hyperactive thyroid + blood donation

kikzen

hi

my mum is forever telling me that she cant give blood because she has a hyperactive thyroid. i dont think this affects your ability to give blood because ive never had any of the nurses ask me about it / it wasnt on any of the checklists.

further to that, what exactly (or roughly, your choice) is an hyperactive thyroid? what does it mean? i had a look on wikipedia but it was a bit too complex for me.

thanks :biggrin:

Actually your mother is wrong. So long as her hyperthroidism is controlled with drugs she CAN donate blood. Now it might be that she is simply saying its the tyroid and is infact scared, or has a different reaSON FOR NOT DONATING WHICH SHE DOESN'T WISH TO SHARE.

[Soz slipped caps lock on by mistake]

Anyways, as for hyperthroidism, the easiest way to explain it is that the hormones the thyroid produces act like an accelerator pedal for the body. the more you have the more your cells in your body work.
So you get diarrheoa because your bowels work too much, you get restless, your muscles use up so much energy they get weak, and you get out of breath because your body needs more oxygen then you are used to. Your appetite goes up but at the same time you might lose weight. Your heart may beat so fast that at times that you can feel it pounding in your chest. You become intolerant of heat (you are sweating with a t-shirt when everyone else is freezing). that kind of stuff. of course there are more complex symptoms for various reasons, but thats a nice ickle summary. As for causes - there are many different ones so theres no point going into them
but as its already diagnosed and being treated then your mum should have few of these symptoms (if anything she may go the otherway becaue of too little thyroid activity).

HTH
Jamie

Reply 3

kikzen

OP

thanks both of ya./

i think she is 'euthyroid' at the moment because she said she had to take drugs in the past, but shes not on any at the moment.

i reckon shes just scared but i dont wanna push it just in case there is a reason SHE DOESNT WANT TO SHARE :p:

long time love is on the way to both of you

Reply 4

joyabbott

http://www.transfusionguidelines.org.uk/index.asp?Selected=T&Publication=WB&Section=1&topicid=1512

you can't donate if hyperthyroid and taking medications as a result

Reply 5

mangomaz

My friend might have that...
Shes really skinny because of fast metabolism and shes very hyperactive lol and speaks at the speed of light and I think clammy hands are another symptom?

Reply 6

joyabbott

http://www.transfusionguidelines.org.uk/index.asp?Selected=T&Publication=WB&Section=1&topicid=1512

you can't donate if hyperthyroid and taking medications as a result

Hmmm. how odd. i know in the US and the WHO guidelines it says that donating whilst on thyroid medication so long as malignancy isn't suspected is fine.
UK wants you to have stopped taking the thyroid meds for at least 2 years.

Reply 7

viviki

When I gave blood i was told not to give blood if you feel the slightest bit unwell. I get hayfever in the summer so they said unless I felt particularly well it was best not to donate in the summer. So I guess if your mum never feels well then she wouldn't want to donate anyway.

Reply 8

joyabbott

Yeah, it surprised me actually

Reply 9

better to be safe than sorry i suppose. its why our blood products are the safest in the world.
now anyways...

Reply 10

kikzen

OP

viviki

When I gave blood i was told not to give blood if you feel the slightest bit unwell. I get hayfever in the summer so they said unless I felt particularly well it was best not to donate in the summer. So I guess if your mum never feels well then she wouldn't want to donate anyway.

shes fine as far as i know. shes not on the pills now (i never even knew she was on them)

Reply 11

Col-C

6

I'm quite glad to see this topic. I am a regular blood donor, but was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism two weeks ago, I was wondering about donation.

I think I'll just ring the NBS to be sure.

Thanks guys :smile:

Reply 12