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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Blood donation

355 replies

ImperialPleather · 13/06/2019 19:58

I’m so fed up of being told to donate blood? It’s happened 3 times in the past week I’ve been shamed for not giving blood.

I have no good reason to not give it other than I don’t want to but given I have bodily autonamy AIBU to think it’s no ones damn business?

It’s amazing some people give so well done to those who do!

OP posts:
REDCARBLUE · 14/06/2019 22:45

Well ive booked! 7th August! I needed that kick!

limitedperiodonly · 14/06/2019 23:03

If you have a less common blood group, that doesn't mean that you are allergic to taking donations from other blood groups and will die.

It means that if your group isn't there for you in an emergency you can take O+ and live.

Thertruthisoutwhere · 14/06/2019 23:07

Rufusthebewilderedreindeer
Thanks, seems like i need to ring them and see if they would want me or not. I don't know if it's a weight or iron thing but i was so dizzy for hours after i had all the multiple blood tests. Which wont really work with 2 babies in tow!

I have donated my DNA for a research thing and donated some cervical mucus too so have done something at least!

RhinestoneCowgirl · 14/06/2019 23:09

I'm Oneg, they love me. Have given 30+ times since I was 18. I have thin crappy veins tho, so not a good bleeder.

I have noticed in the last 5yrs or so that it's increasingly difficult to get an appointment to give blood.

M3lon · 15/06/2019 01:50

dino I am really sorry to hear that. Would it help to know that blood can be completely depersonalized? The red blood cells don't contain DNA, so they don't bring anything of the donator with them....

over50andfab · 15/06/2019 02:17

@limitedperiodonly sorry but it’s actually O- not O+ that is the universal donor blood type and can be given to anyone.

Toddlerteaplease · 15/06/2019 02:44

I'd love to be able to donate again. I was stopped as soon as I was diagnosed with MS, before I'd had any treatment. Which I thought was ridiculous. As I was perfectly well at the time.

carla1983 · 15/06/2019 02:50

Don't feel bad about it. What you do or don't do with your body is nobody's business.

I don't give blood because I've been iron deficient in the past and only just recently got my ferritin levels up to normal. I lose enough blood through menstruation each month, I don't need any more help losing blood thanks.

carla1983 · 15/06/2019 02:52

Also I have a low BMI, I'm tiny and suspect I don't have enough blood to spare?

mmmhazelnutchocolate · 15/06/2019 04:19

Can anyone explain why once you've had a blood transfusion you can never donate again?

InMySpareTime · 15/06/2019 05:33

@PoppadomPeach you can donate hair to the Little Princess Trust to make wigs for cancer patients.

InMySpareTime · 15/06/2019 05:37

I have given blood in the past (28 times!) but was barred for a year last time I went because of very low iron.
I went to the GP about the iron and ended up with an ME diagnosis so now I can't donate any more🙁.

Bloodybridget · 15/06/2019 05:42

I wish I could give blood, I did a few times when I was young, but then my haemoglobin was always too low, so in the end they said thanks but don't come back! With all the restrictions on what they can take, and so many people repeatedly getting tattooes and piercings and travelling to far-flung places, I don't know how they manage to maintain supplies. OP if you don't want to donate, your choice, but being annoyed and feeling "shamed" at being asked is ridiculous.

septembersunshine · 15/06/2019 06:57

I am under the weight limit (7 stone 12) and anemia so that rules me out. I wish I could though!

Sooverthemill · 15/06/2019 08:03

mmhazelnutchocolate This is a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of a serious condition called variant CJD (vCJD) being passed on by donors.

SheSnapsThenSheFarts · 15/06/2019 08:16

Reading up thread there are lots of people who, for whatever reason, cannot donate however much they want to. I think that if you can, then you should. It's that simple

LittleCandle · 15/06/2019 08:41

My cousin has just been interviewed on radio and in the local paper as she received something like 5 pints during childbirth with her first child. Aberdeenshire are crying out for AB blood right now, as apparently it is the second most common blood group there. I am AB myself, but unable to give blood since having thyroid cancer. I gave as often as I could, even donating one time whilst waiting for someone coming off a train, which was late, and there was a mobile unit in the station. 23 years on from my last donation, I still feel guilty that I cannot donate.

M3lon · 15/06/2019 10:21

nobody is crying out for AB blood....I'm AB and we are the universal acceptor blood type.

Just another reason they aren't queuing around the block for my blood...its vCJD raddled from my transfusion (plus or minus the fact that vCJD isn't a thing anymore) its almost certainly iron deficient (given I've been in hospital getting IV iron more than once since having said transfusion) and to top it all off its AB, the least useful of all blood types....

M3lon · 15/06/2019 10:22

soover don't you think its strange they are protecting against a disease that nobody actually has anymore?

I think that's weird....and stupid.

Indie139 · 15/06/2019 10:28

I wanted to give blood but i had an emergency blood transfusion when i had my daughter and so im not allowed to donate now. I guess its true, if youd be willing to accept then why not consider giving. At the end of the day though i dont think its right for anyone to make you feel shamed. Its your choice at the end of the end of the day and you have your reasons

M3lon · 15/06/2019 10:28

On the plus side the breast milk donation guidelines have now changed and people who have had a blood transfusion can now do that. They couldn't when it was relevant to me....because milk donation charities hadn't really cottoned on to the ways that breast milk donation is different to blood....mostly that it takes 16 years for a recipient of breast milk to be in a position to donate themselves...so exponential contaminant spread isn't actually a threat.

Lizzie48 · 15/06/2019 10:31

Because, at the time, it was a horrific illness for those who were unfortunate enough to develop it. And no one knew how long the incubation period might be. But in view of the fact that no one has developed the condition in about 15 years (I can't remember exactly), I think it's safe to say that there are no carriers anymore.).

But it was also a massive scandal at the time, with blatant government cover up, that no one dares to address it, I suppose.

over50andfab · 15/06/2019 10:34

From what I’ve read while O- is the universal donor type, AB is the universal plasma type, so I guess it’s still pretty useful. Perhaps they are running low on stocks of that in Aberdeenshire atm, hence the request for more. They tend to do this n different parts of the country at different times depending on stock levels and need.

over50andfab · 15/06/2019 10:41

don't you think its strange they are protecting against a disease that nobody actually has anymore?

I think that's weird....and stupid.

Not at all stupid, just being on the safe side, and also very well explained why further upthread, more than once (see Solasshole’s post Friday 10.34 if anyone’s interested)

M3lon · 15/06/2019 11:20

Maybe they should also protect against other imaginary diseases too then...just to be safe!

I reckon anyone who eats asparagus must be at higher risk of carrying something awful....better ban them too!