Giving Blood with Psoriasis

[cara09]

I went and donated blood for the first time today.  Better late than never I guess (31). Having been misinformed by my dad when I was kid thinking I couldn't donate cause of my P, I never did until I thought about it again recently. 

It took a while prior to donating with a nurse as they made lots of notes on my Health questionnaire about previous tests and meds that I've had for Psoriasis including Methrotrexate, Cyclosporin & Enbrel in the past. So as it happens that in most of my twenties I couldn't donate anyway because of taking these immunosuppressant drugs. As I haven't taken any of them for about 2 years it was fine. (Can donate as long as you stopped taking these meds at least 12 months ago) I did query them on the Enbrel injections and as it's classed as legal prescribed drugs that's fine. You can only NOT donate if you have injected illegal drugs or cosmetic drugs. They referred to this webpage for guidelines for donating blood with Psoriasis.
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Hope this gives people the confidence to donate blood if you haven't before (if you are lucky enough to be relatively clear of Psoriasis while not taking immunosuppressants!)

Cara 

[Mimz]

I can't get over the whole 'mad cow disease' thing! I cannot believe that other countries ban people giving blood because of it! Yes, BSE/vCJD has a long gestation period, but only up to about 8 years, so shouldn't we all have got over this already?! And BSE was discovered in the US in 2003 anyway, from US beef, so shouldn't only vegetarian blood be accepted then?!

This is absolutely ridiculous.

Mimz

[Mimz]

Obviously this rule is only for people living abroad, since anyone living in the UK now can donate in the UK at anytime.

Or does the MCD no blood donation rule also apply to British people currently in the UK who ate beef during the 1980's / 1990's?

Does anyone know? I would be interested to find out.

Maybe the authorities think everyone in the UK has MCD in their blood anyway, so it won't matter if you pass it on !!! 

Anyone who has had a blood transfusion since 1980 cannot donate blood in the UK, as vCJD has been shown to only be potentially transmittable via transfusion now. Doesn't matter if you ever ate British beef because you'd know by now if you were carrying vCJD (basically because if you ate infected meat you'd be dead!).

Mimz

[marion.d]

i was a blood donor, but as i had a blood transfusion in 1983 with the birth of my son i cannot give any more.
my mam donated for years,she has p, she collected lots of badges for it.. my daughter, she has p, she donates blood with no problems.. i think it a brilliant thing to do, costs nothing but your time. i used to donate breastmilk too, for premature babies..

marion