I’ve donated blood for years but I’ve been asked and iam booked in tomorrow morning to donate platelets for the first time , slightly put off by the up to 2 hours on the “machine” !!! I’ve never had any weak / faint feeling after giving blood but will I feel bad after this ? Obviously asking because I’ve got a ride booked Saturday .

I’ve been giving for a few years. The worst part is staying still for the two hours. The same needle is used for the draw and return, so it has to be precisely in the vein; any fidgeting can move it and affect the return. You might feel tingly lips when the blood is returned to your body as it contains a chemical to stop the blood coagulating in the machine. If you tell the nurse they can alter the concentration of the chemical so you cannot feel it.

I often cycle to the session and the only problem with that is waiting for your heartrate to return to normal before they can put you on the machine. You are not losing any blood, so cycling shouldn’t be affected.

I started doing it this year as I now live near a donor centre (previously gave whole blood at a mobile donor session). It takes longer (usually just over an hour actually rigged up to the machine), but you can eat and drink, read, listen to music or just watch TV. The machine takes blood out a bit at a time, spins it in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets, then gives the rest back to you – it’s a bit of an odd sensation when the blood is returned into your arm but you soon get used to it. The staff are really good and constantly check how you’re doing – if you find it uncomfortable they can adjust the flow rate or stop the session if necessary.

As for how you’ll feel – for me, it’s much better than after giving whole blood. I (gently) cycle home afterwards with no problems and can ride or run as hard as usual in the following days (which I couldn’t do when giving whole blood).

Thanks for the replys , looking at movies to download to my I pad now , I’ve never had any issue riding the next day after giving full blood so , should be no issue after what you guys are saying !!!

I gave some saucers and side plates to the salvation army once. Wasn’t so bad. Though I think they sell them to buy drugs.

Can I recommend 50/50 as a movie then, given that you’ll be making a donation that could help a cancer sufferer!

Thanks for the movie recommendation but I’m a proper soft arse when it comes to sad films and my old fella died of cancer so it’s a subject I try my level best to avoid !!! Thanks anyway .

I’d be donating if there was a donation centre within a reasonable distance from where I live. I give blood, but the nearest platelet centre is over an hour drive away. It’s not even that easy to give blood as regularly as you can, because the supply of donation centres far exceeds the number of people who seem to want to donate. They’ve recently stopped the blood mobile service that used to come to work, despite the fact that it got booked out within hours of announcing the dates that it would be visiting.