Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and Blood Donation..........................

[Alpin]

TRT and Blood Donation..........................

What's a good rule of thumb to donate blood while on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) ?
2 months into the testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) or a couple weeks into it is o.k. to get off to a good start?
Should the blood donation be a few days away from the injection?
Last time I donated blood was 4 months ago...felt nervous and kind of had sweating, and shaking toward very end of donation...I was feeling very nervous cause my T levels were lower..
starting to feel less jumpy....I should be ok eh?
Eat a good size meal low in fats a few hours before.

 

[halfwit]

Every 56 days man. You get used to that harpoon they call a needle eventually.

Unless you're a trooper and go the apheresis route I do; that's every other week.

 

[DD55]

I tried to donate last month but didn't make it through the screening. Apparently they don't like people who vacation in Mexico and Haiti. I was on a cruise dammit!! Now I have to wait a year....

 

[DD55]

I kept the "it's my first donation" sticker anyhow. Screw 'em!

 

[Alpin]

Every 56 days man. You get used to that harpoon they call a needle eventually.

Unless you're a trooper and go the apheresis route I do; that's every other week.

What the hell is aprehesis ??? lol
The harpoon don't bother me...
why, I should expect the same next visit?
maybe some mild dose of anti anxiety pill I should take before hand....maybe it will help.

 

[Spunkey71]

What the hell is aprehesis ???

I believe aprehesis is where they hook you up to a machine and run your blood through it, there are certain elements removed and what is left is then pumped back in you. The process takes a couple of hours but since they are returning most of your fluids back into your system you can donate far more often. Halfwit and Megatron are far more knowledgeable on this than I am, they might be able to explain it better.

 

[Megatron28]

What's a good rule of thumb to donate blood while on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) ?
2 months into the testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) or a couple weeks into it is o.k. to get off to a good start?
Should the blood donation be a few days away from the injection?
Last time I donated blood was 4 months ago...felt nervous and kind of had sweating, and shaking toward very end of donation...I was feeling very nervous cause my T levels were lower..
starting to feel less jumpy....I should be ok eh?
Eat a good size meal low in fats a few hours before.

Don't wait. Start donating right away. Go tomorrow.

Just relax. It is just blood. No big deal. Nothing to get all anxious about.

 

[Alpin]

I believe aprehesis is where they hook you up to a machine and run your blood through it, there are certain elements removed and what is left is then pumped back in you. The process takes a couple of hours but since they are returning most of your fluids back into your system you can donate far more often. Halfwit and Megatron are far more knowledgeable on this than I am, they might be able to explain it better.

Thanks for explaining...no thanks to that option!

 

[Alpin]

Don't wait. Start donating right away. Go tomorrow.

Just relax. It is just blood. No big deal. Nothing to get all anxious about.

Next week.
I'm worried it will take out of my workouts...
I run 2 miles a day and do weights too...EOD

 

[Mprtz]

You won't miss it.

 

[Megatron28]

Next week.
I'm worried it will take out of my workouts...
I run 2 miles a day and do weights too...EOD

You worry WAY too much. Do your workout first and then donate blood. Easy peasy. You'll be fine to do whatever you want the next day. Didn't you used to donate blood when you were on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT)? How did you do it back then?

 

[Alpin]

You worry WAY too much. Do your workout first and then donate blood. Easy peasy. You'll be fine to do whatever you want the next day. Didn't you used to donate blood when you were on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT)? How did you do it back then?

I didn't go while on TRT...I was o.k. though...HCT stayed at 49% and when I stopped a while it really dropped.
I will workout before...
ok bro

 

[Megatron28]

I didn't go while on TRT...I was o.k. though...HCT stayed at 49% and when I stopped a while it really dropped.
I will workout before...
ok bro

You're lucky. Maybe you don't have to donate blood. .

Even if you don't have to donate it is still a good public service to do so.

 

[Alpin]

Looking at blood labs here...
after 10 months on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) blood was:
Hemoglobin: 165 G/L
Hematocrit: 0.480
RBC: 5.20

I heard when your blood starts thickening up...you become more sluggish. Nip things in the bud is my philosophy!!!

 

[Alpin]

Interesting article on Polycythemia...
Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Polycythemia in HIV-Infected Patients - TheBodyPRO.com

 

[halfwit]

I believe aprehesis is where they hook you up to a machine and run your blood through it, there are certain elements removed and what is left is then pumped back in you. The process takes a couple of hours but since they are returning most of your fluids back into your system you can donate far more often. Halfwit and Megatron are far more knowledgeable on this than I am, they might be able to explain it better.

Yep, they just remove platelets and pump the rest back into you. It's painless and easy. It drops HCT far more efficiently than whole blood in my experience too. You can do apheresis every week if you desire. I do it every other week as I want my veins to heal a bit more before we go poking them open again as I can't alternate arms as much as I used to.

 

[SilverBackGorilla]

They can take my blood but I don't trust them running it through a machine and returning it to me. Exit only for this boy.

 

[halfwit]

To each his own. I like being able to drop that HCT by 10% in a month personally.

 

[SilverBackGorilla]

Halfwit... What is that little basketball looking symbol I see on sponge bob and other people's avatars??

 

[Gbrad]

To each his own. I like being able to drop that HCT by 10% in a month personally.

Well that all depends on which apheresis machine the bank uses. My Red Cross uses the Cobe Gambro BCT and it is MUCH more efficient in preserving Hematocrit and Hb than sOme of the other manufacturers. I'll attach a link and say it reduced mine about 1% last week for a 3 hr investment. Not exactly something I would wanna do regularly. HOWEVER, it remains the most efficient way to lower high hct and Hb if you need to make big drops quickly. Thx to halfwit for pointing this out before as my values were 19+ for Hb and 56 for hct. Now theyare 17 and 52 after a whole blood followed by apheresis 3 days later. Red Cross allows platelet donation 2 days post whole blood donation. As was said... You can donate platelets every 7 days to get #s down in a safe range.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920476/#