Any of ye ever give blood?

needhelpguy

Once, back in February. Never again.

For some reason I got a bit panicky when they took the needle out of me, started to feel weak, told the nurse, they all rushed over. It is a fookin awful feeling when you know you are going to pass out(/die) and cant do anything about it. Luckily I came back from the brink just in time and I had to rest lying down for the next 30 mins and was the last person there. Ugh. Fuk giving blood.

doubtfir3

I'd love to, but due to getting a whole load of it pumped into me a couple of years ago after an accident and resulting problems afterwards, and the fact that I used to live in Africa, I can't...

balls. I always tell my friends that they should, and try to get them to see the merit of doing it but most people use the whole "afraid of needles" thing or just couldn't be bothered..

CodeMonkey

Dave! wrote: »

I'm considering giving platelets, but it takes 50 minutes to do and you have to go into town for it Anyone done this? Is it an ordeal?

Also, has anyone donated bone marrow before? I had always thought it would be mega-painful (needle through your bone!!!), but the IBTS site says it's done under general anaesthesia

I've donated bone marrow before, or rather had bone marrow extracted from me using the same process for storage (long story).

A bone marrow donor doesn't actually donate bone marrow until there is a tissue type match to the recipient. A date for the transplant is then arranged and you donate the day before or hours before the transplant date. It depends on where the donor and recipient are located.

They do put you under general anaesthesia so you won't feel a thing. You'll just wake up with bandages on your pelvis. It heals up after a few days and it won't stop you from doing most things.

As far as I know, to donate platelets you need to be hooked up to a machine that takes in your blood. The platelets are separated out using centrifuge and then collected by the machine. The red blood cells and other stuff are then redirected back to your body. The use of the equipment is why you need to go to a specific place to get it done.

Dave!

Cheers! So the bone marrow donation is not bad at all? How long did you have to spend in hospital? And how long were you on the list before you got a call?

Sorry for all the questions! I'm giving this serious consideration

Burnshard

heymcflyx wrote: »

Im up to nine, next time I get a badge yeh!!
They told me ive some type of special blood that they give to babys, Im not sure if thats just to get me in or what.
Makes me laugh when they ask have I been handling monkeys. How mature am I :rolleyes:

Yeah, same here. I have the 0 neg blood that everybody can have. They take it in these tiny bags and talk all about how it's for the babies, and they always ask are you pk for one more bag?:eek:

As if I could say no.

Dave!

Burnshard wrote: »

Yeah, same here. I have the 0 neg blood that everybody can have. They take it in these tiny bags and talk all about how it's for the babies, and they always ask are you pk for one more bag?:eek:

As if I could say no.

You know they take that second bag into the back, pour it into a chalice and share it amongst themselves, right?

fakearms123

I havent got a blood taken yet but when I do get it done, which will probably within the next few months i will instruct them to take 7 litres of blood, none of that wussy stuff me please

Petrolium Hat

Yep Im O negative a universal donor, try to give it as often as possible, get calls from the clinic if i dont.

Awayindahils

Yep I have.

Last time I went to give blood however I fainted after they pricked my finger. No needles or anything properly in me, just the test for iron levels. After a half an hour of 'well-no-one-usually-faints-at-that-point' they asked me not to come back for 3-5 years.

sound_wave

The brother and myself have done so since we were about 19/20. Just donated recently at work where they come around in the "Bloodmobile". Very handy. I had one bad experience where I was out the night before on a session and donated the next day. That was fine, but as they were taking the needle out blood just started to spurt out of my arm. I looked at it, my brain said "Holy f*ck", my stomach did a flip, my head went light and I was, as another poster said, on the brink of fainting.. I didn't though but i had to lie down for around 30 mins, with them all asking me was I ok and the other doners looking at me! Oh the shame!! At least I got an extra 30 mins off work.. :pac:

Raytown Rocks

I donate platelettes.
The donations are taken in St. James Hospital.
The donation can take anything up to about an hour, and its one a month.
All in all a very worthwhile experience.
I have been donatinf for a few years now.
B neg ( 3% of the country have this blood) so its quite rare.

edit

Just made my next appointment for next week, this thread reminded me it's been a while

Honey-ec

doubtfir3 wrote: »

balls. I always tell my friends that they should, and try to get them to see the merit of doing it but most people use the whole "afraid of needles" thing or just couldn't be bothered..

Funny, I doubt they'd be so afraid of needles if they were bleeding to death and needed a transfusion... "Oh God no, don't come near me with that thing! I'm genuinely afraid of them, I'll feel all woozy afterwards and everything..." *thud*

CodeMonkey

Dave! wrote: »

Cheers! So the bone marrow donation is not bad at all? How long did you have to spend in hospital? And how long were you on the list before you got a call?

Sorry for all the questions! I'm giving this serious consideration

A couple of hours rest was all I needed. You might get some discomfort from seating for a while but like I said, it doesn't stop you from doing normal stuff.

I wasn't on a donor list. They extracted bone marrow from me for storage a few years ago when i was healthy in case I have a leukemia relapse and I couldn't find a donor. As it turns out, I had a relapse a year and a half ago and got a bone marrow transplant from a donor a little over a year ago.

It's well worth being a bone marrow donor. You could really play a big part in saving someone's life. Unlike blood and platelet transfusions, the tissue type of a bone marrow donor has to match very close to the recipient. If you are a match for someone who needs your bone marrow then his/her life is pretty much in your hands. Chances of finding another match would be slim.

I am asian so there was little chance of finding a donor match here. My donor is located somewhere in asia, they took the stuff out and flew it over

And yeah, thanks to all you blood and platelet donors out there

jim o doom

No.. have a fear of needles since a nurse missed a vein in my arm 9 times when I was a child when trying to take blood for a test.
plus I am a bit of a stoner so my blood these days would be considered contaminated.. I would if I wasn't scared and a filthy waster

boogle

dr.bollocko wrote: »

I cant give blood. Tattoos. Face and knob piercings, a frankly impressive array of intraveinous drug abuses and the STD smorgasbord.

So, are you single?

jim o doom

Honey-ec wrote: »

Funny, I doubt they'd be so afraid of needles if they were bleeding to death and needed a transfusion... "Oh God no, don't come near me with that thing! I'm genuinely afraid of them, I'll feel all woozy afterwards and everything..." *thud*

That's silly - some people genuinely are afraid of needles, but if they were in a life threatening situation a needle is the last thing they are worried about. It's great being able to take the moral upper hand because you have donated blood, but don't ridicule people because they have a fear, even if that fear is groundless, like most phobias.

January

Dave! wrote: »

Also, has anyone donated bone marrow before? I had always thought it would be mega-painful (needle through your bone!!!), but the IBTS site says it's done under general anaesthesia

I was going to become a bone marrow doner, had filled in the forms and made the appointement to get the blood tests done and stuff like that, then I found out I was pregnant!

Lovely, maybe when the baby is here... can you give blood after you've had a baby??

tallaght01

You know there's a fook load of people who think you can catch HIV from giving blood?

I mean, how can people really believe that?? But quite a few people have asked me about that in the past?

Honey-ec

tallaght01 wrote: »

You know there's a fook load of people who think you can catch HIV from giving blood?

Are they called Run_to_da_Hills and Jeremyquinn?

Petrolium Hat

tallaght01 wrote: »

You know there's a fook load of people who think you can catch HIV from giving blood?

I mean, how can people really believe that?? But quite a few people have asked me about that in the past?

Yeah with cutbacks they only use one needle over the course of the day, and then give it to homeless junkies and collect it the next morning. No one wears gloves, nothing is sterlized and often you are given a bit of H to inject post letting.

tallaght01

Petrolium Hat wrote: »

Yeah with cutbacks they only use one needle over the course of the day, and then give it to homeless junkies and collect it the next morning. No one wears gloves, nothing is sterlized and often you are given a bit of H to inject post letting.

Nah, that's not true. Where I worked they were too scabby to give you a shot of horse afterwards.

Mushy

Dave! wrote: »

I'm considering giving platelets, but it takes 50 minutes to do and you have to go into town for it Anyone done this? Is it an ordeal?

I give platelets myself. Only 19, have given blood 3 or 4 times, but now do this. Giving platelets is fine, all ya have to do is keep an eye out on the pressure so ya dont try help force blood out when a return is on(shuddery feeling). Apart from that, everyone in James' Hospital is really nice, look after you fine, get plenty of soft drinks/crisps/etc. before & after donation. And as I know yor in UCD, you'll have a laptop, so bring that in and ya can float around online or watch dvd's:D. Time flies by in all honesty, and its all worthy, just like giving blood. Ask the people in the blood donation clinic about it next time and set up an appointment, sure you may not be eligable for it, and they dont force you into it anyway, you can stay as a blood donor.

Now to make an appointment fo next Thursday myself...keep forgetting to!:o

ashyle

They ask have you been near monkeys too..

I did it a few months ago best do it again! It's easy peasy. Plus you get sweeties after :pac:

ashyle

Oh when I first gev blood I went out that night, one pint and I was woooo pished. Cheap night

thefinalstage

**** off you patelet donating bastards...."I donate platelets every month, its more rewarding then bloood donation"

"I donate sperm everyday its much more rewarding then donating platelets."

adrieanne__x

adrieanne__x wrote: »

I was going to become a bone marrow doner, had filled in the forms and made the appointement to get the blood tests done and stuff like that, then I found out I was pregnant!

Lovely, maybe when the baby is here... can you give blood after you've had a baby??

You can't give platlets.....because the babies bloodtype might have messed with your antibodies or something.

Crea

Moonbaby wrote: »

You can't give platlets.....because the babies bloodtype might have messed with your antibodies or something.

You can give blood a year after being pregnant. Congrats on the pregnancy Adrienne.

Dave!

thelastangryman wrote: »

**** off you patelet donating bastards...."I donate platelets every month, its more rewarding then bloood donation"

"I donate sperm everyday its much more rewarding then donating platelets."

Is there actually a place in Dublin where you can donate sperm? That would be pretty awesome...

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

CDfm

That thru about the UK between 1980 and 1996 - I have a rare blood type and always felt guilty not donating so thats me of the hook!!!!!!!!!!

Havermeyer

I went in to the donor shop near O'Connell bridge. but they wouldn't take it.

I don't get it. What's the big deal with taking badly needed blood from someone who has had a spliff or two? It's not gonna kill the person that urgently requires some blood?!

Ridiculous in my opinion.

CDfm

Dave! wrote: »

Is there actually a place in Dublin where you can donate sperm? That would be pretty awesome...

there is no place in Ireland- any donation in Ireland is inadvisable - it would be private. Therefore the donation is not anonymous. Therefore the donor is the biological father and is liable to pay maintainance for the child. I believe there has been a case where a homosexual donor to a lesbian couple(who split up) has been sued for maintainance by the mother and had an award made against him as the biological father and applied for visitation rights
and lost. It was in John Waters Irish Times Column.

AS my mother would say ...........But I wont

ericl

Gave my 10th donation on wednesday in D'Olier st.
(O RH POSITIVE).
I won't get my silver pin till the next time, 'cause they've none in':o
Anybody who can give blood should.

According to the IBTS, only 3% of people in Ireland donate blood. Dunno if that's eligible people or just people in general, but it's still low!!!

If it's people in general, they're so picky about who can donate. In college, I always had people coming up with leaflets and needling (haha! :rolleyes:) me to donate blood, then once I got there I was refused because I'd lived in England as a child. That's cutting out a LOT of people right there. I still have people making me feel guilty that I don't donate and not believing me when I say I can't.

ewj1978

Yeah the rules make no sense. If you have a head cold you can't donate either. Now I'm pretty sure that Plasma wont transmit the cold virus but when I went down and was asked if I had a cold I sadi yes and sry thx but no thx... It's a bit like the rules for organ donation... makes no sense to my addled brain tbh.

WhiteWashMan

i give blood every 3-4 months for the simple reason that someday, i may need to get it all back again.
have given blood around a dozen times over the last 4 yers.

WhiteWashMan

CDfm wrote: »

That thru about the UK between 1980 and 1996 - I have a rare blood type and always felt guilty not donating so thats me of the hook!!!!!!!!!!

actually, the less rare the blood type, the more you need to donate.
less people with rare blood need it

youll always find that in most demand is A and O positive.

Shelflife

one of the reasons that you cant give blood when you have a cold or had a spliff is that alot of the blood goes to cancer patients who because of their treatment have little or no immune system , so a simple cold or flu can turn into a life threatening problem for them.

if you can you should,put your fear of needles to one side , you really are saving lives.

Conor108

Dave! wrote: »

Is there actually a place in Dublin where you can donate sperm? That would be pretty awesome...

YOUR MA!!:D

sam34

Conor108 wrote: »

YOUR MA!!:D

had to be said!

Adamcp898

Conor108 wrote: »

YOUR MA!!:D

That worked better than most usually do

LEIN

Donating blood since i was 18 and see it as a gift.

Recently moved house and been on holidays so its a good 6 months since i last donated but imagine ill be getting a call up letter soon.

If i was to die prematurely then they can take every thing they want for transplantation cause its no use to me 6ft under!!

Piste

Interestingly enough, people with haemochromotosis aren't allowed to donate, even though their perfecly healthy, iron-rich blood has to be extracted every few weeks.


Is there a sensible reason for this?

Nalz

i always wanted to but cant now cause of this shaggin sick thingy i have since last year

always wanted one of those pencils!

microgirl

karlr42 wrote: »

They don't, but they test all the blood before it's used, so they can tell if it's contaminated, hence they won't accept you next time A lot of blood donated gets put to waste because it doesn't meet standards, unfortunately

I wouldn't say "a lot"; *some* gets discarded because tests show up positive/quality control reasons. Some more gets discarded because it goes out of date. By far the most gets used though

microgirl

Looby_Loo wrote: »

I have given blood a few times. The last time I went they wouldn't take it because I was anaemic and now I can't donate for a year or two because of a new tattoo.

6 months now for tattoos/piercings/acupuncture. Used to be 12 months.

microgirl

Dave! wrote: »

Yeah I've donated about 4 or 5 times... I'm 20 years old

Takes little time and could save someone's life.

The needle does not hurt, so please don't let that dissuade you!

According to the IBTS, only 3% of people in Ireland donate blood. Dunno if that's eligible people or just people in general, but it's still low!!!

www.giveblood.ie

I'm an organ donor too, because, well... what am I gonna do with my organs after I die? It's a waste. You can order a card via text (see my sig).

I'm considering giving platelets, but it takes 50 minutes to do and you have to go into town for it Anyone done this? Is it an ordeal?


Also, has anyone donated bone marrow before? I had always thought it would be mega-painful (needle through your bone!!!), but the IBTS site says it's done under general anaesthesia

Donating platelets is great. Yeah, it takes longer, and you have to go to the National Blood Centre up at St James's to do it, but you're lying on a comfy bed, and you can read, or watch a dvd. And you get to take a bit more of an active role, because you have to pump your hand at the right time to keep the flow going, and it's just cool to think of a machine that separates your platelets from the rest of your blood and then sends your blood back in!

Also, platelets only have a shelf-life of 5 days, with the possibility of extending to 7 days, and are vital vital vital for patients with leukaemia so there's always a huge need for platelets.

Oh yeah, and bone marrow donation is donw under general anaesthetic because yes, it would hurt an incredible amount otherwise. Nothing you want done while awake (though I haven't donated marrow before. You could be on the register your whole life and never get called up, never match anyone)

microgirl

[quote=[Deleted User];57167221]If it's people in general, they're so picky about who can donate. In college, I always had people coming up with leaflets and needling (haha! :rolleyes:) me to donate blood, then once I got there I was refused because I'd lived in England as a child. That's cutting out a LOT of people right there. I still have people making me feel guilty that I don't donate and not believing me when I say I can't.[/QUOTE]

If people are making you feel guilty about not being able to donate then they need a kick in the head. I despise the people who froth and foam about their "right" to donate blood, and why are there these stupid rules that discriminate against them (and believe me, there are people like that out there) but only one step below that is people who look down on people who genuinely can't donate (I don't consider needle-fear a genuine reason, but it's also one I would try to gently persuade them to overcome, not rant at them about how "selfish" they are).

Donation is just that - donation. It is - or should be - a purely altruistic gesture to help people in desperate need. It's not supposed to be about making ourselves feel good. Equally, those who would love to and can't shouldn't feel bad, or allow themselves be made feel bad.

I only barely escape the UK ban, having moved home in 1979 (I was 2 1/2) and I know how unbelieveably gutted I would be if I was excluded, and I'd be very tempted to lie, if it was only a matter of a couple of months, but ultimately that wouldn't be doing the patient any favours.

Your desire to donate stands you in good stead, and tell those idiots to back off.

Maybe you could go up to Belfast every few months to donate

microgirl

ewj1978 wrote: »

Yeah the rules make no sense. If you have a head cold you can't donate either. Now I'm pretty sure that Plasma wont transmit the cold virus but when I went down and was asked if I had a cold I sadi yes and sry thx but no thx... It's a bit like the rules for organ donation... makes no sense to my addled brain tbh.

Well don't worry, it makes lots of sense to those of us who know about these things

Wurly

The last time I gave blood, they hit a nerve - literally. It was like someone punched me in the arm. It was awful.

Supposedly I hadn't drank enough water. I tried again a few days later in t'other arm and very little would come out - aaaggh.

I'll give it a bash again but I must say, i'm very nervous this time round.