TRT & your blood count

[Txagq8]

I was curious how many guys out there are on TRT & actually have to do something about their red blood cell count/hematocrit?

This isn’t new. I’ve been on T since late 2014. It has done me a world of good. BUT it has jacked up my production of red blood cells and I’ve found myself having to go donate with some frequency.

If I don’t donate or otherwise get my numbers down I find myself sluggish, headachy, and my BP will be elevated. They check Hemiglobin before drawing and if it’s up to 20 Ive let it go on too long between draining. (Maybe I need an aquarium tank of leeches). My doctor shoots for a Hgb of 16.5 and a crit <50 but doesn’t adjust the T. He adjusts the frequency of donation.

Anybody else in this situation and what do you do? I think I’m what they mean by cliche “red blooded all American boy.”

[tomas1]

I've been on T longer than you, and my blood count has always been on the low side. I even take supplemental iron.
My hemoglobin was always low, but just crept up into the lowest normal range of 13.1.
Have you ever been told you may have hemochromatosis?

I suspect not because I think that's genetic, and you would have probably had it for many years.

[Txagq8]

Thank you, Tomas, for the reply.

Not Hemochromatosis. Yes they’ve checked, and no I never had an elevated Hemoglobin until TRT. Always ran between 14.8-16.0.

Not polycythemia Vera. My college roommate had (has) that. He’s followed by an oncologist as a result. His Hemoglobin levels have gotten to levels not compatible with life. Mine never go THAT high and mine correlate perfectly with my faithfulness in taking my T shots.

I have heard that a lot of this is tied to how you get your T. Via injections, via gel/foam applied to the skin, or via the oral route. Not too many guys take oral T anymore, apparently that’s a recipe for liver failure. They put me on Testosterone Cypionate, IM injection. Yeah it’s the cheapest and yeah it is real good at keeping blood serum T levels stable. But there’s anecdotal evidence that injections are the worst at jazzing up your bone marrow and RBC count.

Since things are good (except me needing an aquarium full of leeches) my doc has steered me away from gel or foam topical T. I suppose the instances where you give your 4 yr old grandson a hug, he gets some Androgel on him from your skin, and goes into precocious puberty has everyone scared.

I feel better now anyhow. I was at 18.4, they took a unit, will do another in 2 weeks, and I ought to be in the 16s.

[jimmyd24]

I've been on TRT (Testopel) for years,
my urologist has me donate blood every few months

[Martin6469]

I've used the topical gel T for many years and red cell count has always been normal. The gel is made in a compounding pharmacy, is not covered by my insurance, and costs me $30 for a two month supply. It's much more convenient than injections, but injections will keep blood T more constant.

I used Androgel for a while, but it was very much more expensive, and the insurance company made the doc jump through the "pre-authorization" hoops every time, which he dragged his feet over.

So my gel is not Androgel, but the Androgel people have tested its "rub-off" onto a woman with simulated sex experiments and found that it's not much of a problem for their product. Don't know about hugging a kid; we have none. I apply it on a few square inches of my back as far as I can reach, where it won't contact my wife much, once a day, and let it dry for ten minutes. She's not had any endocrine disruption.

[tomas1]

I just got my lab results from last Friday's test.
I'm just a bit below the averages they show.

RBC 3.88, range 4.3 to 6
Hemoglobin 12.5, range 13 to 18
Hematocrit 36.5 range 40 to 53.

I think I read that my kidney disease can cause those to be low.
I guess I'll have to live with all of my issues, they could be worse.

I like that those of you who have high numbers are able to give blood.

By the way, they raised the price on a 10mg vial of T to $75. I can live with that and the costs of needles, syringes, and wipes are reasonable.

[Lester33]

Dr. Perito started me on injections after my implant. I’ve got a multitude of other health problems but my bloodwork has always been okay. The shots have never been an issue.

Good to hear from you Tomas

[frank66665]

after 3 years and 2 months of TRT I had to stop on March 13th, my red blood cells/hemoglobin/hematocrit rose, after 47 days I couldn't resist, I felt like a rag, 19 days ago my testosterone dropped to 3.6, hemoglobin at 16.5, hematocrit at 47, red blood cells almost normal, yesterday I did a small dose again because I felt like a rag, magically this morning I felt much much better, I will do micro doses so that the values ​​don't rise anymore, otherwise there will be serious problems, the blood doctor says that being a heart patient it is dangerous to remove blood, I do the TRT myself with minimal doses because I assimilate too much, my testosterone andrologist was an asshole, he gave me large doses without following me, in the end the idiot, alone I can do much better than he did, he once made my testosterone reach more than double the range, I alone managed to find a microdose to keep it at the maximum range, I also had to lower further because my body assimilated too much