I hope to bleed like hell on Saturday.

[NNadir]

My life was saved in my 20s by an anonymous blood donor. I took a few pints to keep ticking.

For many years, in gratitude, I've been a donor. I'm sure Im a hundred pint guy after all these years.

In the last few years, I've been failing the hemoglobin test, the finger prick before donating, just marginally, and thus have been rejected. I'm wolfing down iron pills (safely, within reason) nightly hoping to make it this time.

Shortages show up during the holidays. Fortunately for me, I have fairly generic blood, A+, but I still think they might get low somewhere.

The sex questions are always fun. Trust me, no one is ever going to pay me for sex, not then and certainly not now.

They can keep the tee-shirt. I have too many already.

The donation will take place in a nearby Episcopal Church. My mother, a long gone Episcopalian, always hoped that I'd go to church on the holidays, since my atheism upset her enormously. Hopefully she'd approve of the compromise.

[sdfernando]

1. Good on you!

I'm sure your mother would be proud. I donated quite but in my youth but then I had a case of hep and cannot donate any longer.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Hmmmm ... talk to your doctor about those iron shortages. My Mom had to have infusions of iron to prevent anemia.

I DO NOT know the biochemistry, but iron in your natural diet may not be absorbed efficiently once you begin aging.

Mother became so dizzy she fell and hit her head on the tub -- required several stitches. Turned out she was severely anemic, apparently since sometime after her previous checkup.

[NNadir]

8. My doctor is aware of my hemoglobin situation.

I've discussed it with him. It's marginal, not dramatic.

I don't eat meat; and I am older, so there's that. It didn't affect me so much when I was younger, but it's showing up now.

In general though I don't take iron supplements but now I am. The nice thing about volunteering as a donor is I get free, fast monitoring of my hemaglibulin status.

Thanks for your advice.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. Good, you don't really seem the type to need advice, but personal experience made me more concerned than I would be. nt

[druidity33]

31. cooking on cast iron might help?

Heavy pans i know, but there are benefits to using them.

[LogDog75]

3. I'm a blood/platelet donner

I donated blood while in the AF. One year, I was really into exercising and eating right and when I went to donate during the on-base blood drive my iron level was borderline and I couldn't donate. I met up with some friends at the base dining hall, who we worked with in the medical group, for lunch. They were serving liver so I ordered that. They asked why I was having the liver and I told them why and they said that would definitely bring up my iron level.

BTW, that was the first time I ever ate liver and I liked it.

[OldBaldy1701E]

4. Me too.

I was a regular plasma/blood donor for a long time.

I need to see if I can even do it anymore. It has been over a decade. My body has been through some bad crap since then.

[3catwoman3]

5. Big doses of iron can be quite constipating, so eat your fruits...

…and veggies.🥗

[NNadir]

14. I know, believe me, I know. I'm an ozempic customer.

It is, in fact, worse, but I'll live through it.

[Kcphyllis]

6. Tea and hemoglobin

A nurse at a blood drive told me not to drink tea with food. It slows down iron absorption. No problems since.

[NNadir]

9. I don't drink tea but I am a caffeine addict. I'm taking iron with...

...orange juice, hoping for an ascorbic acid complex to boost absorption.

[DFW]

11. NOW you tell me?

I drink tea with everything except hot chocolate!

[FadedMullet]

7. Good luck this time. Your continuing motivation to "pay things back" is admirable. Good for you.

[DFW]

10. Kudos for the sentiment and perseverance!!

My blood is so thick with bad cholesterol, I’d probably give arteriosclerosis to a hemopheliac!

[NNadir]

12. I like that locution, "arteriosclerosis to a hemophiliac."

They got you on statins?

I can't tolerate them anymore, the muscle problems. I've been through them all, starting with simvastatin in the old days, right through atorvastin and beyond. I cut back to once a week on the most recent incarnation.

At my age - I'm already on borrowed time -there won't be much advantage and in any case, I don't really test badly there.

Froeliche Weihnachten, falls Sie Weihnacten feiern.

[Old Crank]

13. I've donated 200 times

But haven't been able to since moving to Germany. Rules about over 65.
In that total we're quite a few platelet donations.
From the place I did most of my donations I would get the occasional t-shirt or sweatshirt.

One day my former boss button holed me to tell me how grateful he was that I was a donor and another donor had saved his father's life.

Good luck tomorrow. And with the low iron issue perhaps they have other donation regimens that would fit better.

[NNadir]

15. I failed at platelets. I'm a straight up whole blood kind of guy.

200. That's impressive..

Each time I've moved I reset. Also I used to donate ex-Red Cross. When I was a kid I worked in a hospital and I'd always get drafted during holidays. I also donated for friend's and friends of friends and family heart and cancer surgeries. (My veins are unhappy.) I have no idea how many donations I've done, but I've been at it since I was a teenager.

[Old Crank]

28. Good for you

I have never had the need or chance to donate to anyone that I knew. Glad you could help them.

For platelets I started with two needles and would doze off while watching cooking shows on TV. Later I used the time to read the documents when I was on my city's planning commission that night.

[MustLoveBeagles]

16. I've donated for 16 years

I had to stop recently due to iron deficiency even with taking Iron tablets. I REFUSE to eat liver.

Glad you're paying it forward .

[Marthe48]

17. Thank you for donating

Even if you don't get accepted, you gave so much.

My husband donated regularly. One of my long-time friends and my daughter both donate regularly. I tried several times and I wasn't accepted because of blood pressure meds I take. I read that even taking the meds I do, my blood was okay to donate. Local blood bank still wouldn't. So thank you again.

[mommymarine2003]

19. My husband has donated for so many years that he can't remember when he first started.

Our daughter almost died in 2006 and needed transfusions, so I know that he has been donating several times a year since then. It is about every two months. He just donated this past Tuesday - a double-red. He is O-negative, which makes him a universal donor. I wish I was not so queasy about having a needle stuck in me. We live in Oregon, and I know he got a gallon pin a while back. Prior to that we lived in Washington, so between the two states, he probably has donated several gallons.

[NNadir]

20. O negative is a big deal, particularly if he ever needs a transfusion himself.

I've heard of people banking it.

My wife is O positive.

[Ms. Toad]

21. Try Slow FE, if you haven't already.

I was anemic enough that they were testing me for blood cancers in the late 90s. Slow FE bumped up my blood production quickly enough that they ruled out blood cancers. I was on massive doses, and had no GI issues at all.

Unfortunately, my donating days are over. I built up enough scarring that my veins are starting to roll because of the scar tissue - and I can't use my right arm because of lymphedema risks (breast cancer). And if that's not enough, I've got a second (very aggressive) cancer, so I don't want to risk the only arm/best site for IVs, in case I need it in the future. I'm really sad, since I apparently have a rare sub-type (despite being O+), discovered after I stopped donating, so they keep pestering me for donations.

[NNadir]

23. That's exactly what I'm taking, Slow Fe. We'll see how it works. I'm optimistic it will.

I'm sorry to hear of your cancer; I trust you're hanging in there.

I do have problematic veins, and sometimes I've failed for that reason. (They also have trouble during blood draws for check ups.)

[Ms. Toad]

27. So far, I'm NED (no evidence of disease) for both.

Nearly 10 years for breast cancer, and almost exactly 5 years for the sarcoma. I had a scare with the sarcoma this fall, but imaging says nothing new is going on locally - and the last of my semi-annual lung imaging for metastasis is in January. Then I shift to every other year for at least 10 years.

Blood draws are mostly Ok, although it took 3 phlebotomists and 6 pokes for a long COVID study I was in once. But they fairly regularly have had to call in specialists for the contrast IV for imaging.

Good luck on getting your numbers high enough to donate!

[Katinfl]

22. I have been a regular donor since 1986.

I started with a blood drive at work and just continued for years. When I left that job I continued going to the Red Cross and donated plasma for years. Then we moved and I started donating platelets every month at the community blood bank. We moved again and the Red Cross is too far away so I am now donating whole blood. I would love to donate platelets but I would have to do it in the “bus” and they use both arms. I can’t do that. The thing with platelets is that they only have a shelf life of 5 days, but you can donate every 5-7 days.

I volunteered at the hospital when I was doing platelets and I mentioned to a patient going in for a transfusion that I donate platelets and she was so grateful. She told me that we saved her life. So gratifying. People ask why I donate and I answer “because I can”. I am grateful for the chance to help someone.

When they say “give the gift of life”, blood truly is. There is no artificial blood.

[summer_in_TX]

24. I hope you are able to donate again.

This time of the year there's extra need usually, so I hear. Here in Central Texas I hear there's a serious shortage of blood. I don't know if it's nationwide. Makes me wonder if those of us whose health no longer allows us to give are not being replaced by younger donors.

My husband had to stop because of his heart and being on Eliquis. I'm still able to give, and hope to for quite a few more years.

Loved the Christmas donation tee-shirt I received. Santa's reindeers are listed one by one in green until the next to last, Donor, is in red. First one I've gotten with long sleeves, which will be great this season for yoga, I hope.

[NNadir]

25. Apparently they're giving long sleeved tee shirts here now in New Jersey. The best "gift" I got, or the most useful...

...was a red umbrella.

One more Slow Fe tomorrow night, and I hope I'll make it. I'd hate to think of someone losing a loved one because of a blood shortage, although there's plenty of A+ people around. They still keep after me to go, so I guess they need it.

In our lab, we rely on human plasma (and whole blood for antirejection drugs like cyclosporin and rapamycin) for bioanalytical blanks, so the need goes beyond transfusion to a wealth of other very important needs.

They used to send notes once in a while, saying where one's blood was used in a transfusion.

I never knew if my blood plasma was sold back to my lab. One never knows. It's an amusing thought.

I told my wife that when I kick off, I want my tissues, especially vitreous fluid, donated. These are essential tools for developing new treatments.

[Vogon_Glory]

26. An Episcopal church, no less!

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves!

[Skittles]

29. hey

I'm a longtime donor who sometimes has difficulty with the iron test....I've found that munching some Cheerios "hearty nut medley" cereal helps (one cup has 90% iron quota, I kid you not) - I skip the milk, because I think calcium can deplete iron....eating it with fruit is bonus time baby because Vit C helps with the iron absorption

[mahatmakanejeeves]

30. More often than not over the past two years, I've had a hematocrit level too low for me to donate.

Last edited Sat Dec 20, 2025, 11:59 AM - Edit history (1)

I tell people I flunked the drug test test.

I came oh so close: a reading in the upper 11s of units when a minimum of 12 units is required.

Around here, the Red Cross has replaced the method of taking an rental bit of blood with a device that fits over your finger. How that works, I do not know.

I passed the day after Thanksgiving. I got a pair of socks. Let's not forget the Lorna Doones.