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Thread: Donating blood

  1. #51
    Leo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    i have given blood once but as i had epilepsy as a child i risk bringing on a fit by giving blood so to be totally honest i have chickened out since, i felt faint for ages after i gave blood and felt like i was going to throw up everytime i stood up. I understand the need for blood donors and whilst my Mom was fighting cancer she was given transfusions and platelets (apologies for spelling) , i just wish i could be braver, i have been 9 years without a fit and i just dont want to risk it again. I think anyone who gives blood deserves a huge HUG so here

    *hugs to everyone who gives blood*

    oh and i am on the organ donor list

    Leo xx
    Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do

  2. #52
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I give blood 4 times a year. I have O- blood, which is the universal donor. At least once a year they use my blood for "baby" bags, which is the same amount of blood taken, but they break it up into smaller pouches for use on babies. Knowing that my blood is used in this way keeps me donating. I also have many family and friends who eat meat, so I never think about if it is going to a vegan or not. The people that it goes to is somebody's mother, father, husband, wife or child. A person in need is a person in need.

    My advice for giving blood is to eat iron rich foods for a week before, and eat *a lot* of iron the day of. My favorite is a spinach salad with beets on it. Also, take your own snack for after donation. I take a Soy milk single pack, a bottled water and some trail mix. They typically only have a juice-like substance and conventional cookies available for the "snack". It seems like they could keep some vegan options available, but they don't. Hmmm....that gives me an idea for something else to donate.....

  3. #53
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    in the UK we're only allowed to give blood three times a year. we get very similar snacks afterwards so i always take my own along with me too

    i've missed one session because of having my tattoo, but at least they only ban you from donating for six months now, instead of a year like it was before. i'm looking forward to donating again when my six months are up
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  4. #54
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I'd love to donate blood to anyone but I'm not allowed to as I had a blood transfusion during the "mad cow" era. I'm not allowed to give bone marrow either
    Silent but deadly :p

  5. #55
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I went to give blood on Tuesday for the first time in ten years. My co-worker is a universal donor bloodtype and they're always calling her up and she asked me if I wanted to go. I thought I'd try, even though last time I ended up being sick on the nurse. This time I got through about 5-6 minutes fine then started feeling rotten and like I was going to chuck up really suddenly and they had to take the needle out

    So they took the needle out, applied pressure and bandage, I lay there for a couple of minutes then I felt fine, so I sat up and was going to get up and then noticed my arm had started bleeding again. They had to reapply the plaster and I had to lie down again, and that happened a couple of times. Yesterday I felt like I was on tranquilizers, and my co-worker and my friend who I'd also dragged along said they felt the same.

    The most irritating thing about it, besides me thinking I probably shouldn't try again because it's just a waste of the blood donor center staff's time if they can't get a full pint, is that I mentioned I felt a bit off to my mum last night and she immediately asked me if I'd had the re-bleeding problem because I was missing some blood clotting property in my blood because of my vegan diet.

    And today I told a different co-worker I was going to take annual leave because I felt a bit sluggish after giving blood and there was no point in me sitting there feeling crappy if I could take leave and go home and she said "oh, have you seen a doctor, you haven't been feeling right for a while now, have you?" - I haven't been off sick all winter, apart from with menstrual cramps once, and I've had a sore throat that everyone in the office seems to have had (but not been off with it), but she has it in her head that I don't eat enough vitamins because I'm vegan (she actually said this to me) and nothing in her head is now going to dislodge me as the "sickly vegan" in her mind

  6. #56
    Kevster
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    That doesn't sound so good, my last visit to the blood donor centre was great! The lady who did all the stuff was very skilled and everything went really well, it doesn't always work out that way, they also gave me info on being a platelets donor which i might follow up.

  7. #57
    fortified twinkle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Ooh, they had leaflets on that - we read them when we were having our squash and bourbon biscuits afterwards (they had two types of biscuits that were vegan - yay!). can you let me know how it goes if you do decide to do that, Kevster, as I think my friend was thinking about it.

  8. #58
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    i had a problem with re-bleeding a couple of times, but i'm sure it's nothing to do with being vegan. sorry you had a bad experience twinkle, i don't really know if there's anything you can do, maybe some people just aren't suited to giving blood.
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  9. #59
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    re-bleeding can happen for all sorts of reasons. Before I was vegan, it would happen to me all the time, and I even had too low of iron a couple times. One of the biggest things that can happen (at least this is what I've been told) that causes that is dehydration. Most people don't drink enough fluid *before* giving blood. You should also eat a small meal right before giving and avoid caffeine for 12 hours prior.

  10. #60
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I donate blood when I can.

    A blood center gave me a great tip on an iron rich food - Prune juice! a cup of that stuff is 30% of your daily allowance. It is sooooo sweet though. It tastes like mashed up raisins. I drank it over ice to help with the sweetness. It wasn't bad, considering I had never had it before. I love plums.

    Lots of places say raisins, but they really don't have that much iron unless you are going to eat an obscene amount. I think broccoli is good for iron too. I always eat that anyway, and spinach. You have to eat a lot of spinach though.

  11. #61
    ♥♥♥ Tigerlily's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    And you have to eat spinach with vitamin C to absorb the iron.
    Peace, love, and happiness.

  12. #62
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote Tigerlily
    And you have to eat spinach with vitamin C to absorb the iron.

    Yes, that is the one vitamin i probably overdoes on. I eat loads of fresh peppers and orange juice and it is in almost all fruits and veggies and multivitamins.

    i never worry about getting enough of that.

  13. #63
    AR Activist Roxy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    My Grandma had an operation last week and she hemoraged twice, and had to receive blood twice

    Anyway, it gave me the motivation I needed to get off my bum and go and donate blood.

    I have my appointment on May 5th.

  14. #64
    tabitha
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    I dont know if I can give blood any more. I will have to find out. I have had tattoos and blood transfusions in the last year or two.

  15. #65
    feral
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    I'm not alowed to give blood as they're not sure if ME/CFS can be passed on in the blood... I don't think my blood would be very good for someone's who's already ill/injured. I'm not sure if I have 8pts in me as some people with ME don't have full blood volume. I've told hubby if it ever comes to it to warn the docs that I have/had ME if they're ever going to use my organs.

  16. #66
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I have uptmost admiration for people who give blood, i have never donated - i am petrified of needles and the thought of it makes me go all funny

    It's stupid; i have 5 piercings and 5 tattoos but i can't bear injections. I've never had to give even a blood sample.

    Being a motorcyclist i feel i have an obligation, as i have no doubt someone will end up scraping me off the road putting me in a bin liner and dropping me at hospital to be fixed (hopefully ).

    It could be a fear of the unknown, maybe once i'm forced into a situation to give a sample or something, if i don't have a cardiac at the thought I will donate.

    need to lie down for a bit after writing that much about blood
    I dont get crunchy people?

  17. #67
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote tabitha
    I dont know if I can give blood any more. I will have to find out. I have had tattoos and blood transfusions in the last year or two.
    if you've had a blood transfusion in the UK since 1980, you can't give blood. sorry
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  18. #68
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote veganbikerboy
    I have uptmost admiration for people who give blood, i have never donated
    Thanks mate.

    - i am petrified of needles and the thought of it makes me go all funny
    It does not hurt at all. Just like a pinch. So you should try it sometime. The needles are very thin and you won't feel anything.

    It's stupid; i have 5 piercings and 5 tattoos but i can't bear injections. I've never had to give even a blood sample.
    LOL.. As I said, do it once, you won't feel a thing.

    Being a motorcyclist i feel i have an obligation, as i have no doubt someone will end up scraping me off the road putting me in a bin liner and dropping me at hospital to be fixed (hopefully ).
    LOL Man you seem to have freaked out. It will all be over pretty quickly.

    I have donated blood a few times. It has become more of a ritual for me now. I feel great with the feeling of fresh blood in my body.
    Life is like a boomerang: What goes around comes around - "Karma"rocks!

  19. #69
    Lilac Hamster
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I've given blood a few times, not for over a year though. I tend to only manage it once every couple of years or so.

    I've not had any problems most times, never felt dizzy or faint, other than the last time, about 1 1/2 years ago. I felt fine right afterwards for about 24 hours, but it might have exacerbated my smoke allergy and I passed out in the street the next day right after getting a lungful of someone's cigarette smoke. I always react to cigarette smoke really badly, it's quite scary how badly it affects my breathing and the way I get a severe headache from even a trace amount, but I don't usually drop down in a faint in the street. I'm not really sure if it was connected to my giving blood the day before, but that was the only thing I could think of I'd done recently that was different and it could have weakened me, so it has made me wary about giving blood again.

    The worst thing was the way I was treated at the hospital, when I explained the passing out was probably part of the reaction I always get to cigarette smoke (combined with the fact that I had recently given blood), they made me see a psychiatrist. It seems they don't like patients who have a good idea already what is wrong, so tried to prove I was mad (the psychiatrist actually believed me totally so that showed them). I've given up on hospitals now pretty much, they never believe me, and the same hospital (the now infamous Northwick Park where those drug test volunteers almost died) put me and my daughter in danger when I was pregnant by not believing how severe my coughing and breathing problems were one time after an accidental exposure to cigarette smoke. They misdiagnosed it as a panic attack which I found later it could not have been because it lasted way too long to be likely to be a panic attack. I think because a lot of health workers (not drs but a lot of the nurses and nursing auxilaries) smoke, there is actually some prejudice against my condition. My very existence as someone who has a severe allergic reaction to smoke is something that makes smokers feel defensive, and they cannot be objective which they need to be in their job. I think this could be why they tried to show it was in my mind by making me see the shrink.

    I sound like a hypochondriac but I hardly ever go to the dr any more, however bad I am feeling! Too many bad experiences and not being taken seriously, and one time also not being allowed to leave the hospital at an alternative exit where there were no people smoking just outside right by the doors!

    Sorry you had a bad time giving blood Twinkle, like you I am not usually a sickly vegan, not at all.

    Lesley

  20. #70
    Vote VBB veganbikerboy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Kiran, i take my hat off to you (well, helmet ) and the rest of you. But you still haven't convinced me
    I dont get crunchy people?

  21. #71

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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Oh Veganbikerboy, it's not a big deal! I donate every 2-3 months and I hate needles too (even with piercings and tattoos like yourself - they are much worse than donating). And if that doesn't convince you to donate:

    People who donate blood on a regular basis have been shown to live longer than nondonators in studies (maybe this is because unhealthy people just don't donate).

    Too much iron is bad for men's health - this is the reason why "Men's Vitamins" don't contain iron. Donating blood on a regular basis is a great way to decrease your iron level.

    So give!!
    Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

  22. #72
    Vote VBB veganbikerboy's Avatar
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    Quote DianeVegan
    Oh Veganbikerboy, it's not a big deal! I donate every 2-3 months and I hate needles too (even with piercings and tattoos like yourself - they are much worse than donating). And if that doesn't convince you to donate:

    People who donate blood on a regular basis have been shown to live longer than nondonators in studies (maybe this is because unhealthy people just don't donate).

    Too much iron is bad for men's health - this is the reason why "Men's Vitamins" don't contain iron. Donating blood on a regular basis is a great way to decrease your iron level.

    So give!!
    Nope, still not persuaded
    I dont get crunchy people?

  23. #73

    Default Re: Donating blood

    For the girls, in the UK they have a lower weight limit of 8 stone or something like that. So if you're under that, they won't let give you blood, I think. They even weigh you.

  24. #74

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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I have given blood four times in the last couple of years and fainted on three of those occasions and so was told not to come back the last time (in a nice way!). I am very squeamish and it is the thought of blood and needles and whats inside my body that gets to me. However I made a really big effort and chatted to the nurse and didn't think about what was happening and I still fainted.

    So that's it for me. It was funny cos the last time I was talking to the nurse about it and she said she had tried once and fainted and wouldn't do it again - she asked me why i had persisted and I just said I thought it was the right thing to do. However fainting on them isn't very helpful so that's it for me.

    I do feel guilty about it cos I know how important blood donation is but I just can't manage not to faint!

    Monday xx

  25. #75
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    the last time i donated i only managed to get half a pint out. i think the nurse put the needle in slightly wonky and the flow stopped halfway through. it was a bit painful as they tried to get it going again but nothing more came out. i felt quite guilty because i'd waited six months after having my tattoo, and then i couldn't even donate properly after all that. there wasn't anything i could've done but i was still kind of annoyed with myself.

    veganbikerboy, why not do what i do and use donating blood as an excuse to have a huge vegan meal out somewhere special, to keep your strength up!

    i'm only just over 8 stone but i've never had to be weighed, they've never even asked me - but i guess i look heavier than i actually am

    p.s. Roxy i hope your Grandma is ok now
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  26. #76
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote Monday
    I do feel guilty about it cos I know how important blood donation is but I just can't manage not to faint!
    don't worry too much Monday - at least you've given it a good try!
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  27. #77
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    Quote Gorilla
    veganbikerboy, why not do what i do and use donating blood as an excuse to have a huge vegan meal out somewhere special, to keep your strength up!

    who needs an excuse for that?, still not persuaded.
    I dont get crunchy people?

  28. #78
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    if you really want to give blood, you'll find a way to get over your irrational fear eventually. i've suffered from phobias that stopped me doing things and logic didn't help, but eventually i just made myself go through with it.
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  29. #79
    purrr..! DoveInGreyClothing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    When I did it I would lie down, shut my eyes, and accept the local anaesthetic so I didn't feel it going in... feeling it move about in my arm made me queasy!

    I don't think I'm allowed anymore since I had a transfusion in January this year, Meh.
    It is a monstrous thing to do, to slay a unicorn...you have slain something pure and defenceless and you will have but a half life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.

  30. #80
    Lilac Hamster
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Hasn't anyone ever had a bad reaction to being given donated blood? I'd have thought that would be more likely to happen often than people having a bad reaction to giving a pint of blood. In fact it really worries me if I ever need blood, you never know what is in someone else's blood and I am not convinced that they can test for everything. FGS the only thing they say to smokers who give blood is not to smoke for a couple of hours after, no concern for the poor unsuspecting person getting their contaminated blood!

    It also really annoys me how they have homophobic rules on giving blood, that kind of discrimination should be illegal IMO. They routinely test for HIV and a lot of diseases and not all gay men engage in risky behaviour while some heterosexuals behave in risky ways, so no excuse to discriminate. On the other hand they accept it from people who poison their blood several times a day by smoking. I think that is wrong to accept smokers to give blood unless they can keep smokers blood for smokers and non-smokers blood for non-smokers. On health grounds I would personally rather have a meat eater's blood than a smoker's blood in my veins. I'd probably have a bad reaction to it.

  31. #81

    Default Re: Donating blood

    Dove, you were given a local anaesthetic? I didn't get anything, just the needle going in like normal...!

  32. #82
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    you can ask for a local anaesthetic but they don't give it as routine anymore. i don't mind feeling the needle going in as long as they don't need to move it around, that can be quite painful, as happened to me last time.
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  33. #83

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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Lilac, many people have reactions to having blood transfusions and some are much more serious than fainting. As an anesthetist I am in the group of health care workers who transfuse the most blood. And I have a very high threshold for transfusion because of the consequences (especially if the patient is young). We now know that transfused blood alters the immune system. I won't go into all the details as you would fall asleep at your computer, but there is evidence that blood transfusion during surgery contributes to surgical site infections and may contribute to recurrence of certain cancers (meaning you must already have that cancer). And that's just from the changes your body undergoes when receiving donated blood. (I didn't mention the "mild" transfusion reactions such as difficulty breathing, a drop in blood pressure, fever and fluid build-up in your lungs).

    The other problem is the transfer of pathogens (germs). Even though we can screen for the ones we have discovered (HIV was only discovered in 1987) patients do still get infections from blood. The estimated risks per unit of donated blood are as follows:

    HIV 1 in 2 million
    Hepatitis C <1 in 1 million
    Hepatitis B 1 in 137,000
    Bacterial contamination is 1 in 40,000

    As far as singling out homosexual men, if you've donated blood any time in the last decade then you will see that this is not true. Any unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, paid-for-sex will disqualify you. As well as travel to certain areas of the world, recent tattoos or piercings, etc. I won't go into great detail here because the list is too long to remember and post.

    While I agree that blood is certainly accepted from some questionable individuals, I think the blood supply would suffer tremendously if we screened out all the smokers, people with poor diets and people on certain drugs. The good news is that when you are given donated blood, the amount is so small compared to your blood volume that a little bit of "second hand smoke" or cholesterol is probably the least of your worries.


    As far as getting a local anesthetic for the blood donation - this is not common practice and I have actually never seen it done. There are two very good reasons for this. First, the needle and burning from the local anesthetic can be as painful as the transfusion needle. Second, the small amount of swelling that the local anesthetic causes may cause the person placing the needle to miss your vein. And topical anesthetics can take up to 1 hour to work. Besides the fact that they don't numb much, who wants to sit around for 1 hour before donating and which facility has that much room?


    There is obviously a need for healthy blood donors. If a family member of mine is ever in a traumatic accident that requires blood transfusion I only hope someone as healthy as me has donated that which they receive.

    {Some of my information comes from "Current Reviews for Nurse Anesthetists" , Volume 27, 2004}
    Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

  34. #84
    feral
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Thanks for that info Diane, it's very interesting. I wouldn't even consider giving blood while I have ME, I think the risk to someone with another serious illness i.e. lukemia, etc would be too great. Isn't there a fake blood that's sometimes used?

  35. #85

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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Feral, I am copying the response I gave to this quesion on an unrelated thread:

    There is no substitute for red blood cells. We have not been able to engineer a substance that carries oxygen like red blood cells. We also have not been able to engineer all of the myriad of clotting factors in human blood, needing to keep you from bleeding once you start. Therefore, when your child bleeds out over half of her blood in a car accident she is going to need human red blood cells as well as other blood components (too complicated to get into unless you understand medicine) if she is to live. We can, and do, perform "bloodless" surgery for people who refuse blood transfusions. Oh, they bleed alright, but we use a system to collect and transfuse their own blood if needed. This isn't an option for sugery involving cancer or infection or emergency trauma. Every artificial or human blood product/expander is expensive and has negative side effects. Sad but true.
    Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

  36. #86
    feral
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Thanks so much for that Diane, I find these things very interesting, very kind of you to take the time to explain.

  37. #87
    Geoff
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote DianeVegan
    As far as getting a local anesthetic for the blood donation - this is not common practice and I have actually never seen it done. There are two very good reasons for this. First, the needle and burning from the local anesthetic can be as painful as the transfusion needle. Second, the small amount of swelling that the local anesthetic causes may cause the person placing the needle to miss your vein. And topical anesthetics can take up to 1 hour to work. Besides the fact that they don't numb much, who wants to sit around for 1 hour before donating and which facility has that much room?
    At one time in the UK, which would have been over 30 years ago, I recall the Blood Bank giving me a local with one of those 'you beaut' guns (about the size of a pen) that fires the anaesthetic through the skin ( like a diesel injector) and I don't think that there was much of a delay before the transfusion needle was inserted.
    This would have been in South Wales so perhaps one of our Welsh subscribers could do some research on this as I'd really like to know why this system isn't used any more.

  38. #88
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    in the UK local anaesthetic hasn't been used routinely since about 2002. i think they decided it was a waste of money doing it on everybody as most people don't really need it. you can still have it if you ask though.
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  39. #89
    Vegan for life BlueMonarch's Avatar
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    Default Re: Veg*an Donating blood OK?

    Quote jjdaiquiri
    also because of my drug abuse history...

    i would if i could... :D
    I hear ya... im clean, keep checkn to c if they change the rules... but no.

    The time i did go, they couldnt find my veins on either arm, stabbed me twice ne ways, hit my tendon... ouch. I went home bruised.

    Veganbikerboy, i would luv to encourage u to go, but i cant lie about my xperiances, cuz it insults me when i get told it wont hurt or that i'll bearly feel it! I feel the needle everytime. I feel the whole thing go in and i feel every movment they make while its in. I get really ridged and pale.
    Im always afraid they're gonna make scrambled tofu outta my insides by accidentable moving it like mad!!!
    and its a big needle, at least it is here.
    "Stand your ground this is what we are fighting for.." -VNV

  40. #90

    Default Re: Donating blood

    I love giving blood! I love the way it makes me feel physically (slightly light, almost euphoric) and I feel like I am doing my bit. As a rule, I give again as soon as Im able to, this time will be longer a I had a pirecing straight after my last donation. I always feel the needle, bu its not painful as such, just an awareness of it. There was one exception, where it really hurt, bled a lot after, and gave me a whopping bruise. That didn't put me off though, in fact i was rather proud of my war wounds!

  41. #91
    AR Activist Roxy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote Gorilla

    p.s. Roxy i hope your Grandma is ok now
    Thanks for your kind concern Gorilla.

    She is recuperating at home now. It was touch-and-go there for a while but she has come through it ok.

  42. #92
    popemagnet
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    I used to give blood, but being the only surviving male member of my family, am supposed to take atenolol for the rest of my life to drop my blood pressure and prevent a heart attck (Ha! Fat chance!), which precludes me from donating. Think i'm still on the bone marrow register though.

  43. #93
    Geoff
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    BTW - 'Needle free' injection was invented in 1866 and multi dose guns developed in 1940. See: http://www.pharma.it/eng/injex.htm

  44. #94
    purrr..! DoveInGreyClothing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote Gorilla
    in the UK local anaesthetic hasn't been used routinely since about 2002. i think they decided it was a waste of money doing it on everybody as most people don't really need it. you can still have it if you ask though.
    I've always been asked. I'm in Scotland though so maybe we're different than England?
    It is a monstrous thing to do, to slay a unicorn...you have slain something pure and defenceless and you will have but a half life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.

  45. #95
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    i thought it was the same throughout the UK, but i checked the National Blood Service website and it seems they only operate in England and Wales, so i guess you have a different organisation in Scotland.
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  46. #96
    Geoff
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Quote DoveInGreyClothing
    I've always been asked. I'm in Scotland though so maybe we're different than England?
    I'm shocked and disillusioned! The descendants of those Scottish warriors who scared the knickers off the Romans, need an anaesthetic before they give blood?

  47. #97
    AR Activist Roxy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Well I gave my first blood donation this afternoon. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be and I feel quite fine now - other than rather tired.

    There were no problems to speak of, and everything ran smoothly.

    I'm so glad I did this. My boyfriend told me he's very proud of me too. Next time, he's going to come and donate with me.

  48. #98
    Geoff
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Goodonya Roxy!

  49. #99
    AR Activist Roxy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Donating blood

    Thanks mate

  50. #100

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    Default Re: Donating blood

    That's great, Roxy! (I'm proud of you too.)
    Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

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