My Experiment to Optimize Hematocrit and Iron

GreenMachineX said:

Lockout, any update?

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Not yet. I have to wait 8 weeks before I can donate. I will probably check my levels right before, then decide whether to donate or hold off a bit.

Gotcha. My hematocrit was 53 today and thus had to lose a pint. I'm down from 56 last month but I'm sure my ferritin is screwed now being that it was 33 with that 56, so it had to have dropped a good bit and now it's even lower. I may take some iron for this week, but unsure. Possibly only if iron deficiency symptoms show up.

Little update: 4 weeks ago my hematocrit was 54 and I had been taking iron for a month due to iron deficiency symptoms rearing up again (palpitations, racing heart, increased blood pressure, anxiety, fatigue, etc). I stopped a week or 2 later, so about 2 weeks ago because I was afraid how high my hematocrit was going to get. 1 week later (about 1 week ago), the iron deficiency symptoms came back and I've started taking iron again. I had blood work done last night and my hematocrit was 51 and hemoglobin was 16.1! How did it drop without donating???

Is the 25mg Losartan that I've been on now 8 weeks finally controlling the h/h?

Or am I so iron deficient that I can't produce enough h/h to keep it elevated?

I've also been on a ketogenic diet for 6 weeks; could that influence it?

Lastly, I've decreased my testosterone to 100mg/week for about 2 months I think.

Either way, this is great, and I'm glad it's coming down. I'm going to continue taking the iron because the iron deficiency symptoms are horrible.
Any thoughts, anyone? Thanks in advance.

GreenMachineX said:

Any thoughts, anyone? Thanks in advance.

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The Losartan might be helping to control h/h, but I think the reduced testosterone probably had the most to do with the reduction in hematocrit.

You should get an iron deficiency anemia blood test. Know where you really are at, rather than relying on symptoms. The one I get costs about $55 online.

Lockout888 said:

The Losartan might be helping to control h/h, but I think the reduced testosterone probably had the most to do with the reduction in hematocrit.

You should get an iron deficiency anemia blood test. Know where you really are at, rather than relying on symptoms. The one I get costs about $55 online.

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Where do you order that?

GreenMachineX said:

Where do you order that?

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I got mine through Private MD Labs. Their "Iron Deficiency Anemia Profile" test.

Support the man that keeps this site going and also save money. Use DiscountedLabs.com

https://www.discountedlabs.com/iron-and-total-iron-binding-capacity-tibc

https://www.discountedlabs.com/ferritin

https://www.discountedlabs.com/cbc-complete-blood-count-includes-hematocrit

Thanks guys.

Another update: today's hemoglobin was 16.3 and hematocrit was 48.3. I'm ecstatic over this. This is at 100mg testosterone per week with Losartan 25mg. I had ferritin, test free and total and estradiol, sensitive pulled as well but I don't have those results yet. I'll probably increase my test dosage back to 120mg and see if the Losartan can continue to control the h/h as 100mg test per week isn't cutting it, or my E2 is out of whack again.

I havent' bothered to pull a CBC yet but about 6 weeks ago I went back to supplementing 62mg Elemental Iron (VitronC) and i was dosing that 2-3 times per day with orange juice on an empty stomach and I've just this week scaled it back to once per day but I do *think* that I'm doing better, less winded, less tired. Coupled with GSE that also seems to be helping my HCT stay down (untested) I think the two have had a positive impact on my overall feeling of late.

Nelson Vergel said:

Support the man that keeps this site going and also save money. Use DiscountedLabs.com
https://www.discountedlabs.com/iron-and-total-iron-binding-capacity-tibc
https://www.discountedlabs.com/ferritin
https://www.discountedlabs.com/cbc-complete-blood-count-includes-hematocrit

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Nelson, it would be helpful if you can bundle those 3 tests into 1 profile called "iron deficiency anemia", and possibly have a better price than buying the 3 separately.

Lockout888 said:

Nelson, it would be helpful if you can bundle those 3 tests into 1 profile called "iron deficiency anemia", and possibly have a better price than buying the 3 separately.

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That would be great, as I'm debating on buying this for myself right now.

Nelson Vergel said:

Support the man that keeps this site going and also save money. Use DiscountedLabs.com

https://www.discountedlabs.com/iron-and-total-iron-binding-capacity-tibc

https://www.discountedlabs.com/ferritin

https://www.discountedlabs.com/cbc-complete-blood-count-includes-hematocrit

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Hi,
Do they work in NYC?

Thanks,
Henry

I don't believe by law that you can "self-test" in the communist state of NY

Vince Carter said:

I don't believe by law that you can "self-test" in the communist state of NY

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Damn that sucks

The ongoing battle continues...

My Labs on 6/25/18 showed my Hemoglobin at 19.0 and my Hematocrit at 55.1, so it was time to donate blood soon.

I donated soon after and then checked my CBC and Iron levels a few days after that:

7/10/18
Hemoglobin 17.4 (12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit 51.5 (37.5-51.0)
Iron, Serum 55 (38-169)
Iron Saturation 16 (15-55%)
Ferritin, Serum 22 (30-400)

Iron & Ferritin were somewhat low, but my H&H were still high. I backed off my normal dose of Testosterone by .10 mL per week and took my iron supplement for 10 days. I got my blood tested 7 /12 weeks later, so I know where I'm at before I can donate again:

8/31/18
Hemoglobin 17.7 (12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit 52.9 (37.5-51.0)
Iron, Serum 219 (38-169)
Iron Saturation 62 (15-55%)
Ferritin, Serum 34 (30-400)

Somehow my Iron has shot way up. H&H have only gone up a little, which I expected by backing off my T dose. Weird that Iron is so high, but Ferritin is still low.

I'm now elgible to donate again. I think I'm going to do a double red cell donation this time.

Lockout888 said:

The ongoing battle continues...

My Labs on 6/25/18 showed my Hemoglobin at 19.0 and my Hematocrit at 55.1, so it was time to donate blood soon.

I donated soon after and then checked my CBC and Iron levels a few days after that:

7/10/18
Hemoglobin 17.4 (12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit 51.5 (37.5-51.0)
Iron, Serum 55 (38-169)
Iron Saturation 16 (15-55%)
Ferritin, Serum 22 (30-400)

Iron & Ferritin were somewhat low, but my H&H were still high. I backed off my normal dose of Testosterone by .10 mL per week and took my iron supplement for 10 days. I got my blood tested 7 /12 weeks later, so I know where I'm at before I can donate again:

8/31/18
Hemoglobin 17.7 (12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit 52.9 (37.5-51.0)
Iron, Serum 219 (38-169)
Iron Saturation 62 (15-55%)
Ferritin, Serum 34 (30-400)

Somehow my Iron has shot way up. H&H have only gone up a little, which I expected by backing off my T dose. Weird that Iron is so high, but Ferritin is still low.

I'm now elgible to donate again. I think I'm going to do a double red cell donation this time.

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What is your current protocol and TT and FT numbers? If you really want to stop all this it al comes down to reducing your dosage. For me it meant no more than 110mg of testosterone cypionate a week. Stopped donating blood and supplementing iron and all is good now. I saw from your previous posts that when you reduced your dosage your HCT came down. I think this is your only long term healthy option.

I’m now in a weird situation.
I had labs drawn 3 weeks ago that said hemoglobin 17.9, and hct 51.7. 2 weeks prior my hgb was 17.4 and hct 50.9. I went to donate yesterday and my hgb was 16.7. Go figure. There’s no consistency. My last ferritin was a 56, so I’m guessing it’s somewhere around mid-20’s now. I’m going to get crit and iron labs drawn in a few days to see where I ended up. My test dose is 100mg per week, except for about 6 weeks ago I did a few weeks of 120mg per week which was a mistake. We’ll see what happens.

I plan on taking some iron once a day for just a couple weeks.

Do any of you guys get symptoms for a couple days after donating? I feel a little short of breath, palpitations, and out of it.

My hematocrit varied alot even before trt. Once it was 52 then a week later 48.7. No change except maybe hydration. I don’t think some of these tests are as precise as we’d like.

MY hct is never below 50! if it stays 52-54 I am very happy as well as the (2) hematologist that ran a shit ton of tests on me to rule out cancer of whatever flavor. There is a bit of talk now that if your platelets, RDW, and MVC are good, the hct is not as important. Just where I am at, not saying you should change