I became severely anemic as a result of giving blood too often, generally every 8-10 weeks for a number of years, except the occasional times I was deferred because my hematocrit wasn't high enough to give. I passed out skiing with no warning (I didn't feel light headed or nauseous, although I had been losing hair without knowing why, but didn't experience any other signs of anemia), and suddenly dropped like a rag doll, hitting my head and sustaining a concussion (and, yes, thank goodness I was wearing a helmet). My doc said it was a perfect storm, so to speak - I had given blood the day before (which wasn't unusual for me - I had skied the day after giving blood many times), was skiing above tree line, had had a light breakfast and hadn't had a full night's sleep. Plus, I'm thin (I generally weigh around 113 lbs.) My blood work showed my Ferritin Serum/Plasma (iron) was only 5 ng/mL. Normal is between 20 and 288. I took iron pills and didn't give blood for a year and am fine again. Although I've resumed giving blood because I think it's a really good thing to do and a great way to help the community, I'm cutting back to 3 rather than 6 times per year and will keep an eye on my Ferritin level.
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I became severely anemic as a result of giving blood too often, generally every 8-10 weeks for a number of years, except the occasional times I was deferred because my hematocrit wasn't high enough to give. I passed out skiing with no warning (I didn't feel light headed or nauseous, although I had been losing hair without knowing why, but didn't experience any other signs of anemia), and suddenly dropped like a rag doll, hitting my head and sustaining a concussion (and, yes, thank goodness I was wearing a helmet). My doc said it was a perfect storm, so to speak - I had given blood the day before (which wasn't unusual for me - I had skied the day after giving blood many times), was skiing above tree line, had had a light breakfast and hadn't had a full night's sleep. Plus, I'm thin (I generally weigh around 113 lbs.) My blood work showed my Ferritin Serum/Plasma (iron) was only 5 ng/mL. Normal is between 20 and 288. I took iron pills and didn't give blood for a year and am fine again. Although I've resumed giving blood because I think it's a really good thing to do and a great way to help the community, I'm cutting back to 3 rather than 6 times per year and will keep an eye on my Ferritin level.
October 4, 2019 - 11:40pmThis Comment
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