Warning for Men on TRT: Low Ferritin is Bad

[Wolverine]

OMG this thread is so powerful. I was having very good energy with TRT but after blood donation (I'm scared of 48 HCT) suddenly I feel fatigued and can't perform like before. My ferritin is 12 as of yesterday. Also, I'm eating a lot of eggs every day,, never before I knew it causes iron malabsorption.

No need to donate with a HCT of 48. IMO take iron supplements with Vit C and bovine spleen.

 

[TorontoTRT]

OMG this thread is so powerful. I was having very good energy with TRT but after blood donation (I'm scared of 48 HCT) suddenly I feel fatigued and can't perform like before. My ferritin is 12 as of yesterday. Also, I'm eating a lot of eggs every day,, never before I knew it causes iron malabsorption.

How can you be scared of a 48 HCT? There’s so much fear mongering on the Internet it’s unbelievable. I’ve had 56 I’ve had 58 and I wasn’t scared. Because there’s nothing to be scared of if you don’t have any symptoms. HCT is transient It can change a few times a day.

 

[xcpatr922]

You guys all have the right idea. When I did blood donation, I don't know Nigel/Excel Male exists. Lesson learned!

 

[Gman86]

OMG this thread is so powerful. I was having very good energy with TRT but after blood donation (I'm scared of 48 HCT) suddenly I feel fatigued and can't perform like before. My ferritin is 12 as of yesterday. Also, I'm eating a lot of eggs every day,, never before I knew it causes iron malabsorption.

Did u just do a regular donation? Not double red right?

So eggs cause iron malabsorption? I eat 6 whole eggs everyday and my iron levels are pretty high

 

[xcpatr922]

Just regular donation. Prior to TRT I was under impression that the borderline HCT is 50 so when reaching almost 49 I'm a bit panicked and did a whole blood donation at Stanford. I don't know before that TRT may reduce/under-regulate Ferritin. My baseline was 39-41.

The root cause is pretty straightforward, it was 160 mg of IM T Cyp weekly. I switched provider to an MD that now I'm self injecting 140 mg/week T Cyp twice a week. Both with 500 IU/week HCG. With this dosage, HCT is only 43 exactly as predicted by the new MD..

 

[Nelson Vergel]

This increased my feritin by almost 100% in only 8 weeks

Great news. And your hematocrit did not increase either!

 

[TheDracus]

Most everything I have read is that it is much worse to be walking around with high hematocrit and a ferritin reading of 20 with normal being 30-200 is nothing to be alarmed about. I'll keep giving blood frequently to keep hematocrit down and low ferritin being a secondary concern.

All the research points to high hemacrit being a non issue unless platelets are high as well.

Donating blood is potentially way more problematical concidering the ferratin issue.

Of course, donating can save lives so that's something.

 

[JimGainz]

Could it be that low ferritin has nothing to do with any symptoms and is just a measure of circulating iron - and for that matter, it’s better for it to be low? This is what my doc told me. My Ferritin ranged from 9-15 on the last two blood tests with high normal HCT and HB (I am on TRT and nandrolone). He told me not to worry but this guy was not a TRT doc.

I was measuring ferritin because I had trouble staying awake at night past 8:30 pm but since increasing my thyroid dose I am doing much better. I used to give blood every three months and always felt great. I never had fatigue, consistently made gains in the gyms, slept very well and wake up 5 am every morning ready to go. So no apparent low Ferritin issues.

I am going to try to raise ferritin through vitamin C supplementation so I can give blood again (I enjoy doing it and feel it’s beneficial in many ways) but I will be holding off on this to see how Ferrtin goes. I recently lowered my T and nandrolone dose and increased the frequency to EOD (25 and 20 mg of Test /Nandrolone) due to E2 issues and also to avoid having to donate too soon.

 

[FDV70]

Could it be that low ferritin has nothing to do with any symptoms and is just a measure of circulating iron - and for that matter, it’s better for it to be low? This is what my doc told me. My Ferritin ranged from 9-15 on the last two blood tests with high normal HCT and HB (I am on TRT and nandrolone). He told me not to worry but this guy was not a TRT doc.

I was measuring ferritin because I had trouble staying awake at night past 8:30 pm but since increasing my thyroid dose I am doing much better. I used to give blood every three months and always felt great. I never had fatigue, consistently made gains in the gyms, slept very well and wake up 5 am every morning ready to go. So no apparent low Ferritin issues.

I am going to try to raise ferritin through vitamin C supplementation so I can give blood again (I enjoy doing it and feel it’s beneficial in many ways) but I will be holding off on this to see how Ferrtin goes. I recently lowered my T and nandrolone dose and increased the frequency to EOD (25 and 20 mg of Test /Nandrolone) due to E2 issues and also to avoid having to donate too soon.

Have you checked out

Raising ferritin FAST (a how-to, not a question)

Hi all, I started TRT in 2001 and have been giving blood over the years and have always had issues with recovering my ferritin. Long story short, I got tired of waiting for others to do the research, so I did it myself, created a protocol, hired a hematologist in May 2021 who thought it could...

www.excelmale.com

Apologies if you already have

 

[JimGainz]

Have you checked out

Raising ferritin FAST (a how-to, not a question)

Hi all, I started TRT in 2001 and have been giving blood over the years and have always had issues with recovering my ferritin. Long story short, I got tired of waiting for others to do the research, so I did it myself, created a protocol, hired a hematologist in May 2021 who thought it could...

www.excelmale.com

Apologies if you already have

I tried that - I didn’t quite dose as high as recommended but was taking over 100 mg of that form of iron daily and it barely raised my ferritin at all.

 

[Weasel]

Could it be that low ferritin has nothing to do with any symptoms and is just a measure of circulating iron - and for that matter, it’s better for it to be low? This is what my doc told me. My Ferritin ranged from 9-15 on the last two blood tests with high normal HCT and HB (I am on TRT and nandrolone). He told me not to worry but this guy was not a TRT doc.

I was measuring ferritin because I had trouble staying awake at night past 8:30 pm but since increasing my thyroid dose I am doing much better. I used to give blood every three months and always felt great. I never had fatigue, consistently made gains in the gyms, slept very well and wake up 5 am every morning ready to go. So no apparent low Ferritin issues.

I am going to try to raise ferritin through vitamin C supplementation so I can give blood again (I enjoy doing it and feel it’s beneficial in many ways) but I will be holding off on this to see how Ferrtin goes. I recently lowered my T and nandrolone dose and increased the frequency to EOD (25 and 20 mg of Test /Nandrolone) due to E2 issues and also to avoid having to donate too soon.

I tried that - I didn’t quite dose as high as recommended but was taking over 100 mg of that form of iron daily and it barely raised my ferritin at all.

1st post you say that you are trying to raise ferritin with Vit C which is counter productive given @FDV70 protocol. Which is probably why it did not work for you.

 

[FDV70]

I tried that - I didn’t quite dose as high as recommended but was taking over 100 mg of that form of iron daily and it barely raised my ferritin at all.

If it wasn't 60mg to 80mg each dose, it simply will not work at all. Vit C also as mentioned will prevent this from working.

 

[GreenMachineX]

Looks like iron status is impudent for the immune system too, but I wonder at what ferritin point the immune system begins to struggle...

 

[realdeal1977]

I was on HCG monotherapy for about 10 years. I have blood panels from over that time and my iron was low to mid range, and my ferritin was 175-200 consistently. Over time, the HGC monotherapy started to be ineffective for me.

I started TRT in fall 2022. My bloodwork all looked ok (except for T, Free T, etc. obviously) but I did not get an iron and ferritin panel. I started at 70mg T Cyp per week, and bumped up to 140 mg T Cyp in December. Total T was 750, Free T 200. Was feeling so so.

Simultaneously with starting TRT, I had a friend that had leukemia. So I participated in two double red blood drives over the past few months. Smooth move ex-lax, I know. So it is hard for me to pinpoint which has had worse of an impact on my ferritin.

In January, my ferritin panel showed 11. I was (and am) having tons of symptoms. Feeling cold hands and feet, restless legs, pins and needs in legs, poor sleep, body aches, flushing face. I tried the raising ferritin protocol on the site, and only raised to 13. However, I mistakenly took fish oil with vitamin D in it every day. Which can impact results. I had some gastro issues for the first 2-3 days, but overall it wasn't too bad.

The issues from the low ferritin are enough that I am going to go off of T Cyp, do a PCT and try to get ferritin back to 150'ish. In about 3 weeks out from stopping T Cyp, I am going to try an IV Iron drip to try to get the numbers off quickly. From there, I will chart a path with TRT and do blood work every month to get feedback on what is happening.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

In about 3 weeks out from stopping T Cyp, I am going to try an IV Iron drip to try to get the numbers off quickly.

Please let us know how it goes. It's not easy to get an IV iron drip without showing low iron numbers. Do you know your iron level? Will you pay cash for the IV?

 

[realdeal1977]

Please let us know how it goes. It's not easy to get an IV iron drip without showing low iron numbers. Do you know your iron level? Will you pay cash for the IV?

There is a local place that does IV iron drip. They said cash payment, costs about $250+ a visit on the voicemail, but I haven't called back yet. I did send them my labs and they said it would be advised, but that was before I had the latest iron labs that shows about 100 iron and 13 ferritin.

 

[realdeal1977]

Please let us know how it goes. It's not easy to get an IV iron drip without showing low iron numbers. Do you know your iron level? Will you pay cash for the IV?

I should have said -- I stopped T Cyp today, and am 3 weeks out from it working through my system.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

I had the latest iron labs that shows about 100 iron and 13 ferritin.

Good luck. I don't think they will take you with that iron level. I tried to get an IV a few months ago with the same lab values that you have. Low ferritin is not what they go by. Hopefully, you will have better luck. I would not stop TRT.

 

[realdeal1977]

Good luck. I don't think they will take you with that iron level. I tried to get an IV a few months ago with the same lab values that you have. Low ferritin is not what they go by. Hopefully, you will have better luck. I would not stop TRT.

Got it. Thanks.

I hear you. I'm stopping for now. See where I am and how I feel when I get back to baseline. I feel worse now than I did before, so I need to get it sorted out. Then, will start to step back in slowly. That could blow up on me, but I feel like I need to start with a clean slate and reduce variables so I know what the impacts are.

 

[realdeal1977]

Got it. Thanks.

I hear you. I'm stopping for now. See where I am and how I feel when I get back to baseline. I feel worse now than I did before, so I need to get it sorted out. Then, will start to step back in slowly. That could blow up on me, but I feel like I need to start with a clean slate and reduce variables so I know what the impacts are.

I stopped that day. It’s been two months. I’ve been on enclomiphene. Free T has been halved from when I was doing 140 mg of T. However my Ferritin has gone from 10 to 53 with no change in diet. I feel much better. Still debating my next move.