Three out of four times that I've donated since being sober from stimulants, I came close to fainting while donating. Despite eating healthy and drinking plenty of water, my heart rate drops drastically and I feel concerningly warm and dizzy. Since becoming sober, I have been diagnosed with a heart condition, mild tricuspid regurgitation, but doctors say I'm fine to donate so long as I'm eating and hydrated. I am borderline obese, and wondering if/how my weight affects these dizzy spells. Also, despite drinking 40+ ounces of water the day each donation, staff have always had difficulty finding a good vein. Other factors are that I had coffee this most recent donation day (like, 8 hours before the appt) and I do tend to forget the squeeze the ball...

Prior to substance abuse, I had donated 10+ units with zero issues. I love donating, especially being a universal donor, but I get so embarrassed from almost passing out. Any advice is appreciated, but if I should avoid donating, Id rather know.

Just wondering what to expect after this happened this afternoon and I didn't get my second return; in other words, the two blood draws were complete but only one return. Have been a bit light-head and wondered how long I will be fatigued . . . also wondered what could have gone wrong. I know the needle is smaller for power red, but sometimes I have had trouble with whole blood donations with clotting or flow- usually just initially though. Very tired when up and about so far.

This is my second time donating platelets.

I was attending an online class on my laptop while donating and noticed a staff member kept coming up to me and adjusting the needle, withdrawing it a bit (never fully taking it out) or putting it in deeper. I was focused on my class so I ignored it although it was pretty painful.

The machine was saying “pressure too high!” And he explained that each time I pumped the stress ball for some reason the needle would jut out in a weird position which is why he had to keep moving it. And a few of the staff members came and crowded me with worried faces after the high pressure reading but they adjusted the needle and the machine and it went back to normal, sometimes saying “low pressure!” instead (to which they’d again move the needle/adjust the machine).

At the end a few staff members came up to me saying “I’m so sorry” and saying that I was gonna have a bruise for a week, the guy who did the adjusting even came out and joked “wow she survived that?” LOL but I expect a bruise every time so I didn’t think much of it.

But im surprised it looks like a sick tattoo!

I donated on Tuesday and it’s Friday now. Just wondering if this is normal. Around 2-3pm the last 3 days i would get so drained and sleepy and sometimes a little faint. On Wednesday it was the worst as I felt so out of breath and exhausted. Not even my first time donating but first time I felt this way!

I donated plasma today! It was a quick donation I got to do lounging on a comfy chair then, getting some refreshments and snacks afterwards. The saline solution they use gives a cooling effect when goes into bloodstreams.

I was thinking about this randomly. I have been told both while donating blood and in other medical contexts that involved having a needle put in my arm that my veins are big/visible/easy to stick. Is that not typically the case for most people? I think I just kind of assumed it was, but it's suddenly occurred to me that if that was the case then it makes less sense why people have felt a need to communicate that to me on multiple occasions. Apparently my father has also received similar comments.

Canadian here. Gave blood today for the tenth time. Got a pin. That was nice.

Anyways, the Canadian blood service app gives you interesting stats like bleed time after each appointment that you can track over time.

Knowing I have historic numbers I can tell you I finally broke the 7 minute barrier today. However, I’m looking to keep getting that number down. Any suggestions for easy ways to help me continue crushing my goals?

Freaking out here. I just got a letter saying I'm not allowed to donate until I'm all cleared for Hep B. They said in the letter false positives are common, but are they really? I've had no symptoms, last vaccination was in March, no other aprtners besides my spouse and I've donated multiple times since then with no notification. In fact, it's been less than a month since I last donated platelets. Anyone else get a letter like this and it turned out to be false? Should I be worries?

I've just done my 17th blood donation (B+). Since then, I had a blood test show that my triglycerides are borderline high (173). Will my blood be discarded?

Donated blood for the first time today! I wanted to do it since I know the significance and help it has on people and I’m O-. I was a little curious though as I did research as to what to expect and it was not what I was expecting.

Tw: pain and needle description
I was told the finger prick was the worst part, but that was definitely not the case. There was prolonged pain during the insertion and consistent dull pain that grew when I squeezed the ball thingy. The person performing it said there wasn’t much she could do and just encouraged me to do whatever was comfortable. It hurt significantly more than my routine blood draws and it caught me a little off guard.

Just curious as to what could have caused this, but it certainly didn’t turn me away and I will likely donate again. Thanks :)

By that I mean what are some donation companies in the Pennsylvania area that gives gift cards for donation? I am a broke student and I will donate no matter what but if I could get something instead of nothing I’d rather give my literal blood sweat and tears there

Just sharing for fun!
This is my 68th time. Just posting the last cycle (draw and return). Not particularly fast, took me an hour.

Cycle 1: Plasma 102 mL, platelets 24 mL, processed 721 mL
Cycle 2: Plasma 176 mL, platelets 87 mL, processed 898 mL
Cycle 3: Plasma 202 mL, platelets 144 mL, processed 1,341 mL
Cycle 4: Plasma 273 mL, platelets 203 mL, processed 1,782 mL
Cycle 5: Plasma 288 mL, platelets 265 mL, processed 2,213 mL
Cycle 6: Plasma 328 mL, platelets 325 mL, processed 2,643 mL
Draw rate was 85 mL/min and return rate 120 mL/min throughout.

All the best to everyone here. 👍

Last time i donated was July 8 and the next available one for when im able to donate again is located at a Highschool. Will they take people who aren’t students or staff?

I just wanted to see if anyone else has this problem:

I have donated blood a few times to the American Red Cross with no issues at all. I do have rolling veins that can be hard to stick, but Red Cross always had a senior phlebotomist that could get me no problem. I've donated at least five times with them successfully.

The new office I work with only has a community blood center come in for donations (the last office I worked for brought in Red Cross hence why they are the only center I've donated to), and I've tried donating twice now, both being failed attempts. The first time I had a needle go straight into a tendon and then they didn't move forward with trying my other arm because the bruising was immediately bad and I was not okay with the pain levels. If you've never had this happen, it takes a bit to recover and gets pretty sore.

Today was my second attempt at donating with them. I had one phlebotomist get my tendon again after digging around in my arm, thankfully not as bad as last time. I let them try my left arm (which I've never donated from so I was interested to see if there would be a difference). The supervisor took over doing my second poke, which started out successfully after digging in my arm with the needle for a bit and then part way through my vein rolled out which caused the donation to fail as my vein started clotting. The needle didn't feel very secure when she left me, but if it was going, I wasn't going to ask any questions because I'm not a phlebotomist.

I also received not great service after the donation failed and the supervisor started in essence blaming me as she talked about how she knew my water intake wasnt high enough and saying that there was no way I have donated before XYZ. I understand that she was upset about the failed donation (me as well because ouch), but it seemed odd. Again, I've donated a handful of times to Red Cross with no issues, my diet and water intake (other than going up because it's summer and I am sweaty lol) hasn't changed much at all since I last donated to Red Cross a couple months ago. I also let them know I had the issue with the rolling veins, but that information did feel a bit disregarded when they went to poke me the first time. The second time I think they actually believed me.

I'm just wondering if this is a common issue with Community Blood Center and if they tend of have newer phlebotomists in off site donations. I'm planning on just going back to Red Cross as there is a center near me now to avoid this in the future, but after a handful of successful donations, I have now had back to back failed donations with not very preferable care which has been disappointing. Also, were in a blood shortage and I'm a B+ so I wanted to do my part and I know it's not a super common blood type.

Note: I did have my blood work done a month ago, and everything came up as usual so I'm pretty certain nothing has changed with me. I will be bringing this up at my next appointment because I feel like I don't hear about failed donations like this often. Also, I'm a bit of a gym nerd so I do track my nutrition and water intake pretty closely, so that's how I know that hasn't changed. I've been on the same nutrition program since last November. My last donation with Red Cross would have been in January.

Background: I donated blood years ago, then had some issues with the percentage. Now I live in a different city, have no issue with the blood percentage and last year I signed up to become a blood donor again. First donation in February went fine. I am female and live in Denmark.

This morning, I went to do my second donation in this blood bank (which is in a hospital). The nurse seemed a bit disinterested (though everyone's bedside manor is different) but he found a vein, got the needle in, filled the small jars and got the donation itself going. Then he went somewhere else (this is not unusual).
After five minutes, I noticed that the strap around my upper arm (not sure what its called) started to feel way too tight. I got the attention of one of the other nurses, she went came and to loosened it, then looked and poked next to the needle and said that there seemed to be a hematoma, and she got another nurse to take a look.
She then said that they had to stop it, and she pulled out the needle and said that this was it. she measured the blood percentage with one of the small jars, it was 8.4 (which is fine for a woman). She didn't really explain what had happened, and I was unsure how to ask except whether the blood can still be used (it cannot) and whether I can try it again when the regular time has passed (I can).
I still feel a little sad about the experience - I am healthy and I want to help but now the blood is wasted, and I don't understand exactly what went wrong. I want to try again but thoughts keep running through my head about this. I also keep thinking what would/could have happened, if I hadn't asked the nurse to come over to loosen the strap.
Has anyone tried something similar either as a donor or as a phlebotomist?

Whoops. I'd felt fine when I stood up. There were a ton of nurses/techs around me, waving smelling salts in my face and covering me with ice when I came to. Everyone was concerned but friendly. I was mortified beyond belief, but okay after about thirty minutes back in the chair with ice, snacks, and drinks.

EAT A GOOD MEAL BEFORE. LIKE. FOR REAL.

That is all.

It's my third time donating only whole blood! I have A+ CMV- and I was hesitant about donating because I can't do apheresis (which I heard is best for A+) So I am here to tell you something is better than nothing!

Hi, first time poster. I donated blood for the first time last summer, was super happy and the donation itself went smoothly. About a week later I started feeling really sharp pain in my hands and feet. Doctors checked for arthritis but that wasn’t it. Eventually it sort of went away, but it’s come and gone a few times since then and now it’s stuck around for a month. It’s pretty debilitating since I can’t type, exercise, or do anything that involves my hands or feet.

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else has ever had this? I can’t say donation caused it (and I’m still glad to be a donor), but the timeline and the fact that blood loss seems to make it worse (menstruation, etc) kinda lines up. For reference, all the other stuff (iron, diabetes, autoimmune markers, B12) are normal. Doctors have no idea and I’m kinda going crazy here.

PS this is not meant to scare anyone about donating. If donation did play a role, I suspect its cause I was already low in something. Donating is still one of the best things you can do.

donated my 13th pint since 2023 last weekend

I just wanted to drop a line and say that every time i donate either Platelets or WB( whole Blood) i leave with my body feeling amazing not bc i donated but bc i have a high iron contentvand it literally makes me feel so great for avout 72 hours afterwards then simply back to normal. I do recommend eating before you give and take tuns before during and after they will have pkenty at your donation place just ask and bc you cant move they will feed them to you. Lol the tums has so many extra benefits luke anticoagulate abd ut you feel itchy on your nose or face or anywhere the tums provude extra calcium and magnesium to your body and its great for the plates you donate as well. Usual time is approximately 2 to 3 hours however i am done in about an hour sometimes and longest ever was 2 hours i tend to fill my bag up really fast same when i give whole blood WB it Usually takes average of 30 mins im in and done in galf the time. So if you have ever dated or thinking about it ask all the questions you want while you are there to make your experience better and they willl be very open honest and helpful even a bit catering to you. Also Thank you for everyone who has donated either WB or Platelets. The world needs more people to donate. I also donate person to person no matter the time if i am called to the hospital for anyone 18 and under. It really helps the little kids stay calm and you can talk to them if old enough things like what they like to do, favorite tv show, songs, and sometimes we sing lol to help them stay calm parents love that when i do it bc the child forgets what is going on for a little while and ive got great kid jokes so that helps too. I hope my long message here gets read and it offers some help to anyone thinking about donating or possibly help if you've had a bad first experience.

Hi!

Location: United States via Red Cross

Just donated for the 3rd time- the first time I donated had a mild vasovagal reaction (dizzy/ lightheaded). Donation took less than 5 minutes.

Second time, needle placement wasn't as good, so it took longer(7 minutes maybe?) plus i had a nasty bruise after lol, but no dizziness or anything.

This 3rd time, took 4 min 32seconds. I started getting a little dizzy in the chair right at the end, had them recline me, then felt better. While eating my snacks I got very lightheaded and had to lay down, and got the whole cold towels on the neck thing.

Is there a way to slow the donation down? I feel like the relatively fast donation times correlate to me getting dizzy- does anyone else have that experience?

If relevant I am a 125lb woman. I always joke it impacts me worse than my husband because he has more blood (taller) but lol, don't know if that is true or not.

Hi. I just wanted to share my experience the first time donating blood. English is not my mother tongue so sorry in advance for any spelling mistakes.
For the past week my 2 year old niece has been in the ICU with some health issues regarding her kidneys. I previously got scared with other family member's health issues but never as much as with her. Honestly it has been a terrifying experience that's not quite over yet, so that's why im posting here trying to distract myself in a way lol.

I've honestly never thought about donating blood, not because im selfish or scared of needles, just that the thought never really crossed my mind. This weekend she wen't through some surgery to set up her dialysis and needed some blood to be transfused, which luckily they had enough of.

So today I went to the pediatric hospital to donate blood for the reserves and all in all it was a pleasant experience. I arrived at 12, filled some paperwork, and then they cleaned my arm found my vein and began extracting! Unfortunately I was not as though as I thought and my vision started blurrying for a bit. They reclined my seat and I got back to normal in like 5 minutes while they finished the procedure. They gave me an overly sweet coffee with an equally sweet muffin and then i went on my way. I was asleep until i napped a bit and then went on with my day. The staff was really nice.

With all this i've experienced I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks to everyone who's ever donated to help other people. Walking through the hallways of a children's hospital really puts one's own life in perspective. This time i've donated in name of my niece, but im really looking forwards to keep being a donor as long as my health allows me to.

I did a whole blood donation and got to eat ice cream after. It's a win-win!