posted Thu, 07/16/2026 - 10:46
291
Mid Cycle bloods came back - RBC, Hemoglobin, and HCT were high. Go off, or cut back?
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Running 500mgs of test e per week 8 weeks in. 34 yrs old, 200lbs, 12% ish bf (decent abdominal definition). I have also been taking aromasin 12.5 every 4 days.
Lipids were great, kidney function was great, liver function was normal, thyroid panel came back within range, rbc morphology was fine, but HCT, Hemoglobin, and RBC count were too high.
RBC - 6.77 million/ul
Hemoglobin - 20.7 g/dl
HCT - 62.7%
Should I lower the dose to 250 or start pct? I feel and look great and bloods have been normal with previous test cycles. I do live at elevation which also impacts RBC count but this is obviously the testosterone.
Edit: I check BP semi frequently and it is always under 120/80
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Check your BUN, it's another sign of dehydration, if your BUN is high, then it confirms that you were dehydrated and that you just need to hydrate properly before your next draw.
BUN is 25 or right on the line of high.The only other parameter that wasn't right in the center besides the 3 mentioned above.
Tbh I’d order another lab and drink a gallon of water before you go and see what it is. You were probably dehydrated if you hadn’t drank anything, especially after a night of sleep.
I think this had alot to do with it because I overslept and almost missed my appointment. I don't think I had more than a couple sips of water since the night before. Still way too high. Going back to the doctor Monday and coming off. Scared the shit out of me when I saw the results. Doctor seems unconcerned.
Just some food for thought.
How often do you maybe oversleep and or are perhaps also dehydrated?
I bet it is more often than you think.
It happens to the best of us. Plus this summer especially is a killer, literally.
Chronic dehydration most especially in hese summer months is everywhere.
Dehydration leads to high blood pressure and these two combined factors really injury the kidneys & drive blood markers crazy.
It is more common to be dehydrated than someone who normally drinks 2 gallons of water a day.
If it were me, would hop off. Get this fixed immediately. Hydrate up & carb up w a some extra salt. Keep training. Give yourself a few weeks then test again.
Whatever plan you pick, I hope it works out bro.
Yeah I’ve had this issue and when I started drinking 2+ gallons of water it went away. It also caused high bp pretty badly. If you’re pretty heavily active and you train hard that 1 gallon a day limit is complete bullshit. Drink up, keep sodium high, get your potassium and magnesium. Tons of water will water the salt down and take any negative effects away a majority of the time
This is by far the highest HCT I've yet to see
Damn, looks like you live on Mount Everest. No way you can stay hydrated with blood that thick. Check your BP during cardio as that is when shit hits the fan
I am someone who's HCT "runs hot" struggle to keep it under 50 on trt doses. Do you have a baseline from before you started the cycle? How much its risen and how quickly can help tell the story.
First thing I would do is donate blood immediately. 62 is fucking high! Blood letting is only a bandaid though.
How much water are you drinking daily? You may need more than the average gym bro. Track it like you track your food.
How much cardio are you doing? Zone 2 cardio, an hour a day if possible, will help hct as well.
I have worked up to nearly two gallons of water a day, and as much as I hate cardio (zone 2 for an hour just gets boring), I get it in 3-5 times a week.
I had blood drawn at 7am so I had not had much water in hours but tbh I was not tracking water intake. All bloodwork was normal during last year's annual (this is my first run in a few years). I called my doctor and am going to have a pint of blood pulled on Monday when I return. Also going to come off completely and call it. Not worth it so I guess this was my wakeup call. So weird because test never had significant impacts when I was younger.
Im 46, youre still young, it only gets harder to keep pushing these bodies. Its a good lesson in monitoring though. You said you checked bloods last year, you gotta check them right before hopping on cycle ALWAYS. What if your HCT was already starting to climb for some other reason then the test just pushed it along? Not trying to be scary, but there are some serious health conditions that present as increased RBC/HCT/HGB. So if you are seeing your doctor, explain him the situation and ask for tests. If hes retarded like most are, he'll simply blame the gear with no second thought, but get a second opinion for peace of mind if that ends up the case.
Yep got off the phone with her a bit ago, blamed it on the testosterone and told me to come off and drink more water. She seemed somewhat unconcerned and even said I didn't need to have a pint of blood pulled if I was quitting. I had to request the phlebotomy. A good lesson here to get your bloods done. I should have been better about it and had bloodwork pulled before and at 4 weeks. I am happy I caught it now because I was going to go another 8 weeks. I guess I am just too sensitive to it these days.
Did she at least run a full panel?
Hormone panel hasn't came back yet. Saw the CBC, freaked out, called the doctor, and posted on here. I was dehydrated where I overslept and almost missed my appointment. Either way, it is a good wakeup call...I am stopping testosterone completely and going back for a blood draw on Monday which is the soonest they can see me. I thought about going to donate blood tomorrow because it is fucking high. Called my cousin as well who is an ER doc - seemed somewhat unconcerned. Kinda wild.
If you have good insurance, you can get a prescription and get another in two weeks
I bet if you check the portal, she says something completely different than what you thought you heard "women"
Best thing about a female Endo is that every time I see mine, she always takes the time to checks my balls
Here is the description online from the doctor:
Your RBC hemoglobin and hct were all elevated, which can be caused by dehydration, smoking and or any other supplements such as testosterone. They ran further automatic testing the cells look normal, my biggest recommendation is hydration and to let me know if you are on testosterone, as thickening of the blood is more at increased risk with this blood count and if on supplement/ may have to donate blood/ therapeutic phlebotomy to rule out / take off the extra blood to prevent the increased risk for stroke/blood clotting and or other heart disease risk factors. Please let me know!
I would thank her for taking a personal interest in your case. I did not see anything about O2 saturation and great she checked for Anemia. I bet she may check more on the follow up. I have both a BP cuff and pulse oximeter that were gifted to me. Easy to become dehydrated when your blood is so thick! I am at 60oz 3 hours after waking. Maybe add creatine to your morning water, I do
Both were normal. BP sits around 110/70. I think I may have been super dehydrated and now i am panicking a bit more than I should. I am still going to quit taking the test though, get a pint pulled, and recheck bloods at my next appointment.
Not surprised by her reaction at all. Whats done is done, glad you caught it before it became something worse.
If all else fails, order an Amazon kit and phlebotomize yourself LOL
Damn bro those are high, did you get Ferritin results in your blood work by chance? If it’s in a good range consider donating blood
Ferritin was normal. I have been above 10,000 ft a decent amount recently (CO mtns) which definitely impacts it. I am going to give blood on Monday and call it on cycling testosterone. It sucks because I have made some good gains and not had issues in the past. Maybe I was dehydrated? Either way not worth the risk
Bro, I have never seen an HCT result that high. Granted, my experience is limited. I would stop and address that ASAP