Low Ferritin Level and High HCT

[delmiro]

Hi ExcelMale community,

Can you please provide some feedback and thoughts on this? I’ve been on TRT for about 9 years. Four months ago, I decided to switch from my long-standing protocol of 20 mg subcutaneous injections every other day to testosterone cream, in an effort to manage my blood pressure.

The cream didn’t work for me. I experienced too many ups and downs, it was very difficult to dial in. My testosterone levels would spike above 1700 ng/dL, then drop below 70 ng/dL within 24 hours, leaving me with significant low-T symptoms. I’m assuming this instability may have also ramped up my hematocrit (HCT) and further depleted my ferritin?

Over the past 7 months, I’ve donated blood four times (last time I donated was 2 months ago). Also, two months ago, I switched back to injections, but this time changed my protocol to 10 mg daily subcutaneous injections(instead of the EOD schedule I had used for years).

Here are my latest lab results (drawn yesterday):

• Iron, Total: 61
• Iron Binding Capacity: 358
• % Saturation: 17
• Ferritin: 13
• Hematocrit: 51.2 (note: I’ve donated blood 4 times in the past 7 months)
• Total Testosterone: 778
• Free Testosterone: 188
• Bioavailable Testosterone: 412.8
• Albumin: 4.8
• SHBG: 16

My questions:

1. Can hematocrit (HCT) come down naturally without further blood donations to help prevent ferritin from crashing even more?
2. Would reducing my daily dose from 10 mg to 8 mg help prevent HCT from increasing further?
3. Would supplementing with vitamin C to aid iron absorption be helpful, or could it potentially raise HCT further?

Thanks in advance for your time and input.

 

[WhiteMale]

It may be just a me thing but when I went to cream it was multiple times per day. Really changed everything, for me. HCT is fairly stable, donate 1 whole pint 12-14 months. I recommend you go back and try again as it sounds your cream strategy was just wrong.

 

[delmiro]

Hi ExcelMale community,

Can you please provide some feedback and thoughts on this? I’ve been on TRT for about 9 years. Four months ago, I decided to switch from my long-standing protocol of 20 mg subcutaneous injections every other day to testosterone cream, in an effort to manage my blood pressure.

The cream didn’t work for me. I experienced too many ups and downs, it was very difficult to dial in. My testosterone levels would spike above 1700 ng/dL, then drop below 70 ng/dL within 24 hours, leaving me with significant low-T symptoms. I’m assuming this instability may have also ramped up my hematocrit (HCT) and further depleted my ferritin?

Over the past 7 months, I’ve donated blood four times (last time I donated was 2 months ago). Also, two months ago, I switched back to injections, but this time changed my protocol to 10 mg daily subcutaneous injections(instead of the EOD schedule I had used for years).

Here are my latest lab results (drawn yesterday):

• Iron, Total: 61
• Iron Binding Capacity: 358
• % Saturation: 17
• Ferritin: 13
• Hematocrit: 51.2 (note: I’ve donated blood 4 times in the past 7 months)
• Total Testosterone: 778
• Free Testosterone: 188
• Bioavailable Testosterone: 412.8
• Albumin: 4.8
• SHBG: 16

My questions:

1. Can hematocrit (HCT) come down naturally without further blood donations to help prevent ferritin from crashing even more?
2. Would reducing my daily dose from 10 mg to 8 mg help prevent HCT from increasing further?
3. Would supplementing with vitamin C to aid iron absorption be helpful, or could it potentially raise HCT further?

Thanks in advance for your time and input.

Bumping the post up to see if I get more people to reply.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

Are you sure you were maximally hydrated when you did the test? I think that can impact HCT. I've gone to getting tested late morning and drinking at least half a gallon of water beforehand which seems to help.