Hematocrit over 55 for years

Mattgainz69

Member
So been stupid as a kid. Never really looked into blood work. But now that I'm 30 I'm trying to stay on top of it. Also a recent death in the family got me freaking out about cardiac issues.

Attached my blood work from May. On trt at 200 mgs at the time since then dropped it to 180mgs. Have not donated for a while and definately slacked. Thing is my rbc has been high for a number of years now.

Scheduled to donate already and made Dr appointments and new blood work. This stuff is keeping me up at night though. I keep worrying about it.

Bp is under control now. Just wanted to see if there's anything else I can do. I'm panicking over here thinking I'm going to have a heart attack or stroke and day.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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You may need to discuss the possibility of a therapeutic phlebotomy with your doc if you haven’t already. Between that, donating, and dropping the test down, there isn’t a whole lot else that will bring significant changes. You can do small things to help prevent issues from it though, like drinking lots of water and lowering your sodium intake. There may be some otc supps that help too, but I wouldn’t know of any.
 
Just thought of another thing; If you take any vitamins with iron in them, you may want to lay off those for a while until you’ve got your hematocrit under control. Iron will raise your hematocrit and hemoglobin levels.
 
I am quoting other members and have attached the link. I tend to agree with them.



"I know I have been seeing far more practitioners talking about how this is NOT the issue it was once thought to be. Now of course at a certain point, say HCT of 60+ you need to do something but the whole scare was mainly associated with the fact that typically polycythemia was correlated with disease. If you are self inducing via HRT and things are not wildly out of range AND you have no symptoms AND you KNOW you do not have a clotting disease like Factor Five Leiden then I would not worry too much.



Lots of hydration as mentioned and daily cardio really seems to keep this in check and using an ARB mildly reduces. I know some use IP6 to lower iron a touch and this could also be implemented but should be monitored(as all this **** we do SHOULD) to ensure you don't tank iron as that is a problem as well."



"I remember this was a point debated on some of the TRT forums. Old skooler docs like John Crisler advocated keeping Hcrit within range at all times as a general rule; younger docs like Justin Saya (who to me seems a bit more scientifically informed) pointed out that hcrit at the high end of range and even slightly over are not "dangerous" UNLESS platelets are also reading high."


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BMW4Life said:
I am quoting other members and have attached the link. I tend to agree with them.



"I know I have been seeing far more practitioners talking about how this is NOT the issue it was once thought to be. Now of course at a certain point, say HCT of 60+ you need to do something but the whole scare was mainly associated with the fact that typically polycythemia was correlated with disease. If you are self inducing via HRT and things are not wildly out of range AND you have no symptoms AND you KNOW you do not have a clotting disease like Factor Five Leiden then I would not worry too much.



Lots of hydration as mentioned and daily cardio really seems to keep this in check and using an ARB mildly reduces. I know some use IP6 to lower iron a touch and this could also be implemented but should be monitored(as all this **** we do SHOULD) to ensure you don't tank iron as that is a problem as well."



"I remember this was a point debated on some of the TRT forums. Old skooler docs like John Crisler advocated keeping Hcrit within range at all times as a general rule; younger docs like Justin Saya (who to me seems a bit more scientifically informed) pointed out that hcrit at the high end of range and even slightly over are not "dangerous" UNLESS platelets are also reading high."


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Thanks man. So from my blood work should I be super concerned?

Gonna incorporate more cardio hardly ever do it.

And just got over covid so lost some mass so was going to increase cruise from 180 to 250 for a few weeks just to get back. You think I should cancel that and lower it to around 150 instead?
 
I have always been between 52-55, but I live at altitude. Never the less, no specialist nor doc has ever raised concern because they note that unless there are multiple other factors in play and the count continues to rise, there is no concern. The topic of HCT has been blown way out of proportion and people are needlessly donating blood (not saying donation is needless, just the justification) not even realizing it isn't needed nor is it actually fixing anything. It's a temporary bandaid but it makes people think it's working.

One thing to consider if it really bothers you- inject subcutaneously. It's been shown to reduce HCT and estrogen on exogenous test by a considerable amount. I just started trying it only due to the fact that my specialist said it keeps their patients at really even levels but noted that most of them drop HCT #'s by 4-5 pts and estrogen almost drops in half. Just a thought.
 
Mattgainz69 said:
Thanks man. So from my blood work should I be super concerned?

Gonna incorporate more cardio hardly ever do it.

And just got over covid so lost some mass so was going to increase cruise from 180 to 250 for a few weeks just to get back. You think I should cancel that and lower it to around 150 instead?
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I'm just some gym bro :D So just keep that in mind.

Personally, I donate blood every 3 months or so, but even when my Hemoglobin became a little high, my palates were well within range. I am not prone to blod clots and thick blood either. If I were you, I'd aim to keep it between 16-18, but as stated palates and genetics with regards to thickness of blood plays a big role.

On the cruising dose, It's going to vary from person to person. On Trt levels of 125mg per week my Hemoglobin tends to climb, where other's won't.

Imo go for the 250 of you want, just keep donations to every three months or so. You'll be fine. If you're concerned speak to your Dr, get palates checked and maybe even use cardio disprins. Plenty of water and exercise is also good for nice thin blood.
 
Staying well hydrated will go a long way in keeping you healthy
 
Hydration, pine bark extract, Nattokinase are going to keep your risk of clotting much lower.

Generally maintaining good health is another factor - being lean, doing cardio/staying active, eating healthier foods with plenty of potassium for the amount of sodium you are consuming will go a long way to keeping you low risk in general compared to running 20+% bodyfat, eating lots of bad fats & sugar, being out of shape, carrying excessive bodyweight.

I have heard supplementing grapefruit seed extract (naringin ) will lower hematocrit by a couple points & also thin blood some, but again unless the big picture actually adds up to a serious risk that’s probably wasted effort & not something I would add unless you didn’t take other medications the grapefruit can mess with/enhance.
 
Did you do the donation you had planned? A blood donation dropped mine from 52 to 48. Honestly probably the simplest solution. I'm pretty lucky as there is a Hoxworth center bus that is in my area quite often.
 
Mattgainz69 said:
Thanks man. So from my blood work should I be super concerned?

Gonna incorporate more cardio hardly ever do it.

And just got over covid so lost some mass so was going to increase cruise from 180 to 250 for a few weeks just to get back. You think I should cancel that and lower it to around 150 instead?
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Bump here. Did you donate, or what was the end result?
 
Very useful information on the Iron.
 
Mattgainz69,
I have attached my Hgb/Hct numbers from my past several years of BWs so you can have something to compare to. I am also prescribed 200mg/week, but am most likely using a little less, maybe 175 or so. Kinda hard to give an exact number. I have found that going from pinning bi weekly to daily seems to help a little. And I have found that taking Krill also has helped. I feel best when my hct is right around 55. If I give blood, and it drops to upper 40s/low 50s, I feel weak and tired. Also, when I go to donate and I am in the lower 60s, I don't really feel it at all. They do freak out, and I really try to not let it get that high, but it slips my old mind.
I know everyone is different, but like mentioned above, I think hydration is at the top of the list. I know I don't drink enough water, but if I am always trying.
 

Attachments

Fireman1957 said:
Mattgainz69,
I have attached my Hgb/Hct numbers from my past several years of BWs so you can have something to compare to. I am also prescribed 200mg/week, but am most likely using a little less, maybe 175 or so. Kinda hard to give an exact number. I have found that going from pinning bi weekly to daily seems to help a little. And I have found that taking Krill also has helped. I feel best when my hct is right around 55. If I give blood, and it drops to upper 40s/low 50s, I feel weak and tired. Also, when I go to donate and I am in the lower 60s, I don't really feel it at all. They do freak out, and I really try to not let it get that high, but it slips my old mind.
I know everyone is different, but like mentioned above, I think hydration is at the top of the list. I know I don't drink enough water, but if I am always trying.
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Interesting .....
 
Fireman1957 said:
Mattgainz69,
I have attached my Hgb/Hct numbers from my past several years of BWs so you can have something to compare to. I am also prescribed 200mg/week, but am most likely using a little less, maybe 175 or so. Kinda hard to give an exact number. I have found that going from pinning bi weekly to daily seems to help a little. And I have found that taking Krill also has helped. I feel best when my hct is right around 55. If I give blood, and it drops to upper 40s/low 50s, I feel weak and tired. Also, when I go to donate and I am in the lower 60s, I don't really feel it at all. They do freak out, and I really try to not let it get that high, but it slips my old mind.
I know everyone is different, but like mentioned above, I think hydration is at the top of the list. I know I don't drink enough water, but if I am always trying.
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Wow. How hold are you? I guess me freaking out over my little 18.8 hgb and 53.8 hct was uncalled for...
What's your blood pressure too?
 
Hey Matt,
I am 64. I started TRT well over 10 years ago, maybe 15, lost track. Somewhere in the middle of that I decided to get off, got tired of the injections, and even wondered why I was doing this. Well, a few months after getting off I realized why!! Felt like ****, tired all the time! Got back on and never going to get off.
My blood pressure has always been an issue. Currently, with taking 100mg of losartin daily, I am in the 150s/80s. May see high, but there were several years in there where I was in the 180s/90s. My current doc can't understand why I wasn't prescribed anything for it all those years. I am also prescribed a beta blocker, but am experimenting with that now. It does get me down to 110s/60s, but I don't like how I feel, tried it for a few months. If I do start to climb, I will get back on those beta blockers.
It wasn't until a few years ago that I understood that having high BP over time was very bad and hard on other organs! Kidneys and liver are other things to keep an eye one. ALT and AST values as well as eGFR. If you have a high muscle mass and work out frequently, see if you doc can use cystatin C for that. Using the usual creatinine to get the GFR can be off with more muscle mass.
As of my last BW a few weeks ago, my total T was over 1500 and free was 500. Since I went to daily pinning, I really can lower my dosage, and may get down to 20mg/day instead of a little under 40mg/day.
I am not meaning for you to not worry, but just wanted you to see my numbers. I'd go ahead and donate a few times, to get an idea how much you do come down per visit.
 
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