+ 7 Donating blood, not just for eq cycles :-)
I wanted to post about the importance of donating blood, I was truly blessed coming up in a training environment and a no bs gym, both boxing as a youth n golden glove at the national level way before my love of bodybuilding early on, with knowledgeable vets that coached and mentored in gear use.
the same thing always came up amongst the ones who truly lived the lifestyle and cycled or just trt, they would donate to lower iron, rbc hematocrit etc. The benefits can be like an oil change for your body( pun intended)
fast forward and life gets in the way, I am disciplined in areas of life that made no since for me to let this slip for so long, I just donated after a few years of no breaks that I could even say or call coming off, the result an iron level 19+ not good, did I run eq and alot of compounds that raise rbc, of course, even the amount of test I run(not very high)needs to come down in order to gain better control, as well as taking few month break imo. I maintain a size most have to eat tons of food n run bulking compounds, while my constant goal is size, shape n symmetry and can afford to lose muscle, and health wise need to.
I was on a regime of every three months, and recently had my doc override that protocol due to how high it was, so every two weeks until after third or fourth donation to get levels normal range again, this scared me and was a reminder for how I live, just wanna remind my brothers on here if its been awhile and your recent bloods flag high rbc, go donate, and just go anyway if you are cycling for long periods or certain compounds. Thanks for reading this long post!
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I do a blood dump every 8 weeks. I'm flagged from donating from having melanoma. I do it at home.
I use a 450ml canine blood collection kit from ebay.
16 gauge needle and right around 5-6 minutes is how long it takes to get a pint out.
That's the same time as me, about 5 minutes, good to know that info, some of us get turned away from too high or a judgemental blood service, they can't just except trt as the reason smh. God bless on that melanoma, I never knew about the eBay info+1
thanks .
Good idea to donate to help keep RBC/HEMATOCRIT/HEMOGLOBIN in check
Agreed, just seen this as I don't have updates, it's definitely a sign to go this week and donate, just like that time flys and I'm overdue, thanks ariel!
Read my post on donating blood and hemochromatosis...get checked
Just checked your forum out, good read! Definitely a condition we all need to be educated about as well.
Yeah man just donated myself!
Iron dropped from 18 to 15 from last time, 2-months ago.
Whoa nice that's good, I'm trying to get mine down, going again after new year.
Maybe a dumb question but is it ok to donate blood after working out? Reason I ask is I don't have a lot of time and don't live close to town so I try to get as much done as I can when I'm in town....or should I just skip the gym the day I donate?
They ask you not to workout after you give blood (presumably so your arm won’t bleed and that you can recover adequately). So, working out prior to giving blood is best and is what I do.
Just finished giving my donation after a solid leg, back and bi workout
Right on dude... thanks for clearing that up for me!
Good to see you staying on top of your rbc. This cannot be stressed enough.
Yeah it scared me enough to never go so long again lol
I'm around 20 (hematocrit)... I have to get down before they take my blood lol....
Looks like a job for my nurse friend... PHLEBOTOMIZE!!!!
Good to see you around! And good input, as always. To newbies out there, PLEASE DON'T RECREATIONALLY DO A SELF PHLEBOTOMY. Long term, you'll learn, but for the newbie, just donate. Stay safe, kids. Goth, always good to see you add your two cents. Cheers!
Good to be back Zeus!!
Thanks.
Lol, good friend to have, I asked if it was to high they would trash it, but since I was already there they would take it, I was right on the cusp.
They made me leave as soon as they pricked my finger and saw the hematocrit lol
Great reminder. I have an app I use to monitor my previous appointments & what my numbers were & to make future appointments as soon as possible. The app also tracks your blood to let you know where it goes which is cool. You can also do a double red blood cell donation. I gave last Monday & I felt awesome the next morning.
Yeah definitely felt good after also, I seen the double rbc box on the paper I took to my doc, he didnt get it but a whole blood still helps lol
Even if you’re not into the whole helping-other-people thing, as I would hope most of us here are, I just feel amazing after donating. It’s revitalizing. Except I can’t lift anything remotely heavy the day of donating without getting light headed.
I’d say if your iron was only around 19 after 3 straight years of blasting, that’s pretty fortunate.
Your right bro, could of been way worse, wanna try n keep it normal as possible with steady donations from now on.
theseeker03karma must be watching me, as i am at that same place with bloodwork. i let this go for far too long, just being lazy, and am displaying all the above listed sides. a great and timely post!! big thanks to you. doc has ordered therapuetic phlbots and subsequest retests. think i'll go donate this afternoon. peace to you and your bigguy.
theseeker03just popped by on a lazy holiday morning, forgot about this. i did get the therapeutic phlembotomy, they only took 300 mls. results almost totally 'normalized', and felt better, not so dog tired. signed up w/red cross and donated full unit. was able to pass their test on hemoglob. now feeling much better. i'm still getting older and tired but not wiped out. one thing i have noticed is my brain doesn't feel so sluggish, like jello setting up in my head. i'm thankful i never seemed to experience any true cardiac warning symptoms, but i cannot help but wonder if i've done any real damage. the reason i say that is my joint's feel better also. i was having pretty bad tendonitis in both elbows, one shoulder, and my grip was weak (holding bars, opening jars, holding a weed wacker, stuff like that. i also went off all 'products', tylenol/ibuprophen/naproxen/herbal remedies for about 6 months. in any event, i believe donating blood, or blood letting to be very very important. get that bloodwork done from time to time, donate when you can, and time off is super valuable. even super men need to heal from time to time. peace to all. seek.
Thanks brother, dude I was with my wife n kid driving and she mentioned it, with in minutes I was at blood services and just did it, easy, I had that feeling too, it was overdue.
NovemberNice to see someone else who does this. Great job man. It's important. Keep it up.
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Thank you!
Its always good to remind everyone because its one of those things many forget about. I would donate even before I used aas because of a personal experience and, like you said, I feel better. It really is like an oil change.
We can donate for the Red Cross every couple months or check the local hospital. Most do blood drives.
Yeah bro, something happened where I live nit long ago, without being to specific, the nurse said blood donated is still going toward that event, crazy. Good for health and helping.
Yeah man, going the end of this week!
Nice!
Good post. Red Cross will turn you down if your iron hits 19 so go donate guys. It’s a great way to help yourself while helping others. +
Some places it will still be used, but true ,even where I went said it was almost high enough to be trashed but she said if it was that they would still let me donate.