BobTheOldLifter

Any thoughts or ideas on dropping hematocrit a little?

All my blood markers have shown dramatic improvement since TRT and some weight loss, but my hematocrit bumps over the 50% mark here and there.  I don't think it's a big deal, but my doc wants it lower.

I give blood on a regular basis, but again, I still need it to drop a bit.  Read something recently about grapefruit, so I'm giving that a shot.  May try some hyper-hydration before next blood test, but any other ideas most welcome.  Therapeutic phlebotomy is problematic - I guess they don't do that anymore for some reason.

Congrats, man.  Job well done.  

Well, if your problem is scar tissue buildup, active release therapy can work wonders.  However, if the issue is an acute injury, you need to heal.  I hear BPC 157 is a miracle for some, but never tried it personally. 

How is vigorous sex with your man not one of the tips??? Best sleep tip ever!!

Yeah, I suggest NL has a potluck dinner, but @Francis "Frank" Castle brings all the food!

On 11/1/2019 at 10:05 PM, MikeTheMover said:

So here I am just finished pinning 10 weeks complete running test Cyp 500mg per week first ever cycle. I have taken nothing else during these 10 weeks. My first question is Should I stop now or continue for a few more weeks ? When I do stop do I wait to run my PCT ? I have Clomid 50 & Nolvadex 20 thanks in advance again as you guys have been a godsend

In my opinion your bloodwork should tell you this.   Everything looks fine, continue for a bit.  Something needs attention,  fix it first.  Things can go sideways and you feel nothing. 

Edit:  Said the same thing earlier in the thread,  but worth repeating...

Email rep.

28 minutes ago, Francis "Frank" Castle said:

Widespread pain, fatigue, brain fog, like having the flu and the worst moouth full of toothaches you could ever imagine 24/7!

Did you ever get tested for Lyme?

IIRC, it's a genetic variant where they don't produce myostatin or something.   Similar to bully whippets I believe. 

9 hours ago, MikeTheMover said:

Where I live access to a doctor is almost non existent, besides the side effects listed all over the internet is there anything I should be watching for ? Also is it ok to drop my dosage down to 300 every week or 150 twice a week ? Or will that screw things up ?

No, I don't think lowering dose is an issue.  The problem is without blood tests you can get hematocrit elevation, BP issues, lipid and kidney trouble just to name a few, and you won't know it b/c it's silent.

And it's not like you need to test all the time.  Regular intervals of three months would be fine.

Like myself, you're not a spring chicken.   I would highly recommend you get blood tests regularly.   That way you have objective data and can stay out of trouble and fix small problems before they become big problems.

FWIW, I have been lifting for 35 plus years and have a successful history of competitive natural bodybuilding before I took anything,  including a heavyweight title.

Recently I have beaten every PR I had on a measly 100mg test/wk and I'm 52 yrs old.  500 is heavy to start, and please get bloodwork. 

23 minutes ago, KetoMuscles said:

Balls!!

Why not make the title of the thread Good Reviews Only.  How can you say in one sentence we don't censor and then threaten to ban someone if they express anything negative?  That is censorship!  Feel free to voice your opinion but only if it matches ours?

No.  Bad reviews are acceptable, clearly, just not without at least a hint of credibility.   Perfectly understandable. 

10 hours ago, GainTrain said:

Skipping meals? Blasphemy!! Lol, I don’t think skipping meals is ever a good idea. Just get your nutrition on point. With your goals you are obviously going to want to stay in a deficit and slowly add cardio to your training. Skipping meals isn’t a good idea, in my opinion anyway.

 

4 years ago I was 240lbs. And it wasn’t muscle. If I can do it, you can do it. And by the look of things, you are doing it. In the kitchen is where 90% your change will take place. You can do it bro!

While skipping meals for some might be a bad idea, it's been great for me.  However, it's 'skipping' in the context of time restricted eating or intermittent fasting.  I eat two meals a day with a little snacking here and there and only eat noon - 7pm. 

TRT dose with little else so far and I'm down 35 lbs and hitting PRs in the gym after a lifetime of lifting.

I'm now approaching single digit bf % and other than a mini bulk here and there, I'm probably sticking with this for life.  Blood markers dramatically improving. 

For those above maybe 20%bf, I think IF is a great protocol. 

I asked the same question from a UGL and the answer was 2-3 yrs.  Store upright at room temp, out of sunlight.  Once the stopper is pierced, shelf life drops to a few months.

3 hours ago, Shelbysdad said:

I know people here say not to do gear at to high body fat, I kind of think this is not a big deal unless you are"fat". I have used gear at around 20-25% with no issues. This is my personal experiance. Of coarse the lower body fat will show off the muscles more. I have never been noticeably 'fat"  though. I am just guessing about my body fat levels here. I have never had it tested to know for sure though. Also, I don't tend to bloat up, even when using dbol with test etc. Look at all the power lifters, most are way over 20% bf and are on tons of shit. This is only my personal opinions and experiance and will  be different for different people

And also lower or TRT levels of gear can be really helpful in dropping the fat (especially visceral fat) as well.

Just ordered my agmatine, and also added a glucosamine chondroitin msm supplement combo into the regimen. Fortunately my knees and shoulders are fine, but the hips can be painful. 

2 minutes ago, millenium girl said:

When peptides didn't exist Adequan was very popular among bodybuilders.

Before my TKR in July 2018 I had intra articular injections of hyaluronic acid.

The adequan looks interesting.  My old dog might benefit too! Thanks.

"intra articular injections of hyaluronic acid"

Should be no prob to self-inject into my hip joint...

This looks reasonably priced - have to stop by there anyway to stock up on my other supps - doesn't mention any arcaine sulphate.

Does this look right?

Other than the basic glucosamine/chondroitin I'm not up to speed on the newer peptides that also might be a help in this area.

Basically I don't have too much pain - shoulders, knees pretty good, but I get some nagging/recurring hip joint pain.  

Any thoughts/suggestions on some helpers for this?

15 minutes ago, Francis "Frank" Castle said:

Sorry, you are correct and I misspoke and should have said hemoglobin. Not sure about where your doc would get the idea the test at the blood services wasn't reliable as I've seen their numbers compared with outside labwork and they came up virtually identical and also when compared to a home testing unit that I guy I know online has so dunno.

I'm not an expert in this area but I think that normal hemoglobin with a high hematocrit is uncommon (perhaps I didn't read that right in my research?), just going from what I have read....but who knows, we'll see when I get the CBC done along with the other tests in the labs.

"I'm not an expert in this area but I think that normal hemoglobin with a high hematocrit is uncommon"

Yeah, that's my understanding too.

A quick pubmed search comes up with the finger stick method not quite as good as the venous blood test.

"Recently, a study in Ireland has demonstrated in routinely collected fingerstick Hb deferred donors that venous Hb is higher than the fingerstick value by 1.07 g/dL (males) and 0.67 g/dL (females)."

This was my experience.   Finger stick was considerably lower than the blood test.

1 minute ago, Francis "Frank" Castle said:

I already know my hematocrit is bang on normal from my blood donation.

Do you mean hemoglobin?  They didn't test hematocrit at my recent blood donation.  AND FWIW, my doc seemed quite confident that the blood donation hemoglobin isn't very accurate.  I had my blood tested about an hour after my donation and my hemoglobin only dropped 4 points after giving blood, but dropped 10 points from the blood test the previous day.

5 minutes ago, Francis "Frank" Castle said:

So my latest BT order just arrived. I placed my order yesterday (Thursday 15, August) and it arrived the very next day, today (Friday 16th). It just doesn't get any better than that. My thanks yet again to @GameChanger et all for the wicked fast service. I'm totally stoked (oh gawd am I outting myself as old saying "stoked" lol) to get on the Primo and review it. The Test E is my standard but the Primo is a first time for me.

Again, I can't speak highly enough of the service and I am sure the gear will be the same high standard that we are all so spoiled by!

To @GameChanger and all else involved my thanks, and sincere appreciation, for the privilege of purchasing from you folks.

Cool! And the same, next day service happened to me last time with BT as well! Although, it's a geography thing for sure.  If I lived in Flin Flon, I probably wouldn't get it the next day.

I'd be curious to know how the Primo affects you.  This is one thing I'm considering adding possibly next time.  

There's oral Primo too correct?  

1 hour ago, Francis "Frank" Castle said:

Discovered a new source with even better prices than Surgo.

Payless Medical Canada

I needed to buy some slin pins and found these guys who had better prices than anyone, not even close. Checked out some other items and compared my last Surgo invoice and was blown away. I thought the Surgo prices were amazing, and compared to everywhere else I had price shopped they were but these guys beat them hands down.

eg. BD™ 1cc TB Syringe & Needle 25G x 5/8'' 100/box (Non-Safety) Luer Slip Tip - Surgo $34.10, Payless Medical Canada $24.92

The slin pins I bought were far cheaper than even Lifesupply, the next closest best price for Allison Medical that are just as good as BD IMHO but far cheaper. Paid $15 Box/100 for 30G .5" 1/2cc U-100 slin pins and Lifesupply was $$22 or $23 a box.

That's a significant difference. Flat rate shipping in Canada $7.00 and free at $150. 2-3 days shipping time.

I will always continue to price shop before ordering but damn, I think I'll be hard pressed to beat these guys on price. Lets hope my first order arrives without issue.

For some reason I have images of Hellraiser...

What's so funny to me about this is all he eats is fish and rice cakes, which can't be good, but he has to stop and think about what he has at each meal!

Clearly deficient in a brain nutrient or two...

1 hour ago, CapeBretonDadBod said:

Sounds delicious I’ll have to try this, chicken and rice is getting tiresome.

Chicken and rice?  Pure decadence!!

Real men go for A proper old-school diet

Edit: But, seriously that looks really good! Flank steak done right is fantastic.