I felt a little slow on my ride yesterday

[unterhausen]

took me until today to realize it was because I gave blood last week. I really felt pretty good considering the ride consisted almost entirely of 2 long climbs.

So this is my plea to go give blood, the effects just aren't that bad. I hope nobody here needs it, but if you are like me and have O-neg, then your blood is going to save somebody's life. And if it's some other type, they need every type.

[91Bear]

Coincidentally, I am donating tomorrow morning. O-positive.

[Llewellyn]

I used to give regularly until they decided I might potentially have Mad Cow Disease because we lived in the UK for a while in the early 80's and said I wouldn't be allowed to donate any more. And that's unlikely to change because my wife' niece who works as a scientist for the Red Cross says it's too expensive to develop a screening test.

It's a shame because I donated 75 units before I was banned and was more than happy to do it. I'm B+ too which they always need.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

took me until today to realize it was because I gave blood last week. I really felt pretty good considering the ride consisted almost entirely of 2 long climbs.

So this is my plea to go give blood, the effects just aren't that bad. I hope nobody here needs it, but if you are like me and have O-neg, then your blood is going to save somebody's life. And if it's some other type, they need every type.

O-neg, too. Try to donate, but my iron levels run really low so it is difficult to get to actually give. Many trips in to get checked & get turned away. Oh well. Good on you for giving!

[thwart]

Originally Posted by makoti

O-neg, too. Try to donate, but my iron levels run really low so it is difficult to get to actually give. Many trips in to get checked & get turned away. Oh well. Good on you for giving!

That's pretty unusual in a non-menstruating individual who doesn't donate blood frequently or have some other good reason for a 'low iron level'.

If you haven't already done so, I'd talk that over with your doc.

[YoKev]

I used to donate as well, but it seemed to take 2-3 weeks for my body to bounce back.

Blood tests did show something going on, but it's been a while so I don't remember what exactly. I stopped donating, and I take an iron supplement now.

[Peter P.]

I've donated over 10 gallons of O-negative.

I can remember once, the day after donating, getting the bright idea to chase down a moped while about 1 mile from home.

That put me on the floor for a half hour, begging for oxygen!

Other than that episode, it's not that bad. After 2 weeks you won't even know you're missing blood unless you ride TT's and chart your times.

As an experiment, I donated blood once then rode a 35k TT once a week for 8 weeks which is roughly how long it takes to replace the red blood cells. I watched my times decline every week without fail which is unheard of under normal conditions.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by thwart

That's pretty unusual in a non-menstruating individual who doesn't donate blood frequently or have some other good reason for a 'low iron level'.

If you haven't already done so, I'd talk that over with your doc.

It's been covered years ago. It's genetic.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by makoti

It's been covered years ago. It's genetic.

Good to know.

It can have less innocuous causes.

[kppolich]

A- and RH- here, donate alot and used to donate plasma 2x a week. Donating blood is awesome but it WILL knock you down!