Has Anyone Else Gotten a Migraine During the Process of Donating Plasma?

I used to donate white cells and plasma frequently. Donating plasma depletes you of a lot of fluids, and although you drank a lot of water, you state that you also had coffee and tea. If those drinks were not de-caffeinated, you probably were dehydrated due to the combination of the loss of plasma and the caffeine from both coffee and tea. Caffeine itself doesn't cause dehydration, but it can contribute to a depletion of fluids in the body.

Dehydration can cause a headache, and in my daughter's case, it can trigger a migraine.

And sometimes we underestimate what "a lot" of water is. It seems like we've had buckets of water, but in reality we had just a total of 16 ounces or something.

I suggest that at your next plasma donation you stick to drinking water and maybe an unsweetened natural juice, and start early and keep it up. Don't just gulp a glass of water immediately prior to donation. And on donation day, either drink a couple of bottles of water so you know how many ounces you had, or pour water into a re-usable water bottle where you know how many ounces it contains. That way you'll be aware of how many ounces you actually consumed.

I'm not a medical professional but I donated weekly at a major cancer center and that's what they told us.

Were you donating plasma or blood? I don't think I know anyone who has donated plasma.

I think you would be better off asking people who get migraines what are some of their triggers. I have never had one but I do get headaches from time to time, never from giving blood.

if you didn't eat well that could cause a migraine and other problems while donating the plasma. if you have never had a migraine prior to this i suggest you make an appt with your dr to make sure its safe for you to continue to donate.

Probably related to blood sugar? I used to get migraines when I was really hungry.