Follow up on lab panel

[kelj358]

I had a post a couple weeks ago with my lab results following 4 months of TRT. 100mg of depo test once a week. My E2 is at 39. My hematocrit is at 49.7, it was running 43.9 before TRT. Will switching to 50mg twice a week typically help those numbers improve? Both seem to be on the top end of acceptable. Pretty sure that's going to be a question only blood work will answer, but curious as to everyone's input. I'll post blood work below. Thanks.

 

[WhiteMale]

Could it help...maybe. Though you don't make mention of what's wrong aside from numbers on a lab test; high estrogen symptoms?

 

[kelj358]

Actually, I feel pretty good. So, just curious.

 

[WhiteMale]

If you're good then leave it alone. Its just numbers on a piece of paper.

 

[Phil Goodman]

Actually, I feel pretty good. So, just curious.

If you feel good at that dose then don’t worry about it unless the hematocrit goes way over range for multiple blood tests. And don’t worry about the E2 either. You could try switching to 50 mg/twice per week instead of 100 mg/once per week though, but that’s up to you. Lots of guys do better with more frequent dosing and the only way to know if that’s the case for you is to try it.

Going back to the testing aspect, if you test when testosterone is at trough then you’re testing when E2 isn’t at trough because it trails test. So for most of the week your ratio would be better than it looks on the tests. It’s also just a snapshot in time so take it for what it’s worth. Same goes for hematocrit. I did a test last just because of how the timing of my trt clinic bloodwork aligned with my yearly physical with my GP. Did a test on Friday morning and my hematocrit was a few points over the top of the range. This was after drinking tons of water all week and eating/sleeping good. Then after a weekend of being outside in the summer and drinking a few drinks each day I took another test on Monday morning. My results came back just within range, so I’d dropped a few points despite doing all the things that you’d normally think would caused the numbers to look worse. Not sure if the tests aren’t as accurate as we think, alcohol and hydration have different effects on the results than we think, or there are some other factors at play… but I do know that the results should be taken with a grain of salt, particularly if it’s an outlier and/or you have no symptoms of high hematocrit.

Also, the raise generally tends to level off. So for most guys they see an increase in the beginning which tends to stabilize. Sure it might stabilize outside of the range, but how concerning that is depends on how high it gets as well as differing views on the risks associated with increases caused by trt. I tend to think that if it’s only slightly above then it probably isn’t an issue, especially if you’re an active person who has conditioned the body to have higher O2 needs from various exercises. But it all comes down to lots of factors, the biggest two of which are genetics and lifestyle.

 

[FunkOdyssey]

I had a post a couple weeks ago with my lab results following 4 months of TRT. 100mg of depo test once a week. My E2 is at 39. My hematocrit is at 49.7, it was running 43.9 before TRT. Will switching to 50mg twice a week typically help those numbers improve? Both seem to be on the top end of acceptable.

Everything else being equal, more frequent injections usually produces lower hematocrit levels than less frequent injections. With E2, you're probably going to see that go up, only because your trough level is now higher. Don't treat the E2 number though. If you don't have estrogenic sides, it isn't a problem.

 

[kelj358]

Everything else being equal, more frequent injections usually produces lower hematocrit levels than less frequent injections. With E2, you're probably going to see that go up, only because your trough level is now higher. Don't treat the E2 number though. If you don't have estrogenic sides, it isn't a problem.

Thanks. That's what I was looking for.