Question on TRT and Red Blood Cell production.

[Trenchant7]

Just created a different thread, but this is a completely different topic.

In regards to the lawsuits around Androgel, etc. I agree with others here who have said that these guys who had stroke / heart attack probably were pushing their T levels too high, and were ignoring high red blood cell volumes. It would be interesting to find out exactly where these guys were when it happened.

So some questions:

1) Does a guy with natural testosterone levels at 900 *also* tend to have high red blood cell count? Or is this just some strange effect of supplements like androgel?

2) Is there any evidence backing the theory that if you only supplement yourself up to, say, 500 or so ... you will also have much less red blood cell production as a biproduct? (as compared to the guy who would supplement to 800)

As an interesting anecdote: I took Androgel for a week or so in my 20's to try and restore my Testosterone. I didn't tell the phlebotomist anything. When she drew my blood, she looked at the vial and said out loud: "Your red blood cells are huge, look at this!" and showed it to me. I didn't know what i was looking at, but .... yeah .... Androgel did that I guess.

Thanks.

[Bonaparte]

You need a microscope to see RBC's...



1) Yes, but that shouldn't put him outside of normal range.

2) Androgens directly impact erythropoiesis in a dose-dependent manner. So yes, the more test you use, the more RBCs you will produce.

[Trenchant7]

You need a microscope to see RBC's...

I know. To see them individually. But apparently there was something in the visual presentation of my vial that made her burst out with that comment. Especially as I hadn't told her a thing about why I was there. Interesting in any case. Thanks for the responses to the questions!

[Metalject]

It's individually based. We can't say if your testosterone levels are at a certain level or if you take exactly this much testosterone you will increase your RBC too high. If that were the case, every single person on TRT would have to give blood regularly based on RBC and hematocrit readings and most don't need to. My testosterone levels stay in the 800-1000 range on 120mg/wk and there is no issue.

As far as what the lab tech saw, did they check your lipids? When triglycerides are high you can see little floaters in the blood.