So Ive been having headaches pretty much every single day, and then I noticed a weird feeling in my hands, kinda a tingling numb feeling and my fingers were hard to use and my hands curled up into a claw shape without my doing it on purpose. It was hard to type or stretch out my fingers for a while, lasted between 30=90 minutes.



So, I went to an urgent care and they did my blood work. Turns out I have alarmingly high red blood cell count, my dr even told me to start taking baby asprin every day and drink as much water as I can so I can thin my blood out, she is concerned with me getting a blood clot, which I think can cause heart attacks and strokes?

my range of healthy RBC is 4.2-5.8 million. My range was 6.33 million

my red cell distribution range is 11-15% and I got 16.5%

anyway, she thinks my HRT is to blame and she even used the words "stop therapy" so I'm really worried that I'm going to have to stop T. Ive made an emergency appointment with my T doctor for the day after tomorrow. I'm just hoping that I can just lower my dose or something, cause there is no way I could go back to living on estrogen.

has anyone else had a blood result of high red blood cells, and then adjusted their T dose, and it went back to a healthy range?

I don't know your personal habits and I've only recently started testosterone, but I do have high blood pressure, so I can give you some pointers. I wouldn't worry about having to stop hormones altogether and I doubt your doctor would force you because of an increased or unstable red blood cell count. What you may have to do is take a lower dosage for a little while to allow your body to readjust. In the meantime, like your endocrinologist said, taking a baby aspirin every morning doesn't hurt. It's not addictive.

Drinking a lot of water daily and exercising helps substantially. If you drink caffeine, slowly train yourself to drink less and less until you're able to go cold turkey altogether. Caffeine speeds up your heart rate, thus affecting your blood pressure. Stay away from foods that are high cholesterol, unnecessary carbs, high sodium, and any other junk food. Train yourself to take deep breaths throughout the day, especially when you're being physically active in any way. Donating blood helps keep excess red blood cells away. Try to maintain deep sleep. Do not eat or drink within two hours before bed. If you are snoring in anyway, this means your body is compensating for lower oxygen being carried into your lungs and increasing your red blood cells. Sleeping on your side helps and taking a benadryl or another equivalent can ease your airways.

That's all I can really suggest, but good luck, Elijah. Don't stress too much about it. 

High RBC count is one of the effects of testosterone. When I was tested awhile ago my RBC was high. My dose was lowered and my levels were improved. Lowering your dose can help, baby asprin taken at night is the best time of day to take it.

Did a search and low oxygen levels in blood can cause high RBC count...I wonder if there's a possible link to binding?

My RBCs and hemoglobin were both elevated, my level was above female range but still in normal male range at about 6 months, and exceeded male range too a couple of months later. I had no discomfort and my doctor was not concerned too much and just suggested me to give blood.

ccould possibly be hypotension not related to your HRT,  the doc may have latched onto that because it stands out.

Hey guys, thanks for your input. I do feel better now. If my doc did try to force me off of T completely I will just go to this new trans clinic with cheaper blood work too.


Thanks for all of the advice Johnny T, I should be able to do all of that, and I don't drink much caffeine, I would say less then the average person. I want to cut back anyway, except for herbal teas, but I can cut coffee and soda.

Nygeel, hmm, well maybe.. it could have something to do with not being able to take as deep of breaths?

SX0877, yeah thats a good idea, my dr said something about getting blood taken out, I would rather just be able to do it for free by giving it haha.

James, yes it very well could be something other then T, we'll see.

What a scary experience. Kudos for getting it checked out!

I've known a few people with polycythemia vera (essentially, high RBC count, but not due to testosterone therapy) and the standard treatment is getting blood drawn, along with low dose aspirin. I haven't had this particular side effect of T, but there are definitely ways to manage it without stopping hormone treatment.

I had High rbc. My dose wasn't altered and I'm allergic to aspirin. My doc did say to make sure to stay  hydrated and avoid caffeine and that smoking makes it worse. Donating blood works or they can drain it off so to speak.

oh allergic to aspirin? that's inconvenient, I guess this is a good motivation to quit smoking hookah. I quit cigarettes so I can quit hookah if I put my mind to it.

I had really thick blood for a short while. Thick enough that drawing it was actually difficult. My doc had me take some aspirin and drink a lot of fluids. My dose was also halved. She recommended getting blood drawn but where I'm at they don't want my dirty foreigner blood.

The idiots at my clinic tell me that my fluid intake shouldn't have anything to do with my levels...but every time I was dehydrated, I got high RBC, and whenever I drank a reasonable amount, I got noticeably lower levels within the range accepted by this clinic. My regular doctor says that the clinic has set the acceptable range too low.

I reduced my T to 80% of the original dose, and I try to drink more. Honestly, sometimes I just don't drink enough until right before I'm scheduled for a blood test. But, as I said, my doc feels that even my worst levels are well within acceptable limits.

He has also suggested that I donate blood on a regular basis or even have blood drawn as a medical procedure. If the damned blood bank would code me as male, I would donate a few times a year. As it is, I bloody well refuse (pun intended). Being listed as female caused all sorts of complications and embarrassment, and I'm just not going to put myself through that again. But if you are legally male and have never donated or never tried to donate before your transition, you should be able to present as male and get coded as male. My mistake? I tried to donate when I was in my twenties, and the blood bank still had my info on record and refuses to change my gender marker until I get bottom surgery. I should have found a "creative" way to answer the bottom surgery question, but I wasn't expecting it and was already freaked out that I was still in the system as female.

Someone told me that Red Cross guidelines (which my blood bank observes) have changed, but I haven't investigated. I have found no written description of any new guidelines.

Anyway, I'm not a doctor, but a lower dose and more water have helped me, and I suppose the blood donation probably helped as well except that I did it way before my next blood test.

I really should drink more, I just don't like to because of my small bladder, but Ive been trying to get more down and I noticed that if I just space it out and take sips over a extended period I have to pee less then if I gulped down a whole glass.

I have not donated blood, but I did try to donate plasma once, they denied me because my I was anemic, or my iron was too low, or both, but that was in a different state so I am probably fine.

I saw my T doctor and hes gonna do more blood work to check my T level and decrease my dose if its too high, he didn't seem concerned at all.

High hemoglobin and RBC are common side effects of testosterone.

Donating blood will help immediately.  Reducing your T dose will help too to but that takes time.

Some blood banks won't accept your blood if you have a hemoglobin higher than 18.0.  If that is the case they will take some blood with a doctor's orders, but they throw it away.

There is also a process called "Double Red" where they hook you up to a pheresis machine that removes the red blood cells and returns the rest to you.

I took T for around eight years and had to give blood 3 or 4 times a year.  I run on estrogen now.