Latest blood work, Test C 125mg and 750iu HCG per week

[Cylon357]

OK, so I had some blood work about a month ago, but since then I have dropped the testosterone cream and all orals.

My blood work isn't complete yet, so I'm going to post it up as it comes in.

Protocol
125mg Test C per week (2x subq 62.5)
750 to 800 iu HCG (3x per week)

100mcg Levothyroxine (T4)
10mcg Liothyrinine (T3)

That's it.

Blood work was drawn Friday morning, where my previous injection had been Monday morning. I would normally do Thursday PM injection, but decided to wait until I got back from blood work to see a true trough. Previous HCG injection was Wednesday around noon, IIRC.

The Test C is from PharmCom, the HCG is Zyhcg and Ovidec, depending on what is next in the rotation. Thyroid meds are prescribed.

Summary
So far, all I have in is the CBC, PSA, and liver values. PSA is actually down a little (from 3.76 to 3.23), I was expecting this as the cream was elevating my DHT into the stratosphere. I expect DHT to be down, will post it up when it comes in. Platelet and WBC all look good, not posting those just because it's all green.

Hematocrit and Hemoglobin and both slightly elevated for the first time ever for me. I will donate blood Monday or Wednesday to fix that.
AST is up a little. That isn't overly concerning right now... I have been hitting it pretty intensely the past few. I have some Tudca coming for that.

I also ordered some injectable glutathione from PSL. They had a killer deal of like 4 bucks (yeah, that's 4 dollars US) per 600mg vial. Some Italian brand. It is probably expired or close to it, but I will try it out and report back. The slight catch is that it is coming from Europe, so lets see if it makes it. Peptide Sciences, on the other hand, had a similar 600mg vial for $80.

I recognize that you a) get what you pay for and b) that there is a happy medium somewhere, I just haven't found it yet.

Questions
Is that AST actually something to be worried about?

Anybody else had luck with injectable glutathione?

Do you think I'm pretty? Nah, just f*cking with you! Just seeing if you were paying attention :P


I will post up more results as they come in.

[Cylon357]

More blood work is trickling in slowly, no doubt in part due to the holidays here in the US.

Still, I have found some interesting results.

First, my DHT went down by over 90 points. This is awesome! Though my PSA has only dropped by .5 points so far, I am already experiencing better flow from the ding dong. That is super cool.

Second, my SHBG is the lowest it has been since I have been testing (4+ years). This too, is awesome and I bet will lead to some great free t numbers, when they come in.

One downside though, and I think this is unrelated to any of my TRT or related stuff, is that I went to donate blood on Friday (yesterday) and my iron was too low to donate. First 12.4 and then 12.7 with a minimum threshold of 13.0. Dammit! These hemis are a true PITA! Anyhow, I have added an iron supplement and will attempt to donate tomorrow (Sunday) and see if I have better luck.

[almostgone]

Looks like things are headed in the right direction! I wouldn't sweat the flag on the Hct and Hgb at all; like you said....donate. I find that I feel better/less winded @ > 50% instead of 55%+ although sometimes it takes a little homework to get it there (MCV, MCH, and RDW usually go to hell, temporarily). I know my Dr. is happier when I'm at a lower level.

The iron thing seems to be age related in some way. I know of at least one "seasoned" member here that went from rolling along fine to getting an occasional infusion.
Good drop on the DHT. Hopefully the PSA will continue to follow that.

If you're going to supplement with iron, get something containing Vitamin C. I like Vitron-C....pretty sure I snagged it on Amazon so I didn't have drive to town.

If your Hgb continues to be a pain, you could always snag an iron panel for a closer look, be prepared for in depth research time, lol. Also, those meters they use to check Hgb can be finicky. Your blood work proves this, lol.

I've had almost the same experience. Get a low reading at the med facility at work, get lab work contrary to the blood bank reading, then a few days later I stopped by the bloodmobile when they came by work. The bloodmobile techs were excited. They said they wish they could get me into a chair for a few sessions. I think they get aggravated by their guidelines as much as their guidelines aggravate us! When they ask me how I'm feeling, I always tell them I feel like my bilirubin is erect. That nonsense line always gets a few smiles from the phlebotomists.

I wouldn't sweat that AST at all, just continue to monitor.



Edit: Good job on the eGFR as well. You'll probably live to be so old that it ends up pissing you off.

[Cylon357]

Looks like things are headed in the right direction! I wouldn't sweat the flag on the Hct and Hgb at all; like you said....donate. I find that I feel better/less winded @ > 50% instead of 55%+ although sometimes it takes a little homework to get it there (MCV, MCH, and RDW usually go to hell, temporarily). I know my Dr. is happier when I'm at a lower level.

The iron thing seems to be age related in some way. I know of at least one "seasoned" member here that went from rolling along fine to getting an occasional infusion.
Good drop on the DHT. Hopefully the PSA will continue to follow that.

If you're going to supplement with iron, get something containing Vitamin C. I like Vitron-C....pretty sure I snagged it on Amazon so I didn't have drive to town.

If your Hgb continues to be a pain, you could always snag an iron panel for a closer look, be prepared for in depth research time, lol. Also, those meters they use to check Hgb can be finicky. Your blood work proves this, lol.

I've had almost the same experience. Get a low reading at the med facility at work, get lab work contrary to the blood bank reading, then a few days later I stopped by the bloodmobile when they came by work. The bloodmobile techs were excited. They said they wish they could get me into a chair for a few sessions. I think they get aggravated by their guidelines as much as their guidelines aggravate us! When they ask me how I'm feeling, I always tell them I feel like my bilirubin is erect. That nonsense line always gets a few smiles from the phlebotomists.

I wouldn't sweat that AST at all, just continue to monitor.



Edit: Good job on the eGFR as well. You'll probably live to be so old that it ends up pissing you off.

Yeah, when I searched the site for brothers with iron issues, I saw that a dinosaur rider had to end up with transfusions. Hopefully, it won't go that way for me. The iron supplement I bought contains small amounts of C, B12 and Iron. I noticed mere moments ago that I seem to have one of the indicators of iron supplementation occurring (EDITED to not be so graphic, you are all welcome ), so I'm hopeful for the trip tomorrow.

The brand I snagged was one of the commonly available, green top and label, dammit, it will come to me shortly.

EDIT: "Nature's Bounty Gentle Iron", also contains folate, in the for what it's worth category.

And yeah, the more I read on AST and ALT, the less concerned I became. I will keep some tudca, milk thistle and maybe glutathione in my rotation for a bit. I already use NAC 600mg per day. I retest bloods with the doc at the beginning of 2023 so that should be some time to see something. I have stopped drinking for the past couple of weeks... It hasn't (yet) been as hard as I thought it might. We will see how long that lasts!

"I feel like my bilirubin is erect"... That seems like something that might get me slapped, but maybe I just don't know enough yet

[almostgone]

The bilirubin line is so nonsensical that they never seem to know what to do with it. Typically, they laugh and go tell the other female techs.

My other fallback response to the question regarding how I feel is telling them "I am totally arid". They're not expected responses like that, so they usually lose it, and can't help but laugh.

It's like strapping yourself into the chair at the dentist when the dental assistant shows you where your room is. Most of them just bust out laughing. I've had one dental assistant that could outdo me in the freaky humor department. I strapped in and told her to the games begin. She snatched up a glove, put it on with a loud snap and said oh, I got the first game coming right up.

[almostgone]

Yeah, when I searched the site for brothers with iron issues, I saw that a dinosaur rider had to end up with transfusions. Hopefully, it won't go that way for me. The iron supplement I bought contains small amounts of C, B12 and Iron. I noticed mere moments ago that I seem to have one of the indicators of iron supplementation occurring (EDITED to not be so graphic, you are all welcome ), so I'm hopeful for the trip tomorrow.

The brand I snagged was one of the commonly available, green top and label, dammit, it will come to me shortly.

EDIT: "Nature's Bounty Gentle Iron", also contains folate, in the for what it's worth category.

And yeah, the more I read on AST and ALT, the less concerned I became. I will keep some tudca, milk thistle and maybe glutathione in my rotation for a bit. I already use NAC 600mg per day. I retest bloods with the doc at the beginning of 2023 so that should be some time to see something. I have stopped drinking for the past couple of weeks... It hasn't (yet) been as hard as I thought it might. We will see how long that lasts!

"I feel like my bilirubin is erect"... That seems like something that might get me slapped, but maybe I just don't know enough yet

Do we need to change your name to the Rusty Cylon?

[Cylon357]

GODDDANNGGGIITTTTTT!

effin' phlebotomist could NOT get the veins right. So, now I have two arms bandaged and STILL haven't been able to donate blood.

AARRGGHH!

[Cylon357]

And to rub a little salt in the wounds, I got my estradiol score back. It is still 3. I'm guessing the Masteron E hasn't fully cleared yet. That's ok, I can supplement with Dermacrine, it contains both DHEA and Pregnenolone.

[Cylon357]

Still waiting on my testosterone scores... I'm expecting over range but who can say at this point. It is unusual that ultalabs / quest gets E2 Sensitive scores back faster than Test, estradiol is usually the last one. Whatever.

Actually, as much as I am bitching about stuff, it's really all good, peeps! I'm just a bit grumpy ATM.

[almostgone]

GODDDANNGGGIITTTTTT!

effin' phlebotomist could NOT get the veins right. So, now I have two arms bandaged and STILL haven't been able to donate blood.

AARRGGHH!

Those weren't phlebotomists, they're what I call "vascular prospectors". They go digging around for a vein without trapping it properly, then shovel around for a bit, then eventually blow through both walls of the vein.

[Cylon357]

Those weren't phlebotomists, they're what I call "vascular prospectors". They go digging around for a vein without trapping it properly, then shovel around for a bit, then eventually blow through both walls of the vein.

Yeah, that sounds about right. They have donation centers here, and mobile bus locations. This is the first time I have tried to use one of the centers and they seem stocked with the B Team. The buses always seem to have the A Team, though I couldn't have known that until I tried them both. I thought it would be the other way around, but eh, no, evidently it is opposite day or something.

It's all good, though I WAS looking forward to getting a bit drained off. Maybe in a week I will give it a shot, though it may take longer for any bruising to go away, and I suspect most phlebotomists would be leery of drawing from a bruised up arm. Though again, what do I know, man? I thought the building would have the A Team!

[Cylon357]

OK so finally got the testosterone scores in. Keep in mind that my first shot of the week was on Monday morning, and blood was drawn on Friday morning. I would normally do my second shot on Thursday night, but I wanted a trough reading. I did come right home and do my second shot lol!

I may have found the perfect for me cruise dose. 125mg Test C and 600 to 750iu hcg. Total Test is down from 1174 to 990 but free test is only down 1 point from 230.1 to 229.1

Yeah, there are a few things that need some attention, but the E2 will come back, and that DHT could still come down some, same with PSA. SHBG might come up when the Mast fully clears, so maybe proviron gets back into the rotation. I'm just going to ride this train until I pull bloods with the doc at the end of December or beginning of January.

Let the good times roll, Jaques!

[kelkel]

I've been dealing with iron issues. Not sure I posted about it but I had to have two iron infusions a week apart. My CBC indicated low MCV, MCH, MCHC and high RDW. This led to a full iron panel which revealed my iron saturation level was horrid at a reading of 4. Scale is 15-55. Also had "alert" next to the 4. Never saw that before on BW. No wonder I was exhausted all the time. I'd get up in the morning, eat breakfast and fall asleep on the couch. So, we (Uro and I) immediately scheduled two iron infusions a week apart and an appointment with a Hematologist immediately after them.

The Hematologist was thrilled we did the infusions instead of waiting. My hematocrit initially was around 45 where it normally is. The two iron infusions raised it to 51. I'm not comfortable there. Makes it feel hard to breath and just winded at times. Like someone is pressing on your chest. I asked her for a script to dump blood as I already did a DRBC after the infusions. She wouldn't as 51 is the top of the range but still in range. I had upcoming BW with my Uro and it then came in at 53. She then wrote the script. Went to the hospital and their finger prick test showed hemoglobin at 18 which equals a 54 crit level.

So, it becomes a balancing act. Dump blood to lower crit and you also lose iron. Readings show that would be between 220-250 mgs lost. So, Cylon, if you take an iron supplement you will also then raise your hematocrit as well. Quite the conundrum there.

My question to you would be why is your iron low in the first place. Men are born with iron and food repleneshes it. Being a vegan would be about the only reason for a man to lose iron. Other than that there may be an issue. With me it initiated a colonoscopy, endoscopy, camera pill and xray to make sure there were no obvious bleeds, which is really the only reason a man would be low. Mine did not show bleeds fortunately and my GP explained it perfectly yesterday saying (remember I have Barrets Syndrome-damaged esophagus) that in my case look at my esophagus as a skinned knee. It doesn't obviously bleed but it weeps to the point of being undetectable. Over time this caused the issue. That was a fascinating visual description to me as I was initially blaming it on lack of absorption due to Prilosec usage. I had asked him about changing my prilosec protocol to EOD instead of daily. He said absolutely not. The Prilosec respectively protects the esophagus thus preventing cancer. So, would you rather have cancer or iron issues? Easy decision even I could understand it. Sad day though as it's the last time I'll see him as he's retiring and a larger firm is taking over the practice. While walking me out he told me the new guys won't be able to handle you and made a few recommendations. Quite nice.

So, how much water can I drink or grapefruit can I eat? I called my Uro and requested a script for Telmisartin at 40 mgs to help with hematocrit. It also helps with insulin resistance, Oxidative Stress, Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, Lipids (particularly total and LDL), Chronic Inflammation and Renal Protective. I do not have high BP but the overall benefits are impressive. I've been reading about this for a while now and it obviously seemed like the right time to implement it. An impressive adjunct to our lifestyle.

Anyway, long diatribe over. For now.

[Cylon357]

I've been dealing with iron issues. Not sure I posted about it but I had to have two iron infusions a week apart. My CBC indicated low MCV, MCH, MCHC and high RDW. This led to a full iron panel which revealed my iron saturation level was horrid at a reading of 4. Scale is 15-55. Also had "alert" next to the 4. Never saw that before on BW. No wonder I was exhausted all the time. I'd get up in the morning, eat breakfast and fall asleep on the couch. So, we (Uro and I) immediately scheduled two iron infusions a week apart and an appointment with a Hematologist immediately after them.

The Hematologist was thrilled we did the infusions instead of waiting. My hematocrit initially was around 45 where it normally is. The two iron infusions raised it to 51. I'm not comfortable there. Makes it feel hard to breath and just winded at times. Like someone is pressing on your chest. I asked her for a script to dump blood as I already did a DRBC after the infusions. She wouldn't as 51 is the top of the range but still in range. I had upcoming BW with my Uro and it then came in at 53. She then wrote the script. Went to the hospital and their finger prick test showed hemoglobin at 18 which equals a 54 crit level.

So, it becomes a balancing act. Dump blood to lower crit and you also lose iron. Readings show that would be between 220-250 mgs lost. So, Cylon, if you take an iron supplement you will also then raise your hematocrit as well. Quite the conundrum there.

My question to you would be why is your iron low in the first place. Men are born with iron and food repleneshes it. Being a vegan would be about the only reason for a man to lose iron. Other than that there may be an issue. With me it initiated a colonoscopy, endoscopy, camera pill and xray to make sure there were no obvious bleeds, which is really the only reason a man would be low. Mine did not show bleeds fortunately and my GP explained it perfectly yesterday saying (remember I have Barrets Syndrome-damaged esophagus) that in my case look at my esophagus as a skinned knee. It doesn't obviously bleed but it weeps to the point of being undetectable. Over time this caused the issue. That was a fascinating visual description to me as I was initially blaming it on lack of absorption due to Prilosec usage. I had asked him about changing my prilosec protocol to EOD instead of daily. He said absolutely not. The Prilosec respectively protects the esophagus thus preventing cancer. So, would you rather have cancer or iron issues? Easy decision even I could understand it. Sad day though as it's the last time I'll see him as he's retiring and a larger firm is taking over the practice. While walking me out he told me the new guys won't be able to handle you and made a few recommendations. Quite nice.

So, how much water can I drink or grapefruit can I eat? I called my Uro and requested a script for Telmisartin at 40 mgs to help with hematocrit. It also helps with insulin resistance, Oxidative Stress, Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, Lipids (particularly total and LDL), Chronic Inflammation and Renal Protective. I do not have high BP but the overall benefits are impressive. I've been reading about this for a while now and it obviously seemed like the right time to implement it. An impressive adjunct to our lifestyle.

Anyway, long diatribe over. For now.

Thanks for the detailed response, kelkel. I have an identified issue that sometimes results in a little blood loss. Nothing life threatening and it is under supervision..

Eh you know what? It's hemorrhoids. Sometimes those fu****s bleed like a stuck pig. Not really, but some. They had been acting up a bit before I went in the first time. So that is probably the cause of the initial low iron reading.

That, or the clinics equipment was on the fritz.

Anyhow, I have been working with a gastrointerolgist and am now looking at surgical options. Yay! I was thinking just the other day "you know own what my life REALLY needs? Someone cutting on my a**hole!" Nature really does find a way.

TMI, you say? Tow may tow, tow mah tow.

Anyway...

Definitely thanks for the info. The more you know, and all.

Oh and yeah, I saw where you talked about infusions. You were, in fact, the "dinosaur rider" I referred to. And hey, it's not ageism, because you remember those ads for "Honest Cy's House of Used Dinos"? That was me!

[kelkel]

Oh and yeah, I saw where you talked about infusions. You were, in fact, the "dinosaur rider" I referred to. And hey, it's not ageism, because you remember those ads for "Honest Cy's House of Used Dinos"? That was me!

Figured that. Not sure but I may prefer "seasoned" a bit more. Some other ahole here used that term.......

[almostgone]

Figured that. Not sure but I may prefer "seasoned" a bit more. Some other ahole here used that term.......