High hematocrit.

[2016aldoraine]

My hematocrit has been a little high. What is the fastest way to bring it down as I have my next blood draw coming up? And what are some tricks to keep it down that I can do on a regular basis without lowering my test dosage?

 

[Mb4377]

Give blood...

 

[2016aldoraine]

Give blood...

Does it bring it down significantly? How many days before my blood test should I do a blood donation?

 

[lucius11]

I find that a whole blood donation knocks me down 2 points in Hemoglobin. There is also a double red cell donation (they have a machine) but if your blood is thick (and yours is) they may not want to do it. The blood donation folks will tell you if this is an option.

If my Hemoglobin was 17 (upper end of normal range) I'll be at around 15 after donation. One week before blood testing should be just fine. As for Hematocrit, I never really checked for the reduction but a whole blood donation will knock that down nicely too.

This is pretty much your only option. You have to donate blood. If you are really worried whether a single donation will get it done, you can always do your own blood test after donation and see where you are at. Several years ago, I did this since my local doc would have reduced my dose if my Hemo came in high.

 

[mike036]

You can do a regular whole blood donation every 56 days .also make sure you are hydrated because being dehydrated will increase your hematocrit .

 

[Kaladryn]

You can increase your blood volume with cardiovascular exercise which will lead to a lower hematocrit. It sounds counter intuitive but is usually highly effective. So effective in fact that exercise induced anemia is fairly common because it.

You can also make sure you are keeping your test levels in "normal" ranges (ie 600-800) instead of the normal 800-1000 or higher that most people on TRT seem to prefer...

As stated above, blood donations are the standard way (always whole, never double, double puts your platelets back, you want the platelets gone, that is what makes blood "sticky").

Personally I think most people will stabilize at safe levels without donations unless they have a blood disorder or are taking too much.

 

[2016aldoraine]

You can increase your blood volume with cardiovascular exercise which will lead to a lower hematocrit. It sounds counter intuitive but is usually highly effective. So effective in fact that exercise induced anemia is fairly common because it.



You can also make sure you are keeping your test levels in "normal" ranges (ie 600-800) instead of the normal 800-1000 or higher that most people on TRT seem to prefer...



As stated above, blood donations are the standard way (always whole, never double, double puts your platelets back, you want the platelets gone, that is what makes blood "sticky").



Personally I think most people will stabilize at safe levels without donations unless they have a blood disorder or are taking too much.

I was probably going a little over board on weekly dosage. I was experimenting to see what dosage I felt best at. I'm usually into the 800's at 45mg 2 x weekly. But I was dosing up to 65mg 2 x weekly. I felt better at the higher dose but I guess I better tone it down.

 

[Ashop]

My hematocrit has been a little high. What is the fastest way to bring it down as I have my next blood draw coming up? And what are some tricks to keep it down that I can do on a regular basis without lowering my test dosage?

Just curious on what your TRT dosage is?

 

[HangingOn]

I find that a whole blood donation knocks me down 2 points in Hemoglobin. There is also a double red cell donation (they have a machine) but if your blood is thick (and yours is) they may not want to do it. The blood donation folks will tell you if this is an option.

If my Hemoglobin was 17 (upper end of normal range) I'll be at around 15 after donation. One week before blood testing should be just fine. As for Hematocrit, I never really checked for the reduction but a whole blood donation will knock that down nicely too.

This is pretty much your only option. You have to donate blood. If you are really worried whether a single donation will get it done, you can always do your own blood test after donation and see where you are at. Several years ago, I did this since my local doc would have reduced my dose if my Hemo came in high.

Since hematocrit is always roughly 3x hemoglobin....I'd presume 2 points lower on hemo would equate to about 6 lower on hematocrit.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[2016aldoraine]

Just curious on what your TRT dosage is?

Im prescribed 45mg, 2 x per week. But have been using 65mg 2 x per week.

 

[lucius11]

After doing a bunch more reading, it seems that lowering hematocrit is not quite as simple as lowering Hemoglobin. All the other posts generally confirm this. I notice my hematocrit is always in range about a week after whole blood donation. As for how long it stays lowered ... I don't know. Anything you can do to increase blood volume will help as folks pointed out.

If you are trying to present blood work to keep your doctor happy, donate blood a week before your blood test and do what you can to increase blood volume. If you are trying to keep it in range all of the time (or most of the time) ... the stuff Kaladryn wrote does indeed make sense.

It's probably due to your dose being a bit too high. I'm sure I'm in the same boat since my Hematocrit can run a bit high. This is just what your body does on 65mg 2x per week.

 

[Kaladryn]

I was probably going a little over board on weekly dosage. I was experimenting to see what dosage I felt best at. I'm usually into the 800's at 45mg 2 x weekly. But I was dosing up to 65mg 2 x weekly. I felt better at the higher dose but I guess I better tone it down.

How you feel might be more important than any number, if your crit is in the 51-53 range I wouldn't be concerned, but I'm not a hematologist... The problem would be if it is continually climbing, which is rare.

 

[2016aldoraine]

So I donated blood today. Hemoglobin was 166 which is good. Not sure about hematocrit.

Do I have to wait before I get a blood test now? Or can I go get my blood test done for the doc the next day?

 

[nothuman]

So I donated blood today. Hemoglobin was 166 which is good. Not sure about hematocrit.

Do I have to wait before I get a blood test now? Or can I go get my blood test done for the doc the next day?

You mean ferritin was 166? You would have been dead a long time ago if that was your hemoglobin.

And no you don't have to wait to get your blood test.

 

[mike036]

So I donated blood today. Hemoglobin was 166 which is good. Not sure about hematocrit.

Do I have to wait before I get a blood test now? Or can I go get my blood test done for the doc the next day?

Did you mean your hemoglobin was 16(which is normal ),because with a hemoglobin of 166 you would be in trouble if not dead

 

[2016aldoraine]

Did you mean your hemoglobin was 16(which is normal ),because with a hemoglobin of 166 you would be in trouble if not dead

I should have included the measurement. 166 g/L

I'm in Canada. Sometimes we use different measurements. Does this make more sense?

 

[lucius11]

Just as an example, per a blood test mid June:

Hemoglobin - 16.8 (ref range 12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit - 51.2 (ref range 37.5-51.0) - High

I donated a pint of whole blood mid July - they measured Hemoglobin as 18.5 (high) via finger stick. My real Hemo level was probably more like 17.5 at that point since the finger stick test seems to come in a bit high. I waited a bit too long to donate.

Just got some follow up blood work back yesterday (about a month after donation):

Hemoglobin - 16.3 (ref range 12.6-17.7)
Hematocrit - 49.2 (ref range 37.5-51.0)

So you can see how nicely a blood donatation keeps everything in range - regardless of my dose. I try to stay hydrated, but blood donation seems to really be a big factor. I'll donate again in September once the 56 days is up.

 

[2016aldoraine]

Just as an example, per a blood test mid June:



Hemoglobin - 16.8 (ref range 12.6-17.7)

Hematocrit - 51.2 (ref range 37.5-51.0) - High



I donated a pint of whole blood mid July - they measured Hemoglobin as 18.5 (high) via finger stick. My real Hemo level was probably more like 17.5 at that point since the finger stick test seems to come in a bit high. I waited a bit too long to donate.



Just got some follow up blood work back yesterday (about a month after donation):



Hemoglobin - 16.3 (ref range 12.6-17.7)

Hematocrit - 49.2 (ref range 37.5-51.0)



So you can see how nicely a blood donatation keeps everything in range - regardless of my dose. I try to stay hydrated, but blood donation seems to really be a big factor. I'll donate again in September once the 56 days is up.

Thanks for the information. It's really good to hear!

One question, how long did you wait after donating blood to go for your next blood draw?

 

[lucius11]

One question, how long did you wait after donating blood to go for your next blood draw?

In this case I waited a month - no reason, that's just what the timing was. I just do regular donations to keep everything in check.

If I was donating blood prior to a blood test, I wait a week. After a whole blood donation, your body replaces the missing blood volume (plasma) within a day or so. So you could wait a few days and do your blood work. I just tend to wait a week.

 

[lucius11]

If your numbers are really off, you can give two whole blood donations within a week or two. Obviously, this is not very good for you. They have that 56 day rule for a reason. You have to pick two separate blood donation organizations, they don't cross check. You would only do this of your Hemo was up approaching 20 ... which is a disaster but can happen. If this was the case, you would need more than one donation to get on track (and the Red Cross folks might even decline to take the blood).

One problem with these kinds of rapid donations is that you can deplete your iron stores (ferretin). Even though your Hemoglobin and Hematocrit will be back in the normal range, your ferretin levels can take a hit.

Just to get a data point, in my last blood test I checked my ferritin levels:

108 ng/mL (reference range 30 - 400)

About 4 years ago I needed a rapid set of donations to get on track. It worked and the local doc did not even notice. I did not check the ferritin levels at that time - but I can see they are generally OK now.