Donors taking Xenadrine!

[javvcr]

hello everybody!

these days, there came a blood donor who consumed Xenadrine.

any of you know or suspect a contraindication to donation of blood from people taking fat burners?

[OneMore]

This is an old post, but for anyone interested here is what little I know:

Ephedra was banned in (I think) the early 2000s for causing heart arrhythmias, complications, and some deaths. The fat-burners which replaced them, like Xenadrine, are advertised as having 'natural ingredients', some of which have a component that works similarly to ephedra: phenylephrine.  From what I understand it is much milder, but can still cause arrhythmias or syncope during exercise.

I haven't heard anything about this being banned, and all of the complications were exercise-related.  I doubt that blood transfusion recipients are going to be doing strenuous exercise within 24 hours, so it seems that these substances wouldn't have the opportunity to create an issue (and that's assuming they aren't metabolized/break down before the unit is available for use). 

It's not a lot of information, but might help as a springboard for anyone curious as to the nature of these substances not making donor deferral lists.  There may not be enough information out there to put them on a list, as a lot of the supplements are difficult to study since they can vary in concentration/efficacy.