It may be that you are simply in a normal iron balance but still below their threshold.
That’s how it is with me and low blood pressure- They can’t take a full pint so they tell me they are stopping now and will have to throw my blood away for not working into their procedures.
At first I would feel bad, then a nurse told me that a surprizing number of people can’t donate - not because there’s really anything wrong with their blood, but they just have standarized on the vast middle of the population.
This apparently depends on the blood bank. Where I donate (LifeSource), I was told I could try again in a month after I was deferred for low iron.
Whew!
FWIW, I’ve never had any problems with it so it’s not problematic for EVERYONE 
forget it, its simple - take iron pills.
my iron used to be low when i went on a diet that had zero meat in it. after i started taking iron pills it went to the high end of the normal range.
oh ye, i bougth mine in GNC but obviously you can buy them anywhere.
It’s dangerous to take iron supplements unless your doctor prescribes them: http://www.stayinginshape.com/3caritas/libv/k09.shtml
If mine is just below the cutoff, they’ll tell me 2 weeks. If it’s way below, they’ll tell me a month.
I don’t think they check (but I don’t know, I’ve never tried a day later to see.) You might want to call to see fi you
I have about a 50/50 chance of having too low of a hematocrit. In fact, I tell them to stick me and then spin the blood before we go through the questionaire - that way we don’t have to wait as long to see whether I can donate or not. And I’ve never been able to tell why. I’ve been on daily iron pills and been too low. I’ve had a diet that consisted of nothing but dairy products and grains for a week and been fine. I’ve eaten red meat at least once (if not twice a day) for the previous week and been too low. I’ve tried various times of the month (which matters for some women) and that hasn’t consistently predicted whether I would or would not be able to donate. I managed to donate in the middle of marathon training (which is supposed to depelete your iron). Someone (I think on this board) recommended chugging raisins before donating. I’ll try that next time.
Good luck, and thank you for trying to donate blood!
Luna bars, a granola-type bar formulated for/ marketed to women, have somewhat of an iron supplement built in. They’re tasty, so I find it much more palatable than a pill supplement. I’m just using them to round out my diet with something other than a lot of meat, though, not treating a medical condition.
Personally, a day or so before I give blood, I eat a steak with lots of green veg and wash it down with a pint or two of guiness!!
Works every time.
suezeekay i am not suggesting he swallows the whole bottle, but reads the suggested dosing off the back of the container. a lot of substances are lethal when overdosed so what ? vitamin D is toxic in high doses so what ? people have actually overdosed and died from just table salt substitute ( KCl which also happens to be used for lethal injections ) so what ?
read the damned instructions and you will be fine.
screw doctors.
Ever since I was a wee little klutz, my iron has tended to be low if I don’t eat a lot of iron-rich foods. I am told that even as a baby I always preferred the meat baby food to the fruits and veggies. Sure, I could take iron supplements or multi-vitamins with iron, but I happen to like red meat. Over the years, I have found that my body will tell me when I’m running low on iron. I crave red meat from time to time, and when I do I have found that it’s good to pay attention to what my body is telling me and have a nice big slab-o-meat. Perks my energy level right up (after the post-meal food coma, of course).
I always recommend to my wife that she keep a galvinized nail between her cheek and gum – she never tries it though.
oh well, people enjoy being stupid, who am i to stop them from having their fun.
the simplest solution is the best one.