hoping that someone talking to me and holding my hand will be enough to keep my mind off the needle and the blood. Hopefully, the person holding my hand won't mind hearing me explain music theory, as that would probably be the best way to keep my mind off it. What makes it more fun, is that as soon as I'm done giving blood, I'm hopping in a van for an eight-hour trip to Wisconsin. Anyways, it's been a long-time goal of mine, despite my issues, to give blood, as saving lives is important to me. My blood type is A+, I think.

Hopefully everything goes well :) Wish me luck!
 
Cave Man said:
After you're done, get your flu shot. ;)
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Oh, man, that almost got me kicked out the library, I laughed so loud!:D

Congrats, Ziggy. You are doing a great thing. I've given blood plenty of times and for me there are 2 main problems. First, it hurts more when they take the needle out than put it in. Second, they tape some tubing to your arm and it always kills when they just yank it off along with a bunch of hair.

Try not to worry too much, and like many scary things, you might just find out it is not a big deal. Good luck and let us know how things go.
 
Cave Man said:
After you're done, get your flu shot. ;)
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Cave man,

I lived near Kaiserslautern for about 6 years, in the 80's. I was there when Cherynobl went blooie, and when the "mad cow" scare was getting started.

Ever since I've been back in the States, the Red Cross won't take my blood, for those two reasons. I've had some Red Crossers tell me it's for both reasons, others because I've been "exposed" to BSE in Europe in the 80's.

Have you heard anything like this?

Danke Schoen!
 
Vivid.Inferno said:
I'm not allowed to give blood, stupid laws banning Gay males.
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Wait, this is serious? I thought i remembered hearing about some ******** law like that, and I sent my mom a text as a joke, I said "Are you sure Laura (my mom's girlfriend) can get it drawn with me? Doesn't US law prevent gays from giving blood?" I didn't realise it actually passed/was still in effect. Sigh.

Edit: I see you are in Canada. Is it the same here in the US?
 
Vivid.Inferno said:
I'm not allowed to give blood, stupid laws banning Gay males.
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While I'm sure you take it personally, it's because of historical precedent and statistical probabilities. I'm ineligible as well, because I've traveled to one of the countries on the "no give" list. But mine is only temporary.

gilkisson said:
I lived near Kaiserslautern for about 6 years, in the 80's. I was there when Cherynobl went blooie, and when the "mad cow" scare was getting started. Ever since I've been back in the States, the Red Cross won't take my blood, for those two reasons. I've had some Red Crossers tell me it's for both reasons, others because I've been "exposed" to BSE in Europe in the 80's.

Have you heard anything like this?
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Sure haven't. I know the US gov is really paranoid about the possibility of nvCJD outbreak. Bad for the cattle industry. Oh, and the people who get it, too...

ZiggyPastorius said:
Wait, this is serious? I see you are in Canada. Is it the same here in the US?
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Yes, it's true for the US as well.
 
Here are all the questions they ask in Canada (every time you donate) http://blood.ca/CentreApps/Internet/UW_V502_MainEngine.nsf/resources/Can-I-Donate/$file/ROD_2008-04-24.pdf

Greg
 
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Awwww that is such a nice thing to do! Good for you that you are attempting to come over your fear a bit!
I would love to donate blood, but I can't do it. I'm such a chicken. I hate needles with the passion and I can't stand tower other people getting their blood drawn!
But good luck! You'll make it out just fine! ;)
 
Good for you! I want to donate blood one day; especially when I have a rare blood type.
 
andreab35 said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

Awwww that is such a nice thing to do! Good for you that you are attempting to come over your fear a bit!
I would love to donate blood, but I can't do it. I'm such a chicken. I hate needles with the passion and I can't stand tower other people getting their blood drawn!
But good luck! You'll make it out just fine! ;)
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I'm the same way. I get lightheaded just thinking or talking about blood, getting blood drawn, needles, et cetera.
 
Vivid.Inferno said:
I'm not allowed to give blood, stupid laws banning Gay males.
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And people who've lived in the UK for <mumble> length of time (because of BSE and nvCJD). I can't give blood in the US even though I did regularly before I moved here.
 
Good for you. It's good you're getting over your fears. I hate needles so much, but I don't care about the blood. I might give blood too, just to see if I freak out when there a needle about to be stuck in my arm
 
anjinhamarota said:
I hate giving blood because I have very low blood pressure and usually pass out. I still try to give blood whenever I can. :)
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Same here, docs wanted a blood sample from me earlier this year and even just the little bit they took from that made me almost faint. Not scared of needles or anything, infact I rather like the sensation :eek:
 
Giving blood is one of the most satisfying things I do. Those people really do make you feel like you're a hero and doing something great. I have the universal blood, O-, so I actually give what is called "Double Red Blood Cell" donation. Basically, they take out the regular pint, put it through a machine that separates the plasma from the red blood cells, then ti mixes the plasma was saline and sent it back into the arm; and does the process again. In the end, they only take one pint of blood, but it is a concentrated red blood cell package. It takes longer than whole blood, but I don't mind.

Only part I don't like is when the needle first goes in, after that I am fine.
 
Im not allowed to give blood either...me feel guilty every time some one gives me a leaflet on it or anything makes even though i shouldn't :(

but its a really good thing to do :D
 
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