giving blood

I give every eight weeks. That is the shortest period allowed for a donation. If you get a scrip from your doc you can give more often but they discard the blood as unusable and will not let you donate if you tell them you are on HRT. I think you can pay to have a phlebotomy and they will draw and discard more often.
 
i have been on hrt for like 5 months now and i have never given blood............ i don;t think every1 has to...................
 
jwtex said:
I give every eight weeks. That is the shortest period allowed for a donation. If you get a scrip from your doc you can give more often but they discard the blood as unusable and will not let you donate if you tell them you are on HRT. I think you can pay to have a phlebotomy and they will draw and discard more often.

So they will lot let you donate if you are HRT (Just test shots) ?

I may need to donate soon, as my Haematocrit is getting high...Anyone on HRT that donates ?
 
coz said:
So they will lot let you donate if you are HRT (Just test shots) ?

I may need to donate soon, as my Haematocrit is getting high...Anyone on HRT that donates ?

I use the blood work to tell me when it's time.
 
there is no way in $#@# i can donate blood..........................i hate needles as is........ i would have a heart attack.................
 
BigRagu said:
there is no way in $#@# i can donate blood..........................i hate needles as is........ i would have a heart attack.................


It's only an issue if your hematocrit starts to get too high.
 
How many members actually have experienced hematocrit problems - especially to extent of needing to do blood donations?

What levels are being advised as "too elevated" for hematocrit problems?

Online I have found everything from a range of a low end of 50 to as high as 55 as being not a significant problem.

I have also noted that professional cyclists use the drug EPO (illegal for sport purposes) to using "altitude tents" to actually increase their hematocrit for endurance sporting purposes...
 
My hemoglobin was at 17.5 in my last CBC. I specificly requested that blood test, only to have my physician tell me to switch to doing the injections every 2 weeks instead of every week. Whatever.

The quick hemoglobin test done just before I donated blood showed a value of 18.5.

I donate to an agency other than the Red Cross. I've been thinking about donating to two different donation agencies so that I can donate every 7 weeks.

HRT should not preclude one from donating blood, but many people working for these places don't have a clue.
 
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mranak is right. TRT does not preclude anyone from giving blood. If challenged, ask for the Nurse in charge, and have her/him review contraindications to blood donations.

Other medications, commonly used in this type of medicine, are on the banned list however, such as finasteride--and with good reason. If a pregnant woman got that blood, it could have horrible consequences for her baby, as the drug could dramatic effects on sexual differentiation/development.

A hemoglobin over 18.0 OR hematcrit over 55.0 are indications for witholding TRT.

I am coming up on 5 gallons now myself. That is a LOT of people to have helped. ALLTHINGSMALE guys value doing things for others.

I did have a strange incident where I told a guy I wanted him to donate blood, and he was deferred for no other reason than the fact I told him I thought he should. The Medical Director said it was therefore not "free will" on the part of the potential donor. Go figure. And he knows me, as we had, just hours previous, sat together on a Bone Marrow Advisory Board meeting.

That brings up another important point: how many of you guys are on the National Marrow Donor Registry?
 
The Red Cross has their own marrow program. Ask for information while you are there. I sit on our local center's Advisory Board.

You can also get on the Registry by contacting:

http://www.marrow.org/index.html

I had the honor of founding the Reserve Component Marrow Donor Program, through the DoD, after my fiance' died from leukemia in 1992.
 
In my area, the local hosital does their own blood drives rather than running it through the red cross. But I have donated to the red cross. I'm confused as to why they don't just automatically do the bone marrow check, assuming permission from the donating person. I'll go out and investigate and get this done, but I think I would be very frustrated if I was a person with Leukemia because it _appears_ that the system isn't setup very well to maximize the size of the database.

EDIT: According to http://www.marrow.org/HELP/health_history_questionnaire.html, I can't join the registry because I have asthma and take medication for it. What's up with that? Are they concerned about the corticosteroids?
 
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mranak said:
My hemocrit was at 17.5 in my last CBC. I specificly requested that blood test, only to have my physician tell me to switch to doing the injections every 2 weeks instead of every week. Whatever.

The quick hemocrit test done just before I donated blood showed a value of 18.5.

I donate to an agency other than the Red Cross. I've been thinking about donating to two different donation agencies so that I can donate every 7 weeks.

HRT should not preclude one from donating blood, but many people working for these places don't have a clue.
Looking at me blood test it says Hematology and lists a number of things.
WBC
RBC
HGB
HCT
MCV
MCH
MCHC
RDW
PLT CT
MPV
LYMPH%
MONO%
GRAN%
EOS%
BASO%
LYMPH
MONO
GRAN
RBC Morphology
witch one is hemocrit.
:-( Phil
 
Thanks my HCT is 47.9 range 40.5 - 49.7 once on 08/12/2003 it was 51.7 at that time I was doing AndoGel 10 grams and getting a 200 mg. shot every other week.
Phil
 
They cannot "assume" consent to join the Natinal Marrow Donor Registry.

Those with asthma are at some increased risk during surgery. This is the criteria they use when selecting potential donors. That is why you are deferred. Sorry.
 
SWALE said:
They cannot "assume" consent to join the Natinal Marrow Donor Registry.
Maybe I should have asked my question differently. Why don't they give blood donors the _option_ of joining the registry?

SWALE said:
Those with asthma are at some increased risk during surgery. This is the criteria they use when selecting potential donors. That is why you are deferred. Sorry.
Seems like it wouldn't hurt for them to let me join the registry and then assess _my_ risk _if_ I happen to be a match. Depending on the situation, I would certainly be willing to put myself up to some risk to potentially save the life of another. For example, if I _had_ to, then I think that I could survive (although uncomfortably) without corticosteroid therapy.

I don't presume that I understand the situation better than those running the registry. But I do hope that their policy is good.
 
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