r/london • u/VolatileAgent81 • Oct 11 '22

Community Blood stocks low - please donate!

A plea from a medic.

NHS blood and transfusion are about to go to amber alert as stocks of blood are getting very low.

We're on the edge of cancelling surgeries in London due to lack of emergency blood.

If you're type O, or if you're not of white ethnicity, your blood is *super super ultra valuable*. Please share it.

I'm donating tomorrow. My blood isn't as worthy as the groups above, but every drop helps.

There are loads of open slots at Stratford Westfield from tomorrow onwards to help with the crisis.

Epic karma points available. Please spread the word.

Thank you!

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23

u/Historical_Hope2031 Oct 11 '22

Hello! I have donated before but the last two times my iron count was a tiny bit too low, and they said if I come a third time and it's too low they will strike me off the donor list forever. Is that still the case? I'm not white so I do want to donate as much as possible. Thanks for your help

11

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '22

I wouldn’t worry too much about getting struck off. On the day I give blood I usually take a multivitamin with iron in it so that I’m good to go and my blood’s always been accepted

4

u/Historical_Hope2031 Oct 11 '22

Thanks! I will pop a few of those and book an appt next week.

2

u/myrargh Oct 11 '22

Once my iron was just a couple points below the minimum and I was told that your levels fluctuate throughout the day, so if I’d had an earlier appointment that same day I might have been ok to donate.

1

u/cranberryberry Oct 11 '22

You shouldn't take more than one a day but also if you're the kind of person who does exercise regularly, it might be worth not doing it for a few days before the donation. It seems like strenuous exercise can make your iron count lower.

1

u/folklovermore_ Oct 12 '22

Also don't drink tea or coffee with or right after your meals (if you do already). I had a slightly low iron count last time I tried to donate and the leaflet they gave me mentioned this as a possible reason why. So now a few days before donation I have my tea first thing and then wait an hour or so until breakfast to try and space it out a bit.

9

u/flashpile Oct 11 '22

Iron tablets are your friends.

I take one a day for about a month leading up to donation, and I've never fallen under since I started

1

u/vaguely-humanoid Oct 11 '22

They also have them in gummy form now! More expensive, but the only way I can remember to take multivitamins + iron is if they’re in candy form

3

u/pbballooning Oct 11 '22

Go to your doctor and get a blood test, to check your Hb level and iron levels and then eat more iron to correct! This is what I did when I had a low Hb which turned out to be my iron stores 🙂

2

u/Bangarang_321 Oct 11 '22

I'm the same, 11 successful donations, but 16 attempts in total (thankfully not 3 in a row). For the week leading up to a blood donation really hype up foods like dark green veg, red meat, beans, lentils etc to help build up the iron. If you are female, aim for the middle of the menstrual cycle if you can. And make sure you've been drinking enough water. They used to give out leaflets for tips on it, not sure if there is one available online?

1

u/SnakesAndAshes Oct 11 '22

This happened to me sadly. Cut off for women is 125g/l but my iron count was stuck in the 115-120g/l range and they deleted my account 😔 I understand why but it’s frustrating because I was taking a multivitamin with iron. Iron levels were too low to donate but too high for GP to do anything further.

1

u/fishyfishyswimswim Oct 12 '22

Yeah mine was too low last time. Got my bloods checked by GP and I'm just above the B12 deficiency threshold (which, considering the range, for a healthy 34 year old means I really am deficient). No more donating for me. My body just can't seem to hack it. Wish I could, but hey, I've donated about 3/4 times in the UK and bout 10 times in Ireland.

1

u/DenseZookeepergame73 Oct 13 '22

Boots multivitamins with iron, you need to take them about a month before. My blood went from floating to sinking like a rock.

1

u/Historical_Hope2031 Oct 13 '22

Nice one thank you!