Have been on TRT since October last year. And recently had my blood work done and due to the following which my dr said are too high, he’s told me to stop TRT and donate blood
Haemoglobin - result =177.000 H range - 130 -170 g/L
Haematocrit - result - 0.592 H range - 0.38 - 0.5 L/L
Full blood below
Is it normal protocol after results that are considered high, to do a hard stop on TRT like this?
No it’s not normal. You would adjust and/or address the other bloodwork issues.
Is this and endo or a GP?
Yes, you should donate blood though.
Its through a private clinic here in UK called Optimale
Im going to donate blood. But until I can get an appointment Ive been told to stop, then get another blood test, wait on results until theyll tell me next steps
Seems drastic to hard stop after being on since Oct
Your hematocrit normal ranges are bizarre, normally, it’s a percentage of blood volume. A slight elevation in hematocrit and hemoglobin is nothing to worry about.
It’s perfectly normal for doctors to freak out over an elevation in hematocrit and hemoglobin, even if there’s no concern.
Many doctors struggle in this area of medicine.
What is your blood pressure and resting heart rate?
Is my Dr being overly cautious then? Seems it
Also out of interest. With a hard stoo like this. What negatives can i expect and how quickly? I suspect itll be a good 2 weeks to donate blood, submit, then get a sep blood test, send back, get results and wait instruction
Feels like, should the dr after donation and bloods say to go back on. Ill be starting all over again
No issues there all in range and resting HR is in early 60s
It could be your doctor values his medical license more than he cares about your treatment effectiveness. Medical guidelines exist for a reason and sometimes they hurt the patient with unnecessary actions, such as repeated blood donations and crashing your iron stores making you iron deficient.
This happened to me as my endocrinologist had me donating blood every month until it caused iron deficiency. Then he told me after speaking with a hematologist about my case that I no longer had to donate blood, even with a hematocrit value of 59%, ranges 42-50%.
Western medicine has yet to catch up to the world of TRT and how to properly manage treatment.
This indicates that your body is able to handle thicker blood without any issues. Now take a guy with sleep apnea, a severe case of heart disease, and or a clotting disorder and this is a perfect storm for something bad to happen.
The problem is a doctor sees a high hematocrit value and the knee-jerk reaction is oh fuck we got to lower it or something bad is going to happen, instead of looking at the bigger picture, the patient’s as an individual and his current state of health.
Your doctor reeks of inexperience!
Thanks @systemlord
Have a admit, whilst I’m happy to go through the process of giving blood etc. in order to balance / help things
I am a little nervous and worried about what’s going to happen / what I’ll experience after 8 months and just suddenly stopping. And whilst he may say, to start again should results satisfy him. I think it’s going to be easily 2-3 weeks to go through the process
You will have to lower your dosage otherwise your hematocrit and hemoglobin values will return to previous values.
I understand. But as of now, I’m instructed to come off completely for the foreseeable
Any idea of what negatives I can / could expect, I’m guessing an initial crash of some kind, so loss of things like strength, muscle mass, crashed libido, I’m also guessing motivation, mood will also take a dip
Basically everything in reverse of what TRT was supposed to be a benefit for in the first place
Id be interested in others thoughts on this as well.
Decided to speak to another Dr at another clinic that was recommended to me. And he was surprised my current Dr / clinic suggested I completely stop when my blood markers are only slightly elevated. And not something he would have suggested.
On my protocol, he also said there were too many moving parts to know what would / wouldn’t work for me. And he prefers starting much more slowly and only adding things in ‘should’ they be required based on how I’m feeling, potential sides etc. Something suggested by others on here a couple of times.
So I’m moving Dr / Clinics, and he’s starting me on test only, going to help me secure a private appointment to donate blood, which he thinks would still be beneficial even though he’s not concerned by my blood readings. He’s also suggested I move to IM and not SQ, saying SQ isn’t for everyone and that given my history and potential lack of full benefit, IM would probably work better for me. He’ll review things in 6 weeks and see how I’m going IM and test only
Fingers crossed I’ve landed at the desk of of Dr / Clinic that has a more methodical approach to things. Rather than a throw stuff at a wall and see what sticks
Before your next bloodwork drink a bunch of water. My hematocrit was 50-55 when I was on 200mg test over a handful of tests. After running 300 test I had a reading of 49. All I can think was different is that I had been doing more cardio in general and drank a lot of water that day.
