What is blood plasma?

After donating Blood plasma.. what about meds???

• I gave blood plasma on the 3rd of this month and then again two days ago, on the 6th. I have felt horrible after the second time around and mainly just rested a lot and drank a lot of fluids. I'm coming down with a flu right now and was wondering how soon I can take meds again? I read online that for Aspirin you need to wait 36 hours, but what about flu meds? The doctors at Biomat were rude and said there are absolutely no side effects and I can resume to my normal things in a couple hours which is a little hard to believe.

• Answer:

  Haha, stating that there are no side effects is a pretty bold statement! I'd say that because you lost most of your antibodies with your donated plasma that has allowed the flu/cold virus to take hold quicker and easier than it would had your defences been fully intact. Your immune system should respond within about 3 days to boost your antibody numbers and help fight the infeciton. As for what meds you can take try some non-aspirin analgesics or cold & flu medicine. The best thing to do would be to ask your pharmacist about that - they're celver people too and should be more helpful than the Biomat people. Please try not to let this experience put you off donating though! Your plasma is very useful and benefits many people. You may just want to leave it a bit longer between donations. Everyone reacts differently, maybe your system just needs a little more time. hope u feel better soon!