I passed out on the floor of the church hall in front of all the other donors, which is definitely not what they want to see
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I had no idea! I keep telling my son to donate but as heās in The Netherlands I guess not!
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When we had our blood taken for the ONS survey last week Mrs F regaled the poor surveyor with the time when she gave blood and they didnāt quite get the needle extraction right and it all turned a bit Hammer Horror for a few seconds.
Quick reminder that gay/bisexual men still cannot just go and donate blood, and this changes in the summer but only if youāre in a relationship or havenāt had a shag in three months. Truly archaic.
Iām Scottish we love the French 
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The good thing too is that it used to be a really awful painful procedure (bone marrow removal) but I believe now they can extract the cells from the blood. So itās not even a (relatively) big deal to donate.
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I donāt want to give blood in case I find out Iāve got cancer or HIV or something, would rather not know
I am A+ and I have given blood on and off since I was 17, 11 times in total. Went through my blood.co.uk account to check and ended up booking an appointment to go give again.
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Yeah thatās a really important point. From their FAQs https://www.dkms.org.uk/en/frequently-asked-questions:
There are two methods of donating blood stem cells. 90% of the time, the method of donation is peripheral blood stem cell collection. In this method, a thin sterile needle takes blood from one of the donorās arms and a machine extracts the blood stem cells from it. The donorās blood is then returned to them through their other arm. This is an outpatient procedure that is usually completed in 4-6 hours.
Bone marrow is used as the method of donation for the remaining 10% of the time. Bone marrow is not extracted from the spine, but from the pelvic bone using a special thin sterile needle
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Might be worth looking again. I can always get an appointment for 7pm at my local donation centre, which I can manage after work (obvs donāt know anything about yr shifts or commute, but they do seem to try to be accommodating for workers)
Iād had this a couple of times (long term veggie, been donating regularly for 10+ years). I started taking an iron tablet daily, and I havenāt had any iron level problems for a couple of years now.
Iāve been donating regularly for almost ten years I think, and have been a veggie for 3 or 4 years now I think. The last time I went in December I ended up having low iron. 135 was the threshold, with 125 being a ālow normalā where you just couldnāt donate for three months. But as I snuck under at 125 theyāve said I canāt donate for 12 months now. Unless I get another blood test from my GP at some point and it ends up being okay. Have been having some iron liquid stuff recently, but maybe I should go for a tablet version instead as I donāt like the taste! Trying to actively have some more of the good iron providing veggies now.
They gave me this leaflet like āso ur a low iron veggie, eat these foodsā, and it was basically my whole diet. donāt have a choice but to take tablets now!
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Which oneās the red one? Iām that one I think.
This.
Smashing those iron tablets (when I remember)
I always check for appointments and there is never anything available near me inā¦London
You might be better off with the liquid version- it has vitamin c and b12 in and is helpful with absorption and is less harsh on the stomach. Not suitable for vegans though because theyāre honey based.
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Iāve got low iron levels and canāt take iron supplements so would almost certainly fail the iron test. Also have shit veins and have a lot of trouble with blood tests and the like, so theyād never get enough out of me anyway.
Reading everyone elseās comments makes me feel better. Iāve always felt well guilty for never donating blood but justified it that as I faint at literally everything (dentists, jabs, stressful doctor experiences) they wouldnāt want the hassle. Seems like thatās true
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Iām up to 23 donations now, really upped the numbers when I was doing platelets.
Does anyone know if donating counts as essential travel? Iād have to get a train into Manchester which Iām not overly keen on. On the other hand, Seabrook crisps and biscuitsā¦