When to Donate Blood (On TRT)

**Windex** · 06-29-2018, 06:52 AM

Hi friends,

For those that donate blood, when do you do so? I had some hematology done and received the results

Hemoglobin, Result = 152, Range = 135-175 g/L
Hematocrit 0.47 , Range = 0.400-0.500 L/L

Would I want to be donating blood if my Hematocrit is that high?

**macmathews** · 06-29-2018, 07:07 AM

Without being an expert on the matter..
I can tell you from my research you are in a very good zone..

Your hematocrit is not high.. Many don't donate till they get over .50

Do you mind sharing your protocol ?
Do you know what it was before TRT ?

**Windex** · 06-29-2018, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by macmathews

Without being an expert on the matter..
I can tell you from my research you are in a very good zone..

Your hematocrit is not high.. Many don't donate till they get over .50

Do you mind sharing your protocol ?
Do you know what it was before TRT ?

Been on TRT for 7 years now so don't remember off the top of my head before hand.

I'm on 150mg / week (2x75mg) of Test E.

**macmathews** · 06-29-2018, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Windex

Been on TRT for 7 years now so don't remember off the top of my head before hand.

I'm on 150mg / week (2x75mg) of Test E.

Personally I'd be very happy to have a hematocrit in that range with that amount of test.. No need to donate or even be consider it,.
I am assuming you do cardio ? , what amount and how's your blood pressure ?

**Chrisp83TRT** · 06-29-2018, 02:18 PM

You are basically smack in the middle in ranges. I feel you are good especially if you stay there.
I feel donating would be necessary if you are peaking over the high number to be on the safe side. Just saw a video alin linked us to in another thread that counts that are high from test aren’t dangerous, people confuse this issue. Going to try and find this video.

**Chrisp83TRT** · 06-29-2018, 02:20 PM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mH-J5kXU-jQ

**Mr.BB** · 06-29-2018, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by Windex

Hi friends,

For those that donate blood, when do you do so? I had some hematology done and received the results

Hemoglobin, Result = 152, Range = 135-175 g/L
Hematocrit 0.47 , Range = 0.400-0.500 L/L

Would I want to be donating blood if my Hematocrit is that high?

Thats not high.

How is your total iron and ferritin?

**Windex** · 06-29-2018, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Mr.BB

Thats not high.

How is your total iron and ferritin?

Don't have the results in front of me but they were middle of the range last checked about 3 months ago. I've never donated blood in my entire life so figured may as well get ahead of it with the educational component atleast.

**Windex** · 06-29-2018, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Chrisp83TRT

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mH-J5kXU-jQ

Will check it out thank you

**almostgone** · 06-30-2018, 12:16 AM

You could donate if you wish at that value, it will help someone out, but I would only do a whole blood donation, not a double red.
As mentioned above, always monitor your serum iron and ferritin levels.

**Youthful55guy** · 06-30-2018, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by Windex

Hi friends,

For those that donate blood, when do you do so? I had some hematology done and received the results

Hemoglobin, Result = 152, Range = 135-175 g/L
Hematocrit 0.47 , Range = 0.400-0.500 L/L

Would I want to be donating blood if my Hematocrit is that high?

I'll flip the question around. Why don't you donate if you qualify? I donate as often as I am allowed to donate. Like you, I got my protocol pretty much optimized so that donations are optional, but why not do it if TRT allows you to give something good back to the community on a regular basis?

As per someone's prior recommendation, I suggest you stick with whole blood and not the double. It's less strain on the system and I had one bad experience with the return on one donation that I don't care to repeat.

FYI: If you are taking finasteride (as many here are taking), you have to be off of it for at least 4 weeks before you qualify. It's been shown to cause male sexual organ birth defects in pregnant rats at very low doses (1/100 th the typical human dose per kg BW).

**Mr.BB** · 06-30-2018, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by Youthful55guy

FYI: If you are taking finasteride (as many here are taking), you have to be off of it for at least 4 weeks before you qualify. It's been shown to cause male sexual organ birth defects in pregnant rats at very low doses (1/100 th the typical human dose per kg BW).

Thanks for bringing this up, its important.

I've stopped donating when started finasteride.

**Youthful55guy** · 06-30-2018, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by Mr.BB

Thanks for bringing this up, its important.

I've stopped donating when started finasteride.

I was going to start Finasteride to help bring my DHT down, but then I remembered it being on the (very short) forbidden drug list for blood donation. I've increased my saw palmetto once again and slightly lowered my T dose, so I hope my labs that are scheduled in 3 more weeks show may DHT finally coming into range. Adding in 5 mg daily of oral Winstrol (Stanozolol ) has brought my SHBG into range and this is freeing up enough T so that I can afford to lower my T dose.

Since all of this Saw palmetto is costing me a small fortune, I may end up doing alternating 4 weeks on and off with low dose Finasteride and Saw palmetto, so that I can maintain my blood donation eligibility. I'll evaluate that in with future labs (if I do it al all).

**Windex** · 06-30-2018, 07:50 PM

Good to know, thanks. I didnt know I had to wait 90 days after doing tattoo work before donating so have to put that plan on park for a while. I don't take Fina personally.

**Beetlegeuse** · 07-02-2018, 06:55 PM

There is no medical evidence that a high hematocrit due to TRT is a risk factor. The problem is that a high Hct gets you diagnosed as polycthemic, and since polycythemia usually is a symptom of some underlying disorder, regardless how you got it, the diagnosing doctor feels obligated to "cure" you.

Before there was a direct test for EPO doping, they just checked the athlete's Hct. If it was 50 or more, they considered that an indirect indication of EPO use, although there have been some few athletes who had a natural Hct that was higher than 50. There was a Finnish cross country skier in the 1960s (from a family of genetic freaks) whose natural Hct was as high as 68. He won seven Olympic medals, three gold, and died from non-polycythemic-related causes at age 76. EPO first hit pro cycling in the late 1980s, and from then up until when the direct test for EPO was invented (which happened shortly after Lance Pharmstrong's first retirement in 2005), all the top riders (including Pharmstrong) took enough EPO to make their Hct 49-point-something. Early in that period, some riders (notably Marco Pantani) rolled the dice and doped up to an Hct of 60, gambling that when the doping men came for blood samples they could be stalled long enough that the rider could take an IV bag of normal saline, which would expand their blood volume and decrease their Hct concentration to a legal level. Over one particular two year period, Pantani was tested several times medically (outside of sport) to have an Hct of 58-60. And he was purely kicking ass in those years. He's dead now but that was from a cocaine overdose, nothing to do with his sky-high Hct.

Too much hematocrit is a risk factor if the underlying cause is pathological, but there is no medical evidence that anyone ever has been harmed by too much Hct that came by it from EPO or TRT.

Two weeks ago my Hct tested at 50.7. I get my TRT from the Veteran's Administration and they put the limit for diagnosing polycythemia at 52, so no one batted an eye at 50.7.

Unfortunately, the Red Cross won't take my blood because I spent too much time in a third-world country when they had a food-born disease that can lie dormant indefinitely. The moral of this story is, visit Europe all you want, but stay out of (formerly) Great Britain (where a Wimpy burger can give you Mad Cow disease).