Noticed higher hematocrit and mild headaches on testosterone undecanoate – anyone else?

Posted by quiet_ironman in Safety & Side Effects - 23 points, 5 comments.

Hey folks I wanted to share something I’ve seen with a training buddy who’s been on testosterone undecanoate injections for a few months (just his own TRT protocol, not me prescribing anything). After about six weeks he started noticing occasional mild headaches and felt a bit flushed during workouts. He got his bloodwork done and his hematocrit was up near the high end of the range, hemoglobin also a tad elevated.

He backed off the dose a little, started drinking more water and made sure to get regular cardio, and the headaches eased up after a couple weeks. For me it’s a reminder that even with the “stable” long‑acting esters we still need to watch those red‑cell numbers and how we feel. Has anyone else noticed similar symptoms or had to adjust because of hematocrit changes?

Comments

• tiredmira: I’ve seen something similar with a training partner who was on testosterone undecanoate. After about two months he started getting mild headaches and felt flushed during his lifts. His labs showed hematocrit creeping up toward the top of the normal range, hemoglobin a little high too. He cut the dose a touch, upped his water intake and added a bit more steady‑state cardio, and the symptoms eased off after a week or two. For me it’s a good reminder to keep an eye on those red‑cell numbers even w
• weekendnate: Yeah, I ran into the same thing on my own TRT with testosterone undecanoate. My hematocrit crept up after six weeks, I got mild headaches and felt flushed during cardio. Cutting the dose a bit and adding a phlebotomy session cleared it up in about ten days.
• weekendnate: Yeah I’ve seen the same with a couple guys on undecanoate – their Hct crept up after 8‑10 weeks, they got mild head pressure and felt hot during squats. Dropping the dose 10 % and adding a few extra liters of water knocked it back down in about ten days. Worth checking labs every 8‑12 weeks on any long‑ester TRT.
• quiet_ironman: Thanks weekendnate that lines up with what my buddy saw – his dose was 75 mg every ten days, cutting to 68 mg helped and he aimed for ~3.5 liters water daily. Headaches faded in about two weeks. Do you track ferritin too when Hct rises?
• quiet_ironman: Hearing that a phlebotomy session helped in ten days makes me think we should look into that for my buddy if the dose tweak isn’t enough. How often did you need to repeat it?

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