Elevated RBC's

Need some advice smart people. I’ve been on TRT for 4 years now. Won’t get into details. I’m doing fine. My Hemoglobin always gets elevated even with doses as low as 1/2 CC a week and I can accept that. I get frequent therapeutic phlebotomies to offset that. Question is, I would like to start taking gram amounts of L-Carnitine but I read that it increases the RBC’s.

I also know that meat consumption increases RBC’s so when I’m feeling the mild dizziness and fatigue (getting out of breath going up the stairs or washing my car), I know it’s time to give some blood and I also reduce my meat consumption until I get to the blood bank. Is there anything else I can do to mitigate this?

Thank you
George

This is not unusual.

It seems like the condition is in the background for many males and TRT makes it an issue. All guys on TRT need to be testing hematocrit, typically part of CBC which is inexpensive.

Can you post CBC data with ranges?
Are ferritin and serum iron high?

You need to avoid, and all normal males need to avoid iron fortified foods. Iron is added to bread and cereals for the health of children. Fertile women have iron losses and need iron. Your vitamins should not contain iron. Some pills are brown coated, using iron oxide as a pigment.

Carnitine is found in many protein rich foods, so you may not need a supplement.

T is prescribed in mg’s and ml’s needed depends on the product’s mg/ml.
Your dose may be 50 or 100mg/week

100mg T per week is a typical TRT dose.

If you inject once a week, your levels spike then drop. E2 levels can be exaggerated and the T peaks may be making your hematocrit worse.

Suggest that you inject twice a week, avoiding large peaks and having steadier levels. You may feel better too.

E2 management is often mission critical for good results.

Please read these stickies:

  • advice for new guys — and note the first paragraph
  • protocol for injections

Avoid vit-C, improves iron uptake.