New Blood work need advice

[Checkdis]

Hey guys,

I have been on TRT since March 2018 and got my new labs in. The only symptoms I have right now are frequency of urination. I weight 220LB and height is 6’. BP is 140/90 and HR 82-95 resting.

Protocol:
100mg Cypionate/week (50/50 Wed, Sat)
1050iu HCG/week (350, Mon, Wed, Sat)
.5mg Arimadex/week (.25mg Wes, Sat)

Supplments:
Vitamin D3 5000iu ED
K2 100mcg ED
Milk Thistle

I am more concerned about my AST, LDL, ALT. I do not drink any alcohol, and have a very clean diet. My sugar is as very limited. Also I do not take any heavy supplements like protein powder and multivitamins. I have not taken any medication like Tylenol.

Last year my abdominal ultrasound can back clean showing my liver has no inflammation and smooth. Also had an MRI and nothing came back. I have not had a biopsy yet.

I have had elevated ALT for over a year and a half now. But this is the first time seeing AST elevated. Also my BUN is low.

Also to add I just gave blood after those lab results. I did a Power Red donation.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vince Carter]

Gym? Weights? Exercise? Those can elevate AST/ALT...have you been fasting 8-10hrs before your blood work?

 

[Checkdis]

Gym? Weights? Exercise? Those can elevate AST/ALT...have you been fasting 8-10hrs before your blood work?

I actually have been a couch potato since April 2017 when everything started.

And yes I was fasting. I always fast for all my blood work.

 

[ratbag]

Do you have Hepatitis C? and do you know your FT4?

 

[Checkdis]

Do you have Hepatitis C? and do you know your FT4?

No I was tested for all hepatitis, all came back negative.

FT4 should be in the photos I uploaded I believe.

 

[Vince]

Your reverse T3 is 23.7 way too high, it needs to be under 15. Are you on any thyroid meds right now?

 

[Checkdis]

Your reverse T3 is 23.7 way too high, it needs to be under 15. Are you on any thyroid meds right now?

I’m actually quite happy about this RT3 reading. In the past I was all the way up as high as 30. Last month it was 28, and now it is 23.7. To answer your question, no I am not taking any medication related to the thyroid. But I have been reducing my stress, and eating adequately enough to manage my RT3. I think that is one thing i have greatly improved on. And I agree under 15 is optimal.

Seeing my Total T is 1000 taken on an off day for injection, I may decrease my 100mg weekly dosage of Cypionate to 75mg. I am going to decrease it by 25% every 2 months. Until i’m at a happy optimal range.

I’m starting to see high Hemoglobin, RBC and Hematocrit. Which I donated 2 pints of Power Red. Next month I will just do a normal blood donation.

 

[MarkM]

Your about to get into a vicious circle. High RT3 and donating blood to reduce hematocrit, will reduce iron and ferritin that you need to help bring RT3 down. Donating too often will bring your iron and ferritin way down which will impact how your thyroid functions.

I just learned that my Reverse T3 is very high, 26.5, and I can really only attribute it to one thing, low iron and ferritin from donating too often for many years. So I am stopping the blood donations so I can get my iron and ferritin levels back up.

Just be careful and do not donate too often. More than three times a year is not healthy.

 

[ratbag]

Ok I see the FT4 you are at only 50%. Optimally it should be in the top third of range which is over 66%. I had the same thing at 50% I had hypothyroid symptoms that were resolved once I got my FT4 above 66%

Also as suggested you need to know your ferritin. Only two things cause high RT3, low ferritin and or low cortisol and your morning cortisol does not look good. It's low. Get your cortisol and ferrtin to decent values and your RT3 drops and T3 finally gets in to your cells and you start to feel really good.

 

[Checkdis]

Those are good points, I guess I should stick to power red donations, which is what I did originally. Then the plasma is pumped back into me. So technically I don’t lose anything except RBC.

 

[Vince Carter]

I dont think it works that way but I'd love to see some real evidence that a power red or whatever other names it passes for wouldn't deplete Ferritin/Iron.

 

[Checkdis]

I dont think it works that way but I'd love to see some real evidence that a power red or whatever other names it passes for wouldn't deplete Ferritin/Iron.

I had the assumption this was the safest type of donating blood? Assuming if my ferritin and iron levels were low, wouldn’t I have been light headed or passed out? I stood up just fine walked out, drove home and went on with my day.

The only sensation I had was when they pumped my plasma back in, was my lungs felt a little heavy and cool with a slight shortness of breath. Also my lips felt as if they were tingly. Other than that is was straight forward.

But thank you guys for letting me know next time to check my ferritin and iron levels. I’ll just eat a lot of spinach the day before lol

 

[madman]

Those are good points, I guess I should stick to power red donations, which is what I did originally. Then the plasma is pumped back into me. So technically I don’t lose anything except RBC.

Every time you loose RBC's iron is lost and is in no way replaced by having plasma/platelets pumped back in.

https://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/hemoglobin_and_functions_of_iron/

 

[madman]

I’m actually quite happy about this RT3 reading. In the past I was all the way up as high as 30. Last month it was 28, and now it is 23.7. To answer your question, no I am not taking any medication related to the thyroid. But I have been reducing my stress, and eating adequately enough to manage my RT3. I think that is one thing i have greatly improved on. And I agree under 15 is optimal.

Seeing my Total T is 1000 taken on an off day for injection, I may decrease my 100mg weekly dosage of Cypionate to 75mg. I am going to decrease it by 25% every 2 months. Until i’m at a happy optimal range.

I’m starting to see high Hemoglobin, RBC and Hematocrit. Which I donated 2 pints of Power Red. Next month I will just do a normal blood donation.

Forget about worrying where your TT sits as even though it is good to know your FT is what really matters as it is the unbound active fraction of testosterone responsible for the positive benefits.

You SHBG is on the lower end and your FT can easily come down some.

 

[Vince]

I had the assumption this was the safest type of donating blood? Assuming if my ferritin and iron levels were low, wouldn’t I have been light headed or passed out? I stood up just fine walked out, drove home and went on with my day.

The only sensation I had was when they pumped my plasma back in, was my lungs felt a little heavy and cool with a slight shortness of breath. Also my lips felt as if they were tingly. Other than that is was straight forward.

But thank you guys for letting me know next time to check my ferritin and iron levels. I’ll just eat a lot of spinach the day before lol

Every time I did a double red blood donation my iron levels would drop very low so low that they wouldn't let we do a double the next time I donated.

 

[MarkM]

Every time I did a double red blood donation my iron levels would drop very low so low that they wouldn't let we do a double the next time I donated.

That's what happens on a Double Red or Power Red Donation. They take double the amount of RBC's than a regular donation. That means your hematocrit will drop more than a regular donation and your iron, which is carried in your hemoglobin drops even more than a regular donation. That's how the American Red Cross explained it to me when I asked.

 

[Vince Carter]

Typical whole blood 1 pint reduces things 3% (or 3 points however you look at it), whereas Dr Saya has told us a double red is more on the order of 6%. Whether that's HCT + RBC or some combination I don't know. BUt one would *think a dbl red would also do the same to one's Ferritin.

 

[Vince]

That's what happens on a Double Red or Power Red Donation. They take double the amount of RBC's than a regular donation. That means your hematocrit will drop more than a regular donation and your iron, which is carried in your hemoglobin drops even more than a regular donation. That's how the American Red Cross explained it to me when I asked.

Yep that's what happens. Luckily I'm no longer donating blood and hopefully I'll never need to.

 

[Vince Carter]

I hope Ive donated for the last time a week ago.

 

[MarkM]

Good for you! That's on goal you can cross off your list.