high RBC high blood pressure woes

Another quick update. I dont know if anyone is reading these but I hope maybe it can help someone out there who feels like crap all the time and doesn't know why...

On the 20mg Lisinilpro/25mg Hydrochlorothizide I dropped 10pounds from yesterday morning to now. Had another meeting with the pulmonary specialist tonight. We went over the last few days cpap and pulse-oximiter data. The new mask has improved things. Basically for whatever reason during REM sleep I am not exchanging oxygen with carbon dioxide. The CPAP and mask help the exchange but it still is not happening at a rate good enough. So its not that im so obstructed that my o2 saturation is lowering, its just that my lungs arent getting rid of enough co2. The specialist wants me to do a sleep study, where they will try a bi-pap and some other things but she sounded confident they would be able to "fix" the situation tentatively scheduled Sept 20th.

To be clear its not the TRT that did this, I had a sleep study done 6 years ago and they did not catch this. They didnt even try a cpap machine on me during the study. I imagine I have been doing this most of my life. I think if anything I would be dead had I not been put on TRT in December.
 
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daleb said:
Another quick update. I dont know if anyone is reading these but I hope maybe it can help someone out there who feels like crap all the time and doesn't know why...

On the 20mg Lisinilpro/25mg Hydrochlorothizide I dropped 10pounds from yesterday morning to now. Had another meeting with the pulmonary specialist tonight. We went over the last few days cpap and pulse-oximiter data. The new mask has improved things. Basically for whatever reason during REM sleep I am not exchanging oxygen with carbon monoxide. The CPAP and mask help the exchange but it still is not happening at a rate good enough. So its not that im so obstructed that my o2 saturation is lowering, its just that my lungs arent getting rid of enough co2. The specialist wants me to do a sleep study, where they will try a bi-pap and some other things but she sounded confident they would be able to "fix" the situation tentatively scheduled Sept 20th.

To be clear its not the TRT that did this, I had a sleep study done 6 years ago and they did not catch this. They didnt even try a cpap machine on me during the study. I imagine I have been doing this most of my life. I think if anything I would be dead had I not been put on TRT in December.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, did you get the pulse oximeter with your CPAP, or did you get it separately? Also, that software looks open source, if you don't mind me asking, how do you have everything set up? I've been on a CPAP for three years or so, and I'm dying to see information like that!
 
The Pulse-Ox is from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B8L8ZXE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The software is called Sleepyhead. https://sleepyhead.jedimark.net/

You might have to play around with an old version, i cant get the latest version to work. Basically my cpap has a data card in it thats a standard sdcard. i plug it in to my laptop and import it into sleepyhead. then I connect the pulse-ox to the usb cable, turn it on and go into menu, then connect it to the laptop and import pulse-ox data in with that days dataset. Its pretty straight forward but id be glad to help u set it up. Also, the pulse-ox uses AAA batteries and goes though them quite quickly.
 
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daleb said:
The Pulse-Ox is from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B8L8ZXE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The software is called Sleepyhead. https://sleepyhead.jedimark.net/

You might have to play around with an old version, i cant get the latest version to work. Basically my cpap has a data card in it thats a standard sdcard. i plug it in to my laptop and import it into sleepyhead. then I connect the pulse-ox to the usb cable, turn it on and go into menu, then connect it to the laptop and import pulse-ox data in with that days dataset. Its pretty straight forward but id be glad to help u set it up.
Click to expand...

That was more than helpful! I was wondering if that was possible as I too have a Philips One CPAP, and noticed the SD card port that used to house the cellular antenna they would monitor me by.

I'm soooo going to do this, thanks!

To your issues, give the lisinopril and HCTZ time to work. While the SP02 may seem completely due to skeketal muscle issues, having CPOD (from edema) can exaggerate it significantly. It takes a couple months for the drugs to really show improvement. :)
 
I got some new bloodwork done. View attachment 565024

About my diet. im not eating any iron fortified foods. I dont take many supplements, and they do not have iron. I have cut down my red meat intake. No hamburger, steak. Just chicken and turkey. Ive donated blood November 30th 2015, April 16th 2016, and June 23, 2016. I can donate in about a week. Those are the only times in my whole life.
 
daleb said:
I got some new bloodwork done. View attachment 565024

About my diet. im not eating any iron fortified foods. I dont take many supplements, and they do not have iron. I have cut down my red meat intake. No hamburger, steak. Just chicken and turkey. Ive donated blood November 30th 2015, April 16th 2016, and June 23, 2016. I can donate in about a week. Those are the only times in my whole life.
Click to expand...

Definitely time for an oil change! You may be like me, and just need to donate every 56 days, and possibly look into platelet apheresis.
 
I hear ya. I think I need to investigate my Iron levels more. Nobody in my family was dx'ed with hemachromatosis, but a lot of us have symptoms that fit. I am gonna see if my doc will order Ferritin, TIBC and Iron on monday. There is really no reason why my serum Iron is so high. Im not on a lot of gear for my skeletal weight. My diet is pretty clean, and im losing weight.
 
daleb said:
It explains why my liver enzymes have went down since i started donating blood.
Click to expand...

TRT itself can cause hemachromatosis, which many docs neglect to educate themselves on. It essentially drives red bone marrow into overdrive, which the liver has the task of regulating. Makes sense to me. :)
 
halfwit said:
TRT itself can cause hemachromatosis, which many docs neglect to educate themselves on. It essentially drives red bone marrow into overdrive, which the liver has the task of regulating. Makes sense to me. :)
Click to expand...

Do you mean polycythemia? TRT causes the opposite problem (of hemochromatosis) for me... driving iron into RBC production, subsequently lost to donation and resulting in decreased iron stores.

Last test: HCT 52.8, Ferritin 13
 
Yesterday was the first time ever that my Serum Iron was tested. Its my understanding(which yeah im a noob) that having high Serum Iron can be toxic to the liver and other organs. My liver enzymes have always been towards the high end of the normal lab ranges going back as far as 2003. Im going to lower my trt dose until i can donate blood via normal donation or if i get an order for therapeutic phlebotomy. Until then im gonna look at my Ferritin, Transferrin and TIBC. If those are out of whack then I'll get the DNA HH test done.
 
Mprtz said:
Do you mean polycythemia? TRT causes the opposite problem (of hemochromatosis) for me... driving iron into RBC production, subsequently lost to donation and resulting in decreased iron stores.

Last test: HCT 52.8, Ferritin 13
Click to expand...


Hemochromatosis is just the increased absorption of iron, which AAS is known to do. It can lower ferritin, but that's (from what I have read) if the rate in which it's applied to RBC production exceeds the speed in which the body can store it. Polycythemia Vera is the effect these extra cells have on the rest of the venous system. Two related issues, but one is more of a cause, with the other being the effect.

I haven't read much on how to reverse issues with ferritin depletion as I know you have Mprtz, but I have been seeing that the liver has a large role in such.
 
Ran some more labs.

Serum Iron 131 ug/dL 41-181 ug/dL
Ferritin 47 ng/mL 12 - 275 ng/mL
Cholesterol 152 mg/dL 140 - 199 mg/dL
Triglyceride 115 mg/dL 0 - 149 mg/dL
HDL 24 mg/dL >=40 mg/dL
LDL 105 mg/dL 0 - 129 mg/dL

Im on 20mg Lisiopril and 25mg hctz, still cant get my blood pressure down enough to donate even if i add in a little cialis and clonidine. Thinking about trying to score some kind of relaxer. my last attempt was 150/104. i told her the blood pressure cuff was broken but she wouldnt relent. On wednesday I will try to donate some platelets and see what happens. My last test shot was a week ago(50mgs). Maybe a 48hr fast before the aphresis with some kind of relaxer?

I now fit into a pair of pants I havent been able to for 3 years.

Ive been on 2g of Krill oil, thinking about upping it to 4g to help thin my blood and maybe raise my HDL.
 
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How much clonidine did you take? Starting to think they sent you bunk meds. This stuff is strong and a good .2 mg on someone who barely uses it should of dropped you within range to donate.

Regular fish oil works just as well and its cheaper.
 
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I took 200 mcgs. I'm kinda thinking along the lines of it being bunk too. I haven't noticed anything when experimenting with it. I think I'm getting too amped up.
 
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It has to be fake, I promise you with .2mg of clonidine you shouldn't feel amped even if you're nervous, it's really strong. Very sedating, nearly impossible to fight considering the physical changes it makes in BP and HR, anyone I've seen take it gets knocked on their ass including me.
 
daleb said:
Ran some more labs.

Serum Iron 131 ug/dL 41-181 ug/dL
Ferritin 47 ng/mL 12 - 275 ng/mL
Cholesterol 152 mg/dL 140 - 199 mg/dL
Triglyceride 115 mg/dL 0 - 149 mg/dL
HDL 24 mg/dL >=40 mg/dL
LDL 105 mg/dL 0 - 129 mg/dL

Im on 20mg Lisiopril and 25mg hctz, still cant get my blood pressure down enough to donate even if i add in a little cialis and clonidine. Thinking about trying to score some kind of relaxer. my last attempt was 150/104. i told her the blood pressure cuff was broken but she wouldnt relent. On wednesday I will try to donate some platelets and see what happens. My last test shot was a week ago(50mgs). Maybe a 48hr fast before the aphresis with some kind of relaxer?

I now fit into a pair of pants I havent been able to for 3 years.

Ive been on 2g of Krill oil, thinking about upping it to 4g to help thin my blood and maybe raise my HDL.
Click to expand...

INSIST on a large cuff, and raise your arm (keeping it straight) while they take your blood pressure. This will lower your diastolic by 10-15 points, which would have had you in range.

Edit: Just got my pulse oximiter and SD card for my CPAP. Thanks again for the tips! :)
 
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