r/Blooddonors

I was never vaccinated as a child. But as an adult I'm catching up on my vaccinations. So far I've completed the MMR and have planned to do the rest within a year. Should I just wait until I've completed all the recommended vaccines? I'm embarrassed to talk about it in public so I don't really want to ask the staff in person...

So, I make too many red blood cells as a result of some meds. To combat this, I donate blood every 8-12 weeks or so. It's been working well for about two years now. I have O+ blood. I keep getting asked to donate platelets, but I have some concerns.

1. Since red blood cells and platelets are different, will donating platelets affect my ability to donate whole blood?

2. I am pretty well wrecked about giving blood. Unfortunately, I somehow also have low iron. It takes about 48 hours to get back to baseline even with extra supplements, carbs, protein, and hydration. Will platelets be the same?

3. Is platelets donation done with one arm or two? I know it's two needles, but I'm not sure how I would do if both arms were out of commission. I tend to have a strong vasavagal reaction to the sensation of the needle and have to stay very still. I used to be completely needle phobic, and I've come s really long way, but I'm worried that might be too much.

Thanks so much for any guidance.

So, I had a really strong reaction after donating today. From the moment I walked in to the moment I walked out, everything was just fine. The nurse told me I had “pretty good” veins in both arms, which was appreciated, and then I filled the bag in five minutes. They brought me something to eat and drink and then I had to wait a couple of minutes until I could go.

After waiting, they told me to walk to the bathroom and back and tell them if I felt bad. I didn’t so they let me walk out. Big mistake, as the moment I left the I started to feel my heart was beating too fast and I started to lose my vision and hearing. As I am dumb, I didn’t think much of it and tried to tough it out but as I started walking again I could feel myself getting weaker by the second. I tried to cross the street and next thing I know I'm on the floor shaking violently, not being able to hear or see properly. I cross the street, as I was laying in the middle of it, and try to find somewhere to seat and I lose consciousness again.

Open my eyes again, somebody is trying to make me lay flat on the floor but I'm still shaking and I can’t understand what is happening, I'm hearing voices but I don't know what they’re asking. I'm in and out of consciousness for a couple of minutes. When I open my eyes again it has been a couple of minutes and a nice stranger is helping me sit down and passing me a bottle of water, another one is on the phone with the emergency services, they asked me if I just donated blood and I'm able to say yes. Somebody else passes me a a bottle of coke and I drink it, and as soon as I do I start to feel better.

The kind strangers stay with me until I'm looking better and I call to the number the clinic gave me in case I felt bad after donating. They tell me a nurse is going to call me back in couple of minutes. I make my way home, I'm still nauseous and my heart is still pounding too fast but I'm able to walk. As I'm on the bus the nurse calls me and as I explained what happened, she tells me its better for me to wait a couple of years before I try again.

I'm just a bit curious, is this a normal reaction? Or I'm just weak. I'm from the UK.

So, this was me trying to do something good. Thank you for reading all that.

The last time I donated blood was a few years ago, and I passed out and peed my pants shortly after sitting down and having my juice 🤦🏻‍♀️ I also have veins that can be hard to stick, so I always end up getting stabbed several times and the phlebotomists get frustrated.

I live in the biggest city of a very rural state, so I want to donate to the nonprofit that supplies to the local hospitals. I know how important donating plasma is due to my blood type (AB+), but I don’t want to pass out or get turned away because of my veins. Also, having a needle in each arm sounds awful and I’d want to be able to distract myself scrolling TikTok or something.

Does anyone have advice for setting myself up well for the appointment? Both physically and mentally?

Not long after we give blood in the UK we get a message of where it was issued

I have always given blood in Sheffield but for example last time it was issued in Manchester (about 90 minutes away) not once has my donation been issued in Sheffield

Logistically why is is the case? I am o- is this not needed in Sheffield at all? No hospital close by needs it?. Especially the fact that Manchester has far more people with donors there it’s not a small town that needs it.

Last night I (mostly) completed my 5th platelet donation. The previous 4 went without issue. I went to the same location and had the same person working the shift at the time I would come in. She could find my veins easily and it was always pain free. Sometimes I’d bruise after but the worst part was those cheap Red Cross headphones that seem to always be on the verge of falling off my head.

Last night I went after not being able to donate for months (medication didn’t allow me to donate) and it was horrible from the get go. I guess she doesn’t work there anymore since the donation centers seem to have high turnover. There was intense burning when I got the needle inserted that I’ve never felt before. The person said it’s normal and should go away. I saw the next few people he inserted also complained of burning. They were older and he actually had to get someone else to help adjust the placement.

The placement was in a location I’ve never had before and it was uncomfortable for most of the donation. 15 min before the end of the donation the needle was no longer connected to the vein, both my arms went numb, and they had to stop the donation. I have a gigantic bruise on one of the sites and my vein still hurts today. They said they will likely still be able to use what the machine collected at least based on the volume.

I don’t want to be dramatic but I definitely feel less inclined to donate again and am thinking of switching to just whole blood since it’s quicker and simpler. For those of you who donate regularly do you sometimes get experiences like this? I’ve always been told I have great veins that are easy to find so I figured most of my donations would be easy.

I'm not concerned but curious

The lady looking after my during my donation commented on how dark my blood was. My hemoglobin isn't particularly high, in fact I was one point above the cut off.

It also tends to run quite slowly even though I drank 4L+ yesterday and today.

Any ideas?

Just wanted to share my experience, as it's been weighing on me for the past few weeks.

In early 2025, I (32M) saw a notice for a neighborhood blood drive and felt compelled to donate for the first time (B-). It was mostly inspired by my week-long hospital stay back in 2023-2024 and wanting to give back. Starting August 2025, I went to the local Red Cross donation center and made it a routine to go every 8+ weeks, depending on my schedule. The staff there are great and my experiences have been extremely positive.

In late 2025 and early 2026, I started experiencing difficulty running / cycling at my typical paces. I had high HRs and was unable to stay in zone 2 despite slowing 2+ min/mile. I also experienced coughing fits that would last for 30-60 minutes after exercising. Even running up the stairs would increase my HR enough to make it noticeable.

A few weeks ago, I finally reached out to my PCP as these symptoms weren't going away as I got closer to a 10K race day. Blood results reported ferritin 6ng/mL, iron sat 7%, serum iron 28ug/dL, and hemoglobin 11.1g/dL, and some other low levels (hematocrit, MCH, MCHC). My hemoglobin never flagged (13.4 - 15.8) before my donation appointments, but it probably would have this time if I didn't cancel.

Thank you all for the resources / experiences here that helped me understand the reason behind my symptoms. I'm meeting with hematology next week and I'll see what they recommend. I feel a little disappointed that I didn't notice these things sooner with all the resources out there (or maybe I didn't want to give up the coveted Lorna Doones in the recovery area lol).

I really hope that I'm able to donate again, but with modifications that will allow me to better handle the iron loss... I am one away from a gallon!!

I just discovered this sub. So glad to see it.

In 1975, I went out from my office for lunch and saw a BloodMobile. I dared myself to go in. And that was it. Here are some assorted anecdotes:

Back in the day, it was a three-year deferment if you traveled to a malaria area. I did a lot of travel to really off-the-beaten-track places and fell off the blood bank database. After I finally was able to donate again, I got a letter a couple of days later. I was scared to open it. What did they find?!

When I finally opened it, it said "Welcome new donor!" I called them & said "For heaven's sake, put that on the outside of the envelope!"

I have really good veins. When I was doing whole blood, I used to track my time. My personal best was 4:30. I almost never went over 5 minutes.

Then, they did some additional testing. "You are CMV negative. We'd like you to switch to platelets." So I did. And I go in every three weeks now.

I was wearing a 10-gallon donor shirt when a man in scrubs came up to me in a supermarket. "Have you really donated that much?" "Actually, quite a bit more." "Thank you! I'm a surgeon. Blood is one of the most important things."

A few years later, my spouse had a bleeding ulcer that suddenly blew into an artery. Luckily, it happened while my spouse was hospitalized in ICU. Staff went into crisis mode. Believe me, you do not want to get a call from a hospital social worker saying "You need to return to the hospital NOW." When I got there, my spouse was in surgery and the principal doctor was writing up a report. Well, he was trying to write a report. His hands were shaking so hard, he couldn't write.

The nurses told me that as soon as it happened, the doctor turned to ice. Delivering clear, concise orders. And, of course, many orders were for blood. One nurse described how she sat under my spouse's bed, squeezing bags of blood. He made it, after getting 12 units of blood in less than 24 hours.

All in all, a dozen people saved his life by being blood donors.

I donate now because it's payback time.

Bad experiences?

I had donated a double units of platelets. That afternoon, I stupidly didn't use the guard on a mandolin slicer. I wrapped up my finger & headed for the ER. Problem was, since I was so low on platelets, my blood wouldn't clot. By the time I checked in, blood was running down my arm. That got me seen immediately. The doctor had to put a tourniquet on my finger in order to stitch me up.

Another time, just as the nurse was inserting the needle, the guy next to me fainted and someone called her name.She whipped the needle through the vein. I wound up with a golfball-sized hematoma.

And I still donate. Twelve people saved my spouse's life. I can never repay that enough.

My blood bank recently offered a customized T-shirt. "I donate for [insert reason here]." I got one honoring my spouse.

When I talk to people abut donating, I talk about whole blood. "What else can you do that takes about an hour, has a whole bunch of people constantly telling you how wonderful you are, gets your free food, and—when you leave, you flat out know you saved someone's life."

I don’t know if I saw this in an email, instagram post of the Red Cross app but does anyone know of a saying where the Red Cross states that rarest blood is donated blood? Like they lay out how only 3% of people donate blood. I can’t for the life of me find the email or find it online but I swear it exists and I’m 99% sure it’s from the Red Cross. I want to find it so bad cause it made me really happy 🫶🏼

I made my first attempt at a blood donation on October 19, 2017. But since then, I've only actually successfully donated 11 units, because I kept not scheduling donations at the minimum possible interval, but sometimes at 6-month or more intervals, and getting myself deferred.

Out of 16 total donation appointments booked since 2017 (which itself is already a shameful number, since in theory I can book once every 3 months), I got deferred from four of them for low hemoglobin, and I also got deferred once for an entire year due to having gotten a doctor to check out an unusual mole on my head. (It was benign, but it took about the entire year for the dermatologist appointment, biopsy, and lab results to be completed.) And at my most recent appointment in June 2026, I once again got deferred for 6 months due to low ferritin.

Everyone tells me that it's simple, that I just need to make it a priority, and that I just need to have the motivation. That if you really cared about other people, you'd make it happen, you'd be motivated to make it happen. Nothing about the blood donation community makes me feel more motivated. I know I'll never reach even 50 lifetime donations, let alone 100, that everyone is so proud of.

And recently, everyone in my life (not just r/blooddonors, but everyone I know in all other walks of life, and Blood Canada too) has been insisting that I need to donate because there's a shortage, and that if you're not, you "need to fix your heart" and "have no empathy for other people".

But my last appointment was on June 16, 2026. I won't be allowed at all until September, and if I want to adhere to my personal deferral, until December. Which means I am explicitly blocked from donating during the shortage.

Ultimately, I think I'm trying to take advantage of the system. I want to have the social cachet of being "a blood donor" while not actually living up to the expectations of being one. Because if I was, I'd actually, you know, feel motivated instead of feeling like shit at the prospect of booking my next appointment. If I cared about other people, I'd be making it work, and actually racking up donations, instead of sneaking in a few times a year and still just getting myself deferred instead of donating.

The most parsimonious explanation for my behaviour is that I don't care if other people die. So I'm inclined to just quit, take myself off the donor list, and stop lying to everyone.

Over the past year I’ve become a regular donor and saw that my app said “hero for babies” which I guess means I am cmv negative! I am also O+.

Should I be donating platelets (instead/in addition to)? If so, is platelet donation harder on you?

22f O-, from Italy, I started donating blood about two years ago and every time I get really grossed out and anxious and I almost faint, last time I even started shivering and couldn't stop.

I know it's a normal bodily reaction, but I'm not a first timer and my body always reacts as if I've never done this before. It's frustrating because I attract all attention and I wish I could just be like every other donor in the room and get up and have a coffee after donating, but no, I need the male nurse to put my feet up on a box and everyone Is watching the frail woman being babied like a pale victorian lady.

To make things worse my half sister's a nurse at the blood clinic and she once told me that nurses make fun of the ones like me behind their back. And I get it, to them is a normal day of work and I'm a classic inconvenience, and as long as they are kind upfront (which they've been) it's fine , but I can't help but wish I could be more "chill" when donating. Also, being afraid to react like that and make a fool of myself doesn't help my anxiety.

I drink plenty of water, I contract my leg muscles during the process and I never look at the needle, but I still feel anxious in the pit of my stomach and I always almost faint.

My transfusion center just called to ask me to donate as the 0- reserves are low, but I'm (pretty selfishly) scared... Any advice?