I went in feeling perfectly fine for a donation. Later that day I noticed I had a cold developing which later turned into a bit more. But since I JUST donated plasma it made me feel like absolute shit. Can’t remember every symptom that it added, but I know I had very little energy and it took longer to recover.
So as a con, if you are unlucky and donate while feeling fine but coming down with something it is going to hit you hard. And since most places have you donate twice a week your odds are higher of having that happen compared to donating blood (which is usually every other month I think). They do take your temp and ask if you feel fine prior to the donation… But there be a loop hole.
Another con I haven’t seen mentioned is they can get busy. My local one was starting to see hour long waits to get seated. Which sucked as it is, but since you are usually hydrating extra that day by the time you get done you REALLY need to go. Place took appointments, but they were pointless as you could make your appointment while sitting in the car outside the building.
Also, not sure if related but when I first started it was very easy to draw blood for me and it went pretty quick. By the end it took them longer to stick me, sometimes multiple tries and my time donating increased a lot with far more errors to clear an air pocket or something. Luckily I started donating blood instead and it seems like my veins are easier to find again and the machine rarely gives an error.
I went in feeling perfectly fine for a donation. Later that day I noticed I had a cold developing which later turned into a bit more. But since I JUST donated plasma it made me feel like absolute shit. Can’t remember every symptom that it added, but I know I had very little energy and it took longer to recover.
So as a con, if you are unlucky and donate while feeling fine but coming down with something it is going to hit you hard. And since most places have you donate twice a week your odds are higher of having that happen compared to donating blood (which is usually every other month I think). They do take your temp and ask if you feel fine prior to the donation… But there be a loop hole.
Another con I haven’t seen mentioned is they can get busy. My local one was starting to see hour long waits to get seated. Which sucked as it is, but since you are usually hydrating extra that day by the time you get done you REALLY need to go. Place took appointments, but they were pointless as you could make your appointment while sitting in the car outside the building.
Also, not sure if related but when I first started it was very easy to draw blood for me and it went pretty quick. By the end it took them longer to stick me, sometimes multiple tries and my time donating increased a lot with far more errors to clear an air pocket or something. Luckily I started donating blood instead and it seems like my veins are easier to find again and the machine rarely gives an error.
I wouldn’t recommend it overall.