Ex- military donaters?

[ppwc1985]

Are there any vets who donate blood at Red Cross? They saying I can't donate anymore due to having hep B anti virus, which is hep b vaccine that all military get. It doesn't make sense to me, I would think that's a good thing. Idk what to do now. Hemocrit is already at 49.

[Times Roman]

I donate.

I don't trust those questions. Some are too political. I think one of the questions is, "have you ever had sex with another man?"

WTF? Who cares? it is a very poorly written question, imho. Instead, they should be more focused on whether or not they have been exposed to HIV and not the gender of one's sex partners.

Another question that should have been retired many years ago is whether any time was spent in Europe. This is a "Mad Cow's Disease" question, as the incubation period could be up to 20 years. But it's been 30 years since I've lived in Europe. So why should I automatically be disqualified for living somewhere 30 years ago?

Several years ago, I decided I'd begin donating. Some of those questions are blatantly paranoid or ignorant.

[ppwc1985]

See that don't make no sense tr, they saying that my hep b antivirus is reactive. I showed my dr and she is also a veteran and said all vets are given hepatitis vacc. She did some test anyways and of course it came back that I do have the vacc and am immune to hep b. The Red Cross did this once and said I could donate but if it came back again I wouldn't be able to. We went back and donated and three weeks later I received the same letter. Now Informing me I could no longer donate. I'm confused, this just isn't making no sense.

[Times Roman]

want to hear something weird? I too had the hep vaccine. But at my last project, I came down with Hep A. Not sure why if I've been given the vaccine. could be the vaccine needs to be renewed?

[Beethoven]

I was disqualified for being stationed in Europe in the early eighties. Mad cow, or as they call it Jacob kreutzfeld I think. Now I have to have a therapeutic draw script. Now the kicker, until recently, I used to donate frequently a few years back.

[ppwc1985]

I was disqualified for being stationed in Europe in the early eighties. Mad cow, or as they call it Jacob kreutzfeld I think. Now I have to have a therapeutic draw script. Now the kicker, until recently, I used to donate frequently a few years back.

yes I never told them anything about ever being out of the country. Like TR said they ask way to many nosey ? Hell if your honest about being on trt you can't donate. What do you do for hemocrit? Prescribed blood draw? Or self bleed?

[Docd187123]

yes I never told them anything about ever being out of the country. Like TR said they ask way to many nosey ? Hell if your honest about being on trt you can't donate. What do you do for hemocrit? Prescribed blood draw? Or self bleed?

You should be able to donate if on TRT. They ask about off Rx use of drugs and steroids not prescribed TRT. The questions are basically a pre-screening process. If they can disqualify you with the questions vs wasting money on drawing your blood and tearing it after the fact why wouldn't they? It saves them lots of money. I agree the questions are poorly worded. For example, I assume they ask about any homosexual interactions bc it's easier to transmit STDs through anal intercourse than vaginal (at least from what I'm aware). Anyway, I always answer no to everything and have yet to have a problem.

[joebailey1271]

I donate and I have had that vaccine, they must mean something else, have u donated before, maybe they are telling u that u have hep b. antibodies

[Chicagotarsier]

They get so many donations they can be super picky. In reality all they want is the universal donor blood..all the rest usually gets turned into plasma only with RBC filtered.

[17chester6]

It doesn't make sense that you are not able to donate just because of a Hep B vaccine. I was vaccinated and therefore I have Hep B antibodies (antibodies fight any Hep B virus that I could be exposed to and so I am protected). I donate here in Canada without issue.
All blood that is donated in the US and Canada is checked for Hep B (and Hep C) antigen (which is the actual virus). The antibody does not matter.
I would suggest you give the Red Cross a call and ask specifically what it is that precludes you from being a blood donor.

[ppwc1985]

I been doing a lot more research and I'm going to call the Red Cross and send my results from my dr. I'm immune to hep b due to having the vacc, research says this happens where the anti-bodies can come back reactive. False test results and so on, so going to contact them Monday.

[David LoPan]

I was disqualified for being stationed in Europe in the early eighties. Mad cow, or as they call it Jacob kreutzfeld I think. Now I have to have a therapeutic draw script. Now the kicker, until recently, I used to donate frequently a few years back.

same thing happened to me so I went away from one blood bank and went to the red cross. I had the hep B shots and they should not interfere with donating blood.

[oldnsedentary]

Are there any vets who donate blood at Red Cross? They saying I can't donate anymore due to having hep B anti virus, which is hep b vaccine that all military get. It doesn't make sense to me, I would think that's a good thing. Idk what to do now. Hemocrit is already at 49.

I did not even know this - glad to know I am immune. I had not clue what shots they were giving me. It is not like we were allowed to ask questions.

[RangerDanger830]

If your hematocrit is high and you cannot donate then you can bloodlet yourself or pay to have a doctor do it. It is a very simple procedure, just make sure you are taking note of how much blood you are letting out. There are videos online on how to do it if you can sift through the emo kids. Usually about 1 pint lowers your hematocrit ~4% but that depends on your body.

[ppwc1985]

If your hematocrit is high and you cannot donate then you can bloodlet yourself or pay to have a doctor do it. It is a very simple procedure, just make sure you are taking note of how much blood you are letting out. There are videos online on how to do it if you can sift through the emo kids. Usually about 1 pint lowers your hematocrit ~4% but that depends on your body.

yes been thinking about that too, bass made a video I watched so maybe. Waiting on Red Cross and my dr to talk right now. I'm at 49 up from 45 since starting 6 months ago. Gonna do something soon.

[ppwc1985]

So I just heard from them, my hep B core antibodies test was reactive. I do not have hep B and am immune to it at this time due to vaccine. But, she told me being I have no negative test with the Red Cross (only donated twice) I have to wait a year than I can be retested. She said it is possible that before I received vaccine that I could have been exposed to Hep B and not even know about it. Idk, I had only been with one girl at that time and used no drugs.
But I do have a blood condition that around age 10 I had to have multiple transfusions. This was in the 1970's so I guess I could have been exposed at that time. Crazy life.

[dreadnok89]

I donate.

I don't trust those questions. Some are too political. I think one of the questions is, "have you ever had sex with another man?"

WTF? Who cares? it is a very poorly written question, imho. Instead, they should be more focused on whether or not they have been exposed to HIV and not the gender of one's sex partners.

Another question that should have been retired many years ago is whether any time was spent in Europe. This is a "Mad Cow's Disease" question, as the incubation period could be up to 20 years. But it's been 30 years since I've lived in Europe. So why should I automatically be disqualified for living somewhere 30 years ago?

Several years ago, I decided I'd begin donating. Some of those questions are blatantly paranoid or ignorant.

Come on now dude, HIV and AIDS are a huge risk with unprotected gay sex. That's why the next question is usually share needles while doing drugs! Who would takebblood from people who gamble with there life