Adding Extra Test to TRT for 12 Weeks

Polycythemia is part and parcel of running gear for many (most?) guys. And if by ‘worry about it’ you mean keep an eye on and manage it, then yeah–you should.

My dad died when his body couldn’t produce sufficient red blood cells, but he was 85 years old. Thus, I never worried much about having a little excess red blood cells. Probably zero science behind my rationale.

Yes, medicine is simmilar to any profession - it might seem hard but when you look into it it seems that most doctors just wing it.
There is more knowledge about diagnosing, drugs and complicated procedures, but i lived 6 years with a doctor and at the end, when she became good, i kind of got the feeling that doctors just cut patients simmilar as plumbers do with toilets… you just cuts stuff out and put other stuff near to it and sow it together, lol… just like the stiching - you need to practice alot to do it clean and pretty, but you can do it like stiching old pants also, and it will work, it just wont look good.

Also, taking blood is not a doctor thing. Nurses do that. Idk how its in other countries but in here nurses are like “stupid girl” profession thats chosen by people who wont survive the doctors. Becoming a doctor is the hardest thing there is here - they torture people just for the fuck of it. My ex-GF could read a 300 page book in one night and be able to write about it 1:1 like it says in the book, the next morning. They all can do that. Also - they never sleep. My ex used to take naps while waiting for green light on the street. She could take a nap standing in a line at the store.
Nurses, however, are just 1 level higher than being a cashier at the store, get paid probably the same or less. At one point even i considered studying it, because i just like medicine and i knew i cant do the doctors as i am not much of a learner.

I am, sure it comes down to just sticking in the needle at the right angle.
Im sure many nurses miss it or puncture it all through many time when learning, so i think its doable at home.
Lets be real - most people dread the idea of IM injections or SQ injections also. My current gf cant even look at me doing it while for me and all of you its just as normal as sratching balls.

I will google about the needle size tho, and will probably start looking into that in a month or two. Maybe make a topic with pics, lol.

As far as the amount of blood goes - i believe that when you donate they take a bit much. People say they feel weak and cant get pump for a week etc. I think that if you can do it yourself at home, its healthier to do a bit less but a bit more often, just like it is with everything. Losing 0,5l once every three months i believe is worse than doing like 200ml once every 2-3 weeks.

Sometimes when i did glute injections, i got this problem when i pull out the needle and blood shoots out like i have hit an arthery, lol. Sometimes i have been thinking to just let it flow like that :smiley:
Or since my nose is fucked, i can make it bleed super easy. Even a light punch in the face can make it bleed like a faucet. I have also wondered about dumping blood like that :smiley:

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this really looks super doable, just by using a syringe, just remove the barel, stick the needle in and let the blood shoot in the bath…

when she removes the needle the blood just flows steady… my glute injections sometimes look much worse than this… i am getting pretty confident about this, lol :smiley: just have to buy 18g needles… all i have is 23… maybe will try once with 23g to see how bad it is :smiley:

Good news is - i did hit a vein in a first try…
Bad news is - 23g is much too little… i got only a few drops in like a minute… probably will go buy larger needles now and continue, lol…

EDIT 1 hour later - Pharmacies only have 21g… still bought it and practiced on much shittier vein - barelly visible… hit it with 1st try again. Since the needle is a BIT larger, this went a bit better. Still the total of 10grams of blood only(would want like 200g in a session).
Will order 18g or maybe the specialised “butterly tube” so i dont have to drip it down my hand.

2nd EDIT - no butterfly tubes, but did order 10 18g needles and 10 16g needles just in case… will probably be a week or so…

Fixed it for you.

Reminds of the old barber pole

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When they pull blood for blood work they use vacuum tubes. That will result in a faster draw. You could use a big syringe (60 ml) to pull a vacuum and draw into the syringe.

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Yes but 60ml is still not enough. And its hard to change it later when the needle has to stay in unless i will be puncturing my veins 5 times for each blood dump.
I hope 18g or at least 16g will be enough for it to flow normally.

Stick a syringe on the needle and draw out as many cc’s as you want.

I figured you being an engineer would recommend building some type of Venturi suction pump using water or something

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well the typical blood donation is 450ccs… i would like to do it a bit more often but less brutal, so - around 200ccs… largest syringes i could get might be 50-60ml… im not sure that the ones that are larger can be attached to a syringe - at least, they are not ment for that.
its hard to de-attach syringe from a needle with that needle being in your vein…

What kind of a negative affect would that kind of sudden blood loss have on your training and recovery?

It is healthy to donate blood up to 9 times a year, 450-500ccs each time. People say you feel bit weak for a day or two, thats why id do less.
In our case its like an oil change. You dump the blood thats full of rbcs and high hematocrit, and you produce fresh, clean, more liquid one that flows better in you and is easier to move around by your heart. Thick blood is one of the major risks of steroid use.
For now my hematocrit is okish but im taking aspirin for it to be so. Id like to discover this option because i would like to live this lifestyle for as long as possible so im just looking for ways to make myself healthier. Donating blood is not an option when you are on drugs and your blood already is a bit on the thicker side.

I see I’m a little late to this one but you guys are losing me a bit. Why not just go donate, what is the downside? Are you worried about someone testing the blood? As far as thicker blood, my clinic loves it they always beg me to do double reds. The blood at least is beneficial to someone else? I do it to keep HCT and it works as often as I do it. I see no upside to doing it yourself and wasting it vs going to a clinic and giving it to someone who needs it. Seems like wasted karma to me. I actually feel stellar after I do it each time. I get a text from the clinic when my blood is used and it tells me where it was used in my community.

RedCross only lets type O, A negative or B negative donors do double reds… surely would if I could.

In my country i cant donate since im on heart meds. Also actually going and doing stuff takes a whole day and they take enough so you need time to recover. Can do it at home in 10mins and in an amount thats easier to recover from.

@wanna_be 's response would have me freaked the hell out from doing it alone. I have passed out before lol

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I dont have any problem of doing stuff myself.
Probably just like anyone who is autistic, i rather do all the procedures on myself. When i was a kid i pulled my own teeth just so i dont have to go see more strangers.

I don’t think it’s a matter of not being able to do it yourself, it’s a matter of having someone there to pull the needle out of your arm should you lose consciousness.
I’m sure the odds are extremely slim it would happen, and maybe I’m a wuss, but I’d never do it without someone around.

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