posted Mon, 04/13/2026 - 16:31
306
Blood donation question
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Hey yall.
So I’ve done blood donations on cycle about half way through and after a cycle is over. Nice reset.
I signed up this morning for a blood donation, and I was called asking if I’d like to do a power red donation. They explained it’s where the plasma and platelets get put back into your system. Has any of yall tried that instead of a basic donation?
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I always do Power red.
You have a blood type that needs the plasma.
If you are looking to donate blood due to high hemtocrite/hemoglobin then it’s not going to help. That’s becuaee they pull out the blood, remove the needed “x” then put the same amount of volume back into your body. The whole point of donating due to high numbers is to reduce amount of volume of blood (liquid) moving through your veins.
If you are donating for your “civic duty” or to help someone out who needs it, then go for it.
Additionally, you can legally donate elblood every 8 weeks. Once you donate using the power red, you have to wait 16 weeks.
This is partially correct, except a power reds donation reduces hematacrit and hemoglobin slightly more than a standard donation because they are only taking the red blood cells and returning plasma and platelets and hematocrit is a measure of how much of your blood is made up of red blood cells. Donating has nothing to do with reducing the physical volume of liquid moving through your veins, it only takes the body 24-48hrs to replenish the liquid volume lost in a standard donation and 4-6 weeks for red bood cells to replenish. The power reds donation removes double the amount of red blood cells as a standard donation but let's you keep plasma and platelets. A regular whole blood donation can lower hematocrit by 3-5% where a power reds donation can lower it by 4-7%. But as you said it does increase the length of time between donation intervals additionally it runs a higher risk of causing iron deficiency anemia from donating too frequently because it can 24-30 weeks to replenish the amount of iron lost in double red donation, and with the slightly higher percentage it can lower hematocrit and hemoglobin to me it doesn't make sense to do a power reds unless like Infidel said you want to donate as a civic duty to help people who need it.
A question for you… with what you said, if I measured my hemo before donating and again after, the levels should be lower right? I’ve never conducted that exact test but I have gotten labs done after donating and my levels were close to the same. Wonder if that has something to do with my water intake. Just thinking out loud at this point.
Interesting… I did not know that power red removed more of the red blood cells than a basic blood donation. I asked my dr which one I should use years ago and they stated to do the normal donation, it must be becuaee of the frequency of donation compared to the amount.
It would also lower hematocrit. I’ve been working with a hematologist for my lab work due to some other issues, and he explained that he doesn’t put too much emphasis on hemoglobin and hematocrit alone because they can be significantly affected by hydration levels. He pointed out that doctors often have you do labs first thing in the morning while fasted, which usually means you’re somewhat dehydrated so naturally, hemoglobin and hematocrit can appear elevated. If you had labs drawn multiple times throughout the day, you’d likely see different results depending on your hydration status.
His approach is that unless you’re showing symptoms of elevated hematocrit, hemoglobin, or red blood cell count, it’s not something to overreact to. That doesn’t mean you should ignore those numbers just not put too much weight on a single reading.
Where it becomes more important is when there’s a consistent trend of elevated results, especially when you know you’re well hydrated. At that point, it makes sense to consider donating blood. In contrast, many general practitioners recommend donating after a single elevated result without confirming it with follow-up testing.
That’s a lot of good info, thanks man.
Jrihard89Copy! I knew there would be a catch! I do it for BP and Hema! I just have been at my son’s baseball practice so I didn’t look up the difference! Good to know man!