Okay, so I’m going to donate blood this Thursday. I’ve done it twice before, but the last two times I tried I was denied because of an ear piercing and tattoo, respectively. But this time I should be all good. I like doing it. It feels like a positive thing to do. Something I’ve been wondering about though… Suppose a woman is, for one reason or another, taking hormonal supplements (for birth control, menopause, whatever). That would be in their blood, right? Do they, like, filter it out? What happens if a man is given this blood? Snookums and I were speculating about this at lunch. Does anybody know? I can’t find anything about it on their website.
brigita
August 21, 2001 — 8:47 pm
i am a donation addict and can tell you that you can donate when you’re on the pill. i’m guessing that the hormones in the blood would have little to no effect on a guy, especially since the dosage is pretty low (at least in comparison to the first generation of the pill). i also think that it’s the cumulative effect of the pill that affects us grrls so much.
so to more accurately respond to your question, i have no idea. 😉
Jann
August 22, 2001 — 12:26 am
Try this on for size…”Although most blood is donated as whole blood, it is also possible to donate only a portion of blood using a technique called apheresis. Blood is drawn from the vein of a donor into an apheresis instrument, which separates the blood into different portions by centrifugation. By appropriately adjusting the instrument, a selected portion of the blood, such as the platelets, can be recovered, while the rest of the blood is returned to the donor either into the same vein or into a vein in the other arm…”
eeuugghh.
brigita
August 22, 2001 — 2:14 pm
donating platelets is a great way to go (especially since you can do it more often), but it usually takes about two hours and i hear that the return of the whole blood can be kinda uncomfortable.
that’s right–i love giving blood but i hate shots. 🙂
Kris
August 22, 2001 — 2:55 pm
Yeah, I heard about the uncomfortableness from my sister. She donated plasma in college because she was poor and it paid $30. *shudder* I hate needles myself. I think that’s part of why I feel so good about giving blood. It’s not just that I’m doing a good thing; I’m facing something that I loathe in the process. It’s penance, a guilt-purging mechanism if you will.