I can’t donate blood or organs due a genetic mutation in my blood.
Depends on blood iron from diet in my case. My ferritin is borderline low, HCT always high. Blood iron mid normal range. You can have borderline ferritin and high HCT, but if dietary iron falls, that's when anemia risk increases. I think of it like my old Carver amp. When the demand exceeded the capacitor storage, it went to line current and the lights in the room dimmed, if the existing load on the line in addition to the kettle drums from Ravel's Bolero was high, the breaker tripped. That was the day I spider webbed my sliding patio door as well from the pulsing bass. Ferritin is the capacitor, when its low, line current is blood iron, if that's low the breaker goes (anemia).
You should still be able to get a phlebotomy, either RC if avail in your area or through an infusion lab. I was blacklisted years ago by the RC for donations bc at the time if your doc said you had to donate, that would only do a phlebo, I should have never said that. My hematologist writes a script for phlebos at the local hospital. EQ is the worst for erythrocytosis. I'd be concerned with viscosity and high RBCs as well.
The problem is we really don't know what that level is relative to androgens. Androgen induced erythrocytosis has not been well studied long term or if other confounding variables (diabetes, obesity, family history, COVID, etc) can make a certain level problematic in some guys (DVT or stroke) vs others. 52% is my personal threshold, urologists sometimes say 55%. Top range of normal if you're otherwise healthy, likely low if any additional risk. HCT is the new prostate cancer. Now everyone is focused on DVT risk and HCT, there is no convincing evidence of significant risk at 52%, but most docs go into crisis mode over 50% and make shit up. In the end, as Remo Gaggi said in Casino, "look why take a chance, that's the way I feel about it."
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