Does anyone know what would cause your blood to be really thick and dark? I donated plasma for 4 months usually twice a week with no problem. Then in December twice they problems with my blood returning during the process. They restuck me both times. I didn't go back until Febrruary. I went twice in a week. The next week they said my hematocrit was 35, too low to donate. I went back a week and half later my blood was really thick and dark and would not return.

Can you please explain what you mean when you said that your blood would "not return?"

Yeah, the machine kept beeping and saying no flow. They restuck the other arm and put my return down to 20. It normally takes me 23 minutes to finish the cycle, that day it took 1 hour 15 minutes.

Are you taking any medications? What did you do, if anything, to get your hematocrit levels back up?

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Originally Posted by J_9

Are you taking any medications? What did you do, if anything, to get your hematocrit levels back up?

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Yes, I take Effexor xr 300mg a day,xanax .5mg 4 times a day, and trazadone 100mg for sleep every night. To get my blood count back up I just ate like I normally do, salads and whole grains.

Sometimes I have a hard time getting a flow if I find a vein that has valves. Valves slow the flow of the blood. This may be what happened to you.