In general, people with well-managed or controlled diabetes can donate blood. Cellcept (mycophenolate mofetil) an immunosuppressant wait 6 weeks. Individuals with low blood volumes may not tolerate the removal of the required volume of blood given with whole blood donation. The dosage of valacyclovir needs to be reduced in people with kidney disease. Your gift enables the Red Cross to ensure an ongoing blood supply, provide humanitarian support to families in need and prepare communities by teaching lifesaving skills. Generally, donors are compensated for their time. Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances. Acceptable as long as your pulse is no more than 100 and no less than 50. All rights reserved. If you smoke and you want to donate blood, plan to refrain from smoking on the day of your appointment both before your appointment and for three hours afterward. Your gift enables the Red Cross to ensure an ongoing blood supply, provide humanitarian support to families in need and prepare communities by teaching lifesaving skills. You may be eligible to donate, depending on your condition. Getting a tattoo or piercing recently from a licensed establishment does not make you ineligible to donate blood. This requirement is related to concerns about hepatitis. You can also donate blood if you have: Asthma if it's well treated, with no current shortness of breath Diabetes if it's well treated with diet and/or medications Theyll be able to test your blood for any of these conditions, help you navigate the process for donating blood, and walk you through any guidelines for how often and how much blood you can give. Donated red blood cells can be stored for use for up to 42 days. Discuss your particular situation with your personal healthcare provider and the health historian at the time of donation. If you ever received a transplant of animal organs or of living animal tissue - you are not eligible to donate blood. Wait at least 6 months following a heart attack. Taking antibiotics to control acne does not disqualify you from donating. Please, come prepared to discuss your travel details when you donate. The Mayo Clinic Blood Donor Program, along with other blood donor centers, is experiencing the effects of a nationwide blood shortage. Staff members are skilled at making the experience as smooth as possible. This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Peak concentrations of acyclovir are reached within one to three hours. Please consider donating plasma again! Make your tax-deductible gift today, and be a part of cutting-edge research and care that's changing medicine as it's known today. There are other ways to give. If you have any questions or concerns about your eligibility to donate blood, contact your donation center. You can call 866-236-3276 to speak with an eligibility specialist about your travel. You can be exposed to malaria through travel and travel in some areas can sometimes defer donors. During apheresis you're hooked up to a machine that collects and separates blood components and returns unused components to you. According to the general blood donation criteria, donors must: be at least 16 years of age. There are more than 100 types of HPV, and many of them are spread during oral, anal, or genital sex. Then, your red blood cells are put back into your blood along with a saline solution. If you get a nonreplicating, inactivated or mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, you can donate blood without a waiting period. Because plasma is part of your blood, the same rules apply if you have herpes, whether you have HSV-1 or HSV-2: Maybe. If you received an injection of cadaveric pituitary human growth hormone (hGH) you cannot donate. Platelet donors may donate as often as every eight days, and up to 24 times in a 12-month period. You must be in good health and able to pass the physical and a confidential health-history assessment to help make sure blood donation is safe for both you and the recipient of the blood. Unable to Give Blood? Giving blood can help save lives. Subscribe to Drugs.com newsletters for the latest medication news, new drug approvals, alerts and updates. Wait 6 weeks after giving birth. Your eligibility will be based on the reason that the medication was prescribed. Select the title or plus symbol below to view content. Please tell us if you: DO NOT discontinue medications prescribed or recommended by your physicians in order to donate blood. For all donors, the hemoglobin level can be no greater than 20 g/dL. Eating the right things before you donate blood can reduce your risk for side effects. How often you can donate blood depends on a variety of factors, including the type of blood donation you want to, During a plasma transfusion, the liquid component of a donor's blood is put into another person's bloodstream to increase the blood's volume and, Receiving a blood transfusion from a donor who has been vaccinated for COVID-19 is safe. Blood collection agencies have taken several steps to ensure both employees and donors are safe during the donation process. Diabetics who are well controlled on insulin or oral medications are eligible to donate. Before donation, a parent or guardian must review and sign the following form to allow an eligible 16-year-old to donate: These required donation forms are available by any one of the following means: To donate blood, you must weigh at least 110 pounds (about 50 kilograms) and be at least 16 or 17 years old, depending on the law in your state. Healthline Media does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Before donating, eat a healthy meal and drink plenty of water. Please tell us if you: Revised 07/2021.TIME CAP LABORATORIES, INC. We'll be happy to see you 24 hours after your symptoms pass. Tested positive for COVID-19 with or without symptoms in the last 14 days, Had COVID-19 symptoms in the last 14 days, Weigh at least 110 pounds. Acceptable as long as your blood pressure is below 180 systolic (first number) and below 100 diastolic (second number) at the time of donation. The .gov means its official. To donate, you must be symptom-free from cold, flu or fever on the day of donation. However, you must wait 1 month after taking this medication before donating platelets by apheresis. The second shot is administered 2-6 months after the first shot. 2. Treatment may last from one to 14 days depending on the condition being treated and the immunocompetency of the person being treated. Drugs that can harm an unborn baby If you have not been vaccinated or it has been less than 4 weeks since being vaccinated, wait 4 weeks from the date of the vaccination or exposure before donating. (Each state determines its own age of majority, which can be different for different activities.). During a whole blood donation, you typically donate a pint (about a half liter) of whole blood. Wait 3 months after being treated for syphilis or gonorrhea. Wait at least 16 weeks between Power Red (automated) donations. These medications are not usually taken together. Anyone who has taken the psoriasis medication etretinate (Tegison), which has been discontinued in the U.S. Discuss any upper weight limitations of beds and lounges with your local health historian. You can also help peoplefacing emergencies by making a financial donationto support the Red Crosss greatest needs. Separate requirements for hemoglobin level apply for Power Red. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. Find out how you can get involved by becoming a volunteer or peer leader - organizing a high-school blood donation events - by emailing us at feedback@blood.ca or calling 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283). Medications That May Delay Your Donation. Donors with diabetes who take any kind if insulin are eligible to donate as long as their diabetes is well controlled. Valacyclovir is not a cure for genital herpes or herpes labialis (cold sores). For the purposes of blood donation gender is self-identified and self-reported, which is relevant to the transgender community. Cold, Flu and Other Types of Illness If you don't feel well on the day of your donation, please call to cancel. Medicines that interact with valacyclovir may either decrease its effect, affect how long it works, increase side effects, or have less of an effect when taken with valacyclovir. You have not donated blood in the past 56 days. It is not necessarily surgery but the underlying condition that precipitated the surgery that requires evaluation before donation. 25 ways to protect yourself from illness. If you've recently gotten a tattoo, traveled abroad or take medications . However, if a live attenuated viral COVID-19 vaccine becomes available and you get it, wait 14 days after being vaccinated before donating blood. If you ever tested positive for hepatitis B or hepatitis C, at any age, you are not eligible to donate, even if you were never sick or jaundiced from the infection. Last updated on March 7, 2022. No. Acceptable after finishing oral antibiotics for an infection (bacterial or viral). People with diabetes can donate blood if they meet certain eligibility requirements. Data sources include IBM Watson Micromedex (updated 5 Feb 2023), Cerner Multum (updated 22 Feb 2023), ASHP (updated 12 Feb 2023) and others. A federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services200 Independence Avenue, S.W. 16 year-old donors, however, must present a signed permission form from their parent or a guardian before the blood donation. Double red cell donors may donate as often as every 168 days. Inhibits viral DNA replication by inhibiting viral DNA polymerase, incorporation, and termination of the growing viral DNA chain, and inactivation of the viral DNA polymerase. Valacyclovir. Note that this list is not all-inclusive and includes only common medications that may interact with valacyclovir. Read more about the national blood shortage. Both whole blood donation and apheresis are available, which gives you options as far as the length and frequency of your donations. Donors who were previously deferred under the prior MSM policy will be evaluated for reinstatement. Donating Blood & Platelets Medications That May Delay Your Donation Certain medications may delay your ability to donate blood. Double red cell donation takes about 30 minutes longer than a whole blood donation. If you take these drugs and donate blood, you may experience excessive bleeding and bruising. The length of time you must wait to donate will depend on the requirements of the plasma donation site and the type of antibiotic. Effient (prasugrel) and Brilinta (ticagrelor) no waiting period for donating whole blood. You can download the travel form and bring it with you to help in the assessment of your travel. Many people mistakenly believe that having a tattoo means it is not possible to donate blood. Double red cell donors may donate as often as every 168 days. Wait 3 months after using IV drugs that were not prescribed by a physician. This content does not have an English version. Just as with blood donation, you dont have to wait to give platelets or plasma after youve had your COVID-19 vaccine as long as you know the vaccine manufacturer. Without the people who took time to donate blood, I would have died after childbirth. Blood donation steps include:. Wait 2 years after the last injection or shot of medication taken to prevent HIV infection also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)- Apretude (cabotegravir ) are injections or shots given for exposure to HIV. Talk to your doctor if youre not sure whether its OK to donate blood if you have HPV.