TRT and Elevated Blood Pressure?

Been on 100 mg of test cyp weekly and 1.0mg of Arimidex divided up weekly now for about 2 months. Libido is up, erections are good and overall energy is better. Negative side effects so far are slight increase in BP and on and off again tension like headaches. My BP went from 114/74 to 130/84 since starting my Regime. Gonna get new blood work done within next couple of weeks to see where my numbers are at. What could be causing the increase in BP and what can I do about it. I hear a lot about thick blood while on Test which scares the crap out of me since I already have some heart anxiety issues.

Thanks

[quote]oceanminded wrote:
Been on 100 mg of test cyp weekly and 1.0mg of Arimidex divided up weekly now for about 2 months. Libido is up, erections are good and overall energy is better. Negative side effects so far are slight increase in BP and on and off again tension like headaches. My BP went from 114/74 to 130/84 since starting my Regime. Gonna get new blood work done within next couple of weeks to see where my numbers are at. What could be causing the increase in BP and what can I do about it. I hear a lot about thick blood while on Test which scares the crap out of me since I already have some heart anxiety issues.

Thanks[/quote]

I would look at your salt and potassium balance. More seas salts drop table salt, increase potassium work in 90% of the people i recommend this to.

BLood pressure I would recommend reservatrol as this help one of my clients drop blood pressure in short amount of time down to the lowest he has been with out medicaitons.

Your metabolism has increased and your heart muscle will be getting stronger quickly as it is in training 24x7. Your arteries may still be adapting. In any case, you should be taking supplements. High potency B vitamins, trace elements, general vitamins [typically all in one product], fish oil, 4000-6000iu vit-D3 [oil based, Walmart has 5000’s, DHEA.

Some of this may be transient. Producing too many RBCs does not seem to be a transient condition.

Take mini aspirin, that makes the red blood cells more slippery by altering the proteins on the outside of the cells.

If you are taking a statin drug, take 50mg ubiquinol CoQ10 [not cheap]. Some advocate taking CoQ10 in any case.

Do not get dehydrated, that thickens the blood.

Check to see what foods you are eating that are iron fortified. Breakfast cereals can be a problem. You do not want vitamins with iron. Older males typically do not need any supplemental iron unless they have some blood loss of some sort.

TRT often increases the muscle tone of the arteries by allowing the muscles to relax better to accommodate surges of blood. Any permanent damage to the arteries is another story. Exertion/exercise that stretches out the arteries with high blood flow might be beneficial, if you feel right doing it.

What was hematocrit and RBC[include range] from before your TRT?
Check serum iron and/or ferritin.
When will you be repeating labs? -Two weeks
Review all CBC and lipid lab work.

Some need to donate blood as well. If you are able to donate blood, then do that now. If you feel better after that, that is a huge observation. And then check your BP for a while to see how that changes and how it then recovers.

Too bad you did not post to one of your threads where we would have more info about you.

Some drugs can contribute to higher BP.

My BP increased for a while in the last year, then returned to near 120/80. There can be some transients.

Any leg cramps. Sometimes when starting TRT, a few things like this can happen then stop.

Here are my labs before starting TRT. I am currently taking 100 mg test cyp weekly, 1mg arimidex(divided twice a week), 10mg crestor, 150mg tricor, 100mg COQ10, VitD 4000iu, whole food probiotic multi-vit, baby aspirin, zinc tab. Happy so far with TRT but BP has gone up slightly. Diet is still the same. Try to exercise 3-4 times a week. No leg cramps. It will be interesting to see what new labs show. Hopefully I can figure out how to get BP back down to what it was.
Labs before TRT:
Test Total: 212 (Ref Range: 250-1100)
DHEA: 390 (Ref Range: 61-1636)
Test Free: 58 (Ref Range: 46.0-224.0)
Test Bio: 131.9 (Ref Range: 110.0-575.0)
Test SHBG 17 (Ref Range: 8-48)
Test Albumin: 5.0 (Ref Range: 3.6-5.1)
Dihydrotest: 23 (Ref Range: 25-75)
Estradiol: 26 (Ref Range: 11.6-41.2)
Cortisol: 13.8 (Ref Range: 4.3-22.4)
FSH: 2.3 (Ref Range: 1.4-18.1)
LH: 3.5 (Ref Range: 1.5-9.3)
Total PSA: 0.4
Free PSA 0.1
% Free PSA 25
Cholesterol 210
Triglycerides 176
LDL 142
HDL 33
Thyroid:
TSH: 1.17 (0.35-5.50)
Free T4 1.25 (0.76-1.70)
Free T3 3.30 (2.3-4.2)

So no fish oil.

Change DHEA to DHEA-S

Add a CBC -complete blood count

No need to test LH/FSH again

Repeat PSA.

Add CRP and homocysteine

Added Potassium and fish oil to current list of suppliments. Interestingly my BP has been back down to more normal levels the last few days except for last night. I started getting those pressure like headaches and decided to take my BP. It was 140/82 which is really high for me. I ate a turkey burger then the symptoms started about 20 minutes later. I also took my 0.5mg of Arimidex yesterday.

I’m thinking maybe the Arimidex could be the culprit for the headaches and elevated BP. I was on Testim for a month before I switched to Injections. The gel shut me down but I never got headaches or elevated BP while on Testim. I was also not taking any arimidex either at the time. At this point I’m thinking its either the Test Cyp or the Arimidex that is causing my symptoms.

Gonna see Dr on Friday to discuss this with him. Are there any alternatives to Arimidex if this is the culprit? Another thought is maybe 1mg of Arimidex is not enough and my E2 is too high. Too much speculation I guess without a new Blood Panel to review.

Thanks

Sounds like you are making some progress. Keep monitoring that. Too soon to throw out Arimidex. Get new labs first with changes suggested. Is your CoQ10 the ubiquinol form?

As TRT can by itself lower cholesterol levels, you might find that your cholesterol meds are taking your levels lower. 180 would be a health target.

Your BP may not be very steady and T and AI may not be the cause.

Can you inject your T 50mg twice a week and take at same time as anastrozole?

My CoQ10 is not the ubiguinol form. Next time I go to health food store I will look into that. As far as cholesterol levels go I’m having a hard time getting my numbers down even while on the statins. I recently did a full thyroid panel and posted numbers and eveything checks out. I heard somewhere that insulin resistance can cause elevated cholesterol levels even for those who are on cholesterol drug therapy. I guess I’ll ask for a blood glucose test to check my sugar levels. All I know is that the headaches and elevated BP was not an issue before I started TRT. I will definitely inject 50mg twice a week once I get my Rx. I’ve been making weekly Dr visits so far for injections.

Ksman good call on co q10 because I have guys over 25 taking it at 100 mgs a day just for preventative measurements and especially people with stress issues need it more then anything. See its the minor changes that make the biggest difference in the world.

When you realize that mitochondrial function is the root of all energy…