What Medications Disqualify You From Donating Blood, Plasma, or Platelets?

In the U.S., a person requires blood or blood products every 2 seconds. To keep up with the demand, there’s an ongoing call for healthy people to donate blood. But your eligibility to donate blood — or specific parts of your blood, like plasma or platelets — may be affected by the medications you're taking. After all, it's important to make sure that donated blood is safe for those receiving it.

Certain prescription medications temporarily disqualify you from donating blood, and some disqualify you permanently from donating blood. But you should never stop taking your prescribed medications without talking to your healthcare professional first.

Below, we'll discuss a number of medications that may disqualify you from donating blood.

1. Isotretinoin

If you have severe acne, chances are you've heard of isotretinoin (Accutane, Absorica, Claravis). Isotretinoin is also taken off-label to treat other skin conditions, including psoriasis, rosacea, and hidradenitis suppurativa.

And yet, isotretinoin isn’t safe for pregnant women. It shouldn't be used by anyone who is pregnant or trying to become pregnant. It can cause miscarriage, premature birth, and severe birth defects. Because of this risk, you can’t donate blood or blood products for at least 1 month after your last dose of isotretinoin.

2. Finasteride and dutasteride

Proscar and Propecia are both brand-name medications that contain finasteride. Proscar is used to treat symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), while Propecia is used to treat hair loss in men.

Based on findings from animal studies, finasteride can cause abnormal genital development in male babies when pregnant women are exposed to it. Because of this risk, you can't donate blood or blood products for at least 1 month after your last dose of Proscar or Propecia.

Dutasteride is a similar medication that also treats BPH. You can find it as brand-name Avodart and in a combination product called Jalyn (dutasteride / tamsulosin). Like finasteride, dutasteride may affect the development of a male baby's genitals when a pregnant woman is exposed.

However, dutasteride lasts much longer in your body than finasteride does. You’ll need to wait at least 6 months since your last dose of dutasteride before you can donate blood or blood products.

3. Antiplatelet medications

Antiplatelet medications prevent stroke, heart attacks, and complications from conditions like peripheral artery disease. They prevent your platelets (a type of blood cell) from sticking together and causing clots.

Antiplatelet medications don't affect your eligibility to donate blood or plasma, but they do affect platelet donations. If you take an antiplatelet medication, you’ll need to wait before you can donate platelets. The amount of time you have to wait depends on the medication you take, as detailed in the table below.

4. Blood thinners

Blood thinners (anticoagulants) help treat and prevent blood clots in the heart, lungs, and legs. They're also used to help prevent strokes in people living with atrial fibrillation. Top examples are warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven), rivaroxaban (Xarelto) and enoxaparin (Lovenox).

While they’re often beneficial medications, the way they change your blood means you can’t donate your blood. You’ll need to wait before you can donate blood or any blood products. How long you have to wait after your last dose depends on the blood thinner you take, as shown in the table below.

5. Piroxicam

Piroxicam (Feldene) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) medication used for treating pain caused by injury or arthritis.

But, piroxicam has stronger antiplatelet effects than other NSAIDs. It makes your platelets less likely to stick together and form clots when needed. Because of this, you'll have to wait at least 2 days after taking piroxicam before donating platelets. There’s no waiting period for donating blood or plasma.

Keep in mind: Piroxicam is unique. You can still donate platelets if you've recently taken ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or other NSAIDs.

6. HIV prevention medications

“PrEP” and “PEP” medications help prevent HIV. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, lowers the chance of getting HIV if you’re at high-risk for getting it. PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) helps prevent HIV after potentially being exposed to it.

FDA-approved PrEP medications include the antivirals Apretude (cabotegravir), Descovy (emtricitabine / tenofovir alafenamide), and Truvada (emtricitabine / tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). Apretude is given as a long-acting injection, while Descovy and Truvada are both taken by mouth.

PEP regimens contain at least three antiviral medications. Many PEP regimens include emtricitabine (Emtriva) and tenofovir (Viread), plus an additional medication — such as dolutegravir (Tivicay) or raltegravir (Isentress).

If you're taking oral PrEP or PEP medications, you'll have to wait at least 3 months after stopping your medications to donate any blood or blood products. If you're prescribed Apretude, you'll have to wait 2 years after your last injection to donate blood or blood products. This helps make sure the donated products are safe for those receiving them.

If you’re living with HIV or are still considered to be at high-risk for being exposed to HIV, you’re unable to donate blood products.

7. Certain growth hormone injections

Today, growth hormone injections are purified medications that are made in a lab. But before scientists learned how to make growth hormones in this setting, they used human pituitary gland tissue. Unfortunately, a small group of people taking these human growth hormones developed a rare brain condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Because of this risk, if you've ever received an injection of human pituitary-based growth hormone, you can’t donate any blood or blood products. This type of growth hormone was available in the U.S. between 1958 and 1985.

If you received growth hormone in the U.S. after 1985, then you’re OK to donate blood or blood products.

8. Acitretin and etretinate

Acitretin is a medication used to treat psoriasis. Like isotretinoin, acitretin can cause severe birth defects. This is also true for a medication that’s very similar to acitretin — etretinate.

If you're taking acitretin, you'll have to wait at least 3 years after stopping the medication to donate blood or blood products. And if you've taken etretinate at any time, you're not eligible to donate any blood or blood products in the future. However, etretinate is no longer available in the U.S.

9. Arava and Aubagio

Arava (leflunomide) is a medication that helps prevent rheumatoid arthritis from getting worse. A similar medication, Aubagio (teriflunomide), is used to prevent damage to your nervous system caused by multiple sclerosis.

Arava and Aubagio can cause birth defects. They last in your body for a long time and can take a couple years to get out of your system. If you're taking Arava or Aubagio, you’ll need to wait at least 2 years after stopping these medications before you can donate any blood or blood products.

10. Other medications that affect your immune system

Many medications can affect your immune system and make it harder to fight infections. Some of them also make it harder to donate blood in the future:

• Upadacitinib (Rinvoq)

• Mycophenolate (CellCept)

• Vismodegib (Erivedge)

• Sonidegib (Odomzo)

Thankfully, this is a small list. Many other medications that affect your immune system won’t disqualify you from donating blood or blood products. Talk to your healthcare professional if you have questions about whether a specific medication will disqualify you from donating.

Do any vaccines affect your ability to donate blood?

Most common vaccines don’t impact your ability to donate blood. If you recently received a COVID-19, flu, or RSV vaccine and you’re not feeling sick, there’s no need to delay your donation. This is also true for HPV, meningitis, pneumonia, and tetanus vaccines. The newer shingles vaccine (Shingrix), which replaced Zostavax, is also OK.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Live vaccines are the main issue. We detail how long you should wait to donate blood after receiving these vaccines in the table below.

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Written by:

Nikki Javit, PharmD

Nikki Javit, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist with certifications in international travel medicine, immunization delivery, and pharmacogenomics. She received her bachelor’s of science in biology from Indiana University Bloomington and her doctor of pharmacy degree from Butler University.

Reviewed by:

Sophie Vergnaud, MD

Sophie Vergnaud, MD, is the Senior Medical Director for GoodRx Health. An experienced and dedicated pulmonologist and hospitalist, she spent a decade practicing and teaching clinical medicine at academic hospitals throughout London before transitioning to a career in health education and health technology.

Reviewed by:

Christina Aungst, PharmD

Christina Aungst, PharmD, is a pharmacy editor for GoodRx. She began writing for GoodRx Health in 2019, transitioning from freelance writer to editor in 2021.

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