Secondary Polycythemia Complications - Extended Report

[ts06]

Hello friends of TRT & board members,

I come to you with a good heart and respectfully first and foremost before I make this statement/post. I do not care that I have not reported a log. Please read that twice. I am under extreme medical care currently by specialist and I simply come here to report what I'm currently going through and want to potentially help educate others. This is not a diagnosis for you, but something I am experiencing.

I've reported in here for years that I have been feeling worse and worse and worse. I've posted many blood tests, trying to figure out the root cause of my Secondary Polycythemia, as I do NOT abuse TRT. Over the course of 3 years, my well being and everything has gone gradually downhill.

I made many posts in here with no answers, other than "start your log". Ladies & Gentlement, this is FAR deeper than any log could help with.

After 6 months of testing, diving deep into an advanced lipid panel, I believe we have uncovered the starting point to my personal problems with a long road to "maybe" a recovery.

For years, I was self diagnosed myself with TRT. I never abused it, always did the right way (geneza pharma). I ran about 120-150mg/ week for a few years. I started to feel "down" one day. Like a light switch went off and never came back. Zero lidido (dead libido), zero motivation, drained, tired, almost like I had low T symptoms). Fast forward years of donating double red blood cells, high hemoglobin, high hematocrit - I wasn't feeling better anymore. Every 3 months, even after Double RBC donation, my hemoglobin would spike back to 18.3-18.7.

After 4 years, reading & reading & reading, I have finally thrown in the white flag and reached out to a doctor saying, "Doc, all my levels are fine. My DHT, my DHEA, my Progesterone, my testosterone, my estrodial (granted my test levels were at 950 on my last test).

My lipids have been completely jacked up and it's not like I've been eating like total shit (I know people who eat far worse than me with far better lipids). However, today a beast finally reared it's ugly head.

I have ZERO iron in my body. I've been avoiding iron due to the Polycythemia, but my due to donating so much - I had an Iron Saturation level of 2 (13-45%), Ferritin levels of 7 (30-400ng/dl), resulting in unsaturated IBC 361 (112-347).

Doctors are reporting I'm virtually in the worst possible spot I can possibly be and the fact that I'm even functioning is a miracle.

I'm currently seeing specialists for direct iron infusions, but unfortunately, it could potentially be to late for me. Results of this will take some time to see see how my Iron Uptake transitions, but without Iron and the ability to use it (due to the severe polycythemia) I have a very severe uphill climb.

I guess the point of my post, is gentlemen, please use a doctor for this stuff. No matter how smart you think you are, no matter how much research you do, something like this could sneak up on any of you. I don't want anybody to feel the way that I feel on a daily basis and encourage you to do TRT the right way or not at all.

 

[ts06]

The right way would be through a doctor. Don't rely on these forums other than for situations like mine where others are seeking professional help and can relay medical solutions from real doctors in certain scenarios (and what you're experiencing).

Just asking for some prayers right now. At 37 years old, I've never felt as poorly as I do now. Mentally, physically, spiritually. I leave with, this forum is full of A LOT of good people who mean well. Many of you have reached out. I want to thank you all, but this is now my personal journey and I'll report to all of you, while I can.

 

[starboy]

Hello friends of TRT & board members,

I come to you with a good heart and respectfully first and foremost before I make this statement/post. I do not care that I have not reported a log. Please read that twice. I am under extreme medical care currently by specialist and I simply come here to report what I'm currently going through and want to potentially help educate others. This is not a diagnosis for you, but something I am experiencing.

I've reported in here for years that I have been feeling worse and worse and worse. I've posted many blood tests, trying to figure out the root cause of my Secondary Polycythemia, as I do NOT abuse TRT. Over the course of 3 years, my well being and everything has gone gradually downhill.

I made many posts in here with no answers, other than "start your log". Ladies & Gentlement, this is FAR deeper than any log could help with.

After 6 months of testing, diving deep into an advanced lipid panel, I believe we have uncovered the starting point to my personal problems with a long road to "maybe" a recovery.

For years, I was self diagnosed myself with TRT. I never abused it, always did the right way (geneza pharma). I ran about 120-150mg/ week for a few years. I started to feel "down" one day. Like a light switch went off and never came back. Zero lidido (dead libido), zero motivation, drained, tired, almost like I had low T symptoms). Fast forward years of donating double red blood cells, high hemoglobin, high hematocrit - I wasn't feeling better anymore. Every 3 months, even after Double RBC donation, my hemoglobin would spike back to 18.3-18.7.

After 4 years, reading & reading & reading, I have finally thrown in the white flag and reached out to a doctor saying, "Doc, all my levels are fine. My DHT, my DHEA, my Progesterone, my testosterone, my estrodial (granted my test levels were at 950 on my last test).

My lipids have been completely jacked up and it's not like I've been eating like total shit (I know people who eat far worse than me with far better lipids). However, today a beast finally reared it's ugly head.

I have ZERO iron in my body. I've been avoiding iron due to the Polycythemia, but my due to donating so much - I had an Iron Saturation level of 2 (13-45%), Ferritin levels of 7 (30-400ng/dl), resulting in unsaturated IBC 361 (112-347).

Doctors are reporting I'm virtually in the worst possible spot I can possibly be and the fact that I'm even functioning is a miracle.

I'm currently seeing specialists for direct iron infusions, but unfortunately, it could potentially be to late for me. Results of this will take some time to see see how my Iron Uptake transitions, but without Iron and the ability to use it (due to the severe polycythemia) I have a very severe uphill climb.

I guess the point of my post, is gentlemen, please use a doctor for this stuff. No matter how smart you think you are, no matter how much research you do, something like this could sneak up on any of you. I don't want anybody to feel the way that I feel on a daily basis and encourage you to do TRT the right way or not at all.

The right way would be through a doctor. Don't rely on these forums other than for situations like mine where others are seeking professional help and can relay medical solutions from real doctors in certain scenarios (and what you're experiencing).

Just asking for some prayers right now. At 37 years old, I've never felt as poorly as I do now. Mentally, physically, spiritually. I leave with, this forum is full of A LOT of good people who mean well. Many of you have reached out. I want to thank you all, but this is now my personal journey and I'll report to all of you, while I can.

@ts06 well thats an interesting story, and you dont want to talk about a LOG thats fine. we are praying for you in the anabolex family.

But truth be told its hard to understand what you're saying because you didnt share bloods
do you have blood work to share with us? and you post it?

 

[SteveSmi]

100% man and it always boggles my mind how people spend more time researching a pool cleaner and not a doctor. just like any professional the top doctors are the ones you want. you don't see Tom Brady getting his knee operated on by some dude he pulled up in his insurance book or off instagram. he flew out thousands of miles to get the best care possible

i will put it this way. if you can get an appointment to see a doctor fast then obviously they aren't very good. a good doctor you will need to wait weeks or even months to see. those are the cream of the crop

 

[Mobster]

1) You reply in the past tense regarding the TRT. What has it been more recently?
2) On our TRT shows one thing we recommend, even if you save thousands doing self TRT, is to still get blood tests to monitor for issues.
3) If you DID run a log we'd see just how accurate the statement about your diet is. It DOES seem as though it COULD be better.

 

[CEO]

Bros this is a scary situation
a lot of people are in your boat as well

 

[ROIDDERS]

thanks for posting this
there's a lot of medical issues that people have out there that are hard to solve

 

[chesty]

please in the future make sure that you always find a good doctor
that can prevent situations like this

 

[Ulter]

I really hope that you can find a solution to this medical problem
it sounds really miserable

 

[e2]

I really hope you can find a solution to this
at this point it could be something really complicated

 

[2Thick]

man that is brutal
I hate to see one of our brothers suffering like this I'm sorry

 

[Vadim Fedorov]

hopefully that you can find something that clicks here
it sounds like you've done a lot of research on this and can help others with your situation

 

[wootoom]

sorry that you're going through this
sometimes medical things can be really complicated

 

[JasonPriest]

hopefully you find a solution to this pretty soon
keep us updated and best wishes to you

 

[BodyMonster34]

bro damn one of my cousins the same way
as hard time functioning really sucks

 

[QuadSweep]

don't give up hope
you still have a long life ahead of you you will find a something that clicks that will change your life keep at it and let us know

 

[Masonic Bodybuilder]

Wishing you the best man. Hang in there for the long road to recovery. Your point is well taken about doctors. We recommend it all the time regarding TRT. I am not a fan of self-TRT except in very few situations.

 

[ballin2504]

Thank you for posting this.

 

[ts06]

Just following up based upon some of the responses.

My blood work would constantly show high hemglobin, high hematocrit, and high RBC every 3 months, even though I was donating every 3 months for double red blood cell. It just seemed like a fight I couldn't win.

Ultimately, after speaking with (2) different doctors. it was decided that the tesosterone altogether is causing the secondary polycythemia. However, they don't want me to stop taking it due to my already weakened state. They have lowered my testosterone all the way down to 60mg/ week.

I've learned quite a bit about Iron over the past 7 days and ALL the effects Iron can have on the body. Given the fact that all forms of polycythemia feed off Iron - anybody who is showing signs of developing polycythemia (which is FAR easier than anybody can imagine on testosterone injections), means it can only take 2-3 years of testosterone to permanently mutate genes, receptors, and signaling in the body. This is why TRT is not for everybody and I'm learning that I was VERY predisposed to some of what I'm witnessing as well.

As the polycythemia ate up my Iron storages, I was forced to donate double RBC, not knowing my Iron was secretly being depleted by both mechanisms.

I encourage EVERYBODY to learn about Iron and how important it is to check and monitor (just as or even more important that hemoglobin itself). My body responded appropriately and started to manufacture HIGH amounts of Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity and thus ultimately gave me all of the side effects I have been witnessing.

Also, due to the donations. I was depleting my Ferritin as well. This is basically suffocating my body to the point it can't breathe. No Iron, no ferritin = no oxygen = all the side effects. A simple google search can you lead you to these side effects. I was witnessing all of them progressively worse as time went on. To the point, cialis no longer even would give me an erection (up to 20mg) because my body is not carrying oxygen.

This has caused organ damage and heart damage. My liver is also under immense stress and the dietician and hematologist both agree, my diet (yes mobster, to an extent) could effect it, but both agree the diet I was eating would almost absolutely NOT explained why my cholesterol levels were so high. Basically my organs were under severe stress.

So even though EVERYTHING we would think to check looked "fine" - it was an underlying problem that you would never think to check. has been causing a major disruption in everything.

You can see in the pictures below. since 2022, I have donated nearly 2 gallons of blood, proving the fact I was indeed suffering from SECONDARY polycythemia. These are my most recent tests from last week (I had an iron infusion today), that indicate some of my most recent results. The blood draw result was DIRECTLY after a double red blood cell donation which brought my hemoglobin down and my hematocrit, but with the RBC still being high, it's going to draw that hematocrit and hemoglobin back up accordingly.

So ultimately, I'm in the WORST possible situation I can possibly be. The iron WILL feed the polycthemia, which means my hemoglobin, hematocrit, and RBC are going to go up. But the prayer is to lower my TRT down to 60mg/ week to combat the TRT induced polcythemia while introducing iron back to my system to get it to breathe. Unfortunately, it sounds easy - but my path to feeling good and well being is still going to be a very long road.

 

[GHgut4life]

Just following up based upon some of the responses.

My blood work would constantly show high hemglobin, high hematocrit, and high RBC every 3 months, even though I was donating every 3 months for double red blood cell. It just seemed like a fight I couldn't win.

Ultimately, after speaking with (2) different doctors. it was decided that the tesosterone altogether is causing the secondary polycythemia. However, they don't want me to stop taking it due to my already weakened state. They have lowered my testosterone all the way down to 60mg/ week.

I've learned quite a bit about Iron over the past 7 days and ALL the effects Iron can have on the body. Given the fact that all forms of polycythemia feed off Iron - anybody who is showing signs of developing polycythemia (which is FAR easier than anybody can imagine on testosterone injections), means it can only take 2-3 years of testosterone to permanently mutate genes, receptors, and signaling in the body. This is why TRT is not for everybody and I'm learning that I was VERY predisposed to some of what I'm witnessing as well.

As the polycythemia ate up my Iron storages, I was forced to donate double RBC, not knowing my Iron was secretly being depleted by both mechanisms.

I encourage EVERYBODY to learn about Iron and how important it is to check and monitor (just as or even more important that hemoglobin itself). My body responded appropriately and started to manufacture HIGH amounts of Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity and thus ultimately gave me all of the side effects I have been witnessing.

Also, due to the donations. I was depleting my Ferritin as well. This is basically suffocating my body to the point it can't breathe. No Iron, no ferritin = no oxygen = all the side effects. A simple google search can you lead you to these side effects. I was witnessing all of them progressively worse as time went on. To the point, cialis no longer even would give me an erection (up to 20mg) because my body is not carrying oxygen.

This has caused organ damage and heart damage. My liver is also under immense stress and the dietician and hematologist both agree, my diet (yes mobster, to an extent) could effect it, but both agree the diet I was eating would almost absolutely NOT explained why my cholesterol levels were so high. Basically my organs were under severe stress.

So even though EVERYTHING we would think to check looked "fine" - it was an underlying problem that you would never think to check. has been causing a major disruption in everything.

You can see in the pictures below. since 2022, I have donated nearly 2 gallons of blood, proving the fact I was indeed suffering from SECONDARY polycythemia. These are my most recent tests from last week (I had an iron infusion today), that indicate some of my most recent results. The blood draw result was DIRECTLY after a double red blood cell donation which brought my hemoglobin down and my hematocrit, but with the RBC still being high, it's going to draw that hematocrit and hemoglobin back up accordingly.

So ultimately, I'm in the WORST possible situation I can possibly be. The iron WILL feed the polycthemia, which means my hemoglobin, hematocrit, and RBC are going to go up. But the prayer is to lower my TRT down to 60mg/ week to combat the TRT induced polcythemia while introducing iron back to my system to get it to breathe. Unfortunately, it sounds easy - but my path to feeling good and well being is still going to be a very long road.

I think really hard to understand without knowing what you were doing, @ts06
dont even know what you eating now? like what you doing now with this situation?
I'm always praying for you bro anabolex family here for you