Hemoglobin / Hemocrit increased risk of Heart Attack

[Hawk]

I am in my 50's and was diagnosed around age 43 with FMS. For years I suffered and became worse. Around age 49 I read a article about Women with FMS being treated with HRT for Testosterone. My T was low but not abnormal according to VA tests but an Endocrinologist agreed to let me try it.

It DID NOT cure my FMS but made it much more tolerable. My Sed rate which was elevated since I became ill plummeted from a high of 119 to a low of just 8! The testes returned to a normal size. The FMS Fog lifted and I regained my clarity of thought. I went from a nearly 300lb blob on the couch surrounded by pillows to an active person and my weight started dropping for the first time. Currently under 230lbs and dropping still. My creativity returned (I was an artist). Life seemed worth living again and sex had nothing to do with it.

Now following a Hemocrit level of 54% and 17.5 Hemoglobin the VA wants to take me off the T and the new doctors say I never should have started. I do not want to return to that blob. I doubt the results of tests that show increased Heart Attacks. And it seems my Sed rate should be a factor as well in that consideration.

Does anyone know how to get these tests to return to acceptable levels? Are they really that high?

Any help appreciated.

 

[Tom Larabee]

Donate Blood. Simple as that. High levels can be caused by TRT and lowering them via managed donation will resolve the high levels.

 

[steelballz]

Sooner the better. You get much higher they won't accept a donation.
My level right before TRT:
Hema = 44.3
Hemo = 15
Highest level on TRT before donating:
Hema = 49.3
Hemo = 17.1
Just last week after my third donation:
Hema = 46.8
Hemo = 16.3
And I always feel fantastic after the donation

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Hawk

Please read this. If you can donate, please do it. If you cannot, ask for an order for phlebotomy of 1 unit.

How to Manage Polycythemia Caused by Testosterone Replacement Therapy

 

[Hawk]

Unlikely I could donate due to the FMS and medications I take. I doubt the doctors would prescribe the phlebotomy in order to keep me on the T since they now believe I never should have been on it. The VA doesn't work that way unfortunately.

I have not been drinking a lot of water, is it possible that being dehydrated could have been the cause of the high levels or would you have to be severely dehydrated.

I did also about 1 year ago move to a much higher altitude and I regularly go up to 8000ft or higher. On a daily basis I am at about 3500ft. Enough that I do notice it since I previously lived right at sea level.

Thanks for the feedback.