Guys – I have been giving gallons of blood lately so the doc can try to figure out why my liver has been inflamed. I am on TRT, and have been using Androgel daily for about 1.5 years now. My test is around 800 these days. My Prothrombin time seems way elevated to the point where my doctor said if it’s accurate, I should already be on a liver transplant list and dying. In reality, I’m quite healthy and don’t appear to have any symptoms (i.e. no yellow eyes, skin, etc) – and my ALT is only slightly elevated at 102. He says he thinks this is being skewed by something but needs to research more to find out.
Sure enough, I got online today and saw several articles that say Testosterone, HRT, and certain antibiotics can impact your Prothrombin time results.
I just did a quick search of the Androgel perscribing guide, and sure enough it says:
“Changes in anticoagulant activity may be seen with androgens. More
frequent monitoring of INR and prothrombin time is recommended”
Just great… Another example of a doctor not running this test on me before, during, or ever… And now we have no idea what my levels have done since starting TRT, so I’ll bet they are going to want to ween me off and have me retest to make sure I’m not near total liver failure. LOL
nope. sorry. I have never heard of this, but it just goes to show how unique each of us really is, and how impossible it is for us (or doctors) to stay on top of everything.
let us know how things go. luckily you still feel healthy and may be able to resolve it before anything permanent happens.
I’m told this is a common test performed on old guys who are on blood thinners to make sure their blood doesn’t get too thin (To where they would start bleeding, or bleed out from a minor injury, etc). It’s also used to test what kind of shape your liver is in.
Apparently it may not be a great test for guys on TRT who have liver problems, because it seems like the TRT skews the test. I’m not surprised that a lot of people haven’t heard of this, because it doesn’t seem to be a common blood test to run before or during TRT. I may go schedule an appointment with my endo to discuss it to see what she wants to do with my TRT. Thinking it might be a good idea to cut down on my T to see if it makes this number go down.
I’m told this is a common test performed on old guys who are on blood thinners to make sure their blood doesn’t get too thin (To where they would start bleeding, or bleed out from a minor injury, etc). It’s also used to test what kind of shape your liver is in.
Apparently it may not be a great test for guys on TRT who have liver problems, because it seems like the TRT skews the test. I’m not surprised that a lot of people haven’t heard of this, because it doesn’t seem to be a common blood test to run before or during TRT. I may go schedule an appointment with my endo to discuss it to see what she wants to do with my TRT. Thinking it might be a good idea to cut down on my T to see if it makes this number go down.
Cheers,
Hakrjak[/quote]
Very interesting info on the P-time!
I recently hd mine checked because I was concerned about liver problems. I dint ask the doc for the actual numbers but he said it was normal.
I didn’t know the testosterone affected P-time. And your right, Prothombin time is not a routine test, I had to request it.
From what I understand, the 3 things that they look at in regard to liver health is:
1- P-rime
2-Platelet count
3-bilirubin
I assume that testosterone can also impact platelet count then.
Did you ever have yours checked?
Just to close the loop on this thread – TRT was not the cause of my high PT test. The cause was a vitamin K deficiency, most likely caused by an extreme bout of IBS which triggered malabsorption in my gut. I was able to cure it with a shot of Vitamin K from the doc, and taking Aquadeks (water soluable vitamins) for a period of time until my gut returned to good health and my vitamin levels went back to normal.
Crazy how many guys I talk to on TRT who also have IBS or some other gut issue.
I just listened to a Joe Rogan podcast with a doctor that was talking about some of this type of stuff. He was saying inflammation (IBS, celiacs or anything else inflammatory) in the body can extend to the brain and other areas of the body then disrupt your pituitary and the rest of your endocrine system therefore screwing up your hormones. It was a real interesting listen.
