I almost died...or at least it felt like it..

[believe]

I have a milder reaction when I give blood. They have to tilt me back, take less and blow cold air on me. Fortunately the 2 times I 'was sick' they reacted quickly and I didn't faint. I am glad they were able to find the cause and next time I am sure you will remind them

 

[Disney845]

Wow, I am glad no serious damage was done! I can not even give blood. I am the biggest wimp. I remember the one time I went to give blood. I was doing it to get extra credit for a science class I was in. My mom is one of those couple gallon donors who gets all the cool gifts and stuff because she has been doing it forever. Not for the gifts, but because she likes to donate blood for others. Anyways, I went in and did the preliminary finger poke, and then they set me all up. I was holding the rolled up wash cloth pumping my fist and took one look at the blood running from the tube out of my body and that was it. I don't think I totally passed out, but I was definitely close. They rushed all these people over, elevated my feet above my chest and put cold compresses on my face and neck. I was getting nauseaus and swooning so they could not finish the blood withdrawal. I think I managed to get about half of the amount needed into the bag. They made me stay for a long time and gave me soooo many glasses of OJ to drink. I couldn't even force the cookie down. Needless to say, I have not been back to donate blood since.

 

[jfulcer]

MineeBaby,

That sounds amazingly like the double red cell donation I did recently. I wonder if I've recently donated blood if I could donate plasma also? Hmmm, have to check it out. It'd be an easy way to add to that 'Disney' fund.

 

[MineeBaby]

I know that you have to wait 8 weeks to donate plasma after you have donated blood. You should call and ask though!

 

[Boots]

How scary! Glad that you are ok now!

 

[cinlee3]

Wow, that is so scary. I'm glad you are okay. I donated blood once when my mom was going through a mastectomy. It took me twice as long to get the blood out and when I stood up, I about passed out. They made me stay an extra hour and I felt horrible the rest of the day. I have B- blood and when I had my last baby they asked me to be a donor - but I just can't think of feeling that way again. I would donate in an emergency though.

My sis-in-law had blood taken when she was pregant and went into seizures, passed out and wet herself. When she came too, she said she saw the white light and everything. Her body over reacted and she went into shock - just giving a few vials. I can't imagine what you went through.

 

[MineeBaby]

WOW! I didnt wet myself, but i could agree with the white light COMFORT thing..i felt peaceful until i finally came to and then felt HORRIBLE...beyond description..i really thought i was dying. My friend Jason works there and he was just coming out onto the floor, so he was RIGHT in my face telling me to hang in there and that I will be ok and dont lose me (or so i was told..i remember seeing him..i had tunnel vision when i finally could see) and he is the one that found out they miscalculated how much i was supposed to donate...he was livid, as was Arthur of course. I definetely would go do it again, and I would recommend it to anyone, but just be SURE that they pay attention to how much you are supposed to give..everything was a breeze until i hit that point.

 

[disykat]

I had a bad experience last time I gave regular blood. Similar to yours but longer lasting. I finally left two hours later (my DH had to come get me) and felt horrible the next 24 hours or so. My children still talk about it since they pretty much had to carry me to the car. I didn't see a white light, it was so painful and felt so bad I've seriously wondered if I was headed the opposite direction. I've given blood lots of other times with no problems but no more for me - which is sad since I am O-.

My first guess when I saw the title of your thread was that you had given blood.

That said, I still believe that giving blood is one of the most important gifts you can give.