Rejected from Blood Donation Today

[BLTC]

Sup Fellas -
I attempted to give double reds today and was turned away due to too high of a concentration of iron in my blood. The number was 21.3 and the cut off for double reds is 18....whole blood is 20. They told me to come back tomorrow and they can pull a tube and run that on a different machine which often leads to a lower result.

The whole goddamn reason I went today was because I know I have high iron. I was told so the last time I gave double reds 4 months ago...they let me donate even though it was around 21 again.

So what gives? Why is my iron so damn high? I might eat a green salad per week and don't take any iron supplements. I did have 4-5 squares of spinach pizza for lunch which might have contributed.

I'm on 150mg of test E every 7/8 days and take vit B, vit D3, fish oil, vit K2 almost daily. The little bit of research I've done tells me high iron levels can be dangerous over the long haul.


Anyone ever been booted like this before? I don't have insurance and am not about to pay for a therapeutic donation.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[DieYoungStrong]

How much fish oil? It can boost iron. I’m always around 17-18 and I take 5g of fish oil per day. Was told by the people at the blood donation center that lots of fish oil will can raise your iron.

 

[BLTC]

How much fish oil?

maybe 2 grams/day most days. Never more.

 

[BLTC]

Doing some more research led me to find that thalassemia is a cause of secondary hemachromatosis and it is very common in my immediate family.

Is it consistent with these numbers from my last blood work from May of 2019 (6 months on trt)?

RBC - 7.39 (alert high)
hematocrit - 52.9 (high)
mcv - 72 (low - possible symptom of thalassemia?)
mch - 23.5 (low - possible symptom of thalassemia?)
rdw - 17.3 (high)
platelets - 199 (in range)


I also wanted to mention the condition was consistent with other blood work done completely off gear and completely on all tab cycles.

 

[rawdeal]

Google "hemochromatosis" and read up from any of the reputable sites offered. WebMD has a nice writeup on it. Basically, what you eat can be a factor, but there are others, including good ol' hereditary factors. Some unlucky souls inherit the "wrong" genetic makeup and have to have doctor-prescribed blood letting till their iron levels reach normal AND follow that up with a maintenance level of blood letting thereafter. You may not be that unlucky, but for some folks just adjusting your diet is not enough.

lol, we were typing at the same time; sounds like you have your answer. Try WebMd for a more complete explanation that includes the medical care you might need to pursue.

 

[JackD]

I’ve been here before, they always had to draw another tube and run it on that other machine.

what I had to do was cut out any iron rich foods for 3 years, no steak, spinach, nothing. Then faithful donations of whole blood every 8 weeks.

By the end of the 3rd year I was right around 16-18, and then I only had to donate 2-3 x a year. Still do that now. Don’t eat steak or beef often.

From some of the tests, I believe iron accumulates in the liver, and it takes a long time for the liver to use up all that stored iron.

hopefully that helps. Let us know what happens, but thanks for reminding me I need to go donate!

 

[BLTC]

thanks for the quick replies bros..

Doing some more research lead me to a supplement called circumin which is a natural iron chelator. It pulls iron from the blood/organs and allows the body to excrete it.

Should I pursue this route by itself or do this in addition to blood letting? Other than the high iron do my lab results justify blood donation?

 

[BLTC]

https://newswire.net/newsroom/pr/00...lly-help-fight-thalassemia-in-three-ways.html

 

[Jin]

I used to get rejected from donating blood all the time. Then I found out the trick:

If I just don’t disclose all the unprotected gay sex stuff, they allow me to donate.

Hope this helps others.

 

[Tomas Payne]

Sup Fellas -
I attempted to give double reds today and was turned away due to too high of a concentration of iron in my blood. The number was 21.3 and the cut off for double reds is 18....whole blood is 20. They told me to come back tomorrow and they can pull a tube and run that on a different machine which often leads to a lower result.

The whole goddamn reason I went today was because I know I have high iron. I was told so the last time I gave double reds 4 months ago...they let me donate even though it was around 21 again.

So what gives? Why is my iron so damn high? I might eat a green salad per week and don't take any iron supplements. I did have 4-5 squares of spinach pizza for lunch which might have contributed.

I'm on 150mg of test E every 7/8 days and take vit B, vit D3, fish oil, vit K2 almost daily. The little bit of research I've done tells me high iron levels can be dangerous over the long haul.


Anyone ever been booted like this before? I don't have insurance and am not about to pay for a therapeutic donation.

Any advice appreciated.

anyone that gets poked my tattoo needles, gear pins and men get ejected from donating, no lie...

 

[The other Snake]

Check with your GP. He can actually give you a script to have blood drawn at most places for the purpose of reducing iron and crits in your blood.

 

[ITAWOLF]

Cilantro and dandelion to remove iron from liver --- seems to work for me