Giving Blood...
 

OK well I had an interesting day today. I went and had lunch with my dad and on the way home I saw that the blood mobile was right near my house. (For anyone who doesn't know what the hell I'm talking about... In san diego we have the san diego blood bank. They send out bus like blood donating clinics to a bunch of places like shopping centers all around san diego. More convinent for people who don't want to actually go to the clinic.)
So anyways I went and filled out the paperwork we have to fill out everytime, asking about what drugs you've taken, who you've had sex with, have you left the country... blah blah blah.

I do all the finger pricking tests they do and temperature taking (which was a little high for some reason this time 99.5 and then went down to 99) FINALLY after about a half hour of being there, I get to sit down and give blood. So I'm sitting there letting them drain my blood. And then the lady tells me I'm done and pulls the needle out... and after you give blood you have to sit in the "canteen" for around 15 minutes and drink juice and eat something.

Well this time I was sitting there eating my rice krispies treat and I start to get dizzy and very nauseous. The guy that keeps an eye on you while you're sitting there had to call over a nurse and she put ice packs on my neck and got me a barf bag. Just to tell you this wasn't my first time giving blood, and I had never felt like this before. So after sitting there for a minute I had to puke in the bag in front of all these people on this bus. It wasn't too bad. Then the nurse has me lay down and drink water and I felt better after about ten minutes. Thank goodness I had done this so close to my house. I still felt a little out of it when I left and was glad I didn't have to drive far. I just want to say that all the nurses that were there were SOOOO nice to me and made me feel so comfortable and took complete care of me.

So I had to post my interesting day... Feeling a little better after I came home and went to sleep.

I have a question for all the other donors out there... Have you ever had a reaction like that? I was told it may have been because it was so hot outside, and I hadn't had enough fluids to put up with losing so much blood.
:D :crazy:

Congrats on donating.

:D The Canadian Blood Services thing won't take my blood, even though I'm a rare blood group, becuase I used to live in the UK and might have BSE.

Also my wife is a cancer suvivor and she can't give either. Pisses me off no end.

I donated many many times with no problems then one day... I was the last appointment of the day for the Bloodmobile. After I finished I went to the front to get some V8 and crackers. After I finished I thought I would get some Diet Coke... I stood up and all of the sudden my knees were knocking and I was sweating. I sat down and then the next thing I knew a nurse was trying to revive me. I passed out (I don't know for how long, because there was no one watching me.) About 15 minutes later, after lying with my feet up, I was fine and went on with my day.

Really spooked me, because I never pass out.

Now I just give platelets, because you don't lose as much fluid.

never had a problem with it, myself. but I've only given twice. they give you juice for a reason... drink it! :P It's funny, though, it's always the big tough guys you see lying on the cots with the icepacks, and the little petite girls are fine! :shrug:

only problems i have when donating blood is that it gets really slow near the end and i usually take longer. the first time i gave blood i thought i was ready to get up after resting and drinking some juice, i stood up real fast and got sooooo dizzy it was kinda cool but i had to sit down for like 10 more minutes.

at my highschool, starting in 11th grade you can donate blood, so its convenient and i got out of class so it was really cool.

edit: drink a lot of water before and after you donate. if you dont, you will feel it.

I've given 3 or 4 times, and I never had a problem. It was probably the heat.

If I remember correctly, anyone who has had cancer has to either wait 5 years before donating or cannot donate at all. It depends on the type of cancer and is generally done on a case by case basis. The reason being that rogue cells may be passed to someone else. The same goes for organ donation (except for the corneas and skin, I think). It's done to protect people so their conditions aren't made worse.

I think everyone fit to should be a regular donator of blood and organ donor.

Good people die so that your corpse can remain fairly intact.

I give a lot, and never had an experience like that. I have gotten light headed from just sitting up, kind of a weird rush. Once they wouldn't take me, my blood pressure was too high, it must have been a very stressful day.

I've given blood a few times and not had a problem with it. I now get spammed like crazy by the local blood bank asking for my red stuff because I'm O negative. Nice and rare and you can give it to anybody.

Nice to be popular but damn, back off ya vampires! haha. :)

I started donating blood in college because it was easier to get drunk after donating blood. We would donate blood, get our free pizza and then drink a 6-pack and be hammered for a little while.

I donated blood for years until the wife and I started going to Mexico for vacation every year. They stopped taking both of us, because of the possible transmission of malaria or other diseases like that. At least it stopped the donating phone calls.

Seriously, I have given roughly 4 gallons in my lifetime, and that has never happened to me. I have been dizzy a few times but nothing to the point of getting sick.

I have given about 1.5 gallons and once I felt a little lightheaded but that's all and only once.

It was probably just the heat and the lack of fluids for you.

My old roommate and I used to give plasma every Friday and spend the money on beer.


It's a lot easier to get drunk when you're already loopy from the lack of blood.

ive donated blood a few times... and have been thinking about selling plasma...

ive never had any problems with faintness or queasiness... and no problems with bruising either.... ive got big easy to prick veins...

about how much does that pay? Always been curious about that.

Vyk: it prolly varies from location to location... but at the place near the texas tech campus its like $20 for the first one and $30 for any subsequent ones i think.... i dont remember for sure tho...

This made me laugh... once I started giving platelets the Red Cross got to be my second highest frequency caller, after my wife, of course. You can give platelets like every 4 days or something, and I give a "double" every time, so they like to see me in the doorway.

Got my 2 gallon pin just today. :)

I've given blood twice, and never had a feeling like that. I did pass out once, in fourth grade, in front of a news camera that was interveiwing me. Luckily, my head hit someone's shoe, and not the floor. The best part was, not only did I miss school, but the news channel came back to give free passes to the local amusement park a few weeks later. The lesson for that day was that you can pass out and guilt people into free stuff.

I almost passed out once giving blood, not a fun experience.

The juice was good though ;)

can't give blood. i have always had my own leached. like six pints for one surgery over the course of a month or so.

i always feel guilty when i don't give, even though it ism't ,y fault.

i've never been dizzy from blood work bu i see what you mean. It could be many things, but I’de not fret.

Now wait a minute, how the hell do you get paid for donating blood?

That's called Orthostatic Hypotension, translated to: "low blood pressure from standing up too fast. Google it if you want to learn more.

Good effort - keep it up.
(With or without the barf bag)

I've worked the local blood drive before (unable to actually donate, because of tattoos and piercings), and I've seen a good amount of people have trouble and have to lay down.

So, yeah, wouldn't worry about it.

And as has been said before, keep with it, it's much needed.

I've given a bunch of blood--every 8 weeks since 9/15/01. Takes a national tragedy to get me over my fear of needles! I've never fainted or puked, though I have felt a bit "light" when I first got up off the table. And I'm always pretty wiped out by the end of the day, after I've given blood.

I've seen people go down, though. I watched a girl get up off the table, and head straight to the ladies room. She made it about half way.... A nurse had a pillow under her head before she even hit the floor--those of us still on tables were applauding, yelling "Good catch!"

Seriously, it's probably a hydration issue, as you said. I always try to drink five or six extra glasses of water in the 12 hours before I give.

I'd donate blood, but I was in Kenya not long ago and I also frequent Mexico, so I don't think they'll take me...:(

as a brit now living in the USA I can't give blood, but I gave something like 15 times in England. It's a good feeling to actually do something for people

glad you gave blood... i wanted to give blood after the blackout to help replenish lost stores... but didn't because i was wiped out from walking.

I've given twice so far and nothing's happened to me yet.

I've given blood on several occasions, and have never had any real trouble afterwards.

Last time though, they started the needle in my left arm, and everything went fine until the bag was about half full, and then it just stopped. After a few minutes of wiggling and jiggling the needle, the nurse decided to put it in my right arm. Luckily, everything went off without a hitch.

Just thought I'd share my story.

:)

Here you get a fancy little credit card thing from Canadian Blood Services with your personal info and blood type. it's kind of a nice touch :P

I've never had any experiences like that when giving blood, but have seen many others do so. From what Ive been told, it's perfectly fine to have that happen, as most often it's nothing serious. (but I still wouldn't want to have it happen to me.)

I made the mistake of giving blood once. I have O Neg which is at somethign of a premium in this part of the world , particularly given the fact theat it is used for in utero transfusions to prevent the "rhesus baby" syndrome. So after afew times (no bad reactions0 they had me on a Good Donor list. So one night the cops pull up and my house and take me to the hospital to give emergency blood. Three times that has happened now (once was an ambulance) . Im sure my neighbours are starting to wonder. The amazing thing is that even though I had lived out of the country for three years the week I got back they knew about it and came lookign for me ...... my ex girlfriend wasnt even that quick.

The one time I saw a really really bad reaction was when I first gave blood. Catharine a friend of mine was giving blood too. (first time out) and decided that since she was there she was going down to the Plasma donor clinic where she also donated.

When I next saw her she was quite literally green. Ive never seen anythign like it. Im not taking Pallido Green here I mean Green Green . She was quite ill and it took her forever to get over it.

One thing I do notice after giving blood is a muscular weakness in the backs of my legs for some reason. Usually dissapears after a day or two .

I was nearly up to my first gallon... I'm O+, which is about as wacky-rare as O-... but then I decided to go spend a year in the UK. now i can't give blood ever again, and that depresses me. I was a good donor, I'd never had a bad reaction, I have strong artery walls... sigh.

wow, that's a lot more than I thought. Guess I can not only give, but get at the same time. A happy thing for a starving college student lemme tell ya. ;)

i haven't had any blood taken since I was a baby. I hae needles and don't think I could stand giving blood... no big loss to the medical community, I'm AB+, which means i'm a universal reciever, and my blood would only be useful to others with the same type.

I know with the cancer I had (Leukemia), I was told I wont ever be able to donate blood, or organs. But of course Leukemia effects the blood so it could be specific to that.

Well, I have not had any problems donating at all. A friend of mine in high school would donate every time it was offered, and he would always pass out. It was almost amusing. He was fine, thankfully, but he still kept on giving.
Then, there were the races. We used to flex our hands to make the blood go faster to see who could fill their bag first. Heh.

I haven;t given blood in a few months...I'm off work tomorrow, so I just maight have to go and do that. Thanks for reminding me!

Donating blood makes me all weak and crappy and sick for a month. It's selfish, but that makes it not worth it to me.

So I donate bone marrow instead.

last time i gave blood they said the would send me a ID card in the mail with my blood type information on it ....mainly it would be used to avoid all the paper work again...but i just wanted it because i dont know what my blood type is and wanted to know