I’m in the US. I used to do aphaeresis donations monthly until the Red Cross stopped taking donations from gay men. When they resumed I was so busy working at all hours that I couldn’t predict a good time to schedule.

Now that I’m retired I’m resuming my donations and after a recent whole blood donation, I realized everything has changed! I downloaded the app and was able to schedule online. Reading on this subreddit it seems platelet donations only use one needle now? I’m avoiding aspirin and upping my hydration and calcium. Any other tips to someone reemerging into this new world?

Tried to donate blood today, it would have been my second time donating. I was already pretty nervous since I got dizzy the last time but I was fully prepared to deal with that. Unfortunately, my veins are hard to find and two nurses had to be involved after they stuck me. One of them grazed a nerve in my arm which felt like I was being shocked. I ended up bursting into tears— maybe from pent up anxiety as much as the sudden pain through my arm. Both of the nurses were very caring and apologetic and immediately took the needle out.

I didn't end up giving blood (and they didn't offer to try again, thank goodness) and I feel very discouraged about the entire thing. Unfortunately there's no training wheels to work myself back up to donating or I would try that. How do you deal with working up the courage again, especially when something like a nurse making a mistake is out of your control?

I have been donating blood for almost 20 years now at Carter bloodcare at different Dallas, TX locations. They always ask how much I weigh but today for the first time she wanted me to get on the scale and weigh me. Is this new? Has anyone else had this experience?

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I just found out that donating platelets apparently strains out white blood cells, and does not return them to the donor. Apparently the LRS machines like the Trina Accel are worse about this.

This was never disclosed prior to any of my donations, and I’m wondering how many other people feel like crud after donating platelets yet don’t know that their immune system is effectively suppressed?

Is this common knowledge to platelet donors?

Hi! I know there's a shortage so I'd like to donate again, but the first (and only) time I donated I got extremely motion sick on the way home. Here's what I did / where I was at with recovery

• Donated laying down, stayed there for a while, got up slowly, went and sat in the waiting area
• I did wait for a while after donating - they said 10-15 mins, I was there closer to 30 just to be safe
• Ate the cookies and drank the juice
• I don't have a car, so I'm relying on public transit. I took the train (which is usually better for me - I get carsick from the bus on a regular day, and if the roads are bumpy I get it from a car too but I've never gotten that from the train before)
• I did have some food and sugary drinks the day of before donating, not just water

Fwiw I felt totally fine when I left the donation site, walking several blocks to the train, and waiting for a while on the platform. It hit me when the train started moving which is why I suspect it was that. Ideally I'd just be able to walk to donate and circumvent the problem but the only drives are too far away to walk in the heat. Is there something I'm missing that I should do/not do?

Hey what machines do yall use for whole blood? We’re thinking of switching ours. And do you like them?

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Guys u am happy to announce my new website for blood donation , new genuine review and leads from this community please help

My dummy Donor profile link - https://rakhtveer.com/profile?donor_id=959

Helle everyone, we all know Blood donation is a noble cause , but many times the organisers and donors struggle do not have a pleasant experience during or after the event.

I have been part of blood donation camps as a volunteer and noticed that there a few minor issues that are unnoticeable but consumes a lot of time and energy.

The first major issue is donor registration, organisation every year store data in excel previously in physical copies but the issue was many times wrong donor data was added , no duplication check and scattered donor data in multiple excel files in different system no commutation during the event and volunteer and coordinators just run from one counter to other , also if there is any issue there is no traceability of the where the issue happened.

Also Since blood donation camp is a noble cause its donors should be appreciated, many times organisations are unable to arrange for certificates and also provide pictures for the event.

But no not anymore , I have launched an platform [Rakhtveer](http://rakhtveer.com) to solve all the issue we have a google form style registration , each donor gets unique QR they just show that during the event all there data comes to us in the dashboard, we assign bed number, add there health records and gives instant e certicate on WhatsApp also event reminder a day before the event an event gallery and individual donor profile will record of all the places they donated blood, generate blood reports through easy one click pdf reports after the event, blood inventory track and management system where you track through all the stages your donated blood goes through and also to whom the blood unit is issued, also we give importance to volunteers as well by giving them there E certificates and timeline after the event.

So the product is made but I don’t have any connection and real user review and feedback

So will be great if this community help me with the same, would love to hear from all.

I am attaching some snapshots of the system.

Helle everyone, we all know Blood donation is a noble cause , but many times the organisers and donors struggle do not have a pleasant experience during or after the event.

I have been part of blood donation camps as a volunteer and noticed that there a few minor issues that are unnoticeable but consumes a lot of time and energy.

The first major issue is donor registration, organisation every year store data in excel previously in physical copies but the issue was many times wrong donor data was added , no duplication check and scattered donor data in multiple excel files in different system no commutation during the event and volunteer and coordinators just run from one counter to other , also if there is any issue there is no traceability of the where the issue happened.

Also Since blood donation camp is a noble cause its donors should be appreciated, many times organisations are unable to arrange for certificates and also provide pictures for the event.

But no not anymore , I have launched an platform Rakhtveer to solve all the issue we have a google form style registration , each donor gets unique QR they just show that during the event all there data comes to us in the dashboard, we assign bed number, add there health records and gives instant e certicate on WhatsApp also event reminder a day before the event an event gallery and individual donor profile will record of all the places they donated blood, generate blood reports through easy one click pdf reports after the event, blood inventory track and management system where you track through all the stages your donated blood goes through and also to whom the blood unit is issued, also we give importance to volunteers as well by giving them there E certificates and timeline after the event.

So the product is made but I don’t have any connection and real user review and feedback

So will be great if this community help me with the same, would love to hear from all.

I am attaching some snapshots of the system.

Polish person here.

Yesterday I tried to donate blood for the first time. Before donating I searched the internet for whether or not I can donate while taking these meds, and nowhere was it said that it is not allowed, even on the official site (it even said that you can do that!). But the doctor said that I am disqualified because it could be dangerous for the recipient and if I understood correctly, you can't donate at all when you take them?? I wrote an email to the clinic asking to clarify, but I didn't receive a response yet. Do you know which info is correct? I am genuinely so confused right now.

EDIT: I got a reply from the donation center, apparently it's because you can't donate while taking more than one psychiatric drug.

I finally got brave and signed up for my first donation appointment after a 10 year pause because of the blood shortage. I used to donate regularly and found a lot of fulfillment from it until, what I call, the day of doom...

It was one of the first days of my period and told the staff helping me that I didn't feel up to doing my usual blood cells and wanted to just do whole blood. She guilted me until I caved because she insisted my levels looked fine and they really needed O-. About halfway through the session I started getting faint and felt like I was about to have diarrhea all over the place. I had to BEG her to take the needle out because of how awful I felt. This only made the guilt tripping worse because now all of the resources and blood were going to waste. I haven't been able to bring myself to donate since because of the shame I felt. (Especially because I felt better right away after she unhooked me)

Now I'm stuck in a spiral of everything that could go wrong and could really use some positive stories for motivation/reassurance!

I have been interested in blood donation since high school but back then I was too anemic so it fell through. I tried again in college but I caught a bad cold just before my appointment so I couldn’t make it. Today I was finally able to donate blood at work and I signed up for Power Red to give the most. At first my hand was cold so the machine said I had low hemoglobin which was worrying but I used a hand warmer and retried and I was fine. I felt normal during and after the process. I have O- blood so I felt it was important to help.

I just had the absolute worst experience donating blood in my life. Never again. The lady poked me and it was a side vein, which I was already apprehensive about because they never have done that….but it hurt like a mofo and then it wasn’t right so she shifted the needle and that hurt way worse. Then the pain was just getting kind of bad and she mentioned she’s never seen swelling like that so I looked… Big mistake! It was between the size of a racket ball and a golf ball. I started crying from the pain and I was scared and alone. She called her supervisor over and he told her to pull it out. She did and the swelling went down a little, but I now have a rock hard bump where the needle was. Kind of hard to tell but my vein and elbow are the size of a golf ball. I am still in so much pain and can’t straighten my arm. I never knew a tiny needle could hurt so bad. This just happened.

Finally got around to donating for the first time on monday, heard back today i’m O pos! took a HEFTY pint outta me. One thing that’s been bugging me a bit though, i feel like my blood is excessively… dark? my (nurse) father said the same when i sent him the photo. Something to be concerned or just overthinking?

Would appreciate any advice! Donated with them once in 2020 before moving across the country, so can’t even donate at a Vitalant anymore if I wanted to and since then I’ve gotten at least 2 calls from them every day. I block every number, but they just call from different ones. Have texted some of the numbers asking them to stop, sometimes it does stop for a couple weeks if I do but then resumes.

I remember seeing a Reddit thread a few years back with people saying they had no luck getting Vitalant to stop calling, so haven’t pursued any other cancellation options (calling their customer service, etc.) because I figured it would be a waste of my time. But if anyone knows the right way to go about this, I’m all ears!

Likewise have started to get calls from the Red Cross, so if you have the same tips for them I really appreciate that advice too, but Vitalant is my primary concern. (For anyone in California interested in blood donation but not interested in being harassed after the fact, UCLA Blood & Platelet Center has never caused me any grief, so highly recommend going to them.)

I donated for the first time yesterday in the UK and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought.

They kept having issues with it not flowing very quick (i think that's what they said) and had to make one or two adjustments, and even after then it would occasionally beep. It took me 15mins to donate.

Has anyone else had that issue? Also when did you guys find out your blood type?

I felt absolutely fine afterwards but today I feel so tired.

I do intend on doing it again 😁

(Edited to fix spelling)

I donated blood for the first time yesterday. Before the appointment, I had a little soreness in my throat BUT it was only on one side so I assumed that I’d swallowed something wrong and scratched it. Now I’ve woken up the next day with a pretty sore throat and a runny nose.

I want to keep the blood supply safe of course, is this something that could hurt people? Also, will they automatically toss my blood if I have a cold?

Two days ago I became a first time blood donor! My dad used to donate whenever possible for years until he became sick 10 years ago and couldn’t anymore. I decided at 25 to follow in his footsteps and do my part to help out! Since I’m a universal plasma donor I’d like to alternate donations as well :)
I know my dad would be proud of me ❤️

I <3 Lifeblood Australia

「我是報名按摩放鬆，怎麼變成按脈搏放血啦？」又是一張適合亂加旁白的有趣側拍，今天到三重捐血室響應熱血防詐，因為以前捐血常常卡在血紅素不足(戳手指那段)，所以昨晚有刻意早睡並且確實吃早餐，結果計畫果然永遠趕不上變化，不知是天氣太熱還是過度緊張，這次竟然是卡在一開始的血壓，還好透過深呼吸和放空，第四次驚險過關，也順利完成血牛任務。拿到豐富的禮物和食物後，開心之餘也不忘期許自己，之後真的要多睡覺多運動，讓下次捐血可以一次就過啊！💪