# How many pints of blood have you donated? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269 "2010-11-19T21:32:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/1 "2010-11-19T21:32:28Z")
With all the other blood donation threads running around, I was curious. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/2 "2010-11-19T21:40:36Z")
I’ve got a 2 gallon pin on my desk from sometime last year. So closing in on 3 gallons. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/3 "2010-11-19T21:48:43Z")
I donated a pint at work for a blood drive about a decade ago. I promptly fainted afterwards. I’ve been a little afraid to donate ever since. I tried to overcome this fear a few times but I was told I had disqualifying factors each time so I haven’t since then. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/4 "2010-11-19T21:50:17Z")
They won’t take mine. Better to bleed out on the operating table than risk a one in a trillion chance of mad cow disease, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Fastidiots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@Fastidiots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fastidiots)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/5 "2010-11-19T22:05:55Z")
Just got my 10 unit pin last week. Hurray me. Also, this habit is one of the few things I have my ex to thank for. Skank. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/6 "2010-11-19T22:09:58Z")
I’ve donated approximately 2 gallons worth of blood to the Red Cross. Then, approximately 5-6 years ago, I decided I wasn’t going to answer the question on whether I’d ever slept with a man since 1977. Not a yes or a no, just that I refused to answer that question. They refused to take my blood. Stopped calling to remind me about donating too. So I stopped donating. ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/7 "2010-11-19T22:51:19Z")
I’ve never given to the Red Cross, they won’t take it. I did sell my plasma twice. I think I got 35 bucks each time. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/8 "2010-11-19T23:25:13Z")
I think Monday’s donation will be my 28th or 29th pint. My 3 gallon pin is stuck in a corkboard here at work, right under an Anchor Steam pin. Actually, [there ya go.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/psycat90/5190288777/)😉 ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/9 "2010-11-20T00:17:42Z")
Sorry for the hijack but **Excited** , is donating plasma much different from donating blood? Does it take longer or hurt any more? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/10 "2010-11-20T00:42:05Z")
> [@villa](#): > > They won’t take mine. Better to bleed out on the operating table than risk a one in a trillion chance of mad cow disease, I guess. Me too! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/11 "2010-11-20T01:04:18Z")
I have an indefinite deferral because I am a male who has had sex with another male at least once since 1978. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/12 "2010-11-20T01:17:48Z")
I guessed 17-32, but it might well be more than that. I’ve been donating for years. And I’ve just recently become a platelet donor! ---
**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:** [November 20, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/13 "2010-11-20T01:29:18Z")
I’ve been donating for 40 years steadily, 3 or 4 times a year, so I put 81 - 120, since I might not be at 120 yet. I’ve got to get started again - I had to stop after they discovered I had a fluttery pulse which turned out to be from atrial fibrillation - so donating blood not only helped to save other peoples lives, it helped to save mine. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/14 "2010-11-20T01:52:44Z")
had hepatitus so this is not something I can do… ---
**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:** [November 20, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/15 "2010-11-20T02:00:46Z")
I’ve been donating since I was 17 and have donated for 17 of the last 20 years. I had three years off because of tattoos. I know I averaged at least 2-3 per year so at least 34-40 at a minimum. A few years I got 4-5 times in a year, but that started to get to me with a low iron count so I cut back a bit. There’s no way to know for sure now because they bring in three different companies at work. It’s really funny though one woman kept taking all my questions and she would remember me, I think it was because at one point I had a list of like 20 countries I had been to in the last couple of years. She wrote me a note so I wouldn’t have to remember them all when I said where I had been. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/16 "2010-11-20T02:23:02Z")
I’ve given 15 gallons. Actually, I’m officially one pint shy of 15, and I can’t give any more due to medications. However, I did have a couple of donation that didn’t get recorded in my total, so I can legitimately claim 15. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/17 "2010-11-20T02:59:55Z")
My one trip to the emergency room as an adult was because I mistook something else for a syringe, passed out, smashed my head on the floor, and bled over everything (fortunately I didn’t need a transfusion or else the irony alone would kill me). Nasty concussion. Some folks don’t like needles; I’m insane about them. I’ll try to do good in the world in other forms. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/18 "2010-11-20T03:28:43Z")
I was always scared to, but I just donated recently for the first time and it was fine. Turns out I’m O+ and they’ve been calling me a ridiculous amount to come back. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/19 "2010-11-20T04:12:52Z")
0 so far, I will probably donate when I am permitted. I have to gain 5 more lbs. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/20 "2010-11-20T06:26:23Z")
3 pints. Just started donating a few years ago. I’d tried several times in the past, but would always get rejected, for either a fever, or higher-than-normal blood pressure. I’m in much better shape now, and pass all the tests with flying colors. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269.md?page=2)