My doctor (who prescribes my T) recommends we take a "baby" aspirin every day (the low dose ones that some people with heart issues take every day) to help ease the blood thickening that happens with T. Do any of you guys do this? I have started getting headaches on days 2 and 3 in my shot cycle (weekly), and I am really curious to know if this may be caused by the thicker blood.
Are you taking the aspirin and still getting the head aches?
I'm not a doctor but I doubt the shots thicken the blood up at the moment of injection, more that it is a cumulative effect if it is going to happen. Headaches are caused by a variety of things including high blood pressure. If it persists you should talk to your doctor.
I haven't started taking aspirin yet. She mentioned it when she initially prescribed it (5 months ago), and I hadn't started getting headaches at the 1-month follow-up visit, so I didn't ask. I have a follow-up with her in a few weeks and I will definitely be talking with her more about it then.
It isn't the injection/liquid, itself, that thickens the blood. T causes an increase in RBC and platelet counts (over time - the cumulative effect, like you mentioned) so this is what thickens the blood.
Since she suggested taking the aspirin maybe give it a go and see what happens.
Funny thing is, I asked my endocrinologist about taking aspirin because of the increased risk of blot clots with Estrogen. It seems like they both increase the risks of blood clots, and if you don't have either you end up with yet another serious problem.
My endo said the risk of taking aspirin was greater than the risks with estrogen, so it wasn't worth it for me. That's in line with what I'd read before, but there's no way to know if if its relevant to you. I'm m2f and he had a pretty comprehensive set of blood test results and my medical history to work off.
It does't appear to make much sense, so I spent 30 min or so researching (for T), without much luck. The articles I came across were for cis men and yes there is an increased risk, but I got the impression that it depends on having certain medical conditions. One article (not sure how credible it was) said T is a blood thinner, and a number were to advise you doctor if you were on blood thinners (but aspirin was not listed as one). Basically I've no idea, but it does seem complicated.
Here's a few of the links I found, but personally I suspect you'd need to know a lot more before understanding if taking aspirin was good or bad. I'd also be concerned if I was seeing a regular doctor if they knew enough about this subject - it seems pretty specialized.
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm401746.htm
http://patientblog.clotconnect.org/2011/03/01/testosterone-and-blood-clots/
http://www.pschachter.com/news/androgel-linked-to-increased-risk-of-heart-attack.cfm
T can definitely cause headaches without high blood pressure or "thicker blood" (I think you mean high red blood count.) That doesn't mean you don't have them, but yes, you can get headaches. I've heard some people attribute these to mild dehydration. It makes sense. You can try drinking more water (and other fluids, though coffee , tea, and sugary drinks won't help this.) Your doctor should be monitoring you for blood pressure and doing labs for blood count.
--Jay
Quote from: ridleysw on February 27, 2015, 04:42:38 PM
My doctor (who prescribes my T) recommends we take a "baby" aspirin every day (the low dose ones that some people with heart issues take every day) to help ease the blood thickening that happens with T. Do any of you guys do this? I have started getting headaches on days 2 and 3 in my shot cycle (weekly), and I am really curious to know if this may be caused by the thicker blood.