i donated blood and now...



fordguru

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Apr 15, 2009
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i donated blood tuesday and rode today first time. everything felt harder for sure. legs started burning earlier and hr was up. has anyone else went through this? wondering how long till i am back 100%?
 
A normal person's body should replace the blood within 2-3 days.
Of course metabolism, nutrition,sleep patterns and bone marrow differ in each individual.
 
fordguru said:
i donated blood tuesday and rode today first time. everything felt harder for sure. legs started burning earlier and hr was up. has anyone else went through this? wondering how long till i am back 100%?

Your LBS (local blood sucker) should have instructed you that this is normal and that you should avoid strenuous activity for a couple days after giving blood. Extra hydration to replace lost fluid volume will help speed the recovery process.
 
fordguru said:
i donated blood tuesday and rode today first time. everything felt harder for sure. legs started burning earlier and hr was up. has anyone else went through this? wondering how long till i am back 100%?

IIRC, it's 90% return of volume in 4 days, 100% in 4 weeks. Naval Aviation uses the following if a pilot donates blood:

-no fly for 4 days
-no fly to the ship for 4 weeks
 
very usefull information guys!! thanks alot:D

in saying that i am sorta bummed i have hurt my performace for the most important month in my training. :confused: my fault for not checking first.
 
Yeah, this is the time of year that many serious cyclists are putting extra blood in. ;)
 
fordguru said:
very usefull information guys!! thanks alot:D

in saying that i am sorta bummed i have hurt my performace for the most important month in my training. :confused: my fault for not checking first.

Don't worry too much about it. Don't do anything too intense for the 3-4 day period mentioned, then get back to training.

Of the 9 or so physiological adaptations you want for better cycling endurance, you've only set yourself back on blood plasma volume. You haven't hurt your cardiac stroke volume, muscle capillarization, mitochondrial enzymes etc, and you can continue to improve all of those as your body replaces what you donated.
Don't be shocked if you are back and better in less than the 4 wks.
 
Plasma volume comes back very quickly, it's the O2 transport capacity that takes a while to replenish.
 
frenchyge said:
Plasma volume comes back very quickly, it's the O2 transport capacity that takes a while to replenish.

By which you mean actual number of red blood cells?
 
more good info... thanks

i rode today and felt good going on day 4 until the end at mile 65 i started getting light headed. i will continue to train at a modest level for the next 2 weeks maybe.

when the pros get caught doping (epo) isnt that injecting more red blood cells for perfomance boost? if thats the case i did the opposite correct?

thanks jason
 
fordguru said:
i donated blood tuesday and rode today first time. everything felt harder for sure. legs started burning earlier and hr was up. has anyone else went through this? wondering how long till i am back 100%?

You didn't put the blood that you donated into a fridge in Girona by any chance?:D:D

Good stuff it's great to see people donating.
I try to do so every couple of months.
Blood donations save lives.

Well done.
 
taricha said:
By which you mean actual number of red blood cells?

Correct. Plasma donations can be made twice in a 7 day period, whereas whole blood (including the RBCs and platelets) donations are limited to once every 8 weeks.

fordguru said:
when the pros get caught doping (epo) isnt that injecting more red blood cells for perfomance boost? if thats the case i did the opposite correct?

Blood doping is adding more RBCs, but that's not the same as EPO. Yes, you did just the opposite, effectively thinning your blood until the RBC count comes back up.
 
frenchyge said:
Your LBS (local blood sucker) should have instructed you that this is normal and that you should avoid strenuous activity for a couple days after giving blood. Extra hydration to replace lost fluid volume will help speed the recovery process.

Unless you are like me and you are usually have a reading of 18 to high as a 20 on some tests. Lately it has come down to 16. I give blood every 30 days. I inherited a form of polycythemia from my Dad. He is 85 pretty soon so no big issue other than the monthly visits.

Funny thing the hospitals do not want my blood...:( I have to pay for my doctor to take it. Than they throw it out but no matter how much riding I did I never felt tired the next day...:)

-js
 

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