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Couldnt Donate Blood

jgroove

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Get Shredded!
Went to donate blood and couldnt because my iron level was to high. It was only 2 points outside the acceptable range. She said maybe consume less red meats and foods with higher iron and try back in 4 days. This was my first time ever donating. My last labs had my hemoglobin at 18 and hematocrit 53.8. ..anyone have thoughts on anything else to do to assure I can donate next visit.
 
I bought a phlebotomy kit for 15 bucks and my girl did the deed for me. My BP dropped from 180/45 to 120/70 that’s a before and after reading. She’s a nurse


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Went to donate blood and couldnt because my iron level was to high. It was only 2 points outside the acceptable range. She said maybe consume less red meats and foods with higher iron and try back in 4 days. This was my first time ever donating. My last labs had my hemoglobin at 18 and hematocrit 53.8. ..anyone have thoughts on anything else to do to assure I can donate next visit.

Drink lots of water
 
I stopped going to blood care when they started testing for covid ... My tinfoil hat said “don’t let them database tou” lol


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We're you really well hydrated? I mean really well. That will make a huge difference in your hemoglobin. If it's still too high, you're gonna have to do a self phlebotomy at home or get a doctor to write a script for therapeutic phlebotomy.

You're most likely at dangerously high hematocrit levels right now, so you need to do something. I'd be on aspirin in the meantime so you don't have a stroke or any other kind of clotting issue. 2 adult low dose daily will work.
 
I probably wasnt hydrated enough for sure. this is first time. my labs last week were hemoglobin at 18 and hematocrit 53.8. Is that dangerously high? I was told slightly high.


 
With those levels, do you think drinking plenty water few days before and day of and cutting out food with lots iron would get me under their cutoff? She said it was only 2 points over and tried both fingers.
 
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With those levels, do you think drinking plenty water few days before and day of and cutting out food with lots iron would get me under their cutoff? She said it was only 2 points over and tried both fingers.

No...
 
I have never heard of any blood donation center not taking blood with an 18 hemoglobin...20 was always the cut off number...drink a half gallon of water 1 hour before going in and your hemoglobin could drop by as many as 2 points...
 
I have never heard of any blood donation center not taking blood with an 18 hemoglobin...20 was always the cut off number...drink a half gallon of water 1 hour before going in and your hemoglobin could drop by as many as 2 points...

the 18 was my labs two weeks ago. She said it was 22 today and cutoff is 20.
 
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This makes a good debate but I think I am right.

How much more can the cardiovascular system hold if you pound a gallon of water?

I would bet almost all of it would get pissed out without any additional water going to your blood stream.

I'm sure some water does enter your blood stream, but not enough to knock hemoglobin down from let's say 18% to 16% per deciliter.

This is why I would just ask your doctor for a therapeutic phlebotomy as that is what is always prescribed in this situation.
 
I would personally try to get a gallon in before you get there to see how it goes. It might be enough to get you under the threshold.

Luckily hematocrit isn't too bad, I missed that part before.

It could be that you were very dehydrated, that can definitely skew levels by a couple points. It's definitely worth a shot. I've done it before, but I was only 1 point over. I drank a gallon of water before going and was okay to donate.

I don't think avoiding iron will do you any good at this point. I mean maybe drop the beef and spinach for a couple days, can't hurt.
 
I would personally try to get a gallon in before you get there to see how it goes. It might be enough to get you under the threshold.

Luckily hematocrit isn't too bad, I missed that part before.

It could be that you were very dehydrated, that can definitely skew levels by a couple points. It's definitely worth a shot. I've done it before, but I was only 1 point over. I drank a gallon of water before going and was okay to donate.

I don't think avoiding iron will do you any good at this point. I mean maybe drop the beef and spinach for a couple days, can't hurt.

Well this would be a great experiment.

If OP could try this and get back to us with results.
 
This makes a good debate but I think I am right.

How much more can the cardiovascular system hold if you pound a gallon of water?

I would bet almost all of it would get pissed out without any additional water going to your blood stream.

I'm sure some water does enter your blood stream, but not enough to knock hemoglobin down from let's say 18% to 16% per deciliter.

This is why I would just ask your doctor for a therapeutic phlebotomy as that is what is always prescribed in this situation.
This...

Surprised they turned you away. Mine was high last time and she passed me right through to donate.
 
the 18 was my labs two weeks ago. She said it was 22 today and cutoff is 20.
You have the new record. Mine was 19.8

I did what HFO3 did. It took several times for me to get the number back down into an acceptable range.
 
Get a prescription for a therapeutic phlebotomy.

I did that last year. Little did I know they charged me $60 for each draw. It’s not considered a “donation”. It’s a medical procedure. Got a bill for over $800 when it was all done

Problem is also. With it being high. You’ll never get it down to normal range by donating every 6-8 weeks. I tried that for 3 donations and it never lowered.
 
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I did that last year. Little did I know they charged me $60 for each draw. It’s not considered a “donation”. It’s a medical procedure. Got a bill for over $800 when it was all done

Problem is also. With it being high. You’ll never get it down to normal range by donating every 6-8 weeks. I tried that for 3 donations and it never lowered.

What the hell?

What was the $800 charge from?
 
Get Shredded!
I bought a phlebotomy kit for 15 bucks and my girl did the deed for me. My BP dropped from 180/45 to 120/70 that’s a before and after reading. She’s a nurse


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wow.

what was your bpm?
 
Problem is also. With it being high. You’ll never get it down to normal range by donating every 6-8 weeks. I tried that for 3 donations and it never lowered.
I can corroborate this. Mine is high and numbers won't even budge by dumping once every four weeks. I'm back to once every two weeks



I didn't choose the swolle life, the swolle life chose me ~ Wesley Swolle
 
Wait a minute...are some of you saying that you drain a pint of blood every two weeks?...a few years ago I was rejected at a blood donation center at 8 am because my hemo was a 20...I went home and started drinking lots of water...I then drove to the local red cross at noon and was down to an 18...I also agree that donating does not bring your hemo down much if at all...I think the only way to get it down permanently is to get off of AAS completely and forever and donate as often as possible...what a conundrum!
 

I just started doing therapeutic donations. Got tired of getting turned down and wasting my time. One thing I’ve noticed is that they don’t treat me as nice. I’ve donated blood probably 40 times here in the past and now it’s seems as if I’m a bother. Don’t they still use the blood? Nothing on the form said “Don’t use”.
 
My oncologist orders the therapeutic phlebotomy and I go into her office every two weeks to dump blood.
I've developed a friendship with the nurse who preforms the procedure. He told me whenever bb types comes in with high hemo numbers, with no good reason, the doctor suspects they are juicing. She knows, but pretends not to know. I know she knows, but pretend not to know she knows.

I didn't choose the swolle life, the swolle life chose me ~ Wesley Swolle
 

I just started doing therapeutic donations. Got tired of getting turned down and wasting my time. One thing I’ve noticed is that they don’t treat me as nice. I’ve donated blood probably 40 times here in the past and now it’s seems as if I’m a bother. Don’t they still use the blood? Nothing on the form said “Don’t use”.
Do you go through an organization like the American Red Cross or to a blood center?

I didn't choose the swolle life, the swolle life chose me ~ Wesley Swolle
 
My oncologist orders the therapeutic phlebotomy and I go into her office every two weeks to dump blood.
I've developed a friendship with the nurse who preforms the procedure. He told me whenever bb types comes in with high hemo numbers, with no good reason, the doctor suspects they are juicing. She knows, but pretends not to know. I know she knows, but pretend not to know she knows.

I didn't choose the swolle life, the swolle life chose me ~ Wesley Swolle

Lol.
That's awesome the doc/she pretends all is normal.
Just go along to get along.
 
Wait a minute...are some of you saying that you drain a pint of blood every two weeks?...a few years ago I was rejected at a blood donation center at 8 am because my hemo was a 20...I went home and started drinking lots of water...I then drove to the local red cross at noon and was down to an 18...I also agree that donating does not bring your hemo down much if at all...I think the only way to get it down permanently is to get off of AAS completely and forever and donate as often as possible...what a conundrum!
I did it once a week. When I was back in range I stopped. I am still in range, so other than a regular blood donation, I have not yet drained my own again.
 
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