Can You Donate Blood With Cd?

[Guest missyflanders]

My husband donates all the time. I have never been able to because of my iron level. If I get this under control and at the right level, am I able to donate blood? Just wondering.

[celiac3270]

I don't see why not....celiac disease isn't contagious....as long as you're in good health, I see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to donate blood.

[flagbabyds]

You should be able to, celiac disease is not contagious as Coutler said and cannot be passed through the blood stream, ask your local blood drive to make sure

[gf4life]

Here is a link to the Red Cross Blood Donation Eligibility Guidelines.

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I have given blood twice since going gluten free in January. It is the first time in my life that I have not been turned away because my iron was low. My iron has been fine since being gluten-free and I feel fine after donating. The guidelines say that if you have a "chronic illness" you may still donate as long as your condition is under control and you feel well enough to donate.

One suggestion though. Bring your own snack! They want you to sit for a bit after donating and have a drink and a snack. The snacks at our local blood drive always seem to be gluten filled (Twinkies, Ho-ho's, danish, etc). I have suggested to them to have some gluten/wheat free alternatives (like dried fruit) and did find raisins the first time. I just figure I will always have to bring a snack in my purse.

Good luck getting your iron up. Using cast iron skillets seem to really help me a lot. Just make sure you get a new one, so that it isn't contaminated with gluten.

God bless,

Mariann

[debmidge]

I'd be more afraid to get blood from a "normal" person who eats gluten.

[sunflower]

I'd be more afraid to get blood from a "normal" person who eats gluten.

I'm no specialist, but if my understanding of digesting process is correct, than I think that a non-celiac person would not have gluten as such in their blood. Gluten is a protein, so during normal digestive process it would be cut into aminoacids, which would be then carried by blood (that is what they taught me at school ). I don't think aminoacids can hurt us, so I suppose it would not be a problem for us to get blood from a "normal" person.

BTW, I wonder what if the person who donated blood is a non-diagnosed celiac? Can undigested gluten permeate into your blood if you are celiac? Does anybody know?

[lovegrov]

It's not a problem for us to get blood from a person who eats gluten, just as it isn't a problem to eat meat from an animal that ate gluten.

richard

[Carriefaith]

I can't see why not unless you're anemic or have some other nutrient absorption problems.

[RDV]

Hi Missyflanders, The Canadian Blood Services in Charlottetown told me that I have to be symptom free for one year before I can go back to giving plasma. In my case I was giving once a week and had to stop when I started showing symptoms of anemia. Thats how I found out I had celiac disease.