Disappointing but What can We do?

The Red Cross follows very strict guidelines for taking blood. I also pay close attention to how I am feeling. The dizziness I felt took me by surprise but I immediately reported it as I knew they wouldn't want me to donate if I wasn't feeling well.

Thanks, Ritter. I, too, am diabetic but don't take any meds currently and have never been on insulin so am able to donate. Last time I was able to but this time I was just not feeling up to it. Hoping next time I'll be feeling better. Cheers!

Good for you, Ritter. My goal is to never take insulin. I watched my mother for years suffer through the finger pokes and then the insulin shots and swore I'd never go through that, no matter how many years it added to my life. I would rather go into a diabetic coma and just let the disease take me. I'm pretty radical in my attitude, though. We all have our own choices to make, right? Right now I'm able to manage with just watching my sweets and avoiding refined flour/sugar as much as possible. My A1Cs are good, though, so I am hopeful that I will never have to worry about it.

hi alaskanray never been on insulin so far as well, only meds in the morning and thats okay. cheers have a great weekend

Yeah, but they are cheaper than steak.

Thanks for the tip. Raisins are usually too sweet for me but I do love to eat them sometimes.

Sometimes...I do like to put them in my granola and other things I make. I just can't handle all that sugar straight...besides the diabetes factor, I just don't like sweets all that much and raisins are actually sweeter than most candies! I do try to eat well. It's not easy on my budget but I manage somehow. My daughter and I look forward to the beginning of each month when we can eat well. Making it stretch to the end of the month is a challenge, though.

Yes, I know that the Red Cross follows very strict guidelines. I am also very careful about what I do. Since I have become more fragile in my older age, I pay very close attention to what my body tells me. When I got dizzy I reported it immediately to the volunteers at the blood drive. It was disappointing but I don't sacrifice my well-being just in order to give. It's not a wise thing to do.

lol...we do eat a lot of high iron foods...eggs, red meat, spinach and the like. I'm thinking that she needs a supplement. My iron has been historically good. I'm thinking my problem was more that I've been pushing myself lately and not eating enough. Next time I will be better prepared.

God bless you, too, my friend. We all do what we can, don't we? We just need to make sure we can before we try.

We do eat a lot of spinach and red meat, both good sources of iron. I think we are going to have to put my daughter on an iron supplement, though. She is supposed to see the doc on the 13th and we will ask about that then. Thanks.

I am careful, my friend. I enjoy giving blood but am not about to force the issue if I feel under the weather. Maybe next time I'll feel better and be able to do it. I believe this was just a momentary situation brought on by too much physical exertion over the past week and too little food this morning.

Yeh, I have been having some disturbing changes in my health of late. My daughter isn't very anemic, just one point under where they wanted her to be. They said that her monthly cycle was probably to blame. As women we lose a lot of iron through that. She is supposed to see the doc on the 13th and we will ask about a possible need for an iron supplement for her.