What Is Your Optimal Range?

[swilk]

Curious..... I donate every 8 weeks to keep things in check and when the Red Cross checks my hemoglobin prior to each donation it is always 18.3-18.8.

I've never had my iron levels tested because I always just assumed iron and hemoglobin go hand in hand.

I guess next blood work I'll go ahead and have iron levels tested too.....

 

[Mprtz]

Curious..... I donate every 8 weeks to keep things in check and when the Red Cross checks my hemoglobin prior to each donation it is always 18.3-18.8.

I've never had my iron levels tested because I always just assumed iron and hemoglobin go hand in hand.

I guess next blood work I'll go ahead and have iron levels tested too.....

Ferritin is iron bound to a protein that is stored in the liver and other body tissues. It's the reserves from which hemoglobin is made. Often the two do go hand in hand (as in iron-deficiency anemia). There's a complex process of iron metabolism involving ferritin, ferroportin, hepcidin, transferrin and hemoglobin which is affected by testosterone.

I believe (seen it in myself and others) that when ferritin starts to run low you can see it in the blood profile: RBC count will be high, while MCH (mean corpuscular hemoglobin) and MCV (mean corpuscular volume) will come back low, because (I believe) testosterone is still driving the production of red blood cells but a shortage of iron is causing the individual cells to contain less hemoglobin.

View attachment 560990

 

[halfwit]

Is that 1000 ng/dL your peak or trough?

I inject E3.5D, so I don't have much of either a peak or trough. Last time I came back at 1072ng/dL, which was my "peak". I usually see upper 900's to low 1000's for my "trough".

 

[cybrsage]

Awesome info, I am going to shift to doing platelet donations instead!

 

[novaman]

I inject E3.5D, so I don't have much of either a peak or trough. Last time I came back at 1072ng/dL, which was my "peak". I usually see upper 900's to low 1000's for my "trough".

I too am injecting every 3.5 days and also have kept my levels around 1000. I've been injecting since November and have been checking the bloodwork every month. I'm just surprised that suddenly my testosterone level jumped to 1450.

Thanks for sharing. So it sounds reasonable that if I follow your regimen I should be able to maintain this level for the long haul

 

[Mprtz]

Curious..... I donate every 8 weeks to keep things in check and when the Red Cross checks my hemoglobin prior to each donation it is always 18.3-18.8.

I've never had my iron levels tested because I always just assumed iron and hemoglobin go hand in hand.

I guess next blood work I'll go ahead and have iron levels tested too.....

BTW 18.3 to 18.8 seems pretty high... very close to the upper limit of donor eligibility at my blood center. You might want to try to bring that down to under 17 so that you have some "headroom".

 

[halfwit]

I too am injecting every 3.5 days and also have kept my levels around 1000. I've been injecting since November and have been checking the bloodwork every month. I'm just surprised that suddenly my testosterone level jumped to 1450.

Thanks for sharing. So it sounds reasonable that if I follow your regimen I should be able to maintain this level for the long haul

It's uncommon to see a spike like that, but changes in body mass (losing fat?) or if you have compounded test can easily explain it. If you consistently see numbers in that range, and you feel fine/doc is okay with it - you should be good to go. Just keep up on the blood work, and you can certainly maintain at that value.

 

[novaman]

It's uncommon to see a spike like that, but changes in body mass (losing fat?) or if you have compounded test can easily explain it. If you consistently see numbers in that range, and you feel fine/doc is okay with it - you should be good to go. Just keep up on the blood work, and you can certainly maintain at that value.

No changes in body mass or prescription source. Went back and checked- my last blood test was drawn 24 hours after injecting and came in at 1450. The month prior I did a blood test at 72 hours after injecting and it came in at 1050. I always thought the the levels stayed close to the same for 72 hours. But could that be the difference?

 

[Mprtz]

No changes in body mass or prescription source. Went back and checked- my last blood test was drawn 24 hours after injecting and came in at 1450. The month prior I did a blood test at 72 hours after injecting and it came in at 1050. I always thought the the levels stayed close to the same for 72 hours. But could that be the difference?

Are you using hcg? That can affect levels too.

 

[swilk]

BTW 18.3 to 18.8 seems pretty high... very close to the upper limit of donor eligibility at my blood center. You might want to try to bring that down to under 17 so that you have some "headroom".

I have asked on two separate occasions if there was an upper limit and each time was told " not that I know of". But I have also read on forums that there is an upper limit for donations. The Red Cross site lists a minimum of 12.5 but no max...... I assume if a person did need to lower it the path would be through diet and watching what sort of vitamins and supplements they take?

 

[Mprtz]

I have asked on two separate occasions if there was an upper limit and each time was told " not that I know of". But I have also read on forums that there is an upper limit for donations. The Red Cross site lists a minimum of 12.5 but no max...... I assume if a person did need to lower it the path would be through diet and watching what sort of vitamins and supplements they take?

I think labcorp upper normal for hemoglobin is 17.7, so you might be a little higher than ideal for optimal health.

If the reason that it's high (exogenous testosterone) is still present, it probably won't go down on its own anytime soon. You pretty much have to donate blood or reduce your T dose to a point where H/H stabilizes on its own. Avoiding iron-containing supplements would be a good idea and cutting down on iron-rich foods (red meats, etc) may help a little.

 

[swilk]

It, along with RBC and HCT, was high prior to starting TRT. The initial blood test during my diagnosis flagged RBC and HCT as high.

 

[halfwit]

No changes in body mass or prescription source. Went back and checked- my last blood test was drawn 24 hours after injecting and came in at 1450. The month prior I did a blood test at 72 hours after injecting and it came in at 1050. I always thought the the levels stayed close to the same for 72 hours. But could that be the difference?

Well, 24hrs post injection is moving towards a peak, and 72hrs is moving towards the trough on opposite ends of the curve. That's a pretty big deviation though. I'd certainly keep an eye on things to see where you continue to land. While HCG can impact estradiol, it shouldn't do anything to testosterone as the negative feedback loop is engaged.

I have asked on two separate occasions if there was an upper limit and each time was told " not that I know of". But I have also read on forums that there is an upper limit for donations. The Red Cross site lists a minimum of 12.5 but no max...... I assume if a person did need to lower it the path would be through diet and watching what sort of vitamins and supplements they take?

19.5 is the upper limit IIRC. It's really up to the person in charge at your donation facility, but I do know that 20hb or 60% HCT will get you deferred for sure.

 

[swilk]

I've donated 6 times in the last year and 18.8 was the highest .... Its never been below 18.

I've had blood work done several times as well and have always timed labs about 4 weeks after my last donation. RBC and HCT have come back in the upper end of normal each time.

I will say my phobia of getting stuck has pretty much gone away....

 

[halfwit]

I've donated 6 times in the last year and 18.8 was the highest .... Its never been below 18.

I've had blood work done several times as well and have always timed labs about 4 weeks after my last donation. RBC and HCT have come back in the upper end of normal each time.

I will say my phobia of getting stuck has pretty much gone away....

If you're able to, platelet apheresis sounds like a good fit for you. I think it's still a one-time stick to test your blood for platelet count, then you can donate 3 days later. I do this as it can be done quite often, and will get that HCT down. In fact, I'm headed down soon to give some.

 

[novaman]

Are you using hcg? That can affect levels too.

Yes I am but it is a consistent dose

 

[novaman]

Well, 24hrs post injection is moving towards a peak, and 72hrs is moving towards the trough on opposite ends of the curve. That's a pretty big deviation though. I'd certainly keep an eye on things to see where you continue to land. While HCG can impact estradiol, it shouldn't do anything to testosterone as the negative feedback loop is engaged.

So you wouldn't change things just yet? My 72 hour 1050 reading was done by my doc and he was very happy with my numbers. I am preferring to get advice from this board though and monitor things closely myself as I don't think my doc is really keeping his finger on the pulse of the matter.

 

[halfwit]

So you wouldn't change things just yet? My 72 hour 1050 reading was done by my doc and he was very happy with my numbers. I am preferring to get advice from this board though and monitor things closely myself as I don't think my doc is really keeping his finger on the pulse of the matter.

If you're feeling great and your doc doesn't mind, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Havasu]

I was offered the platelet donation last time I donated. My hematocrit has been fine, I'm just donating to keep it that way. They made it sound like I might be more woozy after giving platelets than just whole blood. It sounded like more was taken. I didn't want to risk not being able to work out that night, so I did whole blood. Is this not true? I know they don't want you working out regardless after giving blood, but I donate in the morning, and train in the evening, and I haven't had any problems. If I will notice nothing different than if I donated whole blood then I will donate platelets next time.

Also, I read in this thread that you can donate platelets more often, they said I would have to wait longer to donate. Now specifically they called it a double red blood cell donation I believe.

 

[Havasu]

Ok, the donation organization I use has these options for donation:

Whole Blood
Double Red Cell
Plasma Pheresis
Platelets
Red Cell/Plasma
Therapeutic

Is platelets the best one for HCT management?