I'm from Malaysia, NoiseInTheShadows.

And good news, the blood patch under my arm disappeared by now. We're still young. Our ability to heal ourself and generate blood is working well, so don't be too worry of our own body, except for the nurses' technic!

I guess it's the nurses' job to ask whether the doners are dizzy or not, cos if they didn't ask, i think i won't admit that i was dizzy.. Haha.. I might faint after donating blood that day if i had not slept a while on the bed..

In Malaysia, those who went to Europe between 1996 to 2006 are discouraged from donating blood as there are outbreak of mouth and foot disease (sorry could not remember the name well) there. The virus can stay inactive in a person's blood for years, which remains invicible even in a blood test, until the virus finally activates itself. How about other countries?

I know that if you go some places you have to wait up to a year to donate blood. There was one girl who tried to donate blood six months after she'd gotten back from almost a year in India. Apparently, she had to wait a year. However, I'd bet Europe's a lot less waiting period. Germany's not notorious for spawning diseases. . .

Don't worry, Finn, I'm not an overly happy volunteer. In fact, I seldom talk to the donors, which probably bothers some of them.

I think it depends on how long you go for. I went to Italy and Germany for a total of 12 days before I gave blood, and that was acceptable. I want to say for places in Europe it's about 3 months that you have to be there for it to disqualify you, but I could be completely wrong...to answer your question: if you're going to be there for less than a month, I can pretty much guarantee that you will be fine.

Hey, I'm going to Germany this summer... Will that screw with my chances of giving blood in the future, or is it just places in Africa that you can never give blood after you visit them?

Oh, and skynriver, where are you from?

I was sitting there, the blood was coming out of me...I tell my mom "I can feel the color draining from my face." She responds, "what makes you say that?" I was sitting there trying to figure out how to explain that I just could when I felt myself being roughly shaken awake with about 5 different people saying my name. It was kind of funny how fussed over I was after I passed out. Mind you, I was a pretty positive patient...I was laughing at myself and disappointed in my not filling up my blood bag when I regained consciousness. I think the nurses liked me; there was a girl who had passed out when I got there and she was crying and she only had one nurse...the moral of the story being: be a nice patient and people will be nice back.

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I actually found those volunteers a tad irritating. When I was on the gurney or whatever they call it, this overly happy person stood over me and stared for 15 minutes and kept going "Are you dizzy? Are you dizzy? Are you dizzy now? Are you scared? Are you dizzy yet?"

Hahaha....

I actually found those volunteers a tad irritating. When I was on the gurney or whatever they call it, this overly happy person stood over me and stared for 15 minutes and kept going "Are you dizzy? Are you dizzy? Are you dizzy now? Are you scared? Are you dizzy yet?"

I guess they need to do that in case someone faints, but damn...I don't like happy people.

I'm not old enough to donate, but, even if I was, I have an irrational fear of needles (gee, I guess that's called a phobia. . .), so I doubt I'd be able to do it without getting sick or passing out. I volunteer with Interact at the school blood drives, though. So I guess if you don't give blood, volunteering to walk people to the canteen or be a greeter still helps in an indirect way. You could do that instead of giving blood, Noise, on the day of your competition.

In case anyone was wondering about the requirements to donate through the American Red Cross...

You need to be in good health on the day of donation.

You need to be at least 110 pounds (no maximum limit).

You need to be at least 17 to donate with parental permission (18 otherwise).

There are a lot of requirements based on travel outside of the US, tattoos and piercings and unprotected sex.

They take your temperature and your blood pressure and then stick your finger. They use that blood sample to make sure that you have enough iron in your blood. They also check your arms to make sure they're clean of scarring. (Scars on your forearms can be indicative of shooting up drugs, and that can increase the risk of HIV/AIDS.)

I think that was pretty much it...

That happened to a kid in my English class on blood drive day.

Don't feel scare over that .. It won't happen often haha .. Hopefully it's just the nurse in my country who will do that .. Donate if your body allows you to .. Don't force yourself .. Try your best everyone !

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My blood just flow a little at my left arm and the nurse pulled out half the needle and push it in again! Mad This step was repeated a few times and i was wondering what's left of my blood vessel.. Then the nurse ask to change to my right arm as my blood still refuse to flow smoothly.. So i was injected twice that day.. My left arm blood vessel was raptured i guess and i could see a patch of blood under my skin.

I must admit this made me feel weak all over when I read this. Oh God...I think I'm getting dizzy...

Yeah, I don't think blood donation is much of an option for me. But good for you guys.

*tries to walk out without fainting*

I've given blood for 3 times and the experience varies. The 1st and 2nd time was well and nothing went wrong.

The requirement to donate blood in my country (hope it does not varies too much in yours) is a minumum weight of 45kg. 5 hours sleep at least the night before u donate blood. Haven't taken any medication a few days or months back and no tatoo for the past 2 years. And no diseases or sickness. There are also a few more requirements that complicates the registration procedure. Be sure to follow the requirements as it is for our own benefits. I did not slept for 5 hours that night due to exam, and i felt dizzy after donating.

The nurse will then poke your finger and do some testing on your blood. It's mainly to find out your blood type and test whether you can donate blood or not (they dip your blood in a chemical and if your blood drops down to the bottom nicely, you're in ). Then you will be placed on a bed and be prepared to donate blood. They will inject your blood vessel at the arm with some sort of chemical, making it to size up, enabling them to inject the needle inside and flow your blood out.

On my 3rd donation (which was 2 weeks ago), something went wrong. My blood just flow a little at my left arm and the nurse pulled out half the needle and push it in again! This step was repeated a few times and i was wondering what's left of my blood vessel.. Then the nurse ask to change to my right arm as my blood still refuse to flow smoothly.. So i was injected twice that day.. My left arm blood vessel was raptured i guess and i could see a patch of blood under my skin. But it's healing now, hopefully with no side effects. Rest on the bed until you feel that you are physically well. There's no need to rush up. Normally the nurse will give you iron pills and folic acid pills. Take them if you want as i usually do not do so. Under normal circumstances and enough rest after donating blood, you won't be effected the next day.

Blood donation is good, but it depends on your luck whether the nurse who injects you is a newbie or experienced. It's a good thing to do as it saves life. But if u are not feeling well that day, don't donate as u might faint after that. Donate another day but be sure to donate! Hope my post is not scaring people off.. Please donate blood if you can. What if the one who needs blood is your loved ones ?

Grrr. I have a competition (Academic Decathlon) the night of the blood drive, so my mom deosn't want me to do it since I've never given blood before. She's worried that I might pass out when I give my speech/ do my interview.... I think I'll have to wait until next time...

Pain-wise it really wasn't bad...although they DID make me lie on this emergency cot when I passed out and there was a bar digging into my back, that hurt more than the actual blood donation.

The finger stick they do to test your iron levels is more traumatic than when they actually take the blood.

IVs aren't bad. I've never given blood, but I've had it drawn for testing before. It's not that bad if you don't look.

I've never had an IV, so I can't say that I know what you're talking about, but it makes sense...

Hahahaha...it doesn't feel anything like that. The only thing you feel is the needle. It's just like having an IV bag, only stuff goes out instead of in.

Thank you all for the feedback! I just got really nervous because one of the girls I know says that she can feel the blood being sucked out of her veins just thinking about it. That's most of what creeped me out. I'll keep thinking about it, but I'm leaning more toward actually going through with it.