# Do you donate blood? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026 "2010-02-15T02:46:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/1 "2010-02-15T02:46:20Z")
Do you donate blood to your local blood bank? If you do, how often? If not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/2 "2010-02-15T03:08:12Z")
I used to, but I’ve been excluded ever since I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/3 "2010-02-15T03:13:35Z")
No, because I’m apathetic ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/4 "2010-02-15T03:17:06Z")
Yep. I do it three times a year or so when the Bloodmobile comes to my work. I have to wait longer between donations because I donate whole cells which takes longer and has a longer recovery time but is more needed. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/5 "2010-02-15T03:20:04Z")
High blood pressure and other meds rule me out. Also I had a bout with a pre-cancerous condition years ago and was briefly on chemotherapy. I was told that this by itself excluded me. Others have since told me that was not necessarily so any more after a few decades. But they just don’t want my blood with my current medical condition. It’s interesting how many conditions do exclude many otherwise healthy people. When my mom needed a blood donation, nobody – and I mean nobody – in the family could donate. Some were too young, my sister was too small (under a certain height & weight you are ineligible), my niece had a bout of hepatitis as a teenager, all the men were on high blood pressure meds. My nephew was eligible, but after about 2 minutes of attempting to donate, his veins collapsed. I had never heard of that before, but they said they didn’t want him any more, either. In our family currently, I think my son-in-law may be eligible. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/6 "2010-02-15T03:23:25Z")
The local Red Cross has been pretty good about not letting me forget. I’ve got a common blood type that lots of people can use, and I’m told that I’m CMV-negative – my blood is missing some anti-bodies or some such that could otherwise be difficult for people with compromised immune systems. I can’t, of course, tell just how much good the donations have ever done, but I like to think they’ve at least done some good. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/7 "2010-02-15T03:24:13Z")
Ten gallon pin. I like giving blood, and eating cookies;) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/8 "2010-02-15T03:26:52Z")
Excluded due to body weight. I’m only 100 pounds, and I tend to get kind of sickish from something as lame as missing a meal or exercising too many days in a row, so I hold off. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/9 "2010-02-15T03:34:12Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I used to, but I’ve been excluded ever since I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I had no idea rheumatoid arthritis would exclude one from giving blood. But then again, I didn’t know sarcoidosis would, until I was diagnosed with it. The sarcoidosis was many years ago, and I am no longer deferred on that basis. However, I am always on the borderline for hemaglobin. Sometimes I pass. Sometimes I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/10 "2010-02-15T03:37:26Z")
Excluded for having had Hepatitis A in 1975. A stupid, irrelevant exclusion, but oh well! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/11 "2010-02-15T03:41:44Z")
I was stationed in Europe for two years in the 1990s - therefore they don’t want my blood. I used to donate quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/12 "2010-02-15T03:47:08Z")
Nope, I’m on blood thinners. They don’t want my precious bodily fluids anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/13 "2010-02-15T04:02:17Z")
Moo many mad cowz! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/14 "2010-02-15T04:24:27Z")
Yes, although it’s more like once every ten weeks or so. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/15 "2010-02-15T04:29:21Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I was stationed in Europe for two years in the 1990s - therefore they don’t want my blood. I used to donate quite a bit. Haven’t they changed some of this a bit? I thought it was 5 years in Europe now, unless it was the UK which I think is still 6 months. I think it depends on who is doing the taking, I know that some ask totally different questions, and some only ask about the UK as I used to have to carry a list of countries I’d been to but haven’t had to pull it out lately. I try and donate 3-4 times a year now. I was giving 5 or so times a year, but my iron was getting low and the doctors think it might have been because of my donating. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/16 "2010-02-15T04:30:26Z")
I have tried several times but my blood doesn’t have enough iron in it. ---
**Author:** ![dukette71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@dukette71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dukette71)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/17 "2010-02-15T04:36:03Z")
I have tried, but they say I don’t have enough iron. I take supplements, but still not enough iron. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/18 "2010-02-15T04:38:35Z")
I’m gay so I am not allowed, despite not having HIV or any other diseases ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/19 "2010-02-15T05:12:57Z")
I had a really bad first experience (the impatient nurse hurt me by moving the needle around several times and left me massively bruised for over a week) and have never gotten up the courage to do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026/20 "2010-02-15T05:16:39Z")
I donated blood four times a year until 2 years ago, when I got rejected, I’ve been doing it for about 38 years. I got rejected because my pulse fluttered, which turned out to be caused by a heart problem which could have killed me at any time. (I had my annual checkup only a few weeks before.) So I got paid back for the gallons I donated. I need to get the form for my doctor to say I can donate again, and I’ll restart. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-donate-blood/529026.md?page=2)