Blood donation

dmch2

I gave blood today - how long is it likely to be before I'll be fully recovered?

I presume that there's no precise answer but I guess it's a few days to be mostly there and a bit longer to get the last few percent?

Alex_Simmons/RST

A few days to feel pretty normal, but ~ 6 weeks to fully recover red blood cell counts and expect peak performance levels to return.

dmch2

6 weeks? I'd best invent a new route or I'll get cross when I'm slow on my normal 20 mile timed route!

Garz

Yeah I think that is a realistic figure, certainly not a few days. Why not be the guinea pig and inform us of when your back to form?

e999sam

I found it took a few weeks so I've started donating platelets instead.

dmch2

I did think some sort of control test would have been a good plan before the donation...

I'll give the regular circuit a few goes and report back. Normally it's 18 miles in 61 mins (although i know a still day would see me below the hour - i've passed the normal half way point in 29 mins on longer rides a few times). But if i fall off, roll back down or faint on the 500ft climb in the middle i'll be blaming you!

One thing i can report is: never mind shaving your legs, i'm shaving my arm next time! The plasters they use are huge and very sticky! Ouch!

garrynolan

...at least you can donate. Stupid rules here mean I had to stop donating when the powers that be decided that there was a 'theoretical' chance of passing on vCJD if one lived in the UK for more than 5 years - they changed it from 1 year when they realised they would lose too many potential donors! I made 83 donations - I hope they're all OK. To show how stupid a rule it is they let you donate if you live in RoI but work/eat/socialise in NI, which a lot of people do. Anyway, I digress... when I gave blood or platelets I was able to cycle back to work and home afterwards and do whatever without any problems. May have had something to do with the Guinness we received after each donation!!

dmch2

83? Good work! My father in law is stuck on 99 as he's on strong medication whilst waiting for a knee replacement. I'm only on 16. In the past I've cycled to/from work after giving but it was only 3 miles so hardlt much of a CV workout.

Did I hear that platelets count double AND you can give twice as often?

Bronzie

dmch2 wrote:

Did I hear that platelets count double AND you can give twice as often?

Not sure what you mean by "counting double".

Think you can donate platelets every 6 weeks or so and it won't affect your aerobic exercise ability at all.

You have to get tested to make sure you have sufficient platelet density in your blood in the first place before you start donating. I couldn't donate platelets because I didn't pass this test.

Bronzie

By the way, I posted previously on the sort of drop in power I experienced when I gave blood last December:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12669086

dmch2

Bronzie wrote:

dmch2 wrote:

Did I hear that platelets count double AND you can give twice as often?

Not sure what you mean by "counting double".

When you donate normally they increase the number of donations by 1 as you've donated one unit. When you donate platelets you can give two units in one sitting so you get 2 added to your number of donations.

Hence my old next door neighbour had given about 150 donations!

dmch2

Bronzie wrote:

By the way, I posted previously on the sort of drop in power I experienced when I gave blood last December:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12669086

So after a few days the drop is a few percent (9 days and 6% in your case). So I won't be breaking any records but I'm not exactly going to pass out at the first gradient.

Cheers.

garrynolan

dmch2 wrote:

83? Good work! My father in law is stuck on 99 as he's on strong medication whilst waiting for a knee replacement. I'm only on 16. In the past I've cycled to/from work after giving but it was only 3 miles so hardlt much of a CV workout.

Did I hear that platelets count double AND you can give twice as often?

They don't count double but we could donate monthly, and 3-monthly for blood. I had 17 when I left Belfast so reached the 100. Got a very nice sculpture of a pelican + 2 chicks and a night out for the presentation. Be gutted if I was stuck on 100.

dmch2

I just did half an hour on the rowing machine (3 days after the donation) and was 9metres slower in 30 minutes. That's 0.14% slower. ie no difference.

I'm probably slightly fitter so might have expected to be a few dozen metre faster but that seems to suggest that it makes no real difference after a few days. The perceived drop in performance may be entirely psychological as I only remembered I'd given blood half way through and I kept the same speed up after that.