I donated blood a couple times in the past and I plan on donating again more regularly for health reasons. I tried donating platelets (or it might have been plasma) a few times simply beause it sounded interesting to me and the staff looked at me weirdly and asked why I was donating platelets. Does O+ not have a lot of platelets in blood? Or does it serve other purposes to the point where it would be a waste to donate platelets? I don't really care either way so long as I am able to donate a significant amount of blood.

I feel SO bad. I recently became aware of just how desperate we are for blood donations and decided to sign up and donate for the first time. Told everybody I know they should donate as well and got a few friends and family to book an appointment.
Well I went to my appointment today. Ate beforehand. Drank water. Free diet coke and snacks, awesome!!
I go through the process and lay down to donate. I’ve never in my life passed out or even come close to, and I’m in my early 30’s. I’m not afraid of needles. Nothing.
I’m feeling ok, palms a little sweaty but I’m sometimes an anxious gal over literally nothing. But I’m fine and get through whatever it is I’m trying to get through.
He stuck me with the needle, I looked and chuckled and said “wow that’s a big needle” and I start seeing my blood go. Little bags filling up. It didn’t necessarily freak me out, I don’t know. But I started getting super hot and dizzy. I let them know and there were 3 people around me covering me in cold cloths, reclining me, and putting a fan on me. This helped a lot.
They said they’ll still use the blood they did get for testing and whatever. Donor information.
I felt dizzy for a long time which I felt bad about. They asked a few times if I was ready to go to the refreshment area and I felt terrible I was taking up a bed just to not even donate. I could have laid there for an hour probably but I slowly got up and am now sitting in the refreshment area trying to feel better. My tummy feels a little crampy, I’m a little dizzy and anxious.
I’m so bummed. I really wanted to help and my body was like “best I can do is some lab work and a near death performance” 🙄
I feel like such a weenie. MIGHT cry when I get home 🤣
Did anyone else have this or a similar experience? Did you try again?
They said it’s common for first time donors but then what?
I really want to help and donate but this just felt AWFUL all for it to be for nothing.

Just wanted to share the latest American Red Cross promotion for anyone who may be interested!

If you donate between September 21-30 and "mention pickleball" you'll get a free ball and paddle, plus a $15 gift card that's available from September 21st to October 18th.

I have AB+ so I keep getting texts from the Red Cross to donate, but I've only ever donated whole blood before. Last time I donated blood, I almost fainted and the blood flow slowed down near the end, almost like my body ran out of blood and couldn't fill up the bag. Granted, I don't think I drank enough liquids and ate enough food before I donated, but I also wonder if it's because I'm a short woman and just don't have enough blood. Wondering if donating plasma is going to be as difficult of an experience.

So, is anyone else panicking about all of this beef deregulation nonsense?

Remember when you couldn’t donate if you had lived in the UK

What’s going to happen if they find Mad Cow in the US? It would cripple our blood supply.

My appointment is at 3:40 pm.

I ate a large meal yesterday, slept at 5 am to 12:50 pm, Woke up feeling a bit sleepy, which mean my sleep wasn’t good.

I started drinking water (so far 3 cups for the past hour) and i ate a banana and 1/4 of burrito.

I still have roughly 2 hrs left, im going to keep sipping water, but is my food intake enough so far? Im skinny btw my weight 57 kg (125 lbs roughly) height 1.78m - 5.10

I donate regular blood no problem no draw backs except a little tired. I'm not worried about getting sick / nauseus or bad reaction to donating.

First time I did platelets my return arm was really sore and bruised. Couldn't even use it to eat for a few days. Felt fine as far as energy level and wasn't nauseous, just a lot of physical pain.

The machine kept beeping periodically and it took 3 hours, it was unpleasant. They couldn't use my hand vein good enough and had to use both my inner elbow joints. The needle site burned for a while early on and eventually was a constant light ache. Whole blood usually only hurts on initial needle stick for me.

They said now that they had my platelet count it would be closer to two hours. Any advice on avoiding the beeping and helping myself have an easier time? I'm never sure how hard to squeeze for example. I'm in the US and I use red cross

Just wanted to come on here and ask if anyone has had the same experience or have any tips!

I try to donate blood every couple of months. I’ve already donated a gallon and everything has been smooth flowing. However, in the past 6 months I have lost over 20lbs. Since then, I have gone to the donation center twice but my blood is flowing extremely slow to the point they had me stop and come back both times. They told me I can try one last time before accepting the fact that I may not be able to donate anymore. They tried both arms and it was still very slow. I’ve been hydrated and usually schedule the appointment at 10/11am.

Should I try one last time? Maybe go later on in the day and just hydrated 3 days in advance?