Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Can You Donate Blood With Cd?


Guest missyflanders

Recommended Posts

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.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



celiac3270 Collaborator

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 Collaborator

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 Enthusiast

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

Open Original Shared Link

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 :D

debmidge Rising Star

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

sunflower Newbie
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 Collaborator

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


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Carriefaith Enthusiast

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

  • 2 weeks later...
RDV Newbie

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.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - Rejoicephd commented on Jefferson Adams's article in Gluten-Free Cooking
      1

      Your Complete Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Plan: Recipes, Tips & Holiday Favorites

    2. - marion wheaton replied to marion wheaton's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

    3. - trents replied to marion wheaton's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

    4. - BlessedinBoston replied to marion wheaton's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      3

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,416
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Heather8280
    Newest Member
    Heather8280
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • marion wheaton
      Thanks for responding. I researched further and Lindt Lindor chocolate balls do contain barely malt powder which contains gluten. I was surprised at all of the conflicting information I found when I checked online.
    • trents
      @BlessedinBoston, it is possible that in Canada the product in question is formulated differently than in the USA or at least processed in in a facility that precludes cross contamination. I assume from your user name that you are in the USA. And it is also possible that the product meets the FDA requirement of not more than 20ppm of gluten but you are a super sensitive celiac for whom that standard is insufficient. 
    • BlessedinBoston
      No,Lindt is not gluten free no matter what they say on their website. I found out the hard way when I was newly diagnosed in 2000. At that time the Lindt truffles were just becoming popular and were only sold in small specialty shops at the mall. You couldn't buy them in any stores like today and I was obsessed with them 😁. Took me a while to get around to checking them and was heartbroken when I saw they were absolutely not gluten free 😔. Felt the same when I realized Twizzlers weren't either. Took me a while to get my diet on order after being diagnosed. I was diagnosed with small bowel non Hodgkins lymphoma at the same time. So it was a very stressful time to say the least. Hope this helps 😁.
    • knitty kitty
      @Jmartes71, I understand your frustration and anger.  I've been in a similar situation where no doctor took me seriously, accused me of making things up, and eventually sent me home to suffer alone.   My doctors did not recognize nutritional deficiencies.  Doctors are trained in medical learning institutions that are funded by pharmaceutical companies.  They are taught which medications cover up which symptoms.  Doctors are required to take twenty  hours of nutritional education in seven years of medical training.  (They can earn nine hours in Nutrition by taking a three day weekend seminar.)  They are taught nutritional deficiencies are passe' and don't happen in our well fed Western society any more.  In Celiac Disease, the autoimmune response and inflammation affects the absorption of ALL the essential vitamins and minerals.  Correcting nutritional deficiencies caused by malabsorption is essential!  I begged my doctor to check my Vitamin D level, which he did only after making sure my insurance would cover it.  When my Vitamin D came back extremely low, my doctor was very surprised, but refused to test for further nutritional deficiencies because he "couldn't make money prescribing vitamins.". I believe it was beyond his knowledge, so he blamed me for making stuff up, and stormed out of the exam room.  I had studied Nutrition before earning a degree in Microbiology.  I switched because I was curious what vitamins from our food were doing in our bodies.  Vitamins are substances that our bodies cannot manufacture, so we must ingest them every day.  Without them, our bodies cannot manufacture life sustaining enzymes and we sicken and die.   At home alone, I could feel myself dying.  It's an unnerving feeling, to say the least, and, so, with nothing left to lose, I relied in my education in nutrition.  My symptoms of Thiamine deficiency were the worst, so I began taking high dose Thiamine.  I had health improvement within an hour.  It was magical.  I continued taking high dose thiamine with a B Complex, magnesium. and other essential nutrients.  The health improvements continued for months.  High doses of thiamine are required to correct a thiamine deficiency because thiamine affects every cell and mitochondria in our bodies.    A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function.  The cerebellum of the brain is most affected.  The cerebellum controls things we don't have to consciously have to think about, like digestion, balance, breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, hormone regulation, and many more.  Thiamine is absorbed from the digestive tract and sent to the most important organs like the brain and the heart.  This leaves the digestive tract depleted of Thiamine and symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi, a thiamine deficiency localized in the digestive system, begin to appear.  Symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi include anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, headaches, Gerd, acid reflux, gas, slow stomach emptying, gastroparesis, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation, incontinence, abdominal pain, IBS,  SIBO, POTS, high blood pressure, heart rate changes like tachycardia, difficulty swallowing, Barrett's Esophagus, peripheral neuropathy, and more. Doctors are only taught about thiamine deficiency in alcoholism and look for the classic triad of symptoms (changes in gait, mental function, and nystagmus) but fail to realize that gastrointestinal symptoms can precede these symptoms by months.  All three classic triad of symptoms only appear in fifteen percent of patients, with most patients being diagnosed with thiamine deficiency post mortem.  I had all three but swore I didn't drink, so I was dismissed as "crazy" and sent home to die basically.   Yes, I understand how frustrating no answers from doctors can be.  I took OTC Thiamine Hydrochloride, and later thiamine in the forms TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) and Benfotiamine to correct my thiamine deficiency.  I also took magnesium, needed by thiamine to make those life sustaining enzymes.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins, so the other B vitamins must be supplemented as well.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   A doctor can administer high dose thiamine by IV along with the other B vitamins.  Again, Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine should be given if only to rule Gastrointestinal Beriberi out as a cause of your symptoms.  If no improvement, no harm is done. Share the following link with your doctors.  Section Three is especially informative.  They need to be expand their knowledge about Thiamine and nutrition in Celiac Disease.  Ask for an Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test for thiamine deficiency.  This test is more reliable than a blood test. Thiamine, gastrointestinal beriberi and acetylcholine signaling.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12014454/ Best wishes!
    • Jmartes71
      I have been diagnosed with celiac in 1994, in remission not eating wheat and other foods not to consume  my household eats wheat.I have diagnosed sibo, hernia ibs, high blood pressure, menopause, chronic fatigue just to name a few oh yes and Barrett's esophagus which i forgot, I currently have bumps in back of my throat, one Dr stated we all have bumps in the back of our throat.Im in pain.Standford specialist really dismissed me and now im really in limbo and trying to get properly cared for.I found a new gi and new pcp but its still a mess and medical is making it look like im a disability chaser when Im actively not well I look and feel horrible and its adding anxiety and depression more so.Im angery my condition is affecting me and its being down played 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.