You have Polycythemia!

[Dzone]

I finally got a doctor that I could talk openly about using black market testosterone for about 30 years.
She said "Ok, fine, but we need to get some blood work done asap"
She called me this morning and said I have polycythemia, too many red blood cells, and its making my blood thick and leaving me susceptible to a stoke or heart attack.
She told me to stop the testosterone for a while until she can do a sleep apnea test to see if sleep apnea is the reason for the polycythemia. She told me to start taking a baby aspirin per day.
She will prescribe testosterone replacement if everything is okay and I will get my testosterone paid for by insurance rather than buying it on the black market. I asked her if donating blood would help but she said lets see what the sleep study reveals.
Ive been on 400-600 mg testosterone enanthate and cypionate per month for damn near 30 years. Never had a single problem until now. Holy shit.
Anybody else ever have to deal with polycythemia?

[jipped genes]

Re: You have Polycythemia!

I have never heard it called that but I have had high hematocrit. I do have sleep apnea. Tried a cpap machine with no luck. Just could not wear it. I did find that getting an articulating bed helped a lot. I sleep with my head and torso up at an incline and it has helped me to the point I feel way better. I just give blood regularly and I am just high normal now.

[guns01]

Re: You have Polycythemia!

I finally got a doctor that I could talk openly about using black market testosterone for about 30 years.
She said "Ok, fine, but we need to get some blood work done asap"
She called me this morning and said I have polycythemia, too many red blood cells, and its making my blood thick and leaving me susceptible to a stoke or heart attack.
She told me to stop the testosterone for a while until she can do a sleep apnea test to see if sleep apnea is the reason for the polycythemia. She told me to start taking a baby aspirin per day.
She will prescribe testosterone replacement if everything is okay and I will get my testosterone paid for by insurance rather than buying it on the black market. I asked her if donating blood would help but she said lets see what the sleep study reveals.
Ive been on 400-600 mg testosterone enanthate and cypionate per month for damn near 30 years. Never had a single problem until now. Holy shit.
Anybody else ever have to deal with polycythemia?

again another stupid fucking doctor that dont know shit. heart attack and stoke do come from thick blood yes but it comes from when your hemoglobin and platelettes are all fucked up. and yes that came from my doctor and he isnt the only one that i have heard say it. he said think about this? if that where the case then people that live at high alt and used hyperberic chambers would be stroking out and have heart attacks like it is cool and that is not the case. endurance athletes also have higher rbc and hemocrit than normal people. that diagnosis is 100% completely wrong. now with that said you dont want your numbers getting stupid high and you dont want to throw asprin in there unless you have other co risk factors. i use asprin but i also have a family history of heart troubles. i get labs every 6-8 wks and see a cardiologist every year for my echo and scans. i am completely clear of plaque and have almost no risk of a cardio event in the next 10 years from my last check. i dont have high bp or any other heart related issues either and my rbc and hemocrit run high and i also have severe sleep apnea but i use a cpap machine.

ditch the asprin and get some high quality fish oil and nattokinease and take that every day man. mophogene nutriton make a great product with both in it. that will keep your blood thin and lower your risk of clotting. pull a lab with cardio risk factors including apob and fasted insulin levels. those are much better indicators of heart risk than the ones she is making a bid deal about. if you are seriously concerned about your risk then get a nuclear stress test and a cardiac ct scan done. those will give you your calcium scores and see how well your ticker and arteries look. i hate docs that make dumb assumptions on shit that has been proven wrong in the last 10 years.

also at a minimum watch your platelettes and hemoglobin. those are the markers that my doc freaks out about before we look at anything else

[Jake11]

Re: You have Polycythemia!

I'd be surprised to find many guys that use more than normal TRT prescribed doses that do not have higher than normal HCT. I've had it for 20+ years. I used to go to the red cross a few times a year to donate. You can specifically donate "double red" or what I think they now call "Power Red". They take out blood, separate the red, put the other parts back in you, then do it again. What normally happened was I'd fail the initial qualification test for having off the charts HCT (when they prick your finger), then some manager would override with a code or whatever. I don't know if it ever really helped me but hopefully it helped someone else.
The last time I went was during the earlier parts of covid. for some reason, my BP was too high so they wouldn't let me donate. I thought that was really ridiculous so I haven't been back since.

[stacker]

Re: You have Polycythemia!

I was told the same thing. They now just gave me the diagnosis of polycythemia with unknown origin. They did a bone bio and all, not cancer. It's simply attributed to my test intake so my doc sent an order to the local blood center where I'm allowed to do a 'therapeutic blood draw' every 28 days...this keeps my hemocrit and red blood cell county down. I get blood work done every 6 months. Like you I've been on 600mgs of test a week for well over 30 years...had no problems until about 4 years ago with my red blood cell count, etc...it's well controlled now, with the exception of my iron levels, it's like a roller coaster trying to keep those in the norm.

Stacker...

[Jake11]

Re: You have Polycythemia!



again another stupid fucking doctor that dont know shit. heart attack and stoke do come from thick blood yes but it comes from when your hemoglobin and platelettes are all fucked up. and yes that came from my doctor and he isnt the only one that i have heard say it. he said think about this? if that where the case then people that live at high alt and used hyperberic chambers would be stroking out and have heart attacks like it is cool and that is not the case. endurance athletes also have higher rbc and hemocrit than normal people. that diagnosis is 100% completely wrong. now with that said you dont want your numbers getting stupid high and you dont want to throw asprin in there unless you have other co risk factors. i use asprin but i also have a family history of heart troubles. i get labs every 6-8 wks and see a cardiologist every year for my echo and scans. i am completely clear of plaque and have almost no risk of a cardio event in the next 10 years from my last check. i dont have high bp or any other heart related issues either and my rbc and hemocrit run high and i also have severe sleep apnea but i use a cpap machine.

ditch the asprin and get some high quality fish oil and nattokinease and take that every day man. mophogene nutriton make a great product with both in it. that will keep your blood thin and lower your risk of clotting. pull a lab with cardio risk factors including apob and fasted insulin levels. those are much better indicators of heart risk than the ones she is making a bid deal about. if you are seriously concerned about your risk then get a nuclear stress test and a cardiac ct scan done. those will give you your calcium scores and see how well your ticker and arteries look. i hate docs that make dumb assumptions on shit that has been proven wrong in the last 10 years.

also at a minimum watch your platelettes and hemoglobin. those are the markers that my doc freaks out about before we look at anything else

what are the negatives of aspirin?

[guns01]

what are the negatives of aspirin?

it can eat your stomach up bad in some people. from what i understand the multi spec vit e and nattokenese along with a good fish oil keeps it just as thin if not thinner.

[6p6]

it can eat your stomach up bad in some people. from what i understand the multi spec vit e and nattokenese along with a good fish oil keeps it just as thin if not thinner.

It also blunts the signal for pain which can seriously set back healing and can really set you back over time with collagen production and distribution being really f'd up due to the pain marker being blocked. There's a time and a place for it but Nattokinease is a life changer and I wish I would have known about it two decades ago...