Mprtz
New member
It might be a long shot that I get a definitive answer for this, but here goes:
I donate platelets to help manage my hematocrit on TRT (see other threads on this). This typically lowers my HCT 2 or 3 percent.
I do the platelet donation between whole blood donations as needed.
Late last year, I went in for platelets donation. I think the in-office HCT test was 47 or so.
10 days later I did a private blood test. HCT was surprisingly high at 51, and bilirubin was somewhat elevated (1.5 0.0-1.2)
16 days later I went in for a whole blood donation, the in-office HCT test was 49.
A few weeks later, another blood test showed it down to 45.
Did another platelet donation yesterday, and today noticed that my urine was more yellow than usual.
Ok, bear with me - this is what I think may be happening:
Bilirubin is the yellow breakdown of dead blood cells. Since plateletpheresis attempts to return almost all red blood cells to the body, the observed drop in HCT has to mean that some red blood cells are being destroyed (hemolysis).
This could explain the elevated bilirubin levels as the liver works to clear the blood of dead red blood cells, and also that the HCT drop due to plateletpheresis doesn't seem to be instantaneous, but seems to be a gradual process.
Is there a hematologist in the house?
I donate platelets to help manage my hematocrit on TRT (see other threads on this). This typically lowers my HCT 2 or 3 percent.
I do the platelet donation between whole blood donations as needed.
Late last year, I went in for platelets donation. I think the in-office HCT test was 47 or so.
10 days later I did a private blood test. HCT was surprisingly high at 51, and bilirubin was somewhat elevated (1.5 0.0-1.2)
16 days later I went in for a whole blood donation, the in-office HCT test was 49.
A few weeks later, another blood test showed it down to 45.
Did another platelet donation yesterday, and today noticed that my urine was more yellow than usual.
Ok, bear with me - this is what I think may be happening:
Bilirubin is the yellow breakdown of dead blood cells. Since plateletpheresis attempts to return almost all red blood cells to the body, the observed drop in HCT has to mean that some red blood cells are being destroyed (hemolysis).
This could explain the elevated bilirubin levels as the liver works to clear the blood of dead red blood cells, and also that the HCT drop due to plateletpheresis doesn't seem to be instantaneous, but seems to be a gradual process.
Is there a hematologist in the house?
