Yes, donating is a good thing; and everyone healthy enough to do it, should. Platelets too, etc…
But when TRT patients donate regularly because they are told to by their doctors (sometimes but not always legitimately), problems can arise:
Did the doctor tell him to make sure to take iron? I’ve known many TRT patients that become anemic - which is no joking matter.
What if the person takes or took propecia?
Or, what if the person is at (exceedingly remote) risk for any number of diseases - such as having traveled to a country during a specific time period and ate meat (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD))
Now that person has to get a prescription to get this done AND has to pay for it.
And so on.
The point is: do it because you want to; and do it if you have to - but ONLY if you have to. And that is what is at issue in the “debate”.
Op… I tried to donate late last year, but got turned away as my hgb was 18.4, mid 17 was their upper acceptance limit for men ,… I’ve since finished cycle. I’m assuming all is back to normal, red blood cells will die off after three months, and hgb return to normal assuming no medical condition so relax not much in the way of blood testing in Ireland. I’ll try donate next time they are in town and see
Good news! Blood donation dropped everything by 10% exactly! Hematocrit went from 56 to 50 and Hemoglobin from 19.1 to 17.2. I only dropped 10 points on my ferritin also.
From article: When humans are exposed continuously to hypoxia, they develop adaptative mechanisms that are far more efficient than those observed in newcomers.50–53 These long-lasting mechanisms include anatomical (wider chests, shorter and lighter bodies, etc), embryological (smaller fetus and placentas), circulatory (improved maximum flow output and higher pulmonary arterial pressure) and respiratory adaptations (improved hypoxic ventilatory response and oxygen diffusion capacities).52 54–56 Chronic exposure to hypobaric hypoxia leads to the development of more subtle compensatory mechanisms. These factors include long-term erythrocytosis, angiogenesis, capillary remodelling and an improved ventilatory response57–60 (figure 2).
It’s odd as to how testosterone mediated side effects are somehow considered distinct from that of side effects mediated from the pharmacological effects of synthetic anabolic steroids.
High HCT on EQ? That’s dangerous! Stop using steroids
High HCT on T? It’s JuSt TeStOsTeRoNe BrO! Do you really think ‘TOT’ (say 200-250mg test/wk) is that much safer than 200mg of methenolone per week? Probably not… I’d wager for some the methenolone might even be ‘safer’, not that AAS use is ‘safe’ to begin with.
Yes, however this argument is a moot point. Synthetic doesn’t necessarily mean inferior either.
It reminds me of the old age “its just a plant” argument as to why cannabis is purportedly so great for you (it isn’t aside from medicinal applications that in todays society/culture have been heinously overblown).
You know what else comes from a plant? Morphine… “iT’s JuSt A pLaNt BrO”… oh wait…
Scopolamine also comes from a plant… What about the gazillion other deadly plants like Atropa Belladona?
Agreed. I don’t have any issues with my metoprolol tartrate/succinate or propanolol being synthetic. Very grateful. Same for those nasty synthetic thyroid meds (joking).
I don’t think I gave them a fair shake and I got pretty desperate. So doing a more comprehensive study on myself. I think my hashimotos got really bad and was causing micro bursts of thyroid hormone from dying tissue perhaps? Very hard to chase down.
There’s actually some interesting literature looking at a hypothesised autoimmune mechanism. Substantial portion of people with IST have antibodies against cardiac beta adrenergic receptors.
I think all my tissues are under AI attack at this point!
Did a 14-3-3 eta test a couple of years ago. Sky high!!! No provider knows what to do with it. The picture is extreme localized joint inflammation but all my standard inflammation markers cRP, etc are very low. Provider is like you are the picture of health dude, why are you here? But when the heart gets involved, things get real.
Negative for standard RA workup. Going off TRT seemed to really exacerbate my thyroid issues and fT4 to fT3 conversion. But I was seriously in the gutter for a few months. So laugh out loud I am currently back on TRT (80 mg/week) plus combo thyroid treatment.
I was getting some nasty arrythmia (atrial tachycardia mostly) so until we get the thyroid figured out I am trialing some beta blockers. Workouts were quite scary with serious roller coaster symptoms and panic.
RHR is 52. Hypo on paper but get episodic hyper symptoms.
not much in the way of blood testing in Ireland. I’ll try donate next time they are in town and see