Old timer...been here, done that..

[Shortstax (imported)]

Hi.. Been here, mostly some years ago.. well, really, off & on since '99. Been fully neuter gender now about 6 years..it's funny that I don't remember the exact date, but I was never one to be top of my class in school. I did poorly in history classes. They only wanted to test you on the dates of things..then many decades out of school you discover that history has a habit of changing..

Anyway...I want to discuss some of my experiences with HRT. I might probably have to make a post in a different forum, but let's see if anyone actually reads these "fresh fish" introductions.

My doctor has recently diagnosed that I have secondary polycythemia and that I would have to have a routine blood draw to reduce the overabundance of red blood cells.

I had to look it up to discover it was a cause of testosterone injections. Comments..discussion?

Funny that all the reading I've done on this web site that I never heard of this condition. I would have thought I should have, but maybe it was there and I never paid any attention to it.

Comments, please..thanks for your time, Shorty

[Chesleyt (imported)]

It's a common condition associated with HRT. Testosterone is responsible for many things and the production of red blood cells is one them. HRT can cause your body to over produce red blood cells because it doesn't work like the natural release of your natural testosterone. In a males body testosterone is produced and released through out the day it is higher in the morning after you have slept and gets lower as the day progresses it is continously release in small doses over the day. In HRT you get a large dose after you take testosterone and it over whelms you system. After castration your testosterone drops very quickly in prostate cancer patients a reaction to the lowering testosterone can be felt quickly. HRT isn't the same as the real thing chemically the testicles make many more hormones than testosterone but the main one is testosterone which is used for HRT. Hope this is helpful

[catoboros (imported)]

We were discussing secondary polycythemia just a few days ago in this thread:

http://forums.eunuch.org/showthread.php ... -the-juice

There was a study on increasing the interval between doses of Nebido (testosterone undecanoate) to reduce polycythemia found as a side effect in older men. Have you considered reducing your dose of HRT?

Another useful Google search term is hemocrit (or haemocrit), the volume percentage of red blood cells, which is the thing abnormally elevated in polycythemia.

[Shortstax (imported)]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Your comments are appreciated and provided useful information neither my doc told me nor did I find on my own interweb searches.

I'm 73 this year..orchiectomy some 5 - 6 years ago. Originally, I was going to the VA and got shots in the butt, but I bitched about that because they had me doing them every month and I complained that I couldn't put up with the emotional roller coaster. They switched me to twice a month with lowered doses. I didn't care for those either. But, I was still in a learning phase. I wanted to try the gel. Daily pumps, which were fine, but I've changed providers a few times and would have to bounce from needles to gel and varying doses according to insurance restrictions.

Funny how being diagnosed with hypogonadism and documented orchiectomy that for insurance companies seems to be inadmissable evidence of a patient needing HRT. ...really, wtf? They want to see new blood work, because your old blood work...well.. so you have to stop everything to get back to zero.

In the meantime ...my newest new care provider had to start me on shots again, because of...you guessed it. Insurance. Anyhoo...all these years later and only a couple of months ago, my doc tells me about my secondary polycythemia and wants to know how I'm controlling it. Big news to me. I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought he was kidding..really. I had to look it up. My doc didn't even tell me about what was causing it...just that I had it. I had to find out through online searches.

Red Cross has taken care of it, but it's throw away blood. They can't use it, because of the cypionate.

OK, so I'm pretty much fed up with the whole mess and will most likely just do without any HRT. So, what? I get fat, grow boobies and cry crocodile tears at the first sight of baby kittens.. Who, actually, will care if I do turn into an old woman? My wife? We could wear each others house dresses...

[Chesleyt (imported)]

I'm sorry to hear what you are going through. Maybe you can go to family planning and try low dose estrogen and progesterone it would keep your bones healthy and help with the side effect of no testosterone.

[Shortstax (imported)]

Thanks for the suggestion...I'm scheduled for my regular gp next month. I'm gonna have a long chat with him about it. As far as I was ever concerned about wanting to be on HRT in the first place was to help me stop being exhausted all the time. I was just using the stuff to encrease my energy. But now...with the secondary polycythemia, because of thicker blood..slower blood flow..I'm still tired and my situation hasn't really changed. Any extra physical effort like bending over to tie my shoes or play with the cat or pick stuff up from the floor, then sometimes I need to go lay down for a few minutes.

So...it turns out testosterone cypionate..for me..the most obvious advantage is gettIng erections and that's just a joke. Don't want or need erections.. perfectly happy with my shorty getting lost in my small restored foreskin.

[Begoneboy (imported)]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Your comments are appreciated and provided useful information neither my doc told me nor did I find on my own interweb searches.

I'm 73 this year..orchiectomy some 5 - 6 years ago. Originally, I was going to the VA and got shots in the butt, but I bitched about that because they had me doing them every month and I complained that I couldn't put up with the emotional roller coaster. They switched me to twice a month with lowered doses. I didn't care for those either. But, I was still in a learning phase. I wanted to try the gel. Daily pumps, which were fine, but I've changed providers a few times and would have to bounce from needles to gel and varying doses according to insurance restrictions.

Funny how being diagnosed with hypogonadism and documented orchiectomy that for insurance companies seems to be inadmissable evidence of a patient needing HRT. ...really, wtf? They want to see new blood work, because your old blood work...well.. so you have to stop everything to get back to zero.

In the meantime ...my newest new care provider had to start me on shots again, because of...you guessed it. Insurance. Anyhoo...all these years later and only a couple of months ago, my doc tells me about my secondary polycythemia and wants to know how I'm controlling it. Big news to me. I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought he was kidding..really. I had to look it up. My doc didn't even tell me about what was causing it...just that I had it. I had to find out through online searches.

Red Cross has taken care of it, but it's throw away blood. They can't use it, because of the cypionate.

OK, so I'm pretty much fed up with the whole mess and will most likely just do without any HRT. So, what? I get fat, grow boobies and cry crocodile tears at the first sight of baby kittens.. Who, actually, will care if I do turn into an old woman? My wife? We could wear each others house dresses...

Don't overthink all of this my friend. Of course keep getting professional medical help. Try looking at it through realistic lenses for a moment. If the artificial "T" isn't right for you try a very small dose of "E" without anything else in the mix. 650mg every few days will not cause feminization and will return some energy as well as stave off some bone loss. Don't abuse it as I mistakenly managed to do and you'll be fine. Put it all in perspective, you're 73. With that small dose it would take 20 years or more to see any change. You'll be the same to your wife (only a bit older) as you are now. It's real easy to over think these things.

[Chesleyt (imported)]

How dose low dose estrogen do with muscle development I'm on high dose testosterone and because of medications I'm longer sexually functional mentally of physically. I see my endocrinologist Tuesday and would like to know more about it before I see him. Thanks

[GordonGG (imported)]

650mg every few days will not cause feminization and will return some energy as well as stave off some bone loss.

That dosage is excessive! Did you type that right? I'm on 3 (three) mg/day to stave off bone loss.

[Shortstax (imported)]

Don't overthink all of this my friend. Of course keep getting professional medical help. Try looking at it through realistic lenses for a moment. If the artificial "T" isn't right for you try a very small dose of "E" without anything else in the mix. 650mg every few days will not cause feminization and will return some energy as well as stave off some bone loss. Don't abuse it as I mistakenly managed to do and you'll be fine. Put it all in perspective, you're 73. With that small dose it would take 20 years or more to see any change. You'll be the same to your wife (only a bit older) as you are now. It's real easy to over think these things.

....Thanks for the tip.(bone loss...that's sooo funny!.. yeah, I know..) I've been reading a little about different kinds of steroids..some that body builders use for muscle/energy development. The more I read and delve into this the more I realize how little I know. Of course my grade school teachers were aware of my limitations and/or inadequacies waaaay back when...

...These days I don't worry about feminization. If I'm really lucky I won't live another 10 years, but I like my new doc and I'll see what he says .