Just go ahead and donate man. Problem solved. Get on a schedule for it before it gets out of hand. It’s part of TRT.
Personally, if I’m above normal and donate back to high normal, I’ll even go to a wellness clinic who does therapeutic phlebotomy a week or two after donating just to get under the curve. I can usually stay under if I keep a regularly scheduled blood donation appointment after this.
I would recommend anyone starting TRT should donate blood before their first injection, regardless of values, and then stay on track.
It sounds scarier than it is if you do keep up with it, but it’s important to keep up for sure. And you’ll get free snacks and t-shirts and stuff so it’s not all bad.
I don’t think donating at this time would be wise for me personally. I feel excellent and have zero symptoms . I have also lowered dose and increased frequency. i would rather not introduce more possible issues such as low fe that could take months to recoup from. I haven’t had Ferritin checked, but I think I will hold off until im at a very high level. It’s also possible I was just dehydrated. Doc said he will wait 8 weeks for future labs before suggesting that route.
They will test levels before drawing blood and if you’re low they’ll turn you away.
Just keep in mind that if you are producing extra blood and wait 8 weeks you may be pretty elevated, and you’ll be fighting to stay in the normal range from there on.
Donating blood is not dangerous, nor a major medical procedure.
Buddy, you have some of the worst takes on HRT I’ve ever seen, stating things that are known to be false over and over as if you get paid to post on forums.
I honestly think there’s a decent chance your advice has been overall more hurtful than helpful to newcomers here and on excelmale forums.
I don’t have the time to look around for studies right now but they are out there. I’m pretty sure here on T-Nation there’s a thread where the greatly missed @readalot refuted your claims about Hematocrit with actual evidence.
My reply to your earlier post still has value as a warning to those who might mistake your unfounded confidence for actual expertise.
Yeah I think I will go with my docs advice and hold off for now. 8 Weeks on daily dosing seems highly unlikely to cause a severe shift in HCT. And truthfully if it does then I will get off the TRT as I don’t want to be constantly donating blood.
Also I am fully aware its not dangerous , but its severely inconvenient and I know plenty of people who feel far worse afterwards.
Readalot isn’t a doctor, has no medical background. He’s a forum guru.
Dr. Abraham Morgentaler would disagree with you. Too many forum guru people think they have it all figured out, with no clinical experience whatsoever.
I backup my positions with facts.
Most of the studies looking at high hematocrit are those of the blood clotting disorders, COPD etc and this is what people like you are hung up on. I’m not saying high hematocrit won’t cause problems for people with comorbid conditions, because it will.
I always highlight that a slight increase in hematocrit may be more beneficial. I’m simply stating the facts based on my research.
Take this with a grain of salt. I work in internal medicine but not endocrinology. From my personal understanding, a high HCT does not induce spontaneous clotting without significant platelet increase as well. This is called polycythemia. My biggest concern with increased HCT is blood pressure changes. Since mine is under 54% I am not terribly concerned, just a little shocked. Platelets are within normal middle range so I am not worried about a stroke or spontaneous clotting.
Dr. Abraham Morgentaler asked Dr. Glenn Cunningham, the guy that wrote the guidelines for the Endocrine Society, where did you come up with this 54% cut off for hematocrit on stage and in person.
His response was, word for word, “we actually don’t have much data to say anything but we had to pick a number and it seemed like a reasonable number”.
lol. It’s all semantics at this point. 54% is my own personal high ceiling value. But I am not going to jump the gun, I strongly doubt I would get even close to that value. And if I did I would look into other factors as well causing the issue.
Many physicians confuse primary erythrocytosis which can cause harm with secondary erythrocytosis. This is the primary reason why physicians freak out when a patient on TRT has elevated hematocrit.
