Just gave blood again, do you?

Had my 11th the other day, looks like we're finally getting semi regular local sessions now which is nice. I've either been having to book them in near the office which is 50 miles away on days when I'm in or travel 20 miles from home for my last few.
 
Been a few years since I last donated, so booked in a few months ago. Went to the appointment ready to give another armful, but fail the drop test -.-

Quite annoying seeing as I am considerably healthier than when I last donated. Oh well, I'll try again in 3 months and see what happens, but a bit gutted to say the least
 
The drop test literally just tests your iron levels, doesn't matter if you're considerably healthier if your iron levels don't meet the requirement. I was once declined because mine was at 134 when it needs to be 135, which was annoying..

Up to 11 donations so far, another one next week.
 
Have give pretty consistently in the past but with some medication I'm now on I need to be wary of not wiping out my ferritin levels so probably only half as often as I used to.
 
tom_e said:
Have give pretty consistently in the past but with some medication I'm now on I need to be wary of not wiping out my ferritin levels so probably only half as often as I used to.
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I thought that your medication and giving blood was a good combo? Especially for controlling hematrocrit levels?
 
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Freefaller said:
I thought that your medication and giving blood was a good combo? Especially for controlling hematrocrit levels?
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It's an option to control it but not an ideal one due to the lowering effect it has on ferritin levels and then they are lowered further by donation.
Ideally it's controlled through dose manipulation be that total amount/frequency or a bit of both.

Personally I've got mine sticking around a good level now so there's no clinical need to donate.
 
tom_e said:
It's an option to control it but not an ideal one due to the lowering effect it has on ferritin levels and then they are lowered further by donation.
Ideally it's controlled through dose manipulation be that total amount/frequency or a bit of both.

Personally I've got mine sticking around a good level now so there's no clinical need to donate.
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But it's still good to give someone your alpha blood :D
 
My local donation centre is awful, they only seem to come every few months now whereas before they were there every month so I've started picking anywhere that's within about half an hour drive. I can generally get an appointment now at exactly three months after the last one.

I love that they tell you where your blood is used, I have a small army of available clones dotted around the South East now, just need to work out how to activate them.
 
tom_e said:
Have give pretty consistently in the past but with some medication I'm now on I need to be wary of not wiping out my ferritin levels so probably only half as often as I used to.
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Funny. I’ve started donating on advice to keep my ferritin levels in check as I run slightly higher than normal at 400-600.

Donated twice now, the needle is blooming huge! Love the text to say where the blood is being used.
 
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Broken Hope said:
The drop test literally just tests your iron levels, doesn't matter if you're considerably healthier if your iron levels don't meet the requirement. I was once declined because mine was at 134 when it needs to be 135, which was annoying..
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Weirdly you can also fail it if your iron is too high! Since I'm a platelet donor, if I fail they go to the proper machine (I don't know if they do this for whole blood, but sounds like they do) and I've had 18.1 after failing the drop test!
 
9th donation yesterday. Knocked me for six though, got in and had a nap then spent the rest of the night exhausted. Bit better today which is a bonus. Never had that before.

Anyway, another 600ml of B- winging it's way into the system. Noted I was CMV Negative as well yesterday, had to look it up as the Donor Nurse had no idea what it was. :D
 
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Few years back there used to be a donation centre day every month in my town but that stopped long before covid, now you have to travel 20 mile away.

They mustn't be that desperate.
 
LeeUK said:
Few years back there used to be a donation centre day every month in my town but that stopped long before covid, now you have to travel 20 mile away.

They mustn't be that desperate.
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Demand goes up and down and I imagine if they have any shortages they can deploy mobile collections. The donation centre where I donate platelets/plasma is always very busy and much bigger than the place it was in (I think) 7-8 years ago. I don't see so many temporary donation centres anymore. It's probably a cost thing, I think they've focussed more on centres in cities where they are more likely to get blood from people they need.
 
LeeUK said:
Few years back there used to be a donation centre day every month in my town but that stopped long before covid, now you have to travel 20 mile away.

They mustn't be that desperate.
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I get a call usually the week after I donate ensuring I'm signed up for my next one. Did have to travel to a different donation centre for this one, but hardly a hardship.
 
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