I was interested in some of the things said on here and thought I would comment. I happen to work for a plasma center.
1. Do not donate plasma when you are not feeling well. It is important for your safety and the safety of the plasma to be healthy when you donate.
2. If you have donated whole blood you can not donate plasma for 56 days because there is a risk of blood cell loss. You can not donate plasma for 7 days after you have donated platelets. I am unsure how it works the other way around. You can donate plasma 2 times in a seven day period with atleast 1 day between the donations which comes to a total of about 104 donations. So you could donate Monday and Wednesday and come back the following Monday and Wednesday.
3. Yes, there is no substitute for human blood, but there is also no substitute for human plasma. Human plasma is used to create drugs for people with immune deficiencies and blood clotting disorders. Without human plasma these people would likely not survive and need plasma treatments about once a week. It takes 16 donors to make one dose of medication. So either way you go, you are helping people.
4. Going to Europe does not always affect your ability to donate plasma. It can depend on how long you were there, which countries you visited and when you went.
All in all donating plasma is completely worth it because it not only helps people but you also get something in return besides just feeling good about it.
