donating blood

[christie]

my son josh is in student council this year at school, and the student council has organized a blood drive at school. well i did'nt know if diabetics could give blood but i was looking on the internet and saw diabetics could donate. my question is has anyone here donated blood and i have bad hypo unawareness does giving blood make you low?

[fgummett]

Not sure about USA but not allowed to donate on Canada if on insulin...

[TommyC1]

You probably want to check with what ever organization is recieving the blood.
The company I work for used to have Red Cross Blood drives and they did not have a problem with a type 1 donating blood.
We switched to a Boston Hospital and they will not take blood from a diabetic using insulin. No explanation as to why.
I don't recall ever having hypos after donating but it has been a few years.

Tommy

[Funnygrl]

I donate routinely without issue. I get deferred based on my hematocrit or recent travel sometimes, but never diabetes. It does not lower my glucose.

[christie]

its from the red cross, from what i've read that as long as you are'nt on animal insulin its ok to donate,i don't believe that animal insulin is made any longer. i also saw that thyroid meds as well as aspirin is ok when donating. i thought of those since i'm on thyroid and take low dose aspirin. so now that i have my info i will sign up. thank you everyone for the info.

[lorilei]

I just had this question a few weeks ago...and asked fellow members myself..advice i was given was :yes you can give blood, even if on insulin as long as BG is stable (not sure how they decide that) and that they do a H&H fingerstick at the time (hemglobin and hematocrit ...not sure which order) ...however, i did NOT give blood at the time as i also have a hx of going Vasovagal and didn't want to throw that in as an additional issue in a public place and where I work (the d remains off the books there)...also, I was advised that if i did give blood to drink more fluids and have OJ/carbs on hand...and i did NOT confirm this info with the organizers at the time..

[Funnygrl]

I just had this question a few weeks ago...and asked fellow members myself..advice i was given was :yes you can give blood, even if on insulin as long as BG is stable (not sure how they decide that) and that they do a H&H fingerstick at the time (hemglobin and hematocrit ...not sure which order) ...however, i did NOT give blood at the time as i also have a hx of going Vasovagal and didn't want to throw that in as an additional issue in a public place and where I work (the d remains off the books there)...also, I was advised that if i did give blood to drink more fluids and have OJ/carbs on hand...and i did NOT confirm this info with the organizers at the time..

They just ask you if you feel your blood sugars are safe to donate. I do generally have like 1 juice while I'm there just to be on the safe side.

H&H means hemoglobin and hematocrit (in that order, same order results appear on a CBC), however, they typically just test your hematocrit. If you're not dehydrated or overhydrated hemoglobin can be closely estimated by your hematocrit results, as hematocrit will be triple the hemoglobin.

[Evermont]

I got screened post Dx - they didn't care that I was diabetic but they declined my donation because I was in Spain for more than a few months in the '80s. Something about mad-cow disease. Didn't matter that I'm vegetarian either.

I think they mentioned that bovine insulin would be a problem.

[Funnygrl]

I got declined last time because I had been in the Dominican Republic in November, and apparently I can have asymptomatic maleria for a year.

[Maddogg]

I would donate blood if I could. I have O negative blood, the universal type and I'm not even allowed to donate blood in Canada. I'm a big guy too, 200lbs, 6'3", they could easily get a pint or more of blood from me without any issues. Oh well, its their loss

[IrishJoe]

I'm a big guy too with O+ (not as good but hey it saves on the O- for those who need it!) but in ireland I laugh at their ads 'they need blood not excuses' as I think 'they sure do' because everytime I've gone to donate blood (before diabetes) I was turned down. Now that I have diabetes they don't want to look at me. The UK was ok before but I'm not sure about now.

[austinlad32]

Anyone know if you can donate on the NHS in the UK?

[fgummett]

I used to give blood regularly.... it was family "tradition" with my Dad getting a medal for 500 or more donations :) but I'm not allowed anymore :( because of the insulin and because I used to live in the UK -- Mad Cow disease-central apparently :cool:

The Canadian Blood Service is pretty paranoid anyway, as they were formed to take over from the Canadian Red Cross; which ran into trouble a few years back after Hepatitis C and HIV was being spread by the blood system.

[IrishJoe]

I never understood that... all the brits aren't mad cows surely?

[Evermont]

I never understood that... all the brits aren't mad cows surely?

The problem with mad cow is that it's not detectable. They cant screen the blood for it. It's a tragic but fascinating disease.

Check the wiki on mad cow (link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow)), there is a whole section on the UK that even mentions insulin from bovine sources and a table of cases by country that shows why UK is considered a problem. I can't donate because I spent time in Spain which had a tiny fraction of the cases in the UK.

[HuskerMychal]

I do donate and never had a issue because I "shoot up". But then again because of my blood type I think they would almost take anyone with it short of HIV or HEP person. I am AB neg and listed with the "rare blood club" in case I am needed in a emergancy. 9/11, I was down at the red cross a half hour after hearing the news.

[Keezheekoni]

I do donate and never had a issue because I "shoot up". But then again because of my blood type I think they would almost take anyone with it short of HIV or HEP person. I am AB neg and listed with the "rare blood club" in case I am needed in a emergancy. 9/11, I was down at the red cross a half hour after hearing the news.
You and my mother must be related. She's got that club card too. :)

I donate blood and platelets. You can donate platelets every two weeks and platelets help up to 8 people whereas blood only can help 1 person.

Unfortunately now that I'm pregnant and on heparin, I'm no longer qualified... I think I have to be off the heparin for a year before they'll let me donate again. :(

[HuskerMychal]

[QUOTE=Keezheekoni;423795]You and my mother must be related. She's got that club card too. :)
QUOTE]

that is possible, your mother Irish or scottish? My mom is half each LOL Oh, and I am the same blood type as my father. Cant remember but mom is either a neg or b neg