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Has anyone donated blood before? (1 Viewer)

Kittikhun

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Out of curiosity since I'm thinking about doing so. So if you have, what was the process like? Did you feel like fainting after donating? Do they allow skinny people to donate blood? Do they allow vegetarians to donate blood? (I'm not vegetarian by the way, I eat fish and eggs but not meat. I'm weird.)

Thanks.
 

iMAN2

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Yea, I've donated blood.

The test your iron stores using a portable test (quick prick of the finger) and if they are sufficient then they'll let you go ahead. This test is the most painful part of the whole procedure so yea.. the blood taking doesn't hurt very much at all.

Have a nice big healthy breakfast and lunch and you'll be fine. I had toast and cereal for breakfast and for lunch two sandwhiches, an apple, and some juice. Didn't feel like fainting, it was quite a relaxed proccess. But if you do feel like fainting or drowsy/dizzy then they'll stop immediately or put your chair down so the blood flow to your head increases.

They check your weight before you do it so if you're skinny that would mean less weight so they could possibly restrict you from donating.

It doesn't matter if you're vegetarian or not, theyll just be checking your iron stores, weight and some personal medical/health details.

We had a portable van come to our school because we usually get heaps of people donating so it was pretty relaxed and fun. We had competitions to see who could donate blood the fastest lol. The record was a girl who did it in like 3 or 4 minutes or something similar.
 

Bendent

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i had blood test before lol

not scary at all

pricking finger hurts arm doesnt
 

purplemonkey

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The record was a girl who did it in like 3 or 4 minutes or something similar.
Wow, that's crazy! She must be good at maintaining her blood pressure. Like everyone else has said, giving blood is super-easy, if it's you're first time you'll have to fill in all the forms about your medical history and stuff. Definitely make sure you have a decent breakkie / lunch and stacks of fluid to get your blood volume up. The finger prick test is the most painful part of the process, I hate it! But you feel awesome after because they feed you snacks and juice, plus you've just saved three lives :) also, in a few weeks they'll send you a donor I.D. card which you take with you everytime after that. And you get to find out your blood group for free! (if you do it through a G.P. its like $40)

Tell your friends to donate! Only 1 in 30 people do, but 1 in 3 of us will need a blood donation in our lives
 

lyounamu

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I donate every 3 months. It's a really good thing to do.

If you get a dodgy nurse, it hurts like hell because he/she would insert the needle incorrectly. I got this nurse once and I had to stay put in agony for 15 minutes.
 

random-1005

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I donate every 3 months. It's a really good thing to do.

If you get a dodgy nurse, it hurts like hell because he/she would insert the needle incorrectly. I got this nurse once and I had to stay put in agony for 15 minutes.

namu is in pain, i like
 

Kolya

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I do, if you've got sufficient iron levels there's no worries, if you donate plasma you'll feel a little woosey a few hours afterwards but nothing much else
 

SoMeRaNdOm.

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other things that stop you from donating is if your pulse or blood pressure is too low or too high.

haven't donated in a while because of this dog of a nurse that i got for my interview!

i was ment to donate the day of the big dust storm. my school school walked down to the donation centre as usual, then climbed two flights of stairs to get to the donation centre. i filled out the regular questionaire and the next thing i know ive been dragged into the interview room as im a returning donor so i dont have to be put into the system.

anyways my iron levels was a ok but because i had inhaled all that dust my pulse was sky high and so was my blood pressure. instead of sending me to sit back down for another 10 mins she fills out this form that has to be filled out by my doctor because there is an 'underlying condition'.

basically ive decided that they dont want my blood.

just so you know when i went home and had 10minutes rest my blood pressure and pulse was back to normal infact my pulse was half that of what was read by the machine.
 

krels

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yeah i donated for the 2nd time two days ago and i feel fine. the people are really helpful and its for a cause. lol i think its most painful when they prick your finger to test your iron levels, its practically nothing!
 

emiliieee

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yup i have. but i've stopped now. not because i dont want to help. only because i dont like needles in the first place.

depends how skinny. they have like a little test thing to see if you can. ..they prick your finger and check your blood and ask questions like i dunno have you had sex recently or some jizz.
 

Sarebs

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I can't give blood :( but a lot of my school friends have. Fainting isn't unusual, and I haven't heard anyone complain too much about the pain.

With the weight thing, I know the threshold is about 45kg, perhaps 50kg. You can find it on the website.
 

Casablancas

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if ur healthy DO IT. Really rewarding. I was paranoid i was going to collapse or something. The only time I've seen that happen was when my chick friend donated KNOWING she was really ill. Read the requirements and don't tick any of the boxes on the form unless you actually meet that requirement
oh and 'too skinny' = weighing 50kg or less.

In all, its a great thing. Jig some classes, hang out with friends, free food and you feel like a hero :D
 

thehugeman

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yep i donated before too, it's quite an unforgetable experience, the iron test with your finger is not really painful, more like ant biting, and i was given milkshake and some other sugar-containing things like chocolate bar afterwards too so my body could make more blood, hence i didn't faint.
 

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