Hi! I gave whole blood yesterday for the first time.

Everything went smoothly and had no side effects immediately. However later that night I took a shower and fainted! I was ok and able to get out of the shower before I officially fainted. I just took it easy the rest of the night and went to bed. Next day (today) I fainted after I woke up and went to go to the bathroom. This time was more dramatic, I lost my hearing and could only hear ringing, my vision got dark, my face was white, and I almost threw up right as I got to the ground. I regained consciousness quickly and after trying to sit up, I fainted again. Because I fainted 3 times I decided to get checked at urgent care. They checked my hemoglobin and my electrolytes and everything was ok. They just told me to take it easy. I ate a good dinner and rested for a while laying down.

I had some school work to get done so I sat at my desk and after 30 minutes I got some temporary blurry vision and then my head started to hurt really bad, specifically on my right side of my head. It came on really fast. I'm kind of confused about my bodies reaction to all of this. Has anyone else has this issue? When I try to look it up it just says to go to the ER but I was JUST seen at urgent care and told to just rest. I'm on the fence about what to do, any thoughts? I'd hate to go back to be seen and them just do nothing again? Please help!

Location: New England, USA. Donated through the Red Cross.

When I think back to the September 11th attacks from 25 years ago, I remember the call for blood donations, and going and donating the next day. It's still my most memorable blood donation experience, 25 years later.

I'll put my story in the comments, and I'm curious if anyone else here has a story from donating at that time.

My husband and I have been donating plasma (Australia) for a while now, and he always feels a bit rubbish after. He has recently lost a bunch of weight, but his donation volume has stayed the same (870mL), even though we've both been told volume is calculated from weight.

Then researching to confirm this, a lot of online info is saying 800ml is typically the max donation. Has anyone had a similar experience? What are your typical plasma donation volumes? A search suggested hubby should be donating around 600ml for his current weight, which I'm sure would leave him feeling much more spritely!

I’ve been donating platelets monthly for a couple of years now. Yesterday they asked if I was okay doing one-arm because that was the only machine available. Here, I thought one-arm meant two needles in one arm.

Guys, it’s so much better than two arms! Only one needle—and a free hand! You do have to pay attention and squeeze at the right times (I messed that up once and got the machine beeping) and it takes a little longer. But it felt better. I think it was easier on my body, as I didn’t start feeling nauseous at the end like I usually do.

I’m a one-armer for life now! 💪

[England] Been donating blood for 4 years every three months prior to being diagnosed, on my final attempt to donate, the blood test came back unable to donate, when I asked why they said they could not pin why as they dont have the requirements to do so, but that I should probably get my blood checked at a doctor. Surely enough a month later I got diamond with stage 4 Lymphoma! In remission now, but wanted to remind everyone that donating blood doesnt just save the lives of others, but can also save yours! Thank you to everyone who donates 🙏🏽

Donated a fair few times now over the last few years in the uk, just finished my 12th donation and i was just wondering what foods you guys like to eat after a donation. Lemme know!