Donated blood - Got my HCT and Hemoglobin under control

Ok so I donated blood and got a blood test two days after. My HCT (50.8) and Hemoglobin (17.6) are in range although on the cusp of going over again.

I lowered my dose from 150 to 125 mg and I do .25mg a week of Armidex. My estrogen is 22, which is good. I am on a self administered TRT regimen so I have no doctor.

Considering I am in range but at the very high end, should I do a self bleed soon to get to a certain number? Or should my HCT and Hemo be ok until the next time I am allowed to donate in 8 weeks?

Lowering your dose will help. Hydrating well can help a little as well. Self-bleed may not be necessary. You may be able to find one of those remote blood drives somewhere to lose another pint as well if you choose. I'd think you'll be fine until next time. Consider a DRBC for your next donation.

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Originally Posted by kelkel

Lowering your dose will help. Hydrating well can help a little as well. Self-bleed may not be necessary. You may be able to find one of those remote blood drives somewhere to lose another pint as well if you choose. I'd think you'll be fine until next time. Consider a DRBC for your next donation.

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Ok with DRBC. I can only donate once every 16 weeks vs whole blood 8 weeks.

Will I get more out of donated RBC once in 16 weeks or donated whole blood twice in 16 weeks?

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Originally Posted by thelazygent

Ok with DRBC. I can only donate once every 16 weeks vs whole blood 8 weeks.

Will I get more out of donated RBC once in 16 weeks or donated whole blood twice in 16 weeks?

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Be careful. Make sure your iron level are good. I've been reading a lot of stories of people using blood donations to control HGB and HCT levels, only to have their ferritin levels go down and then they have to deal with low iron issues

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Originally Posted by CobraMustangSVT

Be careful. Make sure your iron level are good. I've been reading a lot of stories of people using blood donations to control HGB and HCT levels, only to have their ferritin levels go down and then they have to deal with low iron issues

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Yes. Blood donation is good to control hematocrit while you have enough iron. Low iron/ferritin levels will upregulate blood factor 8, which at least as bad if not worse, than having high hematocrit, because of high risk of blood clots.

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Originally Posted by thelazygent

Ok so I donated blood and got a blood test two days after. My HCT (50.8) and Hemoglobin (17.6) are in range although on the cusp of going over again.

I lowered my dose from 150 to 125 mg and I do .25mg a week of Armidex. My estrogen is 22, which is good. I am on a self administered TRT regimen so I have no doctor.

Considering I am in range but at the very high end, should I do a self bleed soon to get to a certain number? Or should my HCT and Hemo be ok until the next time I am allowed to donate in 8 weeks?

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Lots of good advice here. Here's my 2 cents (some of it a repeat of what's already posted)

1) Your don't state how frequently you inject or your resulting T levels (and ranges). I am assuming you do like a lot of guys and inject weekly and you are in range on day 7. My advice is to consider breaking your injections up into more frequent smaller doses so that your 24-48 hour peak levels are smaller and within physiologic range. That may help by lowering the T signal to the produce more erythropoietin (hence blood cells). You may also find (as I did) that you can lower the overall weekly dose by more frequent injections. Less T injected = less blood cell production. I inject 40 mg E3D (0.2 mL E3D) and like the schedule. As an added benefit, the small volume allows me to use a 28G insulin syringe too. Other guys like the twice a week schedule (e.g., 50 mg Monday/Friday).

2) The warning of low iron in some of the posts is real. I found this out myself after a year of clockwork regular donations, my ferritin levels were way low. Problem is that most iron supplements are meant for women and taking one per day was too much for me and my iron levels went too high after a year of regular supplementation. I then went to 1/2 tablet per day per the advice of my doctor, but have not had follow up tests yet.

3) Regarding Double Red (DR) donations, I don't see the value in them unless going in every 8 weeks is inconvenient. I used to do them because it's a 90 mile round trip and several hours of my day for me to donate. However, they messed up the return once and I got infiltration to the surrounding tissues. They had to stop the process half way through and only got 1 pint. The problem was that their system still registered it as a DR and I was prevented from donating for 16 weeks, which is not good if you have high hematocrit.

4) During that time I could not donate, I tried self-bleeding. I was moderately successful the first time (got about 1 1/4 cup), but the second time I messed it up. It is very difficult to maneuver the needle and other supplies you need with one hand. Bottom line is that I consider the practice a very, very last resort and will not attempt it again. Lowering your dose is a much better approach. PS. I should mention that the reason my hematocrit went out of range during that time was that I was playing around with Anavar. I liked it's affects, but it pushed my hematocrit way too high and I no longer mess with it, just regular TRT.


5) Pay attention to hydration as Kel mentioned. It can have a profound affect on the hematocrit test.

6) Some one mentioned going to a mobile clinic. I've heard this mentioned before. If they are a different organization than the conation clinic and they don't share records, this may be possible. I have not tried. I live in such a community with 2 organizations taking blood donations, and might consider trying this if there comes a need, but I've not tired it yet.

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Originally Posted by Youthful55guy

Lots of good advice here. Here's my 2 cents (some of it a repeat of what's already posted)

1) Your don't state how frequently you inject or your resulting T levels (and ranges). I am assuming you do like a lot of guys and inject weekly and you are in range on day 7. My advice is to consider breaking your injections up into more frequent smaller doses so that your 24-48 hour peak levels are smaller and within physiologic range. That may help by lowering the T signal to the produce more erythropoietin (hence blood cells). You may also find (as I did) that you can lower the overall weekly dose by more frequent injections. Less T injected = less blood cell production. I inject 40 mg E3D (0.2 mL E3D) and like the schedule. As an added benefit, the small volume allows me to use a 28G insulin syringe too. Other guys like the twice a week schedule (e.g., 50 mg Monday/Friday).

2) The warning of low iron in some of the posts is real. I found this out myself after a year of clockwork regular donations, my ferritin levels were way low. Problem is that most iron supplements are meant for women and taking one per day was too much for me and my iron levels went too high after a year of regular supplementation. I then went to 1/2 tablet per day per the advice of my doctor, but have not had follow up tests yet.

3) Regarding Double Red (DR) donations, I don't see the value in them unless going in every 8 weeks is inconvenient. I used to do them because it's a 90 mile round trip and several hours of my day for me to donate. However, they messed up the return once and I got infiltration to the surrounding tissues. They had to stop the process half way through and only got 1 pint. The problem was that their system still registered it as a DR and I was prevented from donating for 16 weeks, which is not good if you have high hematocrit.

4) During that time I could not donate, I tried self-bleeding. I was moderately successful the first time (got about 1 1/4 cup), but the second time I messed it up. It is very difficult to maneuver the needle and other supplies you need with one hand. Bottom line is that I consider the practice a very, very last resort and will not attempt it again. Lowering your dose is a much better approach. PS. I should mention that the reason my hematocrit went out of range during that time was that I was playing around with Anavar. I liked it's affects, but it pushed my hematocrit way too high and I no longer mess with it, just regular TRT.


5) Pay attention to hydration as Kel mentioned. It can have a profound affect on the hematocrit test.

6) Some one mentioned going to a mobile clinic. I've heard this mentioned before. If they are a different organization than the conation clinic and they don't share records, this may be possible. I have not tried. I live in such a community with 2 organizations taking blood donations, and might consider trying this if there comes a need, but I've not tired it yet.

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1. I inject 2 times a week. 62.5mg on Monday and 62.5 on Friday for a total of 125mg a week.
2. After my donation, my blood came back at 165 when the high end of the range is 169, so I have plenty of iron.
3.
4. Yeah i afraid of putting a 18g in my vein.
5. Everybody says drink plenty of water. How much so I know what amount to hit everyday? I want a quantifiable number. 1 gallon/1.5 gallon/2 gallons?Currently drinking about 1.25 gallons.
6. But theres a donor card that I assume all the centers use no? There is a donation place by my work that is having it on monday. Do you think they will be able to see that I donated a week ago?

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Originally Posted by CobraMustangSVT

Be careful. Make sure your iron level are good. I've been reading a lot of stories of people using blood donations to control HGB and HCT levels, only to have their ferritin levels go down and then they have to deal with low iron issues

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Correct, there are studies that show the older you get the more succeptable you are to this occuring.

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Originally Posted by kelkel

Correct, there are studies that show the older you get the more succeptable you are to this occuring.

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Two questions:
1. What type of iron supplement to take after donating and for how long?
2. I'm 65 and train vigorously in BJJ, wrestling five-7-minute rounds three times a week and lift weights on off days, so how will losing a pint affect my athletic performance and for how long?
thanks

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Originally Posted by mazguy

Two questions:
1. What type of iron supplement to take after donating and for how long?
2. I'm 65 and train vigorously in BJJ, wrestling five-7-minute rounds three times a week and lift weights on off days, so how will losing a pint affect my athletic performance and for how long?
thanks

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I have been struggling with low iron & ferritin after donating blood for a couple of years, to the point of iron-deficiency anemia. If you donate every 8 weeks, you don't have enough time to replenish the iron you lose when donating, unless you supplement.

I have blood test results from right before and after donating. Iron went from 101 to 44, and Ferritin went from 37 to 20. You lose quite a bit.

I use an iron product with great reviews and results, called Blood Builder. Look for it on Amazon or your local Sprouts etc. For me, it looks like supplementing every day for 2-3 weeks with iron after a blood donation is the sweet sport of replenishing iron and not having Hemoglobin & Hematocrit go too high.

Also, Hemoglobin is not a good indicator of the amount of iron you have. You can have high Hemoglobin and low iron. You need a proper iron & ferritin blood test.

This blood test is from last month:

Hemoglobin 17.9 HIGH (12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit 49.5 (37.5-51.0)
Iron, Serum 45 (38-169)
Iron Saturation 14 LOW (15-55)
Ferritin, Serum 19 LOW (30-400)

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Originally Posted by mazguy

Two questions:
1. What type of iron supplement to take after donating and for how long?
2. I'm 65 and train vigorously in BJJ, wrestling five-7-minute rounds three times a week and lift weights on off days, so how will losing a pint affect my athletic performance and for how long?
thanks

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If in fact you needed it just elemental iron, low dose.

Everybody says drink plenty of water. How much so I know what amount to hit everyday? I want a quantifiable number. 1 gallon/1.5 gallon/2 gallons?Currently drinking about 1.25 gallons.

My fitbit can track my heart rate. I noticed since I decided (after I donated blood two weeks ago) to drink .25 more gallons a day my resting heart rate has gone from 73 to 63. Do you think my hematocrit has gone down as well? Does heart rate and hematocrit go hand in hand? Probably right. My heart doesn't beat as fast because my blood isnt as thick.

Thanks but I'm curious as to how blood donating will my athletic performance. How many days to get back to normal?

Blood volume is back to normal in about a day.