RBC getting difficult to maintain

[AverageMan]

Wanted to get the perspective of the collective on the forum.

Just had a TRT appt last week and everything was in order except RBC was a little high at 5.8. I just donated blood 26 days ago so I will not be elligable for another 30 days.

Until now I was able to manage RBC by donating blood just 3x a year. Seems I'm going to have to start going every 56 days.

Is this a common problem with TRT? My protocal is 140mg cyp a week ( spilt into two doses e3.5d)

I'm worried my RBC will continue to climb too high before I'm elligable to donate again in 30 days. I'm not comfortable with home bloodletting.

 

[Megatron28]

Just do it every 56 days like the rest of us.

No big deal.

 

[halfwit]

If it gets to that point, there's still platelet donations on top of whole blood.

 

[Mprtz]

It's a big problem for me, despite donating whole blood and platelets. At some point frequent donations may cause ferritin levels to drop below healthy levels.

I travel a lot, and am still currently deferred due to new Zika rules.
I'm planning on getting my own blood test (including ferritin) two days from now... I wouldn't be surprised if I was sitting at HCT 55+

This is at 120mg per week split every 3.5 days.

 

[AverageMan]

Thanks for the replies. What about double reds? Seems like a good option given only the red blood cells are taken - which is what we are trying to reduce. I see the only downside is donation every 4 months rather than 56 days with a whole blood donation.

 

[Megatron28]

Thanks for the replies. What about double reds? Seems like a good option given only the red blood cells are taken - which is what we are trying to reduce. I see the only downside is donation every 4 months rather than 56 days with a whole blood donation.

This should even out.

Follow HW's suggestion if regular whole blood donations are insufficient.