I’m starting to become really concerned about the Dr. wanting another blood donation and my already crashed Ferritin. I’m reading about the dangers and they seem to be serious.
You need to do something about that ferritin.
I’ve decided to supplement Thorne’s Iron Bisglycinate leading up to the donation and then have it checked after.
Good. Letting that get too low is far from fun.
@The_Myth Did your vision recover each time? Any special treatment?
This is a very good supplement but it will take 2 months to get your ferritin in range.
IMO your E2 is too high your ferritin is crashed and your HCT is overrange and you have not donated blood yet. If you were a Defy patient your T script would be pulled for probably 6 months, yes your issues are that bad. You have reached the end of your TRT run. You have taken too much for too long and had to donate blood just to keep your numbers in check.
You have basicly mini Blasted as far as you can go and now you need to fix your fuck up.
When I was in your shoes, yes I did this also 2 years ago, I was able to talk my doc into not pulling my script but let me cut back to 80mg/wk and suppliment iron/C/lots of lean steak and I would do a mini blood test every month to track my progress. It too me 8 months before I was allowed more than 80mg/wk.
I know you are going to do whatever but at least you know what you are up against and the right path to fix it. Best of luck to you.
Appreciate the straight talk, however I am using Defy. I also use a Dr. for bloodwork follow ups ( Dr. Caulkins ) and he seems to be very knowledgeable. My protocol changes are due to his recommendations. I’ve been using so called “TRT” specialists the entire time. None of this has been on my own or unsupervised. I feel like Defy has me on the right path.
Dr. believes that moving to 3xWeek injections will help bring E2 down and the rest will straighten out w/good sleep. He also dropped the Test Cyp to 75 vs. 80. I was at 120 with the last TRT shop. I think he’ll keep walking me down until we find the right balance. He said we’re almost there.
Ha Ha interesting. We have the same doc. Maybe he learned something new since I had my ferritin crash. No way can I compete with Dr. C. Do what he says I always do.
It’s recovered but not to pre CSR levels. As it was explained to me, the rods and cones get jumbled and never go back perfectly the way they were, so there is always a little loss/blurriness.
For me, I found I needed to get reading material far enough away that it wasn’t blurry, then I needed reading glasses to make it large enough to read. I started with 1.0 diopters and am now wearing 1.5’s and it seems to have stopped getting worse. I buy them online for about $15 a six pack, but they have them at dollar stores as well. The problem is that you forget you are wearing them and your eyes get weaker over time. Try to be sure to take them off when you don’t need them.
The apnea connection to A1c makes sense to me.
During an outbreak, night driving is scary AF, otherwise it’s just annoying.
Looks like I need to stop eating so much red meat.
This blood test looks much better but they will ask you to donate. >54 HCT is dangerous. Everything else is looking pretty good. Has your protocol been steady for all this time? A free T of 22 is just about perfect as well as E2 being in the mid to upper 20’s My shgb is 29 and I feel my best with a E2 of 25-29 if I go over 35 my dick won’t stay hard during intercourse.
IMO I’d donate 1 pint of blood and keep eating lean red meat and supplementing your iron. Do a mini blood test for HCT, Iron and ferritin.
Are you still on HCG? How much? Taking an anastrozole?
Did you drop your peptide dose and how did that work out on the IGF-1?
I think your protocol is coming around how is your weight and strength coming along?
I don’t think anyone can say it’s dangerous to have HCT above 54%, there are people living at high altitude and are doing fine with high HCT. Some doctors will argue higher HCT, more pressure in the pipes is not good for longevity.
I think the question is are YOU safe having HCT barely high…?
Some men have no symptoms with HCT at 58%, some have symptoms above 50%. If you just started TRT, it will likely climb with more time.
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People that live at altitude have a decreased risk of heart disease and an increased life expectancy.
My local doc pulled a pint and told me to donate in 2-3 weeks. I’m still on 50 units of HCG 2xWeek and .125 mg Anastrazole 2xWeek. I dropped the peptide and haven’t tested IGF-1. My weight and strength went up a bit. I went from 222 to 228-230lbs (bodyweight). I’m in week 3 of the Texas method and today I test for a new 2 rep max on bench. I’m benching heavier than ever. I seem to be gaining strength on this program rapidly. I should be eating more, but I’m limiting myself to 2500 cal on non workout days, 2700 cal on workout days with a 37/33/30 macro ratio @ 231g protein/206g carb/83g fat. Body seems to really love this ratio. Need to get a BF test, but I’m happy with body composition. I feel fucking amazing compared to how I felt when I had shitty doc prior to going with Defy.
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While yes your hematocrit, RBC, and Hemo are high, your ferritin looks to be on the very low side. Be careful with the donations so that you don’t crash your iron. From what I have heard that is not a very fun area to be in either.
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This is my challenge. Prior to this bloodwork, my Ferritin was 13. I started supplementing Iron Glycinate and now you can see it’s improved quite a bit (40). I always have to do therapeutic blood donations every 2 months, so it’s a tough game keeping Ferritin up.
My bad I hadnt read above where you had already been discussing your ferritin. Sorry about that.
@slammiam
Man there has to be a better way. I can’t imagine giving blood every two months is a sustainable practice. That has to cause some shit down the road (I don’t know what I’m talking about just speculation).
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