posted Sat, 04/05/2025 - 08:07
1532
High Hematocrit
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Hematocrit was 57.9% on 1-27-25. I donated blood on 2-5 then tested again on 2-26 and it was 51.2%. Donated blood again on 4-2. My avg hematocrit is around 50%. Wondering if it will keep going lower or stay around 50? I will be getting tested soon but bored n wondering
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Certainly supplements that can help Luke naringin, ip6 with inositol, methylene blue and avoiding red meat and vitamin c
I’m not judging, you’re a grown man making adult choices. I saw down below you mention “a little whisky” and the words “it’s a struggle at times”, I think we can really help you out with what’s going on with your bloods without having to confess anything to your doctor, how much alcohol are you drinking? Daily? Some mornings? Remember, dehydration is more than a dry mouth, things happen at the cellular level.
The struggle is because of being single and going on dates. Just Started dating my ex wife so that should help that lol. The drinking was several times a week after work n gym. Already told both of my Dr about my gear use and in process of getting on prescribed test.
Was in the same boat, it's now under control luckily. Had to switch to everyday pinning. SubQ 10-15mg per day. Also low dose ARB or "sartan" class of heart meds. I take 5mg Losartan ED. A gym pal gave me that advice. Numbers sitting around 46-48 now. Also staying on top of keeping myself well hydrated.
I'm guessing it's my hydration. Ty
My hematocrit always rises. Even on TRT range test C every 3.5 day IM. I just have a referral for Theraputic Phlebotomy and at times it gets up to 59% so I go once a week and donate until it's 45-47%. Then I go a couple months until it creeps back up then go donate every week until it's back to normal. Everyone reacts differently. If you notice that patten and your on TRT it's just something you have to gauge and it's best to get your urologist, clinic, or whoever to refer you for therapeutic phlebotomy so you can go every 7 days to get it back to normal otherwise if you get up high and donate you have to wait 8 weeks if you don't have a referral and the whole time your blood could still be thick if you were at 57-58 before donating and after you could be 53-54 and within 8 weeks even higher. At least that's my reality. And if you aren't getting a full blood work up your red blood cells are more than likely in the high range and the size of them could be large. Along with inflammation and poor circulation triggering WBC to elevate. And don't forget when your blood is thick (high hematocrit) that means your heart is stressing due to pumping that thick blood. So BP will elevate on top of it slightly elevated due to the use of Test. Hope that info helped at all. Good luck.
oh yeah If can't get a Theraputic Phlebotomy referral then go for a double red donation. That's 2 pints. 20% of your blood but I can't remember how long you have to wait if you do that. Always just got a referral. Drink water. Stay hydrated. Take electrolytes. Again it just maybe how your body reacts to the test. It could be honestly many things so keep open mind and stay vigilant. It could be your iron intake is to high. Do you eat a lot of red meat? There really is such a list of variables and compounding factors, underlying issue, just never take one bit of info as being the reason until you figure it out. That's why getting blood work and regularly seeing a physician is optimal.
I do get full blood and rbc is towards higher level but runs like that even without gear. I eat red meat usually one meal a day. Not sure if that's considered a lot. Ty for Ur response
Next time you donate, tell them you want to do a double red / power red donation.
https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/types-of-blood-...
I will look into this. TY
I think you did what was necessary, but the ideal would be to treat the cause and not the effect. Your body does not understand. Whether you're draining blood on purpose or because of trauma. This is a trauma for your body in either way, so it will produce more blood to compensate for what is being drained. Stay hydrated (50ml of water per kilogram of body weight).Add fasted cardio to your routine.Use some herbal sup, such as Nattokinase (research others), but avoid high doses, particularly compounds that contribute more strongly to RBC synthesis and increased hematocrit.(adrol for example)
I'm usually hydrated but think a little whiskey before bed is the issue. I've been slacking cardio and need to get back at it. Ty
Bro thank you. I'm scrolling down and I'm like wtf is going on here? Someone said they give blood every week to get theirs down? That can't be factual cuz their iron would be fucked.
I agree with you allot on this. Donating just leads to your body making more and more and more. I don't think it's a good idea at all unless your desperately needing to which i don't think would harken but who knows. And staying well hydrated makes a world of diff. For me.
I Crazy you would throw out there I'm lying about donating every week when my hematocrit creeps up to 57-59%. lol.
Bro when you aren't knowledgeable about something, instead of calling someone out, do a little research. SMFH
Hell, it's so damn prevalent you could easily just Google it! This is what you will get:
"Yes — it’s actually very common for people on TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) to develop secondary polycythemia, and many are ordered to undergo therapeutic phlebotomy as a result."-
(I'm not by any means someone who "Google's" information lol. But I'm just trying to make it as simple as I can for you. If you would like some solid informational sources I'd be more than happy to provide their links)
Many people on TRT get an order (referral) to a blood center due to secondary polycythemia (high RBC count) The order is called "therapeutic phlebotomy," or "bloodletting."
Look it up!
It doesn't just allow a TRT patient to donate a pint "every week" (in my case) when their HCT gets high, they can have an order to donate a pint every few days until they decrease a normal HCT of 45%. (40%~50%) Acceptable normal to normal high range
The point in donating every 7 days (for me) instead of waiting 56 days (normal donation period) is when your HCT is that high, 58-59%, and when you donate, it's more than likely your HCT would still be within the elevated range. -Then what genius?- Wait 56 days for it to just go right back up to 58-59%??? (since donating every 7 days is just absurd and oh I must be lying!!! lol)
That would just be Fk'n stupid.
When you donate you only decrease your HCT by 3-4%.
Now, If a person like myself is healthy, active, elevated lean m. mass, adequately nourished, along with my vitamin regime including iron, B12, folate: I WOULD GAIN THAT 3-4% HCT back in 2-4 weeks!!! 2-4 WEEKS I would be at 58-59% HCT! Hell, by the time 56 days rolls around my HCT could be 60% and above! Hey GENIUS 60% a persons blood can begin to start clotting!!! SMH
So why a Urologist (in my case) orders Theraputic Phlebotomy! To get that Hemoglobin down to a nice safe level as rapidly as possible. Get that RBC count lowered. Get the blood thinned out.
Since EVERYONE reacts differently to TRT! In my case and many others. Due to TRT many people's bone marrow produces more RBC's. -Volume and size.- Doesn't matter the dosage or carrier. It could be 50mgs a week or 200mgs a week test c, IM or SubQ, shot EOD or 3.5 days. Sustanon or Test C. TRT or Blasting Test P at 700mgs or more, a week EOD, or even Androgel 100mgs a day, or blablabla.
I've been doing this for many years bro and have the labs to back up the consistency of my blood work That's why people get blood panels. Testosterone full work up, estradiol, prolactin, and so forth along with the CBC panel, Iron or "Ferritin" test, serum iron, TIBC, % Saturation tests within the bloods to gauge levels and deficiencies.
This isn't some rare situation I have!!! Lol. Dude been in the gym off and on for 3 decades. Cycling, Cruising, and at the moment just chillin on a TRT regime while I handle an unrelated health issue, then hitting a recomp cycle in a couple months.
I take this shit seriously and am well aware of what I'm doing, what to advise, and don't say shit unless I'm confident on what Im sharing. I'm literally a research analyst. So I take data very seriously. Im objective about what I report and subjectively acute at what I share as "advice."
Don't get it twisted I maybe new to this forum but that doesn't mean I'm not apart of many others and have for years.
If you care to challenge the commonality of "therapeutic phlebotomy" within the world of endogenous testosterone cycling, cruising and TRT then be my guest. What you are obviously oblivious to is another man's normality. And a large percentage's commonality.
I couldn't even begin to count in my lifetime the existence of others discussing this. It blows my mind you would actually be so ignorant to blast me on this topic with it being such a point of focus within the TRT community since it challenges the very existence of a man being able to participate within TRT since if he is a responsible user, and is susceptible to elevated bone marrow production of RBC's then he must undergo troubleshooting with his provider. Lowering the dose. Switching carrier, ester, and in my case through responsible diligence sought out a Hemotologist to do an array of tests to rule out any possible underlying conditions.
At the end of it all I was faced with the choice of going the rest of my life dealing with at best a 200 total T range or what so so many others do when in my position: continue with endogenous Testosterone replacement and perpetually gauge my labs, and incorporate therapeutic phlebotomy into my health regimen.
It's really not a big deal. I get labs quarterly. I'm usually up to 56-59 range. If my BP spikes prior I just go to the blood center and donate. But when it does show up in that range it takes 4 weeks of donating every 7 days and I'm down to 45-46% hematocrit.
Funny thing is and I'm no exception. My iron levels have never been deficient not 1 time in my life. Actually I have to fiddle with my intake as to not take in to much iron since iron plays a crucial role in red blood cell production — it’s the raw material your body uses to make hemoglobin, the protein in RBCs that carries oxygen.
In respects to your comment, when donating weekly, it can most definitely lower Iron stores. That also depends on just how efficiently your body utilizes and stores iron, as well as, obviously a sufficient intake.
Allow me to point this out
Im in no way mentioned in that post that my advice was absolute! Never will. I will always stand on the FACT that everyone's body's are exceptionally individual and react differently than others. So at no point should anyone assume one situation is a single point of reference, it is only a data point.
I have an exceptional amount of data through learned and lived experiences which makes me a good listener and worth while competent advice giver.
AND AT NO POINT WILL I EVER CALL SOMEONE OUT AS A LIAR! WHERE THE Fk' YOU FROM! THAT WILL GET YOU TKO'D WHERE I WAS RAISED! DONT BE SOME KEYBOARD WARRIOR.
I'm only going this far with this comment since I'm shocked being new here I would have someone try to blast me when I was only trying to help another out with FACTUAL INFORMATION. AND THE KICKER: You actually had a couple people "like" your uninformed comment. SMFH.
Hey if that's the level of wisdom and encouragement within this community then hey, okay! No sweat off my balls. Maybe perhaps it's the fact I'm from the States and maybe there some sort of disconnect here. I'm not sure. But I'm in many knowledgeable serious UG bodybuilding communities. Much larger in scope, to comparable to this. But what makes the community is obviously the people within it. Most of the communities I'm apart of would check the fuck out of people saying and spreading bullshit. And I'm sorry to say you would have got burned the Fk' up blasting me with such ignorance.
I hope there are some who follow this comment. It serves a far greater purpose then a reply to some genius who hasn't learned through knowledge and wisdom to be slow to speak and quick to learn. You have a very limited perspective. Don't argue it. It radiates with what and how you spoke and all the sht that didn't need to be said.
I really hope some points I made may serve as some helpful reference in case maybe others here are going through this situation. It is quite common.
Sheesh caught a vein. Hell of a job defending yourself though.
..
I appreciate all your advice though i really do. i didn't read any of it though just the first 2 sentences sorry. I stopped looking things up a long time ago. You read one thing then find another study completely contradicting it however.
So anything i know is from doing it myself. Not something i read online. I don't speak on things and blow hot air off some shit i read on Google. That i don't know for a fact from doing it myself is Tru or not.
.. if you read what i said i didn't give advice simply agreed with someone and said i feel the same..
Anyway... i hope you are the most book smart or become the most book smart work out enthusiast you want to be and eroids has ever known or will know.
... but that doesn't mean you will be big or have a good physique or be strong you'll be able to sit online and act like you know what your talking about. I'm sure you didn't type all that either an is copied and pasted. Anybody can google something and do that don't mean they know a dam thing.
... either way as you read and make pretend you are an anabolic substance genius online. I'm in the gym picking up and putting down weights you could only dream and wish you could hit buddy.
God bless.
And idgaf what u respond to this or how much you neg me, care less about karma, i actually have a life. I will not be wasting my time responding to some peon like u pal. Have a good life.
Yeah, if you actually read it you would know it's not some copied and pasted reply genius.
I'm sorry you don't like to educate yourself. I'm 43 and I probably spent more time in the gym by age 30 than you have your whole life. lol. And yes Ive learned what works for me over the years like you. But I've also been highly educated and studied endlessly since this has been my hobby for decades. What I disclosed wasn't some highly advanced technical concepts. lol. If you can't follow a conversational tone posting about "my experience" with the topic then, "your slower than I thought.
I saw your numbers. Perhaps if you did educate yourself you wouldn't have PR's that I had before I was 24! lol don't worry my comment wasn't as much of a reply to your ignorance as it was to help out others in that particular situation. It's funny you made clear you go off only what you learn first hand and not what you could learn from studying the hobby or learning from others since bodybuilding is literally all about absorbing different perspectives and realizing we all react differently to the multitude of factors within the sport. From training, nutrition, dieting, supplementation, anabolic's, hormones, and many other variables. How on earth could you ever question or advise another without the basic knowledge that we all react differently. The main point of the initial thread is of a guy asking advice about a particular matter. You literally called out my reply to him and said what my experience was: "must not be true!" What, just because you didn't have that experience? You have any idea how fck'n stupid you sound??? SMH!
I have been slacking on cardio lately since I'm in the process of moving. Really can't do fasted cardio since I get up at 430am. Ty
I got you, brother. Any form of cardio workout is better than none. Try to adapt for at least 30-40 minutes per day, at any time. That will definitely help in the long run.
Dehydration can cause high hemocrit by concentrating red blood cells. Did you make sure you were well hydrated?
I had a little whiskey the night before
There you go your test is invalidated.
Honestly don't think you should be drinking on gear anyway cuz it's a lifestyle, but that's a whole other chat.
I definitely agree with that. Its a struggle at times.
Correct. My most recent labs I posted prove this. I went one day after work, VERY well hydrated and hematocrit was 45%. Three days later went and tested again in morning with other labs, obviously not as well hydrated, and was 53%. Only on trt at that time
Interesting. That's a big difference.
If your body senses repeat lowering from donating too often it will respond by building more.
How often do you suggest? Just when high?