Blood donation. How often and why it is good to do it.
 

Let's discuss why it is good to donate blood and how our body reacts to this.

Why it is good both for us and for those we help.

I want it to be more like a motivational thread to help others while we learn benefits we get.

Not sure what it's like where you are but in the UK you cannot donate blood if you have ever injected any form of steroid

I don't know if that is problematic or not in the US, but that's not information that I voluntarily provide.

They won't first do a blood draw and check my testosterone levels, at least not in the States.

I did see a hematologist once, by referral from my primary care physician. As part of his work up, my testosterone levels were checked. I was in the middle of a cycle, using Tren as one component at approximately 600mg/wk - I say approximately as I was using my own homebrew Tren from Component TH W/Tylan (Tylan was removed before brewing). The physician assistant told me that she had never seen testosterone levels as high as mine, and that they couldn't assess my test levels as the machine didn't read that high.......... :eek:

Some steroids (Tren for one), more than others, promote an increase in red blood cell count. As I noted in another thread, hyperviscous blood (in my case due to increased red blood cell count), can cause problems if left unaddressed over time.

That's why I donate blood if my blood tests show that I have an elevated hematocrit level.

My understanding of the 'not if you've ever done steroids' problem is regarding the use of needles. They just don't trust us not to have shared.

As for the benefits of giving . . . we males need to get rid of a build up of toxic iron in our blood. Females do that on a monthly basis, whereas we men don't have that option.

Lowering our red blood cell count is another useful benefit.

Also, as far as I am concerned, if someone will die without receiving a blood transfusion then I doubt a touch of man made testosterone is going to kill them. I'm fairly confident that if exogenous testosterone would be that dangerous we would be told in greater detail why not to donate and they would also test for this exogenous testosterone before giving to the blood to the patient.