dmcipod 0 #1 September 23, 2009 So as I dive more and more into skydiving, I definitely have to take other consecrations before I jump. Tomorrow I will be donating blood for the first time. I recall seeing a warning on my DZs homepage about not donating blood prior to skydiving due to change in altitude and what not. But they didn't mention for how long. Is there a golden rule for how many days before you can skydive after donating or is it more of a "if you feel capable" type of thing. With my lack of knowledge being fresh off of student, I wanna make sure I'm not overlooking anything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LongWayToFall 0 #2 September 23, 2009 I found online some data saying that while there is no FAR preventing you from jumping, airlines prohibit their pilots from flying within 72 hours of giving blood, and 12 hours of giving plasma. Ultimately it is up to you though, and you know that airlines have to be pretty damn safe with estimates. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strop45 0 #3 September 23, 2009 Where I give blood they advise you not to skydive, rock climb etc for 24 hours after giving blood.The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." -- Albert Einstein Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tolgak 0 #4 September 23, 2009 I would wait as many days as they say for you to fully recover your blood. You're much more susceptible to hypoxia after giving blood. It wouldn't be wise to go to altitude at any time until you're back to normal.Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
format 0 #5 September 23, 2009 or simply go b.a.s.e. What goes around, comes later. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blink 0 #6 September 23, 2009 That's funny, I know of an event at a DropZone where if you gave blood, you got a free jump. Most of the people jumped afterwards (the same day). To each their own I guess. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #7 September 23, 2009 If I know I'm going to be skydiving on the weekend, I will only donate on a Monday or Tuesday. That's worked out fine for me. YMMV."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tomcat933 0 #8 September 23, 2009 It takes a lot longer than a few days for your body to reproduce the volume of blood lost when you donate blood. Thats why you can only give blood once every six weeks or so. Obviously much of your strength is returned way before the blood volume lost, so i would say you would be fine to jump within two days or so after giving blood. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,406 #9 September 23, 2009 It takes me about a week to recover back to 100%. If you do donate, drink lots of water right after you donate and while you're jumping to prevent hypovolemia. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tkhayes 132 #10 September 23, 2009 24 hours is MORE that enough time after donating. Take a day off, that is all you need, unless of course you have some horrible side effect from the donation, like dizziness, fainting, whatever. Rare but it does happen. I have 326 donations and we have blood drives at the dropzone 6-8 times a year. All I ask it that you are done jumping for the day and with the hundreds of donations we have had here at SKydive CIty over the years, it has never been an issue for anyone - ever. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dmcipod 0 #11 September 23, 2009 Thanks for the heads up guys. The place that I am going to lets you donate every two weeks. I believe that they do take the plasma, but I will double check. I'll be sure to ask them and see how I feel afterwards as to how I feel about jumping. I have no problem jumping out of an airplane, but I'm kinda nervous about giving blood. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lauraliscious 0 #12 September 23, 2009 Quote Thanks for the heads up guys. The place that I am going to lets you donate every two weeks. I believe that they do take the plasma, but I will double check. every 2 WEEKS??? Most places it's 56 days between whole blood donations, less time between plasma donations. I try to donate as often as I can. I hadn't ever heard this about waiting a certain amount of time before jumping. I usually feel normal a few hours after donating, but have never jumped on the same day or the day after, AFAIK. Last time I donated I jumped a little less than 48 hours later and was fine. But I'm sure everyone reacts differently. Probably wait at least a few days, especially if it's your 1st time donating, to see how your body reacts. And I agree about drinking lots of water afterwards. Kudos to you for donating! Enemiga Rodriguez, PMS #369, OrFun #25, Team Dirty Sanchez #116, Pelt Head #29, Muff #4091 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLIDEANGLE 1 #13 September 23, 2009 Similar recent thread with references to military and FAA standards for flight crews. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3651915#3651915The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dmcipod 0 #14 September 24, 2009 So apparently there are different types of blood donations. Whole blood donations require the most time to recover from. There is also plasma and platelets donations. I donated platelets. Less than 24 later I am 100% fine. The main restriction that they mentioned to me was not to lift anything heavy for 4 hours after donating. They mentioned that I could resume doing my normal activities the next day. Some information that they gave me stated that in 3 days I will have regained all the platelets that I have donated, but a friend of mine in med school mentioned that my body will have reproduced back to normal in about 7 days. I guess that it may be anywhere in between. As far as jumping, I should be able to jump right away. I will wait a couple of days regardless just to play it safe. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #15 September 25, 2009 Quote Quote Thanks for the heads up guys. The place that I am going to lets you donate every two weeks. I believe that they do take the plasma, but I will double check. every 2 WEEKS??? Most places it's 56 days between whole blood donations, less time between plasma donations. I try to donate as often as I can. I hadn't ever heard this about waiting a certain amount of time before jumping. I usually feel normal a few hours after donating, but have never jumped on the same day or the day after, AFAIK. Last time I donated I jumped a little less than 48 hours later and was fine. But I'm sure everyone reacts differently. Probably wait at least a few days, especially if it's your 1st time donating, to see how your body reacts. And I agree about drinking lots of water afterwards. Kudos to you for donating! Same when I donate; the rule is 56 days between donations (for whole blood). The 2 week rule is probably for when they take the red cells and put the rest back (pheresis?). The 1 day off rule mentioned by TK seems to work for most people, but I'd take an extra day off the first couple times and see how you do with just normal activities, then higher load stuff. I would not jump same or next day the first time as a test. Seems to be a lot of variance, lots to do with body size (blood volume). I've played hoops the same day and did not notice anything even exercising to the point of total exhaustion; but I still would not jump same day regardless of how I felt on the ground." . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GLIDEANGLE 1 #16 September 25, 2009 QuoteThe 2 week rule is probably for when they take the red cells and put the rest back (pheresis?). You got it exactly backwards. Two week cycle is when plasma is removed and red cells returned to the donor.The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #17 September 25, 2009 Quote Quote The 2 week rule is probably for when they take the red cells and put the rest back (pheresis?). You got it exactly backwards. Two week cycle is when plasma is removed and red cells returned to the donor. At least I got it exactly something heh?" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lauraliscious 0 #18 September 25, 2009 Quote Whole blood donations require the most time to recover from. There is also plasma and platelets donations. I donated platelets. Less than 24 later I am 100% fine. WOW, you donated platelets on your FIRST blood donation?!?!? I'm impressed! Enemiga Rodriguez, PMS #369, OrFun #25, Team Dirty Sanchez #116, Pelt Head #29, Muff #4091 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dmcipod 0 #19 September 25, 2009 Quote Quote Whole blood donations require the most time to recover from. There is also plasma and platelets donations. I donated platelets. Less than 24 later I am 100% fine. WOW, you donated platelets on your FIRST blood donation?!?!? I'm impressed! It might be more of an involved process but not for me. All I did was let them stick a needle in me and let the machine run for about ~50 minutes. They had a computer there that you could go online with or they have 300+ movies that you could choose to watch from. It wasn't really that bad. I got a little bit impatient by the end but felt fine the whole time. The worst that happened is that my lips felt tingly due to the loss of blood but that quickly went away when I started to squeeze my arm to start it circulating again. From what I've heard though whole blood is more taxing on your body. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,406 #20 September 25, 2009 > I've been donating whole blood for years and still haven't gotten up the >gumption to donate platelets or plasma yet... I've donated both but I have a bad reaction to heparin, so I don't do it any more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #21 September 25, 2009 I like that wierd feeling when the put the chilled bits back into your arm. Strange." . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lauraliscious 0 #22 September 25, 2009 I thought it involved 2 needles, one in each arm, and it took about 2 hours. Guess I was wrong though. I'll have to try it sometime I guess.... Enemiga Rodriguez, PMS #369, OrFun #25, Team Dirty Sanchez #116, Pelt Head #29, Muff #4091 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,406 #23 September 25, 2009 >I thought it involved 2 needles, one in each arm, and it took about 2 hours. Last one I used involved one needle and two cycles (suck the blood out, separate the useful stuff, squirt the remainder back in, repeat.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lowhook 0 #24 September 26, 2009 New apherisis machines use one needle, one arm. The newest generation TRIMA machines can get a platelet donation in about 45-60 minutes. If you have a high platelet count (I average 390) then you may be encouraged to donate a double or triple (takes me about 90-100 minutes for a triple donation). I donate 24 times a year and am currently approaching 50 gallons. My phlebotomist recommends 24 hours no jumping. Go help save a life! All blood product donations are important. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
