blood donations

[Courtney Piddle]

hi guys, the other week, i gave blood. I thin its a really worth while thing to do especially as so many of us will need transfusions at some point in our lifes.

for those of you who have never donated, it is really easy. you just go along to a donating session when it comes to your town. you have to fill in some forms and then they take a blood test to see if you are annemic or not ( of all of it this bit is the only bit that hurts) they take a pin prick of blood.

then they take you through to a bed where you lie as they find your vein and take your blood. it doesnt take very long at all and it really really does not hurt. i was expecting it to hurt a LOT when i first gave blood but i barely noticed it.

i think it is really worth doing if you haven't already, and if you have, its worth keeping it up there is always a demand for blood.

has anyone ever had any bad experiences from blood donating?

[choki]

I did donated once during a blood donation drive in my school.
I thought it would be painful...but hehe only the anaesthetic jab was a little painful.

Oh, and a point to remember move your fingers to make the blood flow faster. I didn't do that and it took longer for the packet to be filled

[FairyTale]

I'm not old enough yet but once I'm of age, I plan on donating blood. I think that it's a feel good thing, and it's thing to be proud of.

[Mint]

Im scared of seing blood, needles and other things. Everytime I have to give blood for tests or whatever - I hate. Plus Im very low weight. In US most of the time they want u to be 110 pound minimum, and I weight under that so...I wont be giving blood.

[Barry Trotter]

Theres no shame in it. one of my close friends weighs too little to give blood. And one of the guys i work with ( huge 6ft gorrila of a bloke) wont do it because he doesnt like the thought of needles, they make him giddy.

i give blood i dont see it as anything totally totally amazing, its just a nice thing to do if you can and if needles dont bother you

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

I gave blood at a blood drive at school this year. I barely weigh 110, but they still let me do it...and I will never do it again!!!!! (Unless I gain weight ) I was all lightheaded, nauseated, and then I fainted. Not an experience I care to repeat. So for those of you giving blood, my advice is not to give blood unless you weigh about 120, not 110.

[han lin]

i gave blood for the first time a couple of weeks ago and i was SO SCARED before i went in. i mean i was looking foward to it because this was the first blood drive when i was actually old enough to donate.

i was expecting the finger prick to hurt a lot more than it did ( urgh i hate finger pricks)

and the needle the use to take blood is quite big, but i'm not lying when i say it didnt hurt. it just felt like someone pinching your arm and then it was gone. no hurts.

I didnt feel feint afterward, although a couple of my friends did, one of them was a big rugby player bless him, he propperly feinted.

but i was ok. i think it just depends on the person weather they feel dizzy or not, and their weight.

if you go to give blood, make sure you eat loads in the morning lots of chocolate and sweet drinks.

after i'd given blood, i felt so amazing. it was a total rush, helped someone i didnt even know
brilliant

[Scellanis]

I'm afraid I have to say....NO WAY!!! Not in a millions years...they will never get me into one of those things....

I have a massive phobia of needles...they would need two or three nurses to physically hold me down....plus I'm real squeamish too, if the thought of a needle didn't get me then the sight of the blood would, I would most certainly pass out....its bad enough when I hear people talking about having done it nevermind for me to actually try it myself....

[choki]

oh not to worry...the anaesthetic jab needle is very thin. Just look away, and don't imagine horrible thing like needle breaking.

The needle that draws the blood out is thicker but it really doesn't feel anything because of the anaesthetic jab. Plus the nurse uses the same punctured needle hole so there is only one site of entry...

I hope I didn't make it sound worse

[han lin]

i didnt get a jab of anaesthetic

am i just being a total brute?

only one needle went into my arm and it was thew one taking the blood

and honestly it didnt hurt

[pallas artemis]

I like giving blood, partly because I think I'm one of the people who produce more than the normal number of blood cells so when I get down I always feel more energetic and healthy than I did before.

The first time I gave blood was at school and I was laying there watching them put the needle into my arm and they told me to look away, so I turned my head and one of my classmates (whom I didn't particularly like anyway) was passing out. They told me nt to look at her so I ended up counting dots on the ceiling for seven minutes when I got done and they finally acknowledged that I was ok about blood and stuff and I could leave.
I rarely eat before or after giving blood and it has never bothered me but thet is rare to find

[Barry Trotter]

they always tell me to turn away as well, i want to watch ( ok maybe i'm a freak)

but yeah i turn back straight away and watch the bag fill up its was quite amazing seeing my blood , the nurse has to squeeze it all about for some reason. not too sure which.

but yeah all good. i feel exactly the same after giving blood pallas, energetic an healthy and i also feel good about myself that i've helped someone else:)

[pallas artemis]

EXACTLY!!! Thank you! I'm not the only one who feels better after

[choki]

I have way too much blood to spare...I rather donate than to waste it by tripping over a pavement...(clusmy person over here)

But my parents remain skeptical about me donating my blood...they kept asking if I am feeling alright...

Yeah, I definitely felt better after donating that bag of blood. But everyone kept staring at me at the bus because of the gauze at the arm that was soaked with blood!!! To think that I have asked the nurse for a change before I left the school. Guess my clotting mechanism isn't working well that day

[Krum]

When I'm old enough.BUT NOT IN BULGARIA!!!There was this thing-a person with AIDS, who they didn't test cus he looked healthy and they took his blood.So now many lives are ruined and I don't think anybody has been punished.It's horrible!I'm afraid of going to hospitals and this is the reason.