Testosterone and High Red Blood Cell count

[Bigtex]

That was my most recent blood work which was taken last week. I got blood test 2 weeks prior to that and here are the results ( so my RBC did go down but the hemacrit is still elavated)

Bro, you are just over the imaginary max. Its amazing how doctors get so excited from this. Here is a paper by Keith Nichols who is a very good TRT doctor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He sent this to me a while back when I was having the same problems. Last tested my HCT was 51 and my doctor was insistent on me doing more blood dumps. I absolutely refused. This high number they use in labs is based on ZERO science. The just made it up. But make sure you are always well hydrated, You might also start taking a supplement called Naringin once a day. Science has shown that this or a 1/2 grapefruit/d has an effect of lowering HCT. My advice to you is forget about the blood dump and just keep doing what you are doing.

https://www.amazon.com/Swanson-Naringin-500-Milligrams-Capsules/dp/B0017OFS0K?psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_grid_rp_0_183_t

 

[AJohnson]

Bro, you are just over the imaginary max. Its amazing how doctors get so excited from this. Here is a paper by Keith Nichols who is a very good TRT doctor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He sent this to me a while back when I was having the same problems. Last tested my HCT was 51 and my doctor was insistent on me doing more blood dumps. I absolutely refused. This high number they use in labs is based on ZERO science. The just made it up. But make sure you are always well hydrated, You might also start taking a supplement called Naringin once a day. Science has shown that this or a 1/2 grapefruit/d has an effect of lowering HCT.

https://www.amazon.com/Swanson-Naringin-500-Milligrams-Capsules/dp/B0017OFS0K?psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_grid_rp_0_183_t

I am actually a female, lol
But thank you for the info, I will check it out

 

[monsoon]

Not a woman but, I just saw a hematologist this week because my hemo was at 20. He said that it could be caused by sleep apnea or possibly a bone marrow disorder. He said that if I start testosterone then I would either require a medication or therapeutic phlebotomy, neither of which is a big deal. A blood test is required to check the marrow thing.

 

[AJohnson]

Not a woman but, I just saw a hematologist this week because my hemo was at 20. He said that it could be caused by sleep apnea or possibly a bone marrow disorder. He said that if I start testosterone then I would either require a medication or therapeutic phlebotomy, neither of which is a big deal. A blood test is required to check the marrow thing.

Yeah I am totally in same boat. I actually am waiting for the bone marrow test results right now, it’s called a Jak2 mutation test to see if it’s a bone marrow issue. I should get results within the week.
Are you currently doing TRT?

 

[AJohnson]

Yeah I am totally in same boat. I actually am waiting for the bone marrow test results right now, it’s called a Jak2 mutation test to see if it’s a bone marrow issue. I should get results within the week.
Are you currently doing TRT?

Oh sorry! I just reread your post, You are inquiring about TRT. What medication did he mention? I am donating blood this week as well

 

[Bigtex]

I am actually a female, lol
But thank you for the info, I will check it out

My apologies. Same advice though. Doctors know very little about TRT for men and even less about women. Lower your dose slightly, hydrate, do the grapefruit and recheck your blood in 90 days. What helped me was micro-dosing and changing from cypionate to undecanoate, sub-q. The less ups and downs you have with testosterone be less side effects you will have. Cypionate peaks quickly and then takes a big dive over the next 7 days. Micro-dosing will help prevent this from happening. You can go daily and EOD over 3 times a week and it will help. For me the undecanoate ester every 5 days sub-q solved the problem.

 

[AJohnson]

My apologies. Same advice though. Doctors know very little about TRT for men and even less about women. Lower your dose slightly, hydrate, do the grapefruit and recheck your blood in 90 days. What helped me was micro-dosing and changing from cypionate to undecanoate, sub-q. The less ups and downs you have with testosterone be less side effects you will have. Cypionate peaks quickly and then takes a big dive over the next 7 days. Micro-dosing will help prevent this from happening. You can go daily and EOD over 3 times a week and it will help. For me the undecanoate ester every 5 days sub-q solved the problem.

Thank you!

 

[Bigtex]

Yeah I am totally in same boat. I actually am waiting for the bone marrow test results right now, it’s called a Jak2 mutation test to see if it’s a bone marrow issue. I should get results within the week.
Are you currently doing TRT?

If you have the JAK2 gene, then you are no longer in the secondary erythrocytosis, but instead primary erythrocytosis. Probably would be a good idea at that point to not use testosterone and maybe switch to a more anabolic compound. Very few people have the JAK2 gene but it is always a good idea to check and make sure. If for nothing else, just to calm your doctor down. If your JACK2 is negative, they you do not have polycythemia vera because it is secondary erythrocytosis.

"While a primary erythrocytosis has been well established as a risk factor for thromboembolic events the secondary erythrocytosis from testosterone therapy has not been shown to cause an increase in thromboembolic events in any randomized control trial or prospective study to date."

"Guidelines vary depending on the country and the medical society with regard to the upper limit of normal for hematocrit in men on testosterone therapy. The Canadian guidelines cite a hematocrit of 55% as the safe upper limit, while the European Association of urology, the American Urology Association, and the Endocrine society state that
the hematocrit should not exceed 54%." Here in America generally agree that <55% HCT is safe.

"These recommendations are based on assumptions and the Hct cut off of 54% was arbitrarily chosen and not based on any study showing harm when this value is exceeded with
testosterone therapy. In fact, when Dr. Glenn Cunninghamm one of the authors of the Endocrine Society's guidelines for testosterone therapy was asked by Dr. Abraham Morgentaler where the upper limit of 54% came from he replied that “the number was not based on any actual medical data ,but we had to pick a number and it seemed like
a reasonable number.”

 

[AJohnson]

If you have the JAK2 gene, then you are no longer in the secondary erythrocytosis, but instead primary erythrocytosis. Probably would be a good idea at that point to not use testosterone and maybe switch to a more anabolic compound. Very few people have the JAK2 gene but it is always a good idea to check and make sure. If for nothing else, just to calm your doctor down. If your JACK2 is negative, they you do not have polycythemia vera because it is secondary erythrocytosis.

"While a primary erythrocytosis has been well established as a risk factor for thromboembolic events the secondary erythrocytosis from testosterone therapy has not been shown to cause an increase in thromboembolic events in any randomized control trial or prospective study to date."

"Guidelines vary depending on the country and the medical society with regard to the upper limit of normal for hematocrit in men on testosterone therapy. The Canadian guidelines cite a hematocrit of 55% as the safe upper limit, while the European Association of urology, the American Urology Association, and the Endocrine society state that
the hematocrit should not exceed 54%." Here in America generally agree that <55% HCT is safe.

"These recommendations are based on assumptions and the Hct cut off of 54% was arbitrarily chosen and not based on any study showing harm when this value is exceeded with
testosterone therapy. In fact, when Dr. Glenn Cunninghamm one of the authors of the Endocrine Society's guidelines for testosterone therapy was asked by Dr. Abraham Morgentaler where the upper limit of 54% came from he replied that “the number was not based on any actual medical data ,but we had to pick a number and it seemed like
a reasonable number.”

If you have the JAK2 gene, then you are no longer in the secondary erythrocytosis, but instead primary erythrocytosis. Probably would be a good idea at that point to not use testosterone and maybe switch to a more anabolic compound. Very few people have the JAK2 gene but it is always a good idea to check and make sure. If for nothing else, just to calm your doctor down. If your JACK2 is negative, they you do not have polycythemia vera because it is secondary erythrocytosis.

"While a primary erythrocytosis has been well established as a risk factor for thromboembolic events the secondary erythrocytosis from testosterone therapy has not been shown to cause an increase in thromboembolic events in any randomized control trial or prospective study to date."

"Guidelines vary depending on the country and the medical society with regard to the upper limit of normal for hematocrit in men on testosterone therapy. The Canadian guidelines cite a hematocrit of 55% as the safe upper limit, while the European Association of urology, the American Urology Association, and the Endocrine society state that
the hematocrit should not exceed 54%." Here in America generally agree that <55% HCT is safe.

"These recommendations are based on assumptions and the Hct cut off of 54% was arbitrarily chosen and not based on any study showing harm when this value is exceeded with
testosterone therapy. In fact, when Dr. Glenn Cunninghamm one of the authors of the Endocrine Society's guidelines for testosterone therapy was asked by Dr. Abraham Morgentaler where the upper limit of 54% came from he replied that “the number was not based on any actual medical data ,but we had to pick a number and it seemed like
a reasonable number.”

Thank you! Very informative. Yeah I have the Testosterone now and it’s sitting on my shelf, I am waiting to get the Jak 2 results back before I pull the trigger

 

[Wilson6]

The first issue is figure out why your Hb/HCT is elevated before you consider testosterone or any other androgen. Those levels while not sky high are unusual for a female not on an androgen. Why do you want to take testosterone?

 

[AJohnson]

The first issue is figure out why your Hb/HCT is elevated before you consider testosterone or any other androgen. Those levels while not sky high are unusual for a female not on an androgen. Why do you want to take testosterone?

And how might we figure that out?
I want to build muscle especially a booty and my sex drive is in the toilet.

The first issue is figure out why your Hb/HCT is elevated before you consider testosterone or any other androgen. Those levels while not sky high are unusual for a female not on an androgen. Why do you want to take testosterone?

How might we figure this out?
I want to take Testosterone because I want to build muscle especially a booty and I am afraid I won’t be able too with my test so low. Also my sex drive is in the toilet.
I am open to other avenues and ideas if you have them.
I have a bottle of Testosterone right now but I want to make sure it won’t be dangerous for me to take

 

[Bigtex]

Probably a good idea to wait and be sure. My guess if you had primary erythrocytosis you would have already experienced blood clotting issues with previous use. Dr Charles Glueck, expert on blood disorders/endocrinology says that it usually happens in the 1st 2-3 month of of use. Also remember also as we age, it takes less of most drugs to be effective. Might be just lowering the normal dosage some will help your doctor be more comfortable.