+ 3 IP6 for hematocrit = FAILED
I took a 5 year break from gear due to motocross injuries and to have kids. Fast forward to this year. Before hopping on gear my hematocrit was 50%, I live at 6,000ft so it's on the higher end. 8 weeks in on a test 500mg only cycle it was 55%, and now at week 14 I am at 57%, still only 500mg of test a week. My blood pressure is prime constantly at in the 100/70 range, I feel great, workouts have been amazing, energy like a mofo. After week 8 with the 55% reading, I started taking ip6 2,000mg in the morning and before bed on an empty stomach, stopped all consumption of red meats, supplementing electrolytes and upped my water intake to 2 gallons a day, cardio 2x a day. It didn't seem to do anything for my hematocrit at week 14 but it did tank my ferritin level way below range (25 ng/mL), which is what it does, lowers iron absorption.
For those of you who live at high altitude and blast test, when have you or your Dr been concerned about hematocrit levels? I hear either Dr's freak out and say dump blood, other say if you feel great and BP is great, you have nothing to worry about, Some say if your platelet count in normal, it's nothing to worry about. My platelet count is 178 thousand/uL which is on the lower range if anything. I guess I will just be one of those who has to dump blood every few months. I have been trying to avoid this at ALL costs. I can pin needles all day long, but when it comes to a needle that big in a vein, I always almost pass out. Time to man up! Unfortunately I will have to wait awhile for my ferritin levels to come up before I donate because donating can lower it my 30ng/mL and it will absolutely crush my current level of 25. Hopefully I won't stroke out until then. If anyone has thoughts, feel free to comment!
Side note: I did drink 3 liters of water 2 hours before my blood test, fasted in the morning
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I dont live in high altitudes, but will share most likely you already know with hematocrit.
I listen to my body, unfortunately with Testosterone Therapy, I see a ton of men going to dump blood everytime I go. Dumping blood isnt terrible, I dont look when they insert into the vein. For me, its all mental. I dump blood every 4 months or so...,like an oil.change. I hate that Testosterone will thicken the blood and have to keep dumping. So when I start getting headaches, Lethargic and just want to lay down....I know its time to dump. I've had mine as high as 21 and was looking for a Stroke at any moment. That scared me more than ever years ago. Eating greens, veggies, avocados, tons of water, basically eating super healthy reduced my levels down to 14 in a matter of 3 weeks. Dr said anything at 14 under, no reason to dump. My blood pressure can be different most likely at a high altitude, I suppose. All this is standard and probably won't help you with your issues but just a 2 cents added on Hematocrit.
Are you referring to hemoglo or hematocrit? Or in a different country. Not following your scaled numbers.
Dumping blood is the best option, but take this for what it's worth, supposedly grapefruit lowers hematocrit levels.
Can't dump blood now. Ferritin is way too low. I'm going to just head back to trt dose for the summer and retry in the fall when everything returns back to normal. I ran every protocol to lower hema naturally, including grapefruit. Dumping bloods next blast is my only choice!
I'm not an expert but I saw a video by John Jewett who seems pretty knowledgeable. He said elevated hematocrit paired with fairly low platelet count is not as big of a worry as if both are elevated. Also the fact your blood pressure is low to me does not suggest "thick" blood. To me thick means higher viscosity which would definitely result in higher pressure. Just like how car engines have elevated oil pressure when the oil is cold and thick. If you want to donate blood you can raise ferritin by eating very high iron food along with vitamin c. I unknowingly ran my ferritin to 500 by eating tons of iron over the last couple years. Now I am donating just to get that down to a better spot.
Yeah I've heard the same thing regarding platelet count from a few reputable guys on the tubes. I'm going to lower to trt dose and eat some red meat and spinach like a mofo for the next 6 weeks and run bloods again. I feel amazing paired with high hematocrit and stupid low ferritin..weird. I should be feeling like complete ass given my ferritin and hema numbers. From now on ill just have to dump some blood at week 10ish on blasts and definitely no more ip6 for me.
Yeah I actually have learned IP-6 is really effective at lowering iron and blocking iron absorption. Have you had any luck with naringin on hematocrit?
Haha I can first hand say it is VERY effective man. 25ng/mL is stupid low. I have not tried that one. Maybe on my next blast this fall I'll give it a go.