Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and high hematocrit

Not to be a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) poo pooer but I find it hard to believe low testosterone levels make guys feel That bad, older guys have been living with low testosterone since the dawn of time and living healthy fruitful existences

Your plan to post cycle therapy (pct) and let your hemo drop sounds perfectly reasonable to me. You definitely want to keep the hemo levels in some reasonable range. Donating more than once a month just to keep the hemo in range would be pretty difficult.

I think living with low T sucks for most guys. Sure, people do it every day. For older guys, it's a slow process that sneaks up on you. Some folks may not know their T levels are causing various problems but they are probably having the typical low T symptoms. You can function (i.e., you wont die) with your T levels at zero. They do this to treat prostate cancer ... but it has got to suck.

We are all looking for that balance - the right amount of T to treat the symptoms while minimizing the side effects. Hopefully you will find some reasonable timing that works for you.

ps - Someone may have already mentioned - pinning a larger dose less frequently (basically letting your T levels fall a bit more between pins) would probably help keep the hemo levels from rising as quickly - it may not be enough. We know for a fact that keeping your T levels at a steady high level is not working for you.
 
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Your plan to post cycle therapy (pct) and let your hemo drop sounds perfectly reasonable to me. You definitely want to keep the hemo levels in some reasonable range. Donating more than once a month just to keep the hemo in range would be pretty difficult.

I think living with low T sucks for most guys. Sure, people do it every day. For older guys, it's a slow process that sneaks up on you. Some folks may not know their T levels are causing various problems but they are probably having the typical low T symptoms. You can function (i.e., you wont die) with your T levels at zero. They do this to treat prostate cancer ... but it has got to suck.

We are all looking for that balance - the right amount of T to treat the symptoms while minimizing the side effects. Hopefully you will find some reasonable timing that works for you.

ps - Someone may have already mentioned - pinning a larger dose less frequently (basically letting your T levels fall a bit more between pins) would probably help keep the hemo levels from rising as quickly - it may not be enough. We know for a fact that keeping your T levels at a steady high level is not working for you.

Yes I believe it was going up slower at 100mg once per week than 60mg twice per week
Also during the period it was climbing so rapidly I was taking an iron supplement because I had a ferritin test and it was really low so my Doc recommended it
I think that was probably the wrong thing to do.
 
I'm not suggesting you override your doc. Maybe if you took another ferritin test now it would be ... not low. This is a very odd result for a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy. Your doc suggesting an iron supplement for a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy is a little scary ... but fine - you just need to move past this.

Maybe just being on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) would take care of this supposed "anemia" problem over time. Maybe it takes a while for a ferritin test to show an increase even though your hemo is elevated. Not sure, but typically a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy wants to stay far far away from anything with iron in it.

If it were me (being basically overloaded with iron), I would eliminate all sources of extra iron. Make sure any multi-vitamin that you take is for men (it will probably not have any iron since men don't typically need extra iron). No Total breakfast cereal, no Wheaties ... nothing with iron added. But keep in mind, i'm not anemic ...

If you choose to restart testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), I would start with 100 per week with no extra iron and see if things are a little better. You could adjust from there. You will still probably have to donate pretty often. Every 2 months is doable for me.
 
I'm not suggesting you override your doc. Maybe if you took another ferritin test now it would be ... not low. This is a very odd result for a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy. Your doc suggesting an iron supplement for a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy is a little scary ... but fine - you just need to move past this.

Maybe just being on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) would take care of this supposed "anemia" problem over time. Maybe it takes a while for a ferritin test to show an increase even though your hemo is elevated. Not sure, but typically a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy wants to stay far far away from anything with iron in it.

If it were me (being basically overloaded with iron), I would eliminate all sources of extra iron. Make sure any multi-vitamin that you take is for men (it will probably not have any iron since men don't typically need extra iron). No Total breakfast cereal, no Wheaties ... nothing with iron added. But keep in mind, i'm not anemic ...



If you choose to restart testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), I would start with 100 per week with no extra iron and see if things are a little better. You could adjust from there. You will still probably have to donate pretty often. Every 2 months is doable for me.


This has been a great thread for me, I appreciate everyone's input and ideas!
I hope after restart I could donate every 2 months and keep things under control, once a month or more often is just too much
 
I'm not suggesting you override your doc. Maybe if you took another ferritin test now it would be ... not low. This is a very odd result for a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy. Your doc suggesting an iron supplement for a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy is a little scary ... but fine - you just need to move past this.

Maybe just being on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) would take care of this supposed "anemia" problem over time. Maybe it takes a while for a ferritin test to show an increase even though your hemo is elevated. Not sure, but typically a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) guy wants to stay far far away from anything with iron in it.

If it were me (being basically overloaded with iron), I would eliminate all sources of extra iron. Make sure any multi-vitamin that you take is for men (it will probably not have any iron since men don't typically need extra iron). No Total breakfast cereal, no Wheaties ... nothing with iron added. But keep in mind, i'm not anemic ...

If you choose to restart testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), I would start with 100 per week with no extra iron and see if things are a little better. You could adjust from there. You will still probably have to donate pretty often. Every 2 months is doable for me.

There seems to be differing schools of thought on anemia, I have heard that as long as Hemoglobin is high you have enough iron, since ferritin is actually a test for iron stores. If your body is over producing RBCs it is probably using up all the stored iron in your body doing so, hence the low ferritin. Seems like in this situation it is a bad idea to supplement iron though to increase ferritin making more RBC production possible
 
There are a lot of little tips and tricks you can do to avoid RBC. Simplifying hematocrit down to testosterone being the only factor isn't the best way to look at it. Start by lowering your zinc intake, among other things. Or work with your doctor to identify other factors you can look at to lower your hematocrit.

Intake of zinc plays a role in elevated RBC's while on TRT in men ?
 
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