I was just reading through the donating blood thread and I was curious.
Do any of you here not donate blood? Why not?
I’ll start. Personally I would love to donate blood but I cannot for two reasons. One is that I got a tattoo within the past six months and two is because I have a form of hereditary anemia and am not allowed to do so. So even if I hadn’t gotten the tattoo I would still be unable to give blood due to my hemoglobin levels, which are fixed at a low point and cannot be changed or fixed to normal healthy* levels.
[sub]*Not saying that I am not in wonderful health just that my hemoglobin metabolises faster which is pretty much impossible to fix. If I had a harsher form of what I do have I wouldn’t be typing this now a I would have died years ago.[/sub]
I’m on the Red Cross permanently banned list because I used needles without a doctor’s supervision in the 1980’s. (I dabbled with steroids for about 8 weeks in 1988).
I’m banned for life.
At work, we have blod drives and our director frowns upon those who don’t give blood (yes…my company wants blood). I haven’t figured out how to explain that I can give blood. She thinks I have some non-descript blood disease.
I have crappy veins. Having a sample drawn or, perish the thought, having an IV inserted is a challenge for the best of the needle-handlers. And it takes way too long for said crappy veins to yield a tube of blood for whatever tests I require - it’d take hours for me to fill a bag. So I spare everyone the frustration.
I do, but not often enough. I have low blood pressure, so when I give blood it totally wipes me out. The only way to prevent my passing out is for me to start really loading up on fluids and food the day before. Even then, it’s still sort of iffy whether I’ll feel okay afterwards, and for a day or more after I give I find I have trouble climbing steps and lifting things. All in all, it’s not terribly comfortable for me. So while I think it is important, and I do try to donate sometimes, I don’t do it every 8 weeks or however often the truly dedicated folks do it.
My husband, who weighs less than me, can give blood, hop off the table, and go on about his day without any effects whatsoever. None.
I haven’t been allowed to donate blood since this Mad Cow Disease issue came up: I lived in England as a student in the mid-'80’s.
As someone who used to donate regularly–I was close to the 10-gallon mark when I had to stop–I’m a bit sad about it. As Honey said, I especially felt bad around 9/11.
I used to, but after a while every time I did, I would get sick the next day for a couple of days. Nobody knows why; weight OK, iron level excellent, always had a good meal first and rested afterwards.
After a few years of not donating, Mayor Giuliani suckered me into it again on 9/11. Then I remembered why I hadn’t done it for so long…I spent the next two days sacked out on my couch, getting dizzy almost to the point of blacking out whenever I sat up.
I bet a lot of people can do it but have conditioned themselves into thinking it’ll be painful, or that it’ll take a lot of time to complete, and so on. When I went yesterday, it stung very briefly, and the whole process was rather quick. So maybe if people got over that psychological hump, more would do it.
I used to do it all the time at my previous place of employment. They would bring out FBS to collect on a regular basis. At my new place they don’t have a regular drive and I don’t actively seek one out. So I guess my excuse is that I’m lazy.
Say Eva. maybe we have more than whacked cervixes in common. How’s your blood pressure? I have the nice low kind that gives me high-fives from my doctor, but it’s hell for blood donation.
I don’t donate blood because I am scared and because I think that it is too much time and trouble. And, when I am lucky I don’t weigh enough to donate anyway. My work doesn’t do a blood drive. I am not sure who around here even does. And it isn’t worth the effort to me to find out.
I donate personal time to other charities. I donate as much money I can. Donating my own blood just isn’t that high up on my list.
That said, if I ever heard that people in my area were dying because of lack of blood donations I would donate in a heart beat.
In the mean time I just figure I will let the people who like to donate blood donate blood. I like to work concession stands so I do that. Seems fair to me.
Don’t feel bad about not donating blood on 911. They threw a lot of it away.
I haven’t been able to donate since last November due to pregnancy and the recovery period. Also, I run slightly anemic; not enough to need any special treatment for it, but enough that meeting the required hemoglobin threshhold is a bit chancy.
In fact, last year, my company had a blood drive. (Since they have their own blood bank, being a hospital, they do this fairly frequently.) I had just found out I was pregnant, but wasn’t showing yet. A nurse passed me in the hall and tried to badger me into donating and looked a little crestfallen when I told her I was pregnant and couldn’t donate.
I’m abjectly terrified of needles. And I also feel as guilty as all hell that I can’t overcome it.
That said, I did give two pints a few years ago. I was so hyped up I expect they got pure adrenalin [sub] I sure wouldn’t want to be the unconscious surgery patient who got that lot.[/sub]
Twice I was turned away for low iron. I also have low blood pressure and hard to find veins, which led to several bad experiences (missing the vein, exploding it, needle breaking off) giving blood that made me not want to do it any more. I also feel sick for the rest of the day, and for a while after.
I feel bad sometimes that I don’t give blood, but I’m really not a good candidate. For a long time I also had a psychological aversion to it that I am slowly starting to get over, thanks to several good blood-drawing experiences. Strangely, it is not the needle itself I am afraid of, regular shots don’t bother me a bit.
[sub] I sure wouldn’t want to be the unconscious surgery patient who got that lot.[/sub]