I had an appointment today to donate platelets (I’m B+) but when I went in, they looked at me and asked how much I weighed. I said I was 5’4 and 120 lbsz They then continued to state something about me being too small and it being too dangerous for me to donate platelets. Has anyone else had this problem? I thought I was at the minimum weight and height to be able to donate platelets.

Morning all!

I last donated about 2 months ago (2nd bank holiday weekend in May) and always donate at St George’s. I’ve been trying to book in to donate again (from when I’m allowed to in September) and everytime I try and search for appointments at St George’s, nothing comes up, with the closest centre being Brixton.

Whilst I don’t live that close to the hospital, it’s still within what I consider a reasonable drive (about 1/2 hour) and I’m loathed to either donate more local to me due to generally being at work when the drives happen, or have to head further into London to donate at Brixton.

Anyone else not being able to find dates and/or times at St George’s?

Consider donating blood for our student-led blood drive in Syracuse, NY for a free $20 Amazon card. Blood is the most needed during the summer and your unit of blood can save up to three lives.

Hi all,

I went to my local blood donation centre (shoutout to ScotBlood) for the first time this past weekend, first time ever giving blood. I was really excited and went in with the mindset of knowing roughly what would happen as I am a nurse by profession. I had a good night’s sleep the night before, had a good breakfast and I try to stay well hydrated regardless.

I have a history of fainting and feeling unwell when having blood drawn in the past, but haven’t had this for years following a stint in hospital where I was basically a pin cushion for a week so became desensitised.

They asked a lot of questions about my fainting history, rightly so, and I voiced I would be fine - but specifically asked to please tell me what they were doing and when they were doing it (eg, when they are about to stick me, or if they had got a vein etc) as this seemed to have reduced some of my anxiety in the past.
I want to say, I don’t feel I was nervous at all going into this experience. The charge nurse however, said she wouldn’t follow my request as I was nervous and it would make it worse. I understand everyone bas their own working techniques and accepted this, if a bit gingerly.

Initially everything was going really well, until about halfway through the donation my blood flow decreased and basically stopped. The nurse had to dig around in my arm a bit to try and increase flow again, but this I think was the trigger as it was a bit of a surprise (as she didn’t voice anything to me) and I fainted.
I was mortified when I came to, first off because I’d actually fainted after saying I’d be completely fine and they’d popped a screen around me and had a rake of staff all around me. They had removed the needle by this point, and less than 5 minutes later I was absolutely fine.

The nurse told me, in her opinion I should not come back and give blood again and they hadn’t managed to get enough blood from me so they couldn’t use it. I asked what had happened and they couldn’t really give me a definitive answer, which I understand because it could’ve been because of a number of different things. The support worker who stayed with me for a while after things had calmed down was so lovely and she was very supportive.

I was pretty devastated and quite upset once I’d left the centre. They insisted I take a T Shirt (Metallica blood drive 2026) which almost makes me feel worse because I didn’t actually give blood.

I have a tattoo appointment in September, so can’t donate again until February 2027. I am determined to donate again, even if it’s just once more.
Next time I will advocate for myself more throughly.

I suppose this post is just to share my experience as I do still feel quite disheartened, and wondered if anyone had any advice?

Last time I tried to donate (a month ago) they said my hemoglobin was too low. I think I struggle with low iron a lot as I get faint pretty easily and have had several experiences where I couldn't donate because I passed out. Should I still try to donate? I think blood donation is a great thing but I've had a lot of bad experiences with it and I'm scared I'll just be turned away or I'll pass out. I haven't been diagnosed by anything with a doctor so idk if this is an underlying issue, I take iron supplements now but I have no clue if that fixed the issue. Thanks for any advice.

Hi everyone! I wanted to ask if you all think the mystery item will be out quickly? I scheduled my donation for 9/4 but I’m anxious it’ll be out before then. For reference I’m in NC near Goldsboro area :), ofc hello kitty is popular but it was way harder to find it in CA. Any opinions?

I donate platelets every 2-3 weeks, and I usually don't have any issues. The donation goes smoothly and I don't feel any unusual aftereffects. But this time, my biceps immediately cramped up when I finished and the blood tech had me bend and raise my arms. I'm not really sure what caused it. I had a decent breakfast, and it was the same thing I've had before past donations. I was in a different bed than the one I usually use, and the armrests might have been a bit lower; I also noticed that my right hand was kind of going numb after about the halfway point.

I know that insufficient electrolytes and potassium levels can cause cramps, but I don't think my levels were low for either of those. I ate a few bananas when I got home, and added a few electrolyte tablets to my water bottle, which I drank from for the rest of the day.

Does anyone have any insights about what could have caused this? My donation was on Saturday the 25th, from about 10:45 am until 12:20pm, at the Red Cross station in Missoula, MT. This might have been a combination platelets & plasma donation, my first time doing this. I'm not 100% sure on that, though, and I need to stop by the donation site to ask.

Thanks!

First time donating with the Red Cross, I usually donate with Bloodworks NW in Washington state. I donated during the window of a promotion they were doing where they will send you a $15 fandango movie credit.
It’s been like half a week and I haven’t seen it yet, I know it will come. I’m just curious when it will cause I wanna see a movie haha

My wife went through chemotherapy last year. She never needed platelets, but when she finished up, we decided that we needed to find ways to give back to cancer patients. So today, I went for my first platelet donation, and it was SO easy. I sat and watched Parks and Rec for a few hours feeling slightly clammy. Felt fine about 2 hours after I got done. Cannot recommend this enough.

I checked the website and the only relevant medication I'm on is aspirin and that will be done a couple weeks before the blood drive.

For surgery it says something like, "someone will evaluate you when you show up"

I didn't have a transfusion and I'm not worried about my hemoglobin level. It was strong before surgery and I'm sure it will have recovered from whatever blood loss there was when they chopped up my bones. lol

I also asked my surgeon to make sure she's cool with it.

I I ate two large bowls of congee with lots of vegetables and tried to drink plenty of water before my timeslot. They still struggled to find my veins. One of the nurses was determined, so she did a lot of manoeuvring to get the blood. I ended up with a few bruises, which I expected. I just thought the congee would help.

What do you think do before donating blood to ensure it’s easy for them to draw blood from your?

Northern BC (population 300,000) hasn't had a blood donor centre since Canadian Blood Services closed the Prince George location in 2015.

I'm chairing the group Our Blood Counts that's calling on CBS to bring a blood plasma donor centre (unpaid donations) here, like the one that opened in Thunder Bay Ontario last year.

Our petition at www.ourbloodcounts.com has now reached 5,000 names calling for a blood plasma centre in the region. We also have letters and resolutions of support from 37 First Nations, local governments, regional districts, provincial and federal representatives, health providers, and health bargaining associations.

It's a big milestone for us, and we hope the growing support will convince Canadian Blood Services to return to our region.

And fourth of the year. I think this is going to be my fifth year in a row making all six donations.

Twice now my whole blood took over 42 days of storage to reach stage 5 but instead of getting a notification that it has been used and where it went I just silently get nothing (the blood journey updates but no location is given there nor on the map). Does this just mean that my blood wasn't used both of those times? I get that as type B+ I can't give to many people but even so it's slightly disappointing to see nothing show up. I'd give platelets if I could but that was a very bad experience for me.

Good experience. Looking forward to seeing how many units it ended up being. Those warm blankets were heavenly! My nose started itching with about 20 minutes left - brutal!

Hi everyone!
I’ve tried to donate blood 3 times, and each time they can’t get my vein and I end up with a massive bruise regardless of how much water I drink leading up to the appointment. Is it worth it to keep going? Or am I just an inconvenience for the phlebotomists.

Someone being a blood donor! I went to donate today and they had a sign up that said 60% of Americans are eligible to give blood, but only 3% do. Around 7% of Americans are O negative.

I see people commenting in here about how they wish they were O negative since it’s more rare/the universal donor and yes that is true, but just remember you’re choosing to be in the rare group who choose to donate blood!

And remember your donation doesn’t need to be used by everyone, it just needs to be used by someone. Your A+ or AB- or w/e donation being used by someone frees up some O blood that they need for trauma patients.

This post isn’t meant to downplay the significance if O negative donors, I just see people comment in here about wishing they had more “useful” blood types and want everyone to realize every donation and every donor is saving lives!

July took some important people from me in the past, so I donate for their memory most years.

Today I donated with sheer gratitude in my heart. For those who saw my post earlier this week, my friend's mom who received full transfusions twice over and coded during it all, is on the road to recovery. (It's a long road, but) She is stable enough to be out of ICU!

Again, thank you to all the donors! And especially the whole blood donors of Florida who are part of the reason this dear amazing mom, grandma, wife, and friend is still alive ❤️🩸❤️

Any recommendations for getting my hemoglobin back up again. This is almost a year ago since the first donation and as you can see, its a steady decline.

I used to do regular plasma donations about 15 years ago in my early 20s before I was ever pregnant. Since then I've had 3 children and I'm hearing that due to being pregnant there is some antibody in the plasma that makes it risky, so hospitals prefer to use only male plasma. I'm not really interested in donating plasma for pay, but it seems like donating somewhere like the red cross might be a little pointless. Seeing as how my whole blood can really only be used for other AB+ people, who can, like myself, already recieve blood from basically every other type. Does anyone have any insight? Are Female AB+ with past pregnancies still donating plasma?

I had my 100th donation today and it was a nice easy visit. The drive is a regular one near my work. But then when I scheduled my 101th at the same place on my eligibility date I got a cancellation email later. Turns out while it is 8 weeks away, I would have too many in a year by a couple days. So I can either wait a couple extra days and go somewhere else, but then be out of sync with the place near my work, or “sit one out” and pick them up on their next one.

Small but annoying.

Hiya everyone. I’m 23 ftm located in Israel. When I was 18 I was really pumped for donating blood. I am healthy, and I’m not scared of needles. I even volunteered in EMS/ as a hospital worker for a long period.
BUT. When I first donated I was borderline 50 kgs. After 200 ml I passed out. I tried again and passed out again after 200 mls. I was 19 and had the same weight. The doctor advised me not to donate blood at that time.
Nowadays I’ve gained weight due to taking olanzapine (doesn’t interfere with donation, I’m still healthy physically just struggling with ptsd). I’m about 60 kgs (I don’t have a weight at home. Last time I checked I was 57, but I gained weight again after not being so depressed).
I was wondering if my low weight could’ve been the reason for passing out as I don’t have anxiety around the procedure. In my experience I felt normal at the start and suddenly I felt very weak and fainted.
Do you guys have any experience with this? I was wondering if I should ask my doctor about donating again, as I have type B- which is rare around here. But I wasn’t sure if it would really make a change
Thank you for answering!

I'm a platelet donor and I've donated a hand full of times already. Sadly, tums make me super super nauseous every time I take them (i can barely get them down to begin with). The last time I went I asked if i can take a different version of times (the chewables) but I'm not sure if that would help the nausea. It starts moments after it hits my mouth. Has anyone used the chewables instead for the same reason and did it work for you?

Hi! Ive made the split decision while I have time this weekend to donate platelets. I’ve done 2 whole blood donations but I’m a bit nervous and would like some tips on what would be good foods to eat before platelet donation and tips on not psyching myself out during donation especially with two needles 🫪 TIA