I have SERIOUS concern about being on T.R.T need Advice

[DanMac]

Thanks,  i know they might ask about drugs on the form.  anyways you know the score how it goes brother.  I not really a druggie though which is true lol.

[Joe Sixpack]

If I recall correctly, the Red Cross asks about illegal drug use.  The also ask if you share needles with others.  TRT is not illegal drug use if it is prescribed by a doctor.  So you would be fine to donate.  I assume you would not use used needles to inject with. 

I have never had any problems donating blood and I am on TRT.   

[Regulus]

Why not just donate blood anyway?

Even if you don't need it medically yourself, it's a good thing to do.

That's good but where is best place to donate Blood in the U.K Regulus?

Sorry, I have no idea about the UK, I live on the other side of the pond.   But surely blood donations are needed in the UK and they can't be that hard to find!

[Mr.L]

Dan,

I have read that cream causes less of a problem with high hematocrit but I have seen no real proof of that. Mine was slightly elevated recently but I had been taking an Iron sup for low ferritin. I didn't have any symptoms really except a nagging headache which could be from a number of things. I think it is important to stay within the normal limit but I don't think it is a problem unless you T gets really high or you are taking extra iron (but WTF do I know, seriously that's simply speculation based on my own experience). and donating seems to be a quick fix, plus it helps people. I donated to Red Cross a couple of weeks ago with no problems. I used to donate regularly until I learned I had low ferritin. They ask if you inject any drugs NOT prescribed by a doctor so you would be fine. I do not think your concern over High Hematocrit should impede your treatment of low testosterone, just an opinion.

-L

[Cataceous]

...
I have read that cream causes less of a problem with high hematocrit but I have seen no real proof of that. ...

It's possible the impression comes from studies like this one, which says "While all forms of [testosterone therapy] may lead to increases in Hct, the rate of erythrocytosis in our study was significantly higher with injectable T (66.7%) when compared with T pellets (35.1%) and T gels (12.8%)." But further on they acknowledge that this may simply be a result of much higher serum testosterone attained via injections—about double that of the other methods.

Erythrocytosis also occurred significantly earlier in men on injectable T formulations when compared with the other two formulations. While the mechanism of T-induced erythrocytosis is unclear, erythrocytosis is associated with supraphysiologic T and E levels [1,2,12,27], as well as hepcidin, dihydrotesosterone and erythropoietin levels, and androgen receptor CAG repeat length [9,36–38]. It should be noted that mean T levels in men treated with injectable T were higher than those treated with gels or pellets, which may contribute to the increased likelihood of erythroctyosis in this group. However, it is unclear whether this increased rate of erythrocytosis is related to peak T levels or overall higher serum T levels. In our cohort, men on injectable T had the highest increases in serum T and E levels, whereas data were not available for the other factors associated with erythrocytosis. Nevertheless, our data support an increased risk for erythrocytosis in men on injectable T formula- tions. While studies directly examining the effects of T dose on Hct are lacking, Wang et al. found a direct relationship between T gel dose and the rate of erythrocytosis, observing an increase in erythrocytosis rate from 11.3% to 17.9% when increasing T gel dose from 50 to 100 mg per day [28]. Thus, care should be taken when selecting and dosing T formulations and Hgb/Hct should be monitored regularly.

[cujet]

Wonder how Dan is doing?

[DanMac]

I am here Brothers, i like to REPORT some Good News,  i did a private blood test for Full Blood Count prior to T.R.T in June 2018, i started T.R.T on 15th July 1 month after and i did another FULL Blood Count this August 15TH to be exact,  i like to Mention i am 32 years old Almost 33 years old, and had the Testosterone Problems at 31 years almost 32, so over 1 year Suffering before i got onto the 10% Compounded TEST.   Anyways if you look here   is after 1 month on T.R.T  cream 10% Twice a day Morning & Night before bed.

Sample Dated : 15-Aug-18 9:48 AM
Sample Received : 16-Aug-18 9:11 AM
Result Reported : 16-Aug-18 2:21 PM
Sample Type: Capillary blood
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Test Result Normal Range Units Comment
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Blood Count
Haemoglobin 150** 130 - 170 g/L
Red Blood Cells 4.91** 4.40 - 5.80 x1012/L
Haematocrit 0.430** 0.380 - 0.500 L/L
Platelets 197**  150 - 400

Hemoglobin is 150 out of 130-170 scale which equals only 15 HEMOGLOBIN very nice.

and Haematocrit or **Blood Thickness** 0.430.  on scale of 0.38 to 0.50  so my 0.43 = 43%

This is all good also Considering i didn't hardly use any A.I at all, i used zero Arimidex on Cream 10% twice a day for a month. #

Here is my pre T.R.T Full Blood Count.

Haemoglobin 143** 130 - 170 g/L
Red Blood Cells 4.62** 4.40 - 5.80 x1012/L
Platelets 210**   150 - 400
Haematocrit 0.421** 0.380 - 0.500 L/L   0.421 or 42% only increased by 1% in 1 month i guess my body was in a very Anaemic STATE before.

Well i did in fact felt pre-anaemia for sure, my energy had plummeted and got tired from walking more than 40 minutes, now my Energy is pretty Solid.  i barely used any HCG at all too.  So this 1% increase 2 times a day Cream for 1 month with like 2 shots of HCG or so.   Had i used more HCG i would probably had higher ESTROGEN needed A.I more and probably more Hematocrit i don't know.     also back then my Hemoglobin was 14 so that went up 1 point too.   However these two blood tests were done both on Finger prick extraction which is Capillary.  They have state of the art equipment and say accuracy isn't too far off on Full Blood count on Venous Arm extraction. 

But i have zero High blood pressure too checked regularly,  but this is  Testosterone Cream & not a Long ester like Enanthate Injections where it's in your system 5 to 7 days, However everyone is different not everyone get's high blood pressure on T.R.T most Healthy people not at all.  Anyways i am doing fine Cujet, i don't have worry so far since it's only 43% that was done 8 days ago on 15th august, now it's 23rd today.  However i feel by next Monday i like to check Hematocrit by Arm blood draw with the same Lab perhaps.

Thanks for checking on me Cujet Brother, i am on the exact same Testosterone as you 10% i can't recall if your's is twice daily or not can remind me if like, and if u need any A.I's i didn't but i do have arimidex on hand still.   thanks everyone for being concerned also if you can tell me view on bloodwork and if that Lab has some Truth to the accuracy on taking full blood count on Capillary extraction too Arm.  Just had less Money at the time" to do Venous blood sample on the FBC test.   

Just wondered also if many of you guys take Aspirin's on TRT or Pure Fish Oil supplement for heart/blood health too. I like taking fish oils, need to buy some more.

*IMPORTANT stuff* I also try too remember to drink plenty of WATER on a Daily basis to keep blood Hydrated on TRT more so.  half gallon a day is goal try too.

Also since i didn't use the HCG too much at all, my Testicles are ThankFully still not gone smaller, still retaining their size & hang down not sucked up. i did use it few times but not much really.

Hope all is well with rest of your treatments.