Donating blood....Again ?

[hollaatyaboyy1]

How’s it going guys.

got blood work done RBC/hemocrit/hemoglobin was pretty High I don’t have the numbers in front of me. I donated double red after the test and never got retested

I’m going to be visiting family out of state and I can donate again (different agency ). I have donated 2ce before. And everything was fine.

should I donate another double red or just go whole blood?

 

[maldorf]

Whole blood would be better since you just did a double, but we don't know what your level was. If you were up around hgb of 20 then you could probably do another double. You don't want to get your iron and hemoglobin too low. Im in that position now after having a GI bleed. My hemoglobin dropped from about 16.5 down to just 10 in a bit over 1 day, I bled so much. I felt like shit but am slowly getting better as I build more RBCs. Taking extra iron sucks because it make you constipated really bad. Taking a crap felt like giving birth! So you don't want to do that to yourself. I would get dizzy just standing up from the couch.

When you go to give blood they will do the test to see what your HCT/HGB is. They will be able to tell you if it is safe to do a double red or not. They could even turn you down for giving any blood if the numbers are too low. I would mostly rely on them for advice.

 

[hollaatyaboyy1]

Before my first donation I think I was at 20 and they were going to turn me down and they retested me and it and it was 18 I’m signed up for double red. I will see what they say when I go in !
Thanks brother

Whole blood would be better since you just did a double, but we don't know what your level was. If you were up around hgb of 20 then you could probably do another double. You don't want to get your iron and hemoglobin too low. Im in that position now after having a GI bleed. My hemoglobin dropped from about 16.5 down to just 10 in a bit over 1 day, I bled so much. I felt like shit but am slowly getting better as I build more RBCs. Taking extra iron sucks because it make you constipated really bad. Taking a crap felt like giving birth! So you don't want to do that to yourself. I would get dizzy just standing up from the couch.

When you go to give blood they will do the test to see what your HCT/HGB is. They will be able to tell you if it is safe to do a double red or not. They could even turn you down for giving any blood if the numbers are too low. I would mostly rely on them for advice.

 

[maldorf]

Before my first donation I think I was at 20 and they were going to turn me down and they retested me and it and it was 18 I’m signed up for double red. I will see what they say when I go in !
Thanks brother

Before my heart attack, blood clot, I had a hemoglobin of 20 and they turned me down. I think they tested me 2x too but it came back 20 both times.

That is really high, and they turn you down because they want you to seek professional help so that you find out why it is so high. Of course we know why it is! Id say that if you test at only 16 I would just do a whole blood. Not sure how long it has been since your last donation, but it has probably built back up some from where it was after your last one. After my bleed I have found that my hemoglobin has been going up by 1 in a week, that was before I was taking extra iron. I go in tomorrow to see where it is at again. I think when I was on steroids that my hemoglobin seemed to go up by about 1 a month or so.

 

[hollaatyaboyy1]

It was about 1 month ago or so

Before my heart attack, blood clot, I had a hemoglobin of 20 and they turned me down. I think they tested me 2x too but it came back 20 both times.

That is really high, and they turn you down because they want you to seek professional help so that you find out why it is so high. Of course we know why it is! Id say that if you test at only 16 I would just do a whole blood. Not sure how long it has been since your last donation, but it has probably built back up some from where it was after your last one. After my bleed I have found that my hemoglobin has been going up by 1 in a week, that was before I was taking extra iron. I go in tomorrow to see where it is at again. I think when I was on steroids that my hemoglobin seemed to go up by about 1 a month or so.

 

[hollaatyaboyy1]

Before my heart attack, blood clot, I had a hemoglobin of 20 and they turned me down. I think they tested me 2x too but it came back 20 both times.

That is really high, and they turn you down because they want you to seek professional help so that you find out why it is so high. Of course we know why it is! Id say that if you test at only 16 I would just do a whole blood. Not sure how long it has been since your last donation, but it has probably built back up some from where it was after your last one. After my bleed I have found that my hemoglobin has been going up by 1 in a week, that was before I was taking extra iron. I go in tomorrow to see where it is at again. I think when I was on steroids that my hemoglobin seemed to go up by about 1 a month or so.

just got here and because I denied the plasma donation (doesn’t lower rbc) they forced me to do whole blood.
With that said hemoglobin was 16.3. This should put me at a nice spot I assume

 

[Bio]

I wouldn't do double red and I definitely don't do it again this soon. You're going to have very low iron levels which is a different problem all together. Hopefully nothuman chimes in here.

 

[mike036]

I wouldn't do double red and I definitely don't do it again this soon. You're going to have very low iron levels which is a different problem all together. Hopefully nothuman chimes in here.

My iron and ferritin were single digits a few years back from frequent donations. Oddly my hemoglobin and hematocrit were still normal. Having low iron/ferritin was horrible. I felt dizzy and had no energy. For anyone that feels the need to donate wait 3-4 months in between donations.

 

[maldorf]

It was about 1 month ago or so

Yeah, wouldn't want to do a double at that level. You should be good to go for 3 months or more now.

 

[maldorf]

I wouldn't donate at all if your hemoglobin is down around 15. Like others said, you could get iron way too low if you donate too often. Personally, my iron is always on the lowest end of normal or just a bit below and I suffer no I'll effects. After my bleed it was even lower and hemoglobin was down to 10. I felt like shit. I've never felt bad from just having iron on a bit low, and as long as my hemoglobin is at least 14 or more I feel ok.thats my experience.

 

[hollaatyaboyy1]

I did whole blood. I feel pretty good right now. I’m actually doing a light cardio session. I know my iron is always on the high side. I’m not going to donate again for another 4 months

 

[maldorf]

I did whole blood. I feel pretty good right now. I’m actually doing a light cardio session. I know my iron is always on the high side. I’m not going to donate again for another 4 months

Good. One thing to keep in mind is that your hemoglobin/hematocrit wont actually drop until 24 hours or so after you lose the blood. It takes awhile for your body to build up the plasma that you lost, which in effect "waters down" the blood cells you have. Until then, your numbers are basically the same.