Concerning TRT BW results

[RussianSpets]

Here's my results after being on HRT for about over 10 weeks at 200mg a week test cyp

I get frequent blood work and my last BW was actually early June, my levels weren't as high back than and my hematocrit/hemoglobin was within normal. Now it shot up to 57, which is a concern on my part as I also live in high elevation so getting oxygen could be the problem here. As far as how I feel, its pretty much normal and I haven't felt better in years, bp is good, heart rate is good, I don't get winded or bleed/bruise for no reason. My levels are a bit high and I'm going to go in to donate blood for the second time this year

I'm getting more blood work in a few weeks since this doesn't include all the blood work I have been doing and these are the only tests they gave me.
Either way, I know the blood levels are too high and I'm working on it

I might need to consider throwing in a little more cardio/intensity in the gym and maybe lowering my trt dosage.

[Youthful55guy]

That is a very high level of hematocrit! You really need to do something about it. It puts you at higher risk of stroke, embolism, and MI. If you are still allowed to donate blood, I would immediately do a double red donation. In my experience, that will bring your hematocrit down about 10 points, which is within the normal range. I've read posts of guys being rejected if they are too high, but the story is not consistent between individuals. One guy posted 52 and another as 54 for the reject level. Mine has gone as high 52.4, but they still accepted my blood.

Even if you dump enough blood to get you back into the normal range, it's going to shoot right back up at that level of testosterone and you'll be out of range again within a few weeks. You are only allowed to donate every 8 (single) to 16 (double red) weeks, and there are also limitations on how many donations within a 12 month rolling year. Bottom line is that at 200 mg of T per week, you'll never keep it within the normal range with the maximum allowable donations.

I also suspect that at that level of T, your E2 is way high too but I don't see any labs. I would get that tested too. I see you are on the low side for SHBG, so you probably metabolize T quite quickly. Your Free T is at the top of the range, so you can afford to dial down the amount of T you inject. I highly recommend halving your T to about 100 mg/week and then breaking it up into 50 mg injections every 3 days. This will help to maintain more stable T levels without having to go into superphysiologic levels the first half of your injection cycle to keep it in range the second half. This is a very common mistake I see with guys (and docs) with little experience with TRT. Lowering the amount of T per injection will also help to keep E2 from going out of range.

Given that you have low SHBG, you may need to adjust the dose up after a trial period of about 4 to 6 weeks. At that point, repeat the labs to see where you are and then bump it up by 10mg per injection (i.e., 60 mg every 3 days). I doubt you will need to go any higher than this. An alternative strategy I've seen guys with low SHBG use is to increase the frequency to every other day injections. In your case, that would be about 30 mg every other day. Also note that it is important when you have either high or low SHBG, that you use Free T as your guide. Total T is a worthless number for guys at the extreme ends of the SHBG range.

[RussianSpets]

Yea I was supposed to donate 2 weeks ago and didn't go

Donated today instead and they told me to just do it every 8 weeks until my levels go down, they also mentioned if I need to do earlier than 8 weeks I can talk to them and let them know every 6 or so weeks.

I was in a good range and within a few points higher I wouldn't have qualified but either way they took it. I'm also lowering my dosage so figure that wouldn't be a bad idea either since I 200mg might be a bit much for me as of this point. My TRT doc also said lower the dosage and maybe skip an injection once in a while.

[Youthful55guy]

Yea I was supposed to donate 2 weeks ago and didn't go

Donated today instead and they told me to just do it every 8 weeks until my levels go down, they also mentioned if I need to do earlier than 8 weeks I can talk to them and let them know every 6 or so weeks.

I was in a good range and within a few points higher I wouldn't have qualified but either way they took it. I'm also lowering my dosage so figure that wouldn't be a bad idea either since I 200mg might be a bit much for me as of this point. My TRT doc also said lower the dosage and maybe skip an injection once in a while.

Are you in the USA? The US FDA does not allow donations any sooner than 8 weeks (single) or 16 weeks (double red) unless you have a doctor's prescription. About a year and a half ago they changed the rules to allow for more frequent donations from guys on TRT if they have a doctor's script.

It's good that you are lowering your dose. That should help. I would also consider increasing the frequency. I found going from weekly to every 3 days that I could get by with less T and felt much better because there were no perceivable highs or lows. I would suspect that in your case, with SHBG at the low end of the range, that you would feel this even more. At least that's what I've read from posts of guys with low SHBG (I have the opposite problem).

[RussianSpets]

Pretty sure I have found the reason my levels are so high.
I have been supplementing with natural supplements that contribute to raising blood levels. I'm stopping this and will see what just test and basic supplements do. I have been taking blood builders for a long time, since I'm no longer natural I don't think I need help "building blood" That is what the test will do, I have for a long time been taking extra supplements which help increase blood......
I'm going to get some more blood work, this time full blood panels and will see how my RBC levels rebuild

The supplements I have been taking for a long time help with increasing your blood and I don't microdose these supplements. I take a high dose of them with every meal. I've stopped using them since and will monitor my red blood cell counts. I'm positive it is the supplements that are increasing my RBC much higher than just taking testosterone. I think this might sound kind of stupid but I have always taken these supplements and didn't stop when jumping on gear!

[jwh7699]

You could leave everything as is. Stop your Blood Supplements. Curious what they are? Get your Hematocrit drawn again as well as Sensitive - Estradiol test.

At that time you'll know if it was the blood supplements or not. If you drop the supplements and lower the Test at the same time you won't know 100% which change had the most effect.

If your Hematocrit is still elevated you'll want to lower your Test dosing. I personally take 70mg 2 x a week of Test Cyp and my Hematocrit comes in at 51. I donate blood every 8 weeks. I tried dosing more frequent than twice a week, it brought my Hematocrit down, but it brought all my other good numbers down too.

[RussianSpets]

Yea, I'm pretty sure it is the iron builders I've been taking that contributed to such a spike

PRE TRT blood work below
Hemoglobin 17.4
Hematorcrit 54.6


200mg a week for 10+ weeks and it raised pretty high

I'll keep donating and am getting some more advanced blood work to show a better picture in the next couple of weeks

As far as what supplement I take that I believe raised my levels so high
Iron
Uni-liver (desiccated liver) old school body building supplement which I have taken for years at mega doses to increase RBC
Vitamin - E

I've stopped taking it, but will consider sticking with the vit. E since it is good for blood thinning

[jwh7699]

It looks like your blood was pretty thick, with extra RBC's, even before you started on TRT. And TRT will only create more.

Blood work is always a good thing. It takes the guessing and assuming out of the equation.

Vitamin E is good to keep taking. May want to look into Fish Oil too. NAC is a good supplement to keep your liver healthy, but not increase RBC's.

Good Luck!!

[RussianSpets]

Moving updated blood work to this thread t keep everything in line..

Looks like my blood work has improved, I also notice my LDL went up and HDL stayed the same since last bw but this isn't too bad. My estrogen is off the chart, so it looks like I'm throwing in that AI as recommended. A little bit concerned with my test numbers since they used to be higher than the 700s a few days after injection but I did lower my dosage and I inject 2x a week

CBC With Differential/Platelet
WBC 9.4 3.4-10.8 x10E3/uL 01
RBC 5.55 4.14-5.80 x10E6/uL 01
Hemoglobin 16.7 12.6-17.7 g/dL 01 - Improved Lower TRT dosage and blood donation
Hematocrit 49.1 37.5-51.0 % 01 - Improved Lower TRT dosage and blood donation
MCV 89 79-97 fL 01 -
MCH 30.1 26.6-33.0 pg 01
MCHC 34.0 31.5-35.7 g/dL 01
RDW 13.3 12.3-15.4 % 01
Platelets 257

Lipid Panel
Cholesterol, Total 190 100-199 mg/dL 01 - Total raised since last blood work
Triglycerides 126 0-149 mg/dL 01 -0 - Major improvement, last blood work triglyc was at 277
HDL Cholesterol 37 LOW >39 mg/dL 01 I have always had lower HDL/TRT use
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 25 5-40 mg/dL 01
LDL Cholesterol Calc 128 HIGH 0-99 mg/dL 01 LDL raised since last blood work

Thyroid Panel With TSH
TSH 2.230 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL
Thyroxine (T4) 5.6 4.5-12.0 ug/dL
T3 Uptake 31 24-39%
Free Thyroxine Index 1.7 1.2-4.9

Testosterone,
Testosterone, Free/Tot Equilib Testosterone,
Serum 747 264-916 ng/dL - Test is kind of low in my opinion but I'm on a lower dose of TRT
Testosterone,Free 33.39 HIGH 5.00-21.00 ng/dL 02 - Free test looks good and high on this moderate dose of TRT
% Free Testosterone 4.47 HIGH 1.50-4.20 % 02
Prostate-Specific Ag, Serum
Prostate Specific Ag, Serum 0.6 0.0-4.0 ng/mL 0

IGF-1
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I 309 HIGH 98-282 ng/mL
Estradiol, Sensitive
Estradiol, Sensitive 72.4 HIGH 8.0-35.0 pg/mL - Concerned about this so I am focusing on adding in weekly AI

[RussianSpets]

Regarding the test results, I was told that isn't too bad since I'm at 70-80mgx2 a week of test c
Starting to add in some AI, since the Estradiol seems a bit too high for my liking
The IGF1 is high as well but I know why the level is higher than normal and that's fine.

I still think that it is odd my total test went down since last time but it could be other things affecting that. My levels a few days after injection were in the 800-900s and now they are in the 700s. I also trust the source so it can't be fake/under-dosed gear unless I am storing it wrong.

Every other result from the blood work isn't included here but everything is in normal range.

[kelkel]

You're not on a low dose of test. 70-80mgs x 2 is a good amount. Plenty of "in the know" docs will start their patients out on 40 mgs x 2 or so and titrate based on BW. Also not odd that your test went down. It's never consistently linear. To many things can effect it. E2 is elevated and I'd add in a low dose of adex on injection days. Maybe .25 x 2 and recheck bw in a couple weeks.

Your FT level is high. I'm not complaining about it but it does give you room to lower your dose (I know, not what you want to hear) and still be at the top of the range. In the long run this will help with your hematocrit. Know that not everyone on TRT needs to donate blood regularly. If they'd titrate their dose somewhat the majority can get by without needing an AI. Do your best to make only one change at a time then take remedial action based on bloods.

Remember, testosterone is known to reduce HDL. It can alo reduce total chol as well. So, your dose can impact these numbers but it's to short term to assign it to your titration as so many other things come into play. Remember to look into Slo-Niacin to help your HDL as well as NAC.

Overall looking good Spets!