How to replenish low Iron while on TRT

[Luca_03]

Hi All,

How can I replenish my Iron levels? My doctor wanted my hematocrit to come down from 53 back in the summer time. Its now at 49.3. I did 3 blood donations. One in May 2018, Aug 2018 and Oct 2018.

My ferritin was at a score of 17 on my Oct blood tests. At that time the doc said to stop blood donations and I didnt do anymore since Oct. My ferritin is still at 17 on my blood test done a few days ago. The test says Nomal ferritin range is 30-400. My Iron saturation has changed since october also. Now it is at 11 (normal range is 15-55). UIBC also changed, it went up at 373 (normal range is 111-343.). My RBC is also a tiny bit high at 5.98 (normal range 4.14-5.80) maybe from not being hydrated before the blood test. And RDW is a tad high at 15.5 (normal range is 12.3-15.4).

Could my Iron still be depleted since my last donation in Oct 2018? I am also vegetarian.

I dont want to cause my hematocrit to go high either. Its been at 49.3 on my last two blood tests ever since Oct. So its good that it has remained stable. If I take Iron pills lets say three times a week or even twice a week for the next 4 weeks will this cause my hematocrit to go up also?

Ive noticed a little bit of losing hair ever since beginning blood donations back in May and a bit of fatigue.

What should I do to increase iron but not jeapordize hematocrit levels? Just take iron pills?

(TRT regimen is 0.35ml 2x a week)
(HCG 0.50ml 2x a week)

Thanks!

 

[HealthMan]

Hi All,

How can I replenish my Iron levels? My doctor wanted my hematocrit to come down from 53 back in the summer time. Its now at 49.3. I did 3 blood donations. One in May 2018, Aug 2018 and Oct 2018.

My ferritin was at a score of 17 on my Oct blood tests. At that time the doc said to stop blood donations and I didnt do anymore since Oct. My ferritin is still at 17 on my blood test done a few days ago. The test says Nomal ferritin range is 30-400. My Iron saturation has changed since october also. Now it is at 11 (normal range is 15-55). UIBC also changed, it went up at 373 (normal range is 111-343.). My RBC is also a tiny bit high at 5.98 (normal range 4.14-5.80) maybe from not being hydrated before the blood test. And RDW is a tad high at 15.5 (normal range is 12.3-15.4).

Could my Iron still be depleted since my last donation in Oct 2018? I am also vegetarian.

I dont want to cause my hematocrit to go high either. Its been at 49.3 on my last two blood tests ever since Oct. So its good that it has remained stable. If I take Iron pills lets say three times a week or even twice a week for the next 4 weeks will this cause my hematocrit to go up also?

Ive noticed a little bit of losing hair ever since beginning blood donations back in May and a bit of fatigue.

What should I do to increase iron but not jeapordize hematocrit levels? Just take iron pills?

(TRT regimen is 0.35ml 2x a week)
(HCG 0.50ml 2x a week)

Thanks!

Very common problem. You are donating too often to reduce HCT and this is depleting your ferritin. If you take iron supplements your ferritin will improve but your HCT will go up. Then you need to donate again. Never ending vicious cycle. My advise would be to try to reduce your dosage and see if that helps control your HCT without the need to donate. Some members have reported benefits from using grapefruit extract or BP meds like losartan. Other members inject more frequently and believe that helps control their HCT. But there is no proof these things work. Reducing your dosage is the best approach in my opinion if you are concerned about low ferritin and high HCT. What is your TT and FT levels?
I fought high HCT low ferritin for 2 years. The problem was only resolved when I lowered my testosterone dosage and kept my FT in the low mid 20s at trough. My current testosterone dosage is 50mg 2x a week. For instance at 60mg 2x a week I still had problems with HCT

 

[HealthMan]

To your other questions. Ferritin takes time to recover. After 11 months without donating blood and not taking iron supplements my ferritin went from 20ish to 70ish. Keep in mind that testosterone itself has a lowering effect on ferritin.
If you HCT has been stable since October that is a good sign. Maybe a small reduction in your dosage can do the trick. If i were you i would try 60mg twice a week depending where your TT and FT levels are. Of course always consult with you doctor

 

[MarcoFL]

Hi All,

How can I replenish my Iron levels? My doctor wanted my hematocrit to come down from 53 back in the summer time. Its now at 49.3. I did 3 blood donations. One in May 2018, Aug 2018 and Oct 2018.

My ferritin was at a score of 17 on my Oct blood tests. At that time the doc said to stop blood donations and I didnt do anymore since Oct. My ferritin is still at 17 on my blood test done a few days ago. The test says Nomal ferritin range is 30-400. My Iron saturation has changed since october also. Now it is at 11 (normal range is 15-55). UIBC also changed, it went up at 373 (normal range is 111-343.). My RBC is also a tiny bit high at 5.98 (normal range 4.14-5.80) maybe from not being hydrated before the blood test. And RDW is a tad high at 15.5 (normal range is 12.3-15.4).

Could my Iron still be depleted since my last donation in Oct 2018? I am also vegetarian.

I dont want to cause my hematocrit to go high either. Its been at 49.3 on my last two blood tests ever since Oct. So its good that it has remained stable. If I take Iron pills lets say three times a week or even twice a week for the next 4 weeks will this cause my hematocrit to go up also?

Ive noticed a little bit of losing hair ever since beginning blood donations back in May and a bit of fatigue.

What should I do to increase iron but not jeapordize hematocrit levels? Just take iron pills?

(TRT regimen is 0.35ml 2x a week)
(HCG 0.50ml 2x a week)

Thanks!

why did you donate in first place? 49HCT? did your doctor tell you to donate???? I donated twice and took over a year to recover! unless my HCT gets over 53 my doctor does not care. Some can donate all the time but I cannot period.

 

[Luca_03]

To your other questions. Ferritin takes time to recover. After 11 months without donating blood and not taking iron supplements my ferritin went from 20ish to 70ish. Keep in mind that testosterone itself has a lowering effect on ferritin.
If you HCT has been stable since October that is a good sign. Maybe a small reduction in your dosage can do the trick. If i were you i would try 60mg twice a week depending where your TT and FT levels are. Of course always consult with you doctor

My Testosterone in Oct was 504. Free Testost (direct) was 15.4 At that time I was on 0.32ml 2x per week. The doc increased my dose slowly to 0.35ml 2x a week to get my numbers up a bit. This new blood test I did this week shows that I am at 620. But this time my free testosterone got a tiny bit higher. Its now at 25. The range is (7.2 - 24.0)

I dont know what will happen to my testosterone numbers if I reduce my dose to 0.30ml 2x a week as you say. I have to ask the Dr if this is wise. Otherwise do I just have to wait another 6 months for ferritin to be stable? What if it never stabilizes LoL. I guess Iron pills are counterintuitive then.

 

[Vince Carter]

AS noted this is kind of a vicious cycle these Dr's put us in, donate, destroy Ferritin, take Iron, HCT returns, donate, Ferritin destroyed...and on and on.

This is worth some consideration

 

[Luca_03]

AS noted this is kind of a vicious cycle these Dr's put us in, donate, destroy Ferritin, take Iron, HCT returns, donate, Ferritin destroyed...and on and on.

This is worth some consideration

Yea I dont blame my doctor though. He didnt tell me to do all three blood donations that I did. He only told me to do the very first one in Summer when my HCT was at 53. I then took it upon myself to continue doing them fearing my HCT would rise if I dont. To my surprise my HCT on my June blood test was 49, Oct blood test was 49 and now Feb blood test is still 49. I guess the TRT dose he has me on is Ok now, since my HCT has been stable. It was a poor decision for me to keep donating.

 

[Vince Carter]

Some guys stabilize, if that's happening for you then it's great news.

 

[Gman86]

Ya at 49 your HCT is perfect. You actually want a fairly high HCT and HGB, there’s a ton of benefits to both. More red blood cells, and more oxygen in each one of those cells, is always going to be a good thing, to a certain extent obviously. It’s actually high platelets that should be more of the concern when it comes to worrying about excess clotting/ cardiovascular blockages, DVT. Obviously you still want HCT and HGB in balance, but you don’t have to fear either one being high as much as you are. Many people that live at high altitudes have very high HGB and HCT levels, and are not at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. This is because increased blood viscosity, and increased clotting comes more from increased platelets, than it does high red blood cell count or high levels of oxygen carrying proteins within those red blood cells. So as long as you keep your HCT under around 54, you have nothing to worry about. HCT can probably go a little higher without any need to be concerned, but just to be on the safe side, I would personally keep it under 54. Focus more on making sure your platelets aren’t too high. Me, for example, had a HCT of 54 recently, and my platelets were actually on the low end of normal. So most men would of been freaking out with my level of HCT, but in reality, my risk for increased clotting and cardiovascular complications were actually extremely low. So just don’t donate for a year or so, make sure your platelets are within a good range, don’t supplement with iron, adjust dosage if needed, and your ferritin will eventually come up, and I’m sure HCT will stay under 54.

 

[lowTengineer]

Ferritin takes time to recover. After 11 months without donating blood and not taking iron supplements my ferritin went from 20ish to 70ish.

If you take iron supplements your ferritin will improve but your HCT will go up.

I also have low iron/ferritin. I've never donated blood but still had low ferritin. I've been supplementing daily for 8 months and my ferritin has from 30's to 70's. Very interesting that it is similar to yours without supplements.

Maybe the hct rise with ferritin is an individual response. Over the same 8 months mine has gone from 47 to 48.

 

[Luca_03]

Well I wont be able to see my doc for another month to go over all my recent blood test. But for the ferritin issue he said I can take ferrous sulfate 325mg (twice per week). He did not mention reducing my TRT dose because he wants my numbers to get better, not worse. Since I am vegetarian, I cannot get iron from any meat sources. I can only have (plant type iron: spinach, lentils, beans, nuts etc...)

Would iron twice a week for the next 3 months (until my next blood panel) really increase my HCT that much? It seems like hes prescribing a low safe dose of iron, but I am not sure what it will do to my HCT. Should I just experiment and take it 2x a week and see what happens on next blood panel?

 

[Vince Carter]

No one knows how the iron supplement hits HCT/HGB it's just something that we suspect can happen.

To aid iron absorption you can use Vitamin-C, and even some L-Lysine.

 

[VacationMan]

Like some others, I suffered with hematocrit issues due to TRT. I started blood donations to help bring that down below 50. Giving blood tanked my iron and ferritin levels. Started taking a product called Hemaplex. 3 capsules every other day with orange juice (to enhance absorbtion). In less than 3 months, iron and ferritin levels are back in range and I feel good. Just know that you can over-do it on iron supplements, so do be sure to monitor with blood work.