You can donate blood if you have completed the prescribed dose of antibiotics and no longer have any symptoms of what caused them to be prescribed.

Before donation, every potential donor has his or her blood pressure taken to ensure readings are safely within guidelines to donate. “Extreme” levels are 90/50 and 180/100. Below the first or above the second will defer the potential donor. And you always get a free check to know for sure!

• If you currently have any form of cancer, you may not donate.
• If you have non-melanoma skin cancer (basal cell or squamous cell cancer of the skin), you may donate as soon as you are healed from the complete removal of the area involved.
• For melanoma skin cancer, you must wait 1 year from the date of treatment completion.
• If you have ever had leukemia or lymphoma you may not donate (except for those with successfully treated childhood leukemia).
• All other types of cancer are acceptable IF your doctor has declared you “cancer-free” and your treatment (such as radiation and/or chemotherapy) is complete. Note: Females with breast cancer who are taking hormone-blocking medications are eligible, and donors who are cancer-free but have radioactive implants are also eligible.

Do NOT Donate IF:

• You have had a fever, chills, new loss of smell or taste, cough, body aches, fatigue, or sore throat in the last 48 hours.
• You have been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 10 days.
• You are currently waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test because you felt sick or were exposed to someone with COVID-19.
• You have reason to believe you might be sick with COVID-19.

Please click here for more information regarding LifeStream’s response to COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccination is not required to donate blood. If you have had the COVID-19 vaccine or booster, you may donate blood – there is no waiting period.

We advise potential donors with diabetes to be well-controlled on their diet and/or medication, without significant recent episodes of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Otherwise, donors with diabetes are eligible to donate blood.

• Heart murmurs or irregular heart beat: Eligible as long as you have no limitations on your activity from your provider and you have no problems with activities.
• Pacemaker: Eligible as long as you have no limitations on your activity from your provider and you have no problems with activities.
• Heart attack, angina: Eligible 6 months after your last event, as long as your doctor has given you verbal permission to donate (no note required), you have no problems with normal activities, and you have no restrictions or limitations from your provider.
• Heart Surgery (Coronary artery bypass, valve repair, stent placement): Eligible 6 months after the procedure, as long as your doctor has given you verbal permission to donate (no note required), you have no problems with normal activities, and you have no restrictions or limitations from your provider.
• Aortic stenosis, moderate to severe (not repaired): You may not donate.
• Asthma: Eligible, as long as you are breathing well today.

If you have high blood pressure, you may donate blood as long as your reading at the site of donation is not more than 180/100. We will take your blood pressure right before you donate, so you get a free check to know for sure!

Some donors are more at risk for having depleted body iron stores, including female donors under age 50, teenage donors of both sexes, and frequent blood donors of both sexes. We recommend a diet rich in iron-containing foods, but at-risk donors should consider supplementation with low-dose iron taken by mouth (discuss with your healthcare provider first, however). More information is available upon request.

Medications taken for blood pressure, cholesterol and birth control are all acceptable for giving blood. Certain acne medications and prostate medications are cause for deferral. Click below to learn more about the medications that could be cause for deferral:

• Medication Deferral List – English
• Medication Deferral List – Spanish

If you are pregnant, you cannot donate blood until 6 weeks have passed following the delivery of your baby. After 6 weeks, you are eligible to resume donation, even if you are breastfeeding (we advise you to consider a conversation with your doctor before doing so, however)

Recent FDA changes to blood donor criteria mean some donors who couldn’t give blood in the past may be able to donate! Individuals must wait to donate blood if they have had sexual contact in the past 3 months:

• with anyone who has HIV/AIDS or has had a positive test for the HIV/AIDS virus.
• with a prostitute or anyone else who takes money or drugs or other payment for sex.
• with anyone who has ever used needles to take drugs or steroids, or anything not prescribed by their doctor.
• With a new partner or multiple partners, and had anal sex. 

If you have had a tattoo (including cosmetic tattoos) in the past 3 months and it was performed in California by a state-regulated entity with sterile needles and single-use ink; and the site is healed, you may donate. Click here for a list of other approved states. 
Piercings must be performed using single-use equipment. 

Travel is evaluated within 3 months of return. Some countries are entirely malaria risk-free while others have some areas of risk. Areas outside of the U.S. that are at risk for malaria change as time goes on. The only way to tell for sure whether travel or residency affects your donation status is to come see us and allow us to fully evaluate specific factors. You can check before or after you go at CDC – Malaria – Blood Donor Screening.
Thanks to recent FDA updates, those who were deferred for European/military travel are now eligible to donate. 

• COVID-19 vaccine: No deferral for FDA approved COVID-19 vaccine, as long as you are feeling well. For more info, click here.
• Influenza: No deferral, as long as you are feeling well
• Tetanus: No deferral, as long as you are feeling well
• Pneumococcus pneumonia: No deferral, as long as you are feeling well
• Meningitis: No deferral, as long as you are feeling well
• HPV (Human Papillomavirus): No deferral, as long as you are feeling well
• Hepatitis A vaccination for prevention: No deferral, as long as you are feeling well
• Shingles (Shingrix): No deferral 
• Hepatitis B vaccination for prevention: Wait 2 weeks after injection
• MMR: Wait 4 weeks after injection
• Chickenpox (Varicella Zoster Virus): Wait 4 weeks after injection
• Hepatitis B Immune Globulin for exposure: Wait 3 months after injection