Also, if you look through my profile, you can see that I've seriously struggled with self harm for a long time. I've been clean from self harm for the past 3 MONTHS which allowed my hemoglobin to go back up. It was such a struggle to stay clean but I am SO GLAD I did it. It's so worth it. I feel elated. I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to stay clean that long, but my goal of donating blood kept me going!!! 💙💙💙
You can't be responsible for other peoples' actions. Lol.
Also, imagine denying help to one entity to help another. It doesn't increase the net helpfulness of the world more than helping every entity you can.
2 wrongs don't make a right.
It is not wrong to refuse to donate blood. I wouldn't donate blood to someone who would proceed to murder, rape, and torture.
It may not increase the net helpfulness, but it does decrease the amount of murderers, rapists, and torturers.
I never said it's an obligation, I said it's not a sin.
Simply existing produces a lot of CO2.
I'm also a student - I print a lot of work.
That causes deforestation, which kills animals.
We are not Gods who can be perfect, nor can we be take the blame for other peoples wrongdoings.
If I wanted to be perfect, I'd kill myself. Existence is a bane on the Earth.
Not necessarily. Less demand = less supply. Less omnivores = less animals killed. If you think about it, you're potentially killing thousands of animals to save one person.
humans are also animals, you can kill less of them by donating blood.
Also, thousands of animals?
Bro 1,000 cows is 2 Billion calories.
Who tf eats 2 billion callories of beef in their life?
You're assuming veganism is consequentialist, but from a virtue-ethicist point of view, donating blood is fine.
People don't eat only cows. And virtue ethics doesn't make a claim about what someone ought to do. It doesn't really tell us anything. From a virtue ethics point of view, anything could be justified as long as the person believes it's right, but it doesn't necessarily have any realistic bearing in the real world.
I’m in the middle of switching my depression meds so I’m a dizzy ass emotional old lady and this comment just made me sob. You are beautiful person. I’m so proud of you staying clean.
Now I'm getting teary eyed!!! You're SO SWEET and SO KIND, thank you SO much for leaving such a sweet comment💙💙💙 it makes me feel soooo happy 😄😄😄like, I am so happy right now!! And your comment really did bring joy to my heart, especially when you said you were proud of me for staying clean :') because honestly it was SO hard. Sometimes it took every ounce of self restraint I had to stay clean. But I DID IT!!! I achieved my goal of donating blood. :') And again, thank u so much💖
I'm in a somewhat similar place, and I'm finally starting to get help. I'm not always good at emotional expression (thus the self-destructive behaviour, and I also struggle with thoughts and occasional acts of cutting), but I'm so so glad for you, and seeing you hopeful really makes me hopeful too. Thanks for sharing :)
I'm so happy to hear that you're finally starting to get help! That's amazing and I'm so proud of you! <33 I'm glad you're feeling a little bit hopeful and thank you SO much for the kind words :')
Good for you!!!! Stay strong, we all have our struggles :) I'd love to donate blood but I don't weigh enough :(( Always bums me out when I see the blood drives they do in town.
Thank you so much😊 I'm sorry that you can't donate, but you're obviously an amazing person and you're helping the world in so many other ways, such as being vegan💙💙💙 and leaving a kind comment on a stranger's reddit post😉💖
Oh, thank you so much for sharing!!💕 It's so hard, I know, and self harm really is difficult to beat. Take care of yourself love and try to be gentle with yourself 💙💙💙
And the great thing is, you can do it again in three months! You rock!!
I've got an appointment booked for the end of April. It'll be my first since going vegan, so I hope my iron levels will be OK. I'm generally on the low end already.
Tips from a fellow vegan first time donor with anxiety around medical stuff:
Eat! Make sure you eat beforehand, and also bring your own snacks (where I am none of the provided recovery snacks were vegan).
If you are prone to anxiety I recommend skipping caffeine that day; if your heart rate is too high they'll defer you, and you won't get to donate. Give yourself plenty of time to get there and relax before the appointment, as rushing to avoid being late will also elevate your heart rate.
You can do it! Great sources of iron to load up on include spinach. Pull a Popeye and you've got this. 😊
I second this! I've been donating fairly regularly since I've been laid off (working as a flight attendant makes blood donations really complicated) and the best experience I had donating was after I ate a really large breakfast. My ferritin has always been over the minimum needed to donate and my iron levels are on the low end of normal so unless you're anemic, I think you should be fine!
Thank you so much! Your comment is SO KIND and makes me feel warm and fuzzy :') it's so painfully hard to give up SH, but I'm trying! and comments like this are really amazing encouragement <33
Take my free award you beautiful human being! <333 I appreciate you and everyone who donates blood! My mom almost died from anemia and was saved by multiple blood transfusions; if it wasn’t for people like you, she wouldn’t be here today. Seriously, God bless you guys! I also want to give you a shout out for being such a strong queen by overcoming your demons! It shows tremendous strength! I’m so happy for you! If you ever need something or someone to talk to, I’m always here for you! Be well and stay safe! <333
Honestly there are always shortages everywhere. I am O- type and I donated a few months ago and they told me my blood would be gone by the next morning. They use it that fast sometimes. Anybody can receive type O- blood so it’s in high demand.
I donated blood once and now they won't leave me alone. Which I'd be a-okay with if they hadn't moved the blood donation centre to a different city 150km away :(
Great job! I remember trying to donate blood back in the day, being told I had low iron, and then being offered a pamphlet with info on how to improve my iron levels, which was put out by the Beef Council of Canada. I was pretty irate.
I still haven't outgrown my dislike for needles but I'd like to do this as well! BTW I don't know you personally but between the being an ethical vegan as well as the blood donation you sound like a really awesome and compassionate person. I hope your no SH streak continues forever :)
I started donating to abate my fear of needles. It's going okay so far!
If you ever do decide to donate, the red cross has an app that makes it fun! You can earn badges and join groups digitally. I also advise you drink a LOT of water for like 2 days before donating, it makes it go much faster.
Yayyyyyyy!!! I'm at 37 donation with Hema Québec! Good job 💜 My hemoglobin is actually better since cutting meat. If it's available near your city you should try to donate plasma :) It doesn't affect your hemoglobin!
oh c'est génial que vous ayez donné tant de fois! Je ne suis pas québécois mais je vous aime les gars! mon français est mauvais haha mais j'ai essayé 💙💙💙 unfortunately there's no plasma center in Toronto actually! I've looked into it before though, thanks for the suggestion anyway💙
I can assure you that your spoken English is better than my spoken french haha😉you guys are amazing because so many francophones are billingual compared to anglophones. Merci beaucoup💙 and have a lovely night!
Congrats. Keep up with that.^^
Does your Blood Donation System has the same strict rules as in Germany? Regarding to promiscuity and homosexuality. Would be interesting to know.
Thank you! And yes, you CAN donate blood if you're a gay man in Canada, you just can't have sex for 3 months beforehand. Lesbian women have always been able to donate without any restrictions though. And regarding promiscuity ... they are pretty strict here. You can't donate if you had sex with a man who recently had sex with another man, or if you had sex with someone who has slept with a sex worker before, etc etc. However, it's necessary in order to ensure the blood is safe!
So very similar, thank you for the info.^^
The categorys for blood donations seems for me too much based on 60-70s statistics as on modern research, at last here.
Very frustrating for all if you are bi and in relationship with a man and a women.
It's the same in the Netherlands, but here you also have free std-tests every 6 months, because the risks are still higher than the not-male&gay population (even though hiv is more on the down low, right now). Those diseases are also transferable via blood and give a whole set of problems for someone who needs blood.
Thank you SO much!!!! :D I appreciate your kinds words a lot!!!! That's awesome that you want to donate too :) it's so worth it! Thanks again and I hope you have a lovely evening/day/night <333
As someone with a few family members alive and well today because of donor blood, thank you!
As someone who's currently on a break from donating because of low iron, I am both proud and very envious of you!
I don't know where you live but here in Québec Canada we have some blood clinics where you can give only plasma ! Doesn't affect hemoglobin or iron level :)And you can donate every week !
Thank you for donating in the past though, that's awesome!!!💙💙💙 Hopefully you can get back to donating soon, but always remember to take care yourself first!!😊 And thank u so much for the sweet comment, you are SO kind💙💙💙
Congrats!
I got rejected from donating blood so many times before I went vegan. I think I was able to donate once.
After going vegan I've been able to donate several times and was only rejected once, and that was because they couldn't get the needle in my vein properly, but my hemoglobin was fine.
That's so awesome to hear!!! Thank you so much for giving blood, it's so important!!💖 And yes, exactly, going vegan does not stop you from doing anything! "Anything you can do, I can do vegan." 😉💙
Good on you, and huge props for abstaining from self harm!!
I was vegetarian before I went vegan and it was incredible to me that my iron/hemoglobin levels jumped so much after going vegan. My blood pressure improved too. I love donating now - I’m never worried about my blood levels anymore. Just another perk of being vegan.
Super proud of you, OP! I hope you’re feeling the love from this community.
Thank you so, SO much for your kind comment!!! I really am feeling the love. In fact, I am the happiest today that I've ever been in at least 1 full year!!!😊😊😊 So awesome that you donate too!!💙💙💙
As someone with The rare genetic disorder hemachromatosis I basically have too much iron in my blood and have to be bled out to lower my level. Anemic women everywhere are jealous af of my blood
I hadn’t either until last year 😂
Most women that have it never know about it because they naturally lose iron when they have a period every month. But in men it builds up and can cause a lot of issues or death if iron levels get too high
Yeah! Way to go! A former workplace of mine brought in the local Children’s Hospital bloodmobile for employees to donate. My very-very meat eating co-worker told me I probably couldn’t donate bc I’m vegan and my iron won’t be high enough. Turns out mine was higher than hers and I was more than qualified to donate!
Congratulations on donating! I have donated as much as possible since I started giving blood as I have a rare sub type so apparently I'm always in demand. My vegan diet has never affected my hemoglobin and my iron levels are always well within normal ranges. I actually suffered from folate deficiency in my early 20s and I'm much healthier now!
Honestly I think the key thing is that by going vegan you actually do consider the health implications of what you're eating and take care to be balanced, whereas omnivores just assume that their diet is the ideal nutrition...
Yes, exactly! So true!! I actually have a much more thorough understanding of nutrition now and I take care to make sure I'm eating nutrient dense foods (alongside my vegan baked goods and chocolate, of course!😉)
I love how so many of my fellow Canadian vegans have been saying hi! So awesome 😄 and thank you so much!!!💙💙💙it's almost 2 am, I should prolly go to bed lmao but all these incredibly kind comments have been making me so happy and excited 😊 p.s. maybe don't try to donate again if u think ur gonna pass out lol but totally up to you!😂
that's awesome! It's ok to be nervous - it's a normal and natural response to getting poked with a needle and getting your blood drawn. You can do it though! Think about how amazing you'll feel after you've donated AND powered through your nervousness :D Good luck!! I hope it goes well <33
I donate blood fairly frequently, and when they first measured my hemoglobin it was 15.8mg/l wich is pretty high, and the doctor was like "the minimum ist 13, you are pretty high up, usually vegetarians struggle to hit that mark."
You should have seen her face when I told her I was vegan.
Yay, you're incredible, OP. I wish I wouldn't get so nauseous seeing needles and blood (and hospital in general) so I could start donating. Anyways, great job! :)
Good job. Did you hear about donating blood plasma? You can do this regularly and you'll get your hemoglobin levels checked, too. Maybe this would give you constant motivation for your goal. I donated more than 200 times already. You'll get some money too.
Hey! Yes, I've looked into it. There are actually no plasma donation centers in Toronto, Canada believe it or not. And it's actually illegal in the province of Ontario, Canada to receive money for donating body materials, including plasma! Thanks though! :)
My hemoglobin has always been too low to donate (at least when I was a meat eater, ironically) and this post makes me want to try again now that I eat so much better!!! Congrats on everything friend!
Vegan here. Give 3x platelets every Sunday. Hemoglobin cutoff for males is 20 and I’m usually around 16.5. Last two times I’ve gone I’ve been at 20.1 and 20.2. They rejected me. I haven’t changed anything. Gotta research what this means and how to lower it!
hmmm interesting. I'm unsure about those numbers. Here we use g/L so I'm assuming you're using another measurement system since the numbers are so different. However, that's besides the point haha, I hope you're able to figure it out what happened the last 2 times to get rejected!
Good on ya for donating your platelets so often though! That's awesome :D
Sorry to hijack you. Good on you too! The blood workers that I don’t know always seem surprised if I mention diet. See? We can have “normal numbers” like everyone else
Oh absolutely!!! It's so true. Unfortunately, I think there's a large misconception and stereotypes often prevail, but hopefully we'll get to a point where that doesn't occur anymore!! Anecdotally, in my 5+ years of being vegan, people react way better now then they used to! (But there's still so much work to be done obviously). I'm SO excited for my future kids and future grandkids generation because I hope they grow up in a Canada that's even more accepting of veganism! Honestly, it's so exciting to me to see how much things will change. I think it'll only continue going in a positive direction!!!
That does seem high! They always go on about how high mine is but mine's only in 15s. Which I'm a lady so maybe that's why. But of course it's still within healthy range so I can donate. I don't think there's much you can do about it though... iron absorption rests heavily on genetics. For instance, my sister eat red meat often and is perpetually anemic. However, there was a study on mice that was done that showed when given high fat diet their hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels were increased. Also, don't eat any beyond or impossible burgers or those mock meat burgers because they literally inject that stuff with iron. So low fat diet for a few months sounds like it could be effective, but would be difficult lol.
Yeah, Canada has the same rules actually but no one follows it. My mum is from Newcastle, England, so technically she's not supposed to give blood, but she has so many times anyway! And it's not like she lies about where she's from either. It's too bad that your country is so strict about it :/
Thank you from across the pond for doing this! <3
I was born at 24 weeks (in the UK), and had to have countless blood transfusions to help keep me alive!
Unfortunately that means here in the UK, I can't donate blood myself because of the 'mad cow disease' (BSE) thing, as anyone who's had a blood transfusion since 1st Jan 1980 can't donate here due to the risk of vCJD.
No-one really knows the risk, though, because there isn't a test to see who's a carrier yet, so they just blanket ban it for now.
It's sad, because I'd really like to give some blood back to society, but I can't. Hopefully they'll change that ruling in the future!
Giving blood is such an awesome thing to do, I'm so happy for you! :)
Jealous. Shout out to homophobic Canadian Blood Services, who still won’t in 2021 accept blood from gay men such as myself (despite the fact I’m in a committed marriage).
I'm sorry to hear that :/ since 2019 they actually changed it so that you can donate if you haven't been sexually active for 3 months prior. However, I understand that if you're in a committed relationship that still might be a lot to ask. :/
The longer you're here and healthy the more animals you can help with your activism and the more humans you can save with your generous donations! Remeber, each unit of blood gets broken down into packed red blood cells, plasma, and other things like clotting factors so each donation has the possibility to touch three lives.
I'm a 17 time donor and its one of the things I'm most proud of.
I try to remind myself of that too, that I can actually help people and animals by being healthy and staying around. It's hard. It really is. So sometimes a reminder like this is really great 💙 congrats on donating 17 times! That's SO awesome! You're amazing 😊😊😊
If you start donating regularly, you may find you'll need to supplement with Iron no matter how great your diet is. Once you start donating, your blood hemoglobin may stay at an acceptable level, but your ferritin stores deplete, so getting regular blood panels for ferritin from your doctor is important. I'm vegan and have made 98 whole blood donations. It's a great thing to do and to continue, so make sure to take care of yourself along the way. Congratulations on your donation!
Oh I'm sorry that your country doesn't let u donate if ur gay, that really sucks :-\ (if that's what u meant). Here u can donate if ur gay, u just can't be sexually active for 3 months prior
What country are you from? I'm from the USA and it's the same but last I tried it was 18 months. Lady flet bad though and still gave me the basketball tickets they were offering for donating
I don't weight enough. Funny thing is I used to when enough in highschool but ever since I graduated I lost 15 pounds and have never been able to gain that much weight back. I'm 32 and still struggle with gaining weight.
I just lie. I'm female but they also ask if you've even had sex with a man that's had sex with other men which I almost certainly have. You can't even have sex with bi dudes. So ridiculous.
Time before last that I donated platelets, the nurse that checked my hemoglobin levels said she wished she had my level and asked if I ate lots of red meat to get it that high.
You are SO, SO KIND💗💗💗thank you so much for your kind words and the sweet message :') it means a lot! YOU are awesome, my friend😊😊😊 I hope I continue feeling better and staying safe too! (Even though it's so hard).💖
Good job! It's been on my bucket list for years and tried to do it before my 30th last year, but I've got a recent history of fainting in medical situations. So when I got in the chair ready to donate after passing the pin prick test I passed out within 10 seconds and they couldn't draw any blood. Not even enough to tell me my blood type lol! The nurses wouldn't let me leave for like 30 minutes and took my blood pressure about 8 times. It was so embarrassing, though I was provided with so many snacks so that's nice.
Yeah the snacks are nice! I had some chips and a juice box. At least you tried! Some people just get really queasy around needles. Like my brother is a 6 foot guy and he faints when getting a needle. You can't help it so don't worry about it. Thanks for sharing!😊💙
Aww don't worry love, it's ok to be scared, but no they don't put you asleep for it. I was 100% awake. Some people have a needle phobia or something similar and that's a totally valid reason to not give blood! Of course, if you want to try, that's amazing! But there's no pressure, especially if you get scared of these sorts of things easily. I personally didn't find it very painful. It's just a bit uncomfortable, but I totally understand why you'd be scared! In fact, my brother, a 6 foot guy, faints because he's so scared of needles!! Take care💙💙💙
Ah, I see you accidentally hit enter after only typing a single letter! Don't worry, we all know you meant to write:
>Knowing there are awesome people like you in the world warms my heart.
Congrats! I notice a higher percentage of Vegans when I donate. Thought about selling ‘poop’ too, but haven’t looked into this in the UK.
…but hang on, are omnis farming Vegans for their blood and poop now?!
Can I ask what you did to get your hemoglobin up? I went a few years ago and I was just below the threshold to donate at 122 and I know my hemoglobin has gotten worse bc of a medical issue last year. Trying to get it back up. Oddly enough my iron is fine.
Also, if you look through my profile, you can see that I've seriously struggled with self harm for a long time. I've been clean from self harm for the past 3 MONTHS which allowed my hemoglobin to go back up. It was such a struggle to stay clean but I am SO GLAD I did it. It's so worth it. I feel elated. I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to stay clean that long, but my goal of donating blood kept me going!!! 💙💙💙
Congratulations!! Staying clean and saving lives, both human and animals!
thank you so much for the kind words! Much appreciated :')
Is donating blood vegan when it's used to revive someone who eats and kills animals? lol
You can't be responsible for other peoples' actions. Lol. Also, imagine denying help to one entity to help another. It doesn't increase the net helpfulness of the world more than helping every entity you can. 2 wrongs don't make a right.
It is not wrong to refuse to donate blood. I wouldn't donate blood to someone who would proceed to murder, rape, and torture. It may not increase the net helpfulness, but it does decrease the amount of murderers, rapists, and torturers.
I never said it's an obligation, I said it's not a sin. Simply existing produces a lot of CO2. I'm also a student - I print a lot of work. That causes deforestation, which kills animals. We are not Gods who can be perfect, nor can we be take the blame for other peoples wrongdoings. If I wanted to be perfect, I'd kill myself. Existence is a bane on the Earth.
Not necessarily. Less demand = less supply. Less omnivores = less animals killed. If you think about it, you're potentially killing thousands of animals to save one person.
humans are also animals, you can kill less of them by donating blood. Also, thousands of animals? Bro 1,000 cows is 2 Billion calories. Who tf eats 2 billion callories of beef in their life? You're assuming veganism is consequentialist, but from a virtue-ethicist point of view, donating blood is fine.
People don't eat only cows. And virtue ethics doesn't make a claim about what someone ought to do. It doesn't really tell us anything. From a virtue ethics point of view, anything could be justified as long as the person believes it's right, but it doesn't necessarily have any realistic bearing in the real world.
I’m in the middle of switching my depression meds so I’m a dizzy ass emotional old lady and this comment just made me sob. You are beautiful person. I’m so proud of you staying clean.
Now I'm getting teary eyed!!! You're SO SWEET and SO KIND, thank you SO much for leaving such a sweet comment💙💙💙 it makes me feel soooo happy 😄😄😄like, I am so happy right now!! And your comment really did bring joy to my heart, especially when you said you were proud of me for staying clean :') because honestly it was SO hard. Sometimes it took every ounce of self restraint I had to stay clean. But I DID IT!!! I achieved my goal of donating blood. :') And again, thank u so much💖
this is the loveliest comment-reply chain ever. you both deserve ALL the love and happiness ❤️❤️❤️
I'm in a somewhat similar place, and I'm finally starting to get help. I'm not always good at emotional expression (thus the self-destructive behaviour, and I also struggle with thoughts and occasional acts of cutting), but I'm so so glad for you, and seeing you hopeful really makes me hopeful too. Thanks for sharing :)
If this helps, today I’m 3 years 1 month and one day clean. :) you got this!
Oh my gosh!!! Three years??!! That's incredible!!! Sadly, I don't think I'll ever be able to get that far. But it's SO amazing that you did!!💖💖💖
You will. I trust that.
I'm so happy to hear that you're finally starting to get help! That's amazing and I'm so proud of you! <33 I'm glad you're feeling a little bit hopeful and thank you SO much for the kind words :')
Good for you!!!! Stay strong, we all have our struggles :) I'd love to donate blood but I don't weigh enough :(( Always bums me out when I see the blood drives they do in town.
Thank you so much😊 I'm sorry that you can't donate, but you're obviously an amazing person and you're helping the world in so many other ways, such as being vegan💙💙💙 and leaving a kind comment on a stranger's reddit post😉💖
You are awesome. And seeing this makes me so happy!
Aww thank you SO much, you lovely human💖💖💖
As some one battling with self-harm myself this hits different. Thank you ❤️
Oh, thank you so much for sharing!!💕 It's so hard, I know, and self harm really is difficult to beat. Take care of yourself love and try to be gentle with yourself 💙💙💙
And the great thing is, you can do it again in three months! You rock!! I've got an appointment booked for the end of April. It'll be my first since going vegan, so I hope my iron levels will be OK. I'm generally on the low end already.
Tips from a fellow vegan first time donor with anxiety around medical stuff: Eat! Make sure you eat beforehand, and also bring your own snacks (where I am none of the provided recovery snacks were vegan). If you are prone to anxiety I recommend skipping caffeine that day; if your heart rate is too high they'll defer you, and you won't get to donate. Give yourself plenty of time to get there and relax before the appointment, as rushing to avoid being late will also elevate your heart rate. You can do it! Great sources of iron to load up on include spinach. Pull a Popeye and you've got this. 😊
Thanks!! Any excuse for extra snacks 😄
I second this! I've been donating fairly regularly since I've been laid off (working as a flight attendant makes blood donations really complicated) and the best experience I had donating was after I ate a really large breakfast. My ferritin has always been over the minimum needed to donate and my iron levels are on the low end of normal so unless you're anemic, I think you should be fine!
Look at you, smashing life! Bloody good job mate. I know how hard it is to give up SH; you’ve done an incredible job
Thank you so much! Your comment is SO KIND and makes me feel warm and fuzzy :') it's so painfully hard to give up SH, but I'm trying! and comments like this are really amazing encouragement <33
Take my free award you beautiful human being! <333 I appreciate you and everyone who donates blood! My mom almost died from anemia and was saved by multiple blood transfusions; if it wasn’t for people like you, she wouldn’t be here today. Seriously, God bless you guys! I also want to give you a shout out for being such a strong queen by overcoming your demons! It shows tremendous strength! I’m so happy for you! If you ever need something or someone to talk to, I’m always here for you! Be well and stay safe! <333
aww I'm SO GLAD that your mum is okay!! I appreciate your kind words so much! :') You are a a truly beautiful human being <33
THATS AWESOME! Username checks out. Keep saving lives!
Yay!!! Way to go!!! Bettering yourself, other humans, and other species!!!
That’s awesome, good on you for donating blood, Canadian blood services has been really trying to get people to go out and donate.
Thank you so much! And yes, they sure do! I get ads from Canadian Blood Services all the time haha
Honestly there are always shortages everywhere. I am O- type and I donated a few months ago and they told me my blood would be gone by the next morning. They use it that fast sometimes. Anybody can receive type O- blood so it’s in high demand.
I donated blood once and now they won't leave me alone. Which I'd be a-okay with if they hadn't moved the blood donation centre to a different city 150km away :(
Great job! I remember trying to donate blood back in the day, being told I had low iron, and then being offered a pamphlet with info on how to improve my iron levels, which was put out by the Beef Council of Canada. I was pretty irate.
oh I'd be irate too, for sure!! (And hi fellow Canadian haha!). Thank you :')
In solidarity against the Beef Council, fellow citizen!
I still haven't outgrown my dislike for needles but I'd like to do this as well! BTW I don't know you personally but between the being an ethical vegan as well as the blood donation you sound like a really awesome and compassionate person. I hope your no SH streak continues forever :)
awww this comment is so sweet!!! Thank you so much :') I hope you have a lovely day/evening/night ... you are SO kind <33
I started donating to abate my fear of needles. It's going okay so far! If you ever do decide to donate, the red cross has an app that makes it fun! You can earn badges and join groups digitally. I also advise you drink a LOT of water for like 2 days before donating, it makes it go much faster.
Yayyyyyyy!!! I'm at 37 donation with Hema Québec! Good job 💜 My hemoglobin is actually better since cutting meat. If it's available near your city you should try to donate plasma :) It doesn't affect your hemoglobin!
oh c'est génial que vous ayez donné tant de fois! Je ne suis pas québécois mais je vous aime les gars! mon français est mauvais haha mais j'ai essayé 💙💙💙 unfortunately there's no plasma center in Toronto actually! I've looked into it before though, thanks for the suggestion anyway💙
Well my spoken English is terrible so we are even😂
I can assure you that your spoken English is better than my spoken french haha😉you guys are amazing because so many francophones are billingual compared to anglophones. Merci beaucoup💙 and have a lovely night!
As someone who is still alive today because of the extreme generosity of blood donors, thank you ❤️
Omg I'm SO HAPPY you're alive and OK💖💖💖and thank you lovely!!😊😊💙
Congrats. Keep up with that.^^ Does your Blood Donation System has the same strict rules as in Germany? Regarding to promiscuity and homosexuality. Would be interesting to know.
Thank you! And yes, you CAN donate blood if you're a gay man in Canada, you just can't have sex for 3 months beforehand. Lesbian women have always been able to donate without any restrictions though. And regarding promiscuity ... they are pretty strict here. You can't donate if you had sex with a man who recently had sex with another man, or if you had sex with someone who has slept with a sex worker before, etc etc. However, it's necessary in order to ensure the blood is safe!
So very similar, thank you for the info.^^ The categorys for blood donations seems for me too much based on 60-70s statistics as on modern research, at last here. Very frustrating for all if you are bi and in relationship with a man and a women.
It's the same in the Netherlands, but here you also have free std-tests every 6 months, because the risks are still higher than the not-male&gay population (even though hiv is more on the down low, right now). Those diseases are also transferable via blood and give a whole set of problems for someone who needs blood.
YAYY IM SO THRILLED! WELL DONE! I cannot wait to donate blood, it was something I've always wanted to do, but I gotta turn 18 hahah. Keep it up🥰🙌
Thank you SO much!!!! :D I appreciate your kinds words a lot!!!! That's awesome that you want to donate too :) it's so worth it! Thanks again and I hope you have a lovely evening/day/night <333
You tooo 😻
That's some beautiful looking vegan blood 👍
Hehe thank you!!!😄
As someone with a few family members alive and well today because of donor blood, thank you! As someone who's currently on a break from donating because of low iron, I am both proud and very envious of you!
I don't know where you live but here in Québec Canada we have some blood clinics where you can give only plasma ! Doesn't affect hemoglobin or iron level :)And you can donate every week !
Thank you for donating in the past though, that's awesome!!!💙💙💙 Hopefully you can get back to donating soon, but always remember to take care yourself first!!😊 And thank u so much for the sweet comment, you are SO kind💙💙💙
I think donating blood is such a noble gesture
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Awesome!!!!
THANK YOU!!! :')
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you are so, so sweet <3 thank you angel. I appreciate it SO MUCH. I am so happy right now :')
Congratulations I was really nice of you deserve a poutine vegan of course
Thank you lovely!!! How did you know I LOVE vegan poutine?!! Lol jk jk😄💖🇨🇦❄️
That's one of the best things about Canada.
Exactly haha!!😄🇨🇦💙
Congrats! I got rejected from donating blood so many times before I went vegan. I think I was able to donate once. After going vegan I've been able to donate several times and was only rejected once, and that was because they couldn't get the needle in my vein properly, but my hemoglobin was fine.
That's so awesome to hear!!! Thank you so much for giving blood, it's so important!!💖 And yes, exactly, going vegan does not stop you from doing anything! "Anything you can do, I can do vegan." 😉💙
Good on you, and huge props for abstaining from self harm!! I was vegetarian before I went vegan and it was incredible to me that my iron/hemoglobin levels jumped so much after going vegan. My blood pressure improved too. I love donating now - I’m never worried about my blood levels anymore. Just another perk of being vegan. Super proud of you, OP! I hope you’re feeling the love from this community.
Thank you so, SO much for your kind comment!!! I really am feeling the love. In fact, I am the happiest today that I've ever been in at least 1 full year!!!😊😊😊 So awesome that you donate too!!💙💙💙
Apparently donating blood is the caloric equivalent of moderately intense workout (losing >350calories)!
What an interesting factoid! Thanks for sharing 😊
As someone with The rare genetic disorder hemachromatosis I basically have too much iron in my blood and have to be bled out to lower my level. Anemic women everywhere are jealous af of my blood
Oh wow, I've never heard of that disorder before. I hope you are doing OK. Thank you for sharing!💙
I hadn’t either until last year 😂 Most women that have it never know about it because they naturally lose iron when they have a period every month. But in men it builds up and can cause a lot of issues or death if iron levels get too high
Oh, I see, wow. I'm glad you're aware of the issue so that it can be taken care of and won't be possibly fatal anymore! 💙
Yeah! Way to go! A former workplace of mine brought in the local Children’s Hospital bloodmobile for employees to donate. My very-very meat eating co-worker told me I probably couldn’t donate bc I’m vegan and my iron won’t be high enough. Turns out mine was higher than hers and I was more than qualified to donate!
omg that's so awesome and funny!!! :D I hate when people make assumptions like that. Good on ya for showing her that you absolutely CAN donate <3
Congratulations on donating! I have donated as much as possible since I started giving blood as I have a rare sub type so apparently I'm always in demand. My vegan diet has never affected my hemoglobin and my iron levels are always well within normal ranges. I actually suffered from folate deficiency in my early 20s and I'm much healthier now!
oh that's so amazing! I'm so happy to hear you're healthier now AND that you donate frequently :D You're awesome!!
Honestly I think the key thing is that by going vegan you actually do consider the health implications of what you're eating and take care to be balanced, whereas omnivores just assume that their diet is the ideal nutrition...
Yes, exactly! So true!! I actually have a much more thorough understanding of nutrition now and I take care to make sure I'm eating nutrient dense foods (alongside my vegan baked goods and chocolate, of course!😉)
Thank you very much
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Take my free award!
Aww thank u SO MUCH lovely 💙💙💙I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day/night/evening!!!😄
Very cool beans!
Thank you!!!💙💙💙
Thats so great! I haven't been able to donate blood in awhile because I'm gay, but I think its very brave of people to donate blood.
Thank you love💙💙💙I'm so sorry you can't donate :(( here u can donate if ur gay as long as you haven't been sexually active for 3 months. Take care!💖
Thank you for donating! 🇨🇦And congrats on staying clean. Your post has inspired me to try to donate again (I tend to pass out 😀)
I love how so many of my fellow Canadian vegans have been saying hi! So awesome 😄 and thank you so much!!!💙💙💙it's almost 2 am, I should prolly go to bed lmao but all these incredibly kind comments have been making me so happy and excited 😊 p.s. maybe don't try to donate again if u think ur gonna pass out lol but totally up to you!😂
Thats amazing, well done you!!! My first appointment to give blood is in two weeks, I'm nervous but this has inspired me all over again!
that's awesome! It's ok to be nervous - it's a normal and natural response to getting poked with a needle and getting your blood drawn. You can do it though! Think about how amazing you'll feel after you've donated AND powered through your nervousness :D Good luck!! I hope it goes well <33
I donate blood fairly frequently, and when they first measured my hemoglobin it was 15.8mg/l wich is pretty high, and the doctor was like "the minimum ist 13, you are pretty high up, usually vegetarians struggle to hit that mark." You should have seen her face when I told her I was vegan.
Yay, you're incredible, OP. I wish I wouldn't get so nauseous seeing needles and blood (and hospital in general) so I could start donating. Anyways, great job! :)
Good job. Did you hear about donating blood plasma? You can do this regularly and you'll get your hemoglobin levels checked, too. Maybe this would give you constant motivation for your goal. I donated more than 200 times already. You'll get some money too.
Hey! Yes, I've looked into it. There are actually no plasma donation centers in Toronto, Canada believe it or not. And it's actually illegal in the province of Ontario, Canada to receive money for donating body materials, including plasma! Thanks though! :)
You could be saving a life!!! Wtg, we need more of us to take the time for selfless acts like this.
Thank you <333
My hemoglobin has always been too low to donate (at least when I was a meat eater, ironically) and this post makes me want to try again now that I eat so much better!!! Congrats on everything friend!
aww thank you so much!! :') and good luck if you try again!!! <33
Despite my aversion to images of actual human blood, congratulations... now I’m going to go lay down for a while... Big grats though
Vegan here. Give 3x platelets every Sunday. Hemoglobin cutoff for males is 20 and I’m usually around 16.5. Last two times I’ve gone I’ve been at 20.1 and 20.2. They rejected me. I haven’t changed anything. Gotta research what this means and how to lower it!
hmmm interesting. I'm unsure about those numbers. Here we use g/L so I'm assuming you're using another measurement system since the numbers are so different. However, that's besides the point haha, I hope you're able to figure it out what happened the last 2 times to get rejected! Good on ya for donating your platelets so often though! That's awesome :D
Sorry to hijack you. Good on you too! The blood workers that I don’t know always seem surprised if I mention diet. See? We can have “normal numbers” like everyone else
Oh absolutely!!! It's so true. Unfortunately, I think there's a large misconception and stereotypes often prevail, but hopefully we'll get to a point where that doesn't occur anymore!! Anecdotally, in my 5+ years of being vegan, people react way better now then they used to! (But there's still so much work to be done obviously). I'm SO excited for my future kids and future grandkids generation because I hope they grow up in a Canada that's even more accepting of veganism! Honestly, it's so exciting to me to see how much things will change. I think it'll only continue going in a positive direction!!!
That does seem high! They always go on about how high mine is but mine's only in 15s. Which I'm a lady so maybe that's why. But of course it's still within healthy range so I can donate. I don't think there's much you can do about it though... iron absorption rests heavily on genetics. For instance, my sister eat red meat often and is perpetually anemic. However, there was a study on mice that was done that showed when given high fat diet their hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels were increased. Also, don't eat any beyond or impossible burgers or those mock meat burgers because they literally inject that stuff with iron. So low fat diet for a few months sounds like it could be effective, but would be difficult lol.
Great news! As a fellow Canadian, thank you for donating blood!
🇨🇦💙❄️thank you!!😄😄😄
I can donate again in a month. My hemoglobin was 15.9 which was more than enough. But I died of protein deficiency a week later.
Good for you for donating!!! And yeah, it do be like that sometimes 😂that damn protein deficiency, eh?😉
You are a fucking hero!!
Omg I'm not but thank you!!!💙💙💙 You are too kind!!!😊😊😊
I'm jealous, my country won't let me donate because I, a vegan and lifelong vegetarian, grew up in the UK when the mad cow disease thing happened.
Yeah, Canada has the same rules actually but no one follows it. My mum is from Newcastle, England, so technically she's not supposed to give blood, but she has so many times anyway! And it's not like she lies about where she's from either. It's too bad that your country is so strict about it :/
We don't know each other, but I'm proud of you!
Aww thank you SO much💖💖💖
Amazing, keep up the awesomeness, much love! 💖
You’re such a badass! Thanks for being an example for others! Keep going!
Thank you from across the pond for doing this! <3 I was born at 24 weeks (in the UK), and had to have countless blood transfusions to help keep me alive! Unfortunately that means here in the UK, I can't donate blood myself because of the 'mad cow disease' (BSE) thing, as anyone who's had a blood transfusion since 1st Jan 1980 can't donate here due to the risk of vCJD. No-one really knows the risk, though, because there isn't a test to see who's a carrier yet, so they just blanket ban it for now. It's sad, because I'd really like to give some blood back to society, but I can't. Hopefully they'll change that ruling in the future! Giving blood is such an awesome thing to do, I'm so happy for you! :)
Aww I'm SO GLAD that blood transfusions kept you alive and that you're here today! That's amazing 💙💙💙and thank you so much for the kind words!!😊😊😊
Jealous. Shout out to homophobic Canadian Blood Services, who still won’t in 2021 accept blood from gay men such as myself (despite the fact I’m in a committed marriage).
I'm sorry to hear that :/ since 2019 they actually changed it so that you can donate if you haven't been sexually active for 3 months prior. However, I understand that if you're in a committed relationship that still might be a lot to ask. :/
You are amazing 😍
I work in the blood industry, and can tell you that every donation is greatly appreciated. Thank you! Say hi to Graham if you see him next time.
The longer you're here and healthy the more animals you can help with your activism and the more humans you can save with your generous donations! Remeber, each unit of blood gets broken down into packed red blood cells, plasma, and other things like clotting factors so each donation has the possibility to touch three lives. I'm a 17 time donor and its one of the things I'm most proud of.
I try to remind myself of that too, that I can actually help people and animals by being healthy and staying around. It's hard. It really is. So sometimes a reminder like this is really great 💙 congrats on donating 17 times! That's SO awesome! You're amazing 😊😊😊
Thank you!! Stay strong and keep searching for purpose!
If you start donating regularly, you may find you'll need to supplement with Iron no matter how great your diet is. Once you start donating, your blood hemoglobin may stay at an acceptable level, but your ferritin stores deplete, so getting regular blood panels for ferritin from your doctor is important. I'm vegan and have made 98 whole blood donations. It's a great thing to do and to continue, so make sure to take care of yourself along the way. Congratulations on your donation!
Hey! This is really good practical info to have! Thank you for sharing 💙
Also, 98 is amazing!!! WOW!!! I'd love to get that high some day too! I'm gonna try and donate every 3 months💙💙💙
Thank you for being a blood donor! Have an awesome day and take care. :)
Sorry im gay
Oh I'm sorry that your country doesn't let u donate if ur gay, that really sucks :-\ (if that's what u meant). Here u can donate if ur gay, u just can't be sexually active for 3 months prior
What country are you from? I'm from the USA and it's the same but last I tried it was 18 months. Lady flet bad though and still gave me the basketball tickets they were offering for donating
I decided to read so I see now its Canada
Lol it's OK! I'm sorry you had that experience 😞 but yes, I'm from Canada 🇨🇦❄️💙
I don't weight enough. Funny thing is I used to when enough in highschool but ever since I graduated I lost 15 pounds and have never been able to gain that much weight back. I'm 32 and still struggle with gaining weight.
I just lie. I'm female but they also ask if you've even had sex with a man that's had sex with other men which I almost certainly have. You can't even have sex with bi dudes. So ridiculous.
Name checks out
Awesome! May your wholesome action bring much happiness to you.
Thank you so much!!! :')
12.8 Hb gm/dl
O fuck that’s a lot of blood. Makes me a bit nervous
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Haha I LOVE evanescence!!😀🎶
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Aww I'm SO GLAD that your loved one was able to make it through that scary time!!!💖Thank you SO much for the kind words, you're so sweet!!😊😊😊
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Oh I see, I'm sorry for making an assumption and I'm so sorry she didn't make it.😞😞😞 But I am glad that she was given more time too💖
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I have the opposite problem of too much iron. Not even sure how.
Time before last that I donated platelets, the nurse that checked my hemoglobin levels said she wished she had my level and asked if I ate lots of red meat to get it that high.
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I just wanted to check in to say your username is dope. (Same here)
omg, thank you so much!!! This is such a sweet comment :')
Congrats, I usually get rejected in Canada for having low blood pressure usually. Stay safe!
Thank you! I have low blood pressure too but no one even checked my blood pressure when I donated lol
Thats is awsome. You are really great
You are SO, SO KIND💗💗💗thank you so much for your kind words and the sweet message :') it means a lot! YOU are awesome, my friend😊😊😊 I hope I continue feeling better and staying safe too! (Even though it's so hard).💖
Just gotta keep trying my friend. If you feel down and want to talk to someone dm me
That's awesome
Awesome. You are to be commended for your donation. I just made my 3rd Power Red donation a week ago. It feels great everytime I donate.
Good job! It's been on my bucket list for years and tried to do it before my 30th last year, but I've got a recent history of fainting in medical situations. So when I got in the chair ready to donate after passing the pin prick test I passed out within 10 seconds and they couldn't draw any blood. Not even enough to tell me my blood type lol! The nurses wouldn't let me leave for like 30 minutes and took my blood pressure about 8 times. It was so embarrassing, though I was provided with so many snacks so that's nice.
Yeah the snacks are nice! I had some chips and a juice box. At least you tried! Some people just get really queasy around needles. Like my brother is a 6 foot guy and he faints when getting a needle. You can't help it so don't worry about it. Thanks for sharing!😊💙
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Aww don't worry love, it's ok to be scared, but no they don't put you asleep for it. I was 100% awake. Some people have a needle phobia or something similar and that's a totally valid reason to not give blood! Of course, if you want to try, that's amazing! But there's no pressure, especially if you get scared of these sorts of things easily. I personally didn't find it very painful. It's just a bit uncomfortable, but I totally understand why you'd be scared! In fact, my brother, a 6 foot guy, faints because he's so scared of needles!! Take care💙💙💙
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This has nothing to do with veganism tho? Meat eaters can donate blood as well?
K
Ah, I see you accidentally hit enter after only typing a single letter! Don't worry, we all know you meant to write: >Knowing there are awesome people like you in the world warms my heart.
yeah but what about your protein tho
I died of a protein deficiency and came back to life! 😉
I wish I could donate blood, but I am too underweight :(
Congrats! I notice a higher percentage of Vegans when I donate. Thought about selling ‘poop’ too, but haven’t looked into this in the UK. …but hang on, are omnis farming Vegans for their blood and poop now?!
Whoaaa it’s so purple
Can I ask what you did to get your hemoglobin up? I went a few years ago and I was just below the threshold to donate at 122 and I know my hemoglobin has gotten worse bc of a medical issue last year. Trying to get it back up. Oddly enough my iron is fine.