What could cause passing out during blood donation?

my husband passed out during a blood donation. he lost his conscience and turned completely pale. he is big and tall and athletic . could it be signs of hidden problems?

he doesn't have any phobia and he drank water. his coworkers are doing just fine with it....

Probably because when he was donating the change in blood pressure caused a hypovolemic reaction. Fainting is generally the worst problem encountered.

Thanks for donating

it can be due to hypotension since some amount of blood was taken so BP is slightly lower. That can usually happen. especially since it would take time for your body to adjust.

a decrease in blood volume can cause hypotension and hence affect blood circulation as well in your brain since it would take some time for a good amount of blood to enter your head and feed your brain (because he donated some blood =-) ).

That is why people who donate blood are usually instructed to rise slowly... like from lying position to sitting position then after a few minutes to a standing position.

considering that your husband is athletic, his body must have really been used to being so well supplied with blood because athletes usuathere is good circulation when a person regularly exercise. since blood was taken, it would take some time for his body to adjust.. so just let him rise slowly and probably not do a lot of heavy stuff for a moment. and make sure that he drinks a adequate amounts of fluid so that the blood volumes can be replenished.

u mentioned that his coworkers are doing fine with it. that may be because our bodies adjust differently, other people may be okay with it, others may be different.

=-)

How to Prepare Yourself Before Donating Blood
Blood is a very important component of modern medicine. It cannot be created synthetically, so it must be collected from volunteer donors. Many people are afraid to donate for many reasons. There is no reason to fear a communicable disease. The most serious risks to donating blood are referred to as adverse reactions and they generally take two forms: (1) fainting and (2) bruising. These tips will help you avoid both types of adverse reactions.
http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-Yourself-...

I wouldn't worry about it. It can be caused by a number of things but I doubt that it is a result of some underlying problem. More than likely it's caused by the reduced circulation of blood to the brain, resulting in first light headiness & then fainting. It may even be just the sensation of the needle in his arm, its a fairly common reaction when getting vaccines/giving blood.

I wouldn't worry.

when large amount of bloods are taken, your hb level drops which takes some iron levels out of the blood too, this then makes you feel clammy and very faint, this is the body reacting which is call shock.
after you are usually given a sugary snack/ drink eg biscuit, to raise your blood sugars in order to perk you up.

he fainted more than likely - that's why you have to sit and rest with a biscuit and cup of tea for 20 mins after, this also happened to my friend when we went. it's nothing to worry about!

does he have a fear of needles, i did. i always fainted when i had needles. talk to him about it.

thanx