The last time I was able to donate blood was last year before Thanksgiving. Since then I've made no fewer than four visits to Bloodmobiles parked in the area of work and home, each time to be turned away for low iron.
I've always had periodic anemia, but this is the first extended stint. It's not that surprising-- high-intensity training flushes vitamins and minerals from the body at an alarming rate. And my iron was never *that* low... it was pretty normal. Blood clinics technically require your iron to be higher than "normal" because donating can knock it down several points.
Nevertheless, I got fed up after being turned away and started adding iron supplements to my daily diet. I take a chelated iron tablet of 100 percent RDA around lunchtime with 500mg Vitamin C (supposed to help absorption) and a B-complex multi. After a few weeks, I attempted to donate and was told my iron was still too low, but it had risen a few points.
Today, when my blood failed to sink to the bottom of the iron test tube, I prepared to go back to work. As usual, they took two small phials of blood and spun them to determine if my iron count was borderline... and for the first time ever, my blood passed the count after being spun!
So here I am, one pint lighter and happy to have completed my altruistic duty for another 8 weeks. Yay blood!
Update: Ironically, the Puget Sound Blood Center called me when I got home to ask me if I'd donate. Whoops... guess they haven't updated their system yet. Also interesting to note is that this is the first time I've been in a blood clinic (or doctor's office, for that matter) that someone has been able to find my arrhythmia. It went undiagnosed for a long time because typically once my pulse is elevated (exercise, nerves, etc.) it goes away. I finally had to wear a heart monitor to get it recorded and investigated. It's a benign pre-Atrial contraction but I still had to reassure the lady on the bloodmobile that I wasn't going to keel over and die.
Posted on March 12, 2007 @ 1:39 PM | 2 comments
I've always had periodic anemia, but this is the first extended stint. It's not that surprising-- high-intensity training flushes vitamins and minerals from the body at an alarming rate. And my iron was never *that* low... it was pretty normal. Blood clinics technically require your iron to be higher than "normal" because donating can knock it down several points.
Nevertheless, I got fed up after being turned away and started adding iron supplements to my daily diet. I take a chelated iron tablet of 100 percent RDA around lunchtime with 500mg Vitamin C (supposed to help absorption) and a B-complex multi. After a few weeks, I attempted to donate and was told my iron was still too low, but it had risen a few points.
Today, when my blood failed to sink to the bottom of the iron test tube, I prepared to go back to work. As usual, they took two small phials of blood and spun them to determine if my iron count was borderline... and for the first time ever, my blood passed the count after being spun!
So here I am, one pint lighter and happy to have completed my altruistic duty for another 8 weeks. Yay blood!
Update: Ironically, the Puget Sound Blood Center called me when I got home to ask me if I'd donate. Whoops... guess they haven't updated their system yet. Also interesting to note is that this is the first time I've been in a blood clinic (or doctor's office, for that matter) that someone has been able to find my arrhythmia. It went undiagnosed for a long time because typically once my pulse is elevated (exercise, nerves, etc.) it goes away. I finally had to wear a heart monitor to get it recorded and investigated. It's a benign pre-Atrial contraction but I still had to reassure the lady on the bloodmobile that I wasn't going to keel over and die.
Posted on March 12, 2007 @ 1:39 PM | 2 comments
Comments:
I had to wear a heart monitor once too...in high school. They figured out it was mitral valve prolapse. I've never given blood...I've never run across the opportunity, and I'm not fond enough of needles to go seek them out. Good for you, for doing it though!
By 
sometrouble, at
2:54 PM, March 13, 2007
speaking of blood, (not that you'll be blood relatives, but, er, it's a stretch?), where's the wedding info!? =-( if you guys aren't making plans yet, make something up! think of your single 20-something readers who need to live vicariously. haha. wow do i suck drastically.
By 
, at
7:38 PM, March 13, 2007
