Title says it all.
Red blood cell count: 5.36 M/UL
Hematocrit: 49.6%
Hemoglobin: 17.7 g/dL
Donating blood today. Will this help the problem? My T levels are at about 350 ng/dL at the moment and my doctor (understandably) doesn’t want to go any higher because of the red blood problem.
I read giving double reds helps out a lot. I do it every 116 days.
Please post with lab ranges so we can deal with this.
Are you on TRT? These numbers in isolation, post more lab info and medical history.
Avoid iron fortified foods, supplements and vitamins.
Red blood cell count: 5.36 M/UL (4.30-5.80 M/UL)
Hematocrit: 49.6% (38.0-50.0 %)
Hemoglobin 17.7 g/dL (13.0-17.5 g/dL)
I am on testosterone, yes. Here are some of my hormone levels (more will come in a few days).
Total Testosterone: 356 ng/dL (200-800 ng/dL)
TSH, 3rd generation: 1.49 uIU/ML (0.40-4.00 uIU/ML)
Cortisol (TAKEN AT 8AM): 15.2 ug/dL (5.0-25.0 ug/dL)
Estradiol: 18 pg/mL (<54pg/mL)
My treatment regimen: 100mg / week test E (split into 2 doses of 50mg each), 250IU hCG EOD.
Bottom line: I still feel terrible because my testosterone is at 356, in other words, way too low, but my doctor doesn’t want to give me any more because of my high hematocrit.
KSMAN OR ANYONE ELSE: I just gave double reds. Would it be safe to increase the dose of my T? I can’t keep living with a level of 356 here. Feels awful. I’d like to increase my dose to 120 mg (60 x 2) / week and get my blood checked next week or something.
How often do I need to give blood?
How often to give blood? Unknown…
How often can you donate?
You may be an hyper testosterone metabolizer. Such guys often need 300mg/week to get levels others have with 100mg/week.
Note that meds that have brown coatings are often made with iron oxide.
Thanks for the answer. I can donate double reds every 112 days. Just my luck, I’m a hyper testosterone metabolizer. If I’m going to be doing EOD T injections, I’d prefer to do them subcutaneously.
I don’t supplement with iron, though I do have a pretty iron-rich diet (lots of red meat). That will be cut down starting today.
So what then, will my body just start producing red blood cells to make up for what I lost or something? I don’t really know how it works.
Yes, reds are replaced easily.
Well, that’s bad isn’t it? Because it means my hematocrit will just go up easily again
Maybe within limits and with more T, its a new game plan anyways.
Gotcha. I’ll be upping my dose soon then. Subcutaneous injections, EOD.
Would it potentially be different with different esters of T? Or maybe different versions of it (gel, patch vs. injectable)?
Elevated E2 might contribute, but unknown.
T spikes probably make things worse, so frequent injections probably best and better than transdermals that create FT spikes.