# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/121 "2018-01-30T00:54:21Z")
Tried to donate blood twice. Both times, I got turned down for low iron. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/122 "2018-01-30T01:22:45Z")
I donated as often as I could from 18-36, then I found I needed to start getting serious about exercise or face dire consequences. I began running regularly, not marathon distances but enough miles per week to keep me healthy. The first time I gave blood after starting that new lifestyle I realized that giving blood and regular exercise are incompatible–I might do a 10 mile run after work on a normal day, but after giving blood I would only be doing a mile or two before feeling wiped out, and that feeling lasted several days. I figured I had done my part for society and didn’t want the slightest excuse to reduce my exercise and possibly lapse, so fifteen years have passed and I haven’t donated any more. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/123 "2018-01-30T01:55:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have hemochromatosis, too, but so far as I know none of mine have been incinerated or otherwise thrown away. If you’re otherwise eligible to donate (HIV negative, not a man who’s had sex with other men, never done intravenous drugs, never been or had sex with a prostitute, etc.), then all of your phlebotomies should be valid, usable donations, and if you’re not eligible, then none of them would be. Emphasis mine “Should” being the key word here. When first diagnosed, my ferritin was so high I was giving two units a week… for months. Then one unit a week for months. Then one unit every two weeks, etc., etc. This frequency required me to be phlebotomized in the hospital, under a physician’s supervision. I knew my blood was good for processing in a blood bank, and they knew it too. But their “policy” required disposal as a biohazard. Finally, after much complaining on my part, it was explained that in order to use my blood, they would need to utilize a (FDA?) special protocol requiring extra paperwork that they simply were not interested in wasting time on. Gallons of good blood wasted. End of story. It took over two years for my chemistry to normalize to the point where I could maintain good numbers by donating every two months at Red Cross. I have never mentioned my condition to them, and never will, for fear of being cut off. I suggest you consider the same. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/124 "2018-01-30T20:05:22Z")
I needed them pretty frequently at the start, too (though I think mine started at only once per week), and they were willing to do them at the clinic (where they would have been thrown out), but they also pointed me to a local blood service (not the Red Cross) that would be willing to do it, too, and make use of it. It has complicated my record-keeping, though, since I’ve made donations at the Red Cross (before I was diagnosed) and two different local organizations (in different locations) after diagnosis, so there’s no one place I can look up the total number. And it is ridiculous that the Red Cross won’t take us. I know and understand their reasons for it, but I still don’t think they’re very good reasons, and it would make it a lot more convenient for me to find somewhere to donate (which I do, of course, on a regular basis). ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/125 "2018-01-31T11:48:41Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Tried to donate blood twice. Both times, I got turned down for low iron. Here’s a trick: have an instant Cream of Wheat ([this breakfast!](http://www.creamofwheat.com/products/)) on the morning of, and it’ll spike your iron that day and you’ll likely qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/126 "2018-01-31T15:07:58Z")
None. I’ve got Mad Cow Disease. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/127 "2018-02-01T01:25:22Z")
Used to donate regularly, until I received a bad stick by some E4 “phlebotomist” at an army blood drive who was watching the TV set up for us donors to watch instead of what she was doing. I know I’ve donated more than a gallon, but less than 2. Since that time, between this, that and the other, I just have never managed to make it in to donate. I remember the folks at the red cross would light up like a Christmas tree when I walked in because I had been told that I had(this phrase walloped me when uttered) “perfect blood for babies, 0-, no markers for {some protein, probably antibodies} indicating that I’ve never had {some disease}, lots of iron, and just the right amount of {something else I don’t recall, a protein maybe?}”. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/128 "2018-02-01T05:23:41Z")
Zero. I have a BMI around 17 and have never met their minimum weight requirement. And I don’t have the type of build that might be able to slide by undetected–they would immediately question it. Maybe I’ll get plobbier as I age and be able to. ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/129 "2018-02-01T06:12:30Z")
Somewhere over 300 platelet donation. High platelet count, and .45 caliber veins. They love me. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/130 "2018-02-01T22:32:22Z")
I finally got to donate today since I took iron pills all week. Third time’s a charm! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/131 "2018-02-01T22:36:15Z")
A lot, never kept count. Being O- they always take two pints from me, been doing this for years - just gave two more pints yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/132 "2018-02-01T23:21:37Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > A lot, never kept count. Being O- they always take two pints from me, been doing this for years - just gave two more pints yesterday. Whole blood? Or a double red cell donation _equivalent_ to two units, via an apheresis machine? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/133 "2018-02-01T23:26:49Z")
Aphersis machine. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/134 "2018-02-01T23:30:41Z")
This makes sense. A two unit whole blood donation would be sketchy. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/135 "2018-02-03T13:31:00Z")
Between donating in the Navy, then the American Red Cross, then United Blood Services, then ARC again, then UBS again, the counter kept getting reset but it was somewhere around nine gallons. Does [Power Red](https://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/types-donations/double-red-blood-cells-donation) count as double? I had a few of those. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269/136 "2018-02-03T15:55:56Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Between donating in the Navy, then the American Red Cross, then United Blood Services, then ARC again, then UBS again, the counter kept getting reset but it was somewhere around nine gallons. Does [Power Red](https://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/types-donations/double-red-blood-cells-donation) count as double? I had a few of those. I’d count it as double, yes. Does a double platelets donation count as double? Problem is, the OP asked for the number of pints of blood one has donated. I think that has blurred to become the number of times blood _products_ one has donated. You typically have to wait about 8 weeks between donations of a pint of blood, whereas for platelets the wait time is typically 1 week. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pints-of-blood-have-you-donated/561269.md?page=6)