Does Sleep Apnea Cause Elevated Hematocrit?

[CROM]

Will sleep apnea alone cause clinically high Hematocrit? If so, will a CPAP machine lower it?

I don’t know that I actually have sleep apnea but I will be getting tested in 2 weeks. But even before TRT I had borderline/clinically high Hematocrit, at least since 2013. Before that it was normal.

Has anyone here used a CPAP machine and lowered their Hematocrit? I’m just trying to gather info before I go to doctor.

 

[Vince]

A CPAP machine should lower your HCT if you are found to have apnea.

 

[Pringle]

Will sleep apnea alone cause clinically high Hematocrit? If so, will a CPAP machine lower it?

I don’t know that I actually have sleep apnea but I will be getting tested in 2 weeks. But even before TRT I had borderline/clinically high Hematocrit, at least since 2013. Before that it was normal.

Has anyone here used a CPAP machine and lowered their Hematocrit? I’m just trying to gather info before I go to doctor.

I have severe sleep apnea and I would say my results are inconclusive at this point. My first bloodwork showed a drop in HCT after a month of using my CPAP. My second bloodwork 8 weeks later HCT was elevated significantly (53.6) and I had to complete a phlebotomy. I am a few weeks away from the third set of bloodwork since starting CPAP use.

 

[fifty]

Yes

 

[Vince Carter]

The only answers are maybe, and maybe. Saying it in a definitive sense like YES or WILL would be flawed.

Will sleep apnea alone cause clinically high Hematocrit? If so, will a CPAP machine lower it?

 

[fifty]

My pre trt hct was 51. Then it got up to 54.5. Several blood donations to keep it low 50s.

Started cpap and didn’t donate for a few months latest hct was 48.7 which is lower than pre trt. This seems to indicate cpap helped me in this regard.

Note that I think every sleep study places tells you you have sleep apnea so they can sell you stuff and bill you or your insurance a grand over the next year...just like every trt place tells you they can help you when your total t is 700.

 

[Reason]

I second what fifty said about sleep places pushing CPAP. This happened to me about 5 years ago. If your insurance covers it, by all means give it a shot, but it's incredible how quickly they push you palliative devices without even looking at underlying causes.

 

[captain]

Try a recording pulse oximeter overnight and see what you get. I would guess asthma can cause problems as well. The better your lungs and the air you breath the better you may be in the end.

 

[bluepillsissy]

CPAP lowered my HCT from around 53 to 48....Developed Sleep Apnea after I started TRT

 

[Outcome]

@fifty do you still use the cpap? Do you tolerate it well enough.? Do most people find them cumbersome

 

[fifty]

I still use it. It’s a bit cumbersome but you kinda get used to it.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

The complex relation between obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, hypogonadism and testosterone replacement therapy

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is an under-recognized medical disease. The main risk factors for OSAS are male sex, older age, obesity, and metabolic syndrome, that are also associated with male hypogonadism (MH). Therefore, obesity has been ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov