Hey everybody, looking for advice

Im a 45 year old male who was diagnosed with low t about a year ago (Level was at 127). Dr started me on shots which made me feel great then out of the blue after having some bloodwork drawn for a different issue the Dr noticed my hemoglobin was 18.8. Dr had me stop treatment for a bit, donate blood and take a baby aspirin daily, my hemogloin dropped a bit to 17. He was happy with that and went over other options which I decided on Axiron, was on that a very short time then he convinced me to try the testopel pellets so I dont have to deal with the mess of gels, NEVER again, my ass was sore for a bout a month, black and blue, painful as hell. Expelled about 7 pellets thru the incision site. So at this point shots and testopel were out of the question. Id say this process went on from Feb 2015 till about a month ago. At that point Nov2015 he convinced me into trying aveed which my insurance covered, had my shot about 4 weeks ago and went downhill really bad, depressed, anxious, mood swings, you name it. Had blood tested about 2 weeks ago after injection to find out what my levels were at since my Dr was concerned about the side effects I was having. Low and behold my T level was at 170, he said obviously Aveed doesnt work for you. As a lot of you already know some treatments dont work for some people ;) So far, shots, testopel and Aveed injections are no good for me. He convinced me to try the aveed since its 10 weeks between shots which sounded great. Wish it would have worked. So yesterday I had my appt with the Dr and here is what was done. Drew blood to check hemoglobin, Estrogen and T levels, waiting on results which wont be until next week because of the holidays. He had me go back on Axiron yesterday. He's thinking my testosterone is converting to estrogen which in his words are no big deal, he said I have a pill you can take to block estrogen so he's not concerned. Ive been donating blood for the past year and my levels never get below 17.9, they are currently at 18.8. Im on wellbutrin 150mg once a day and 40mg of pravastatin which he's not concerned about. So here I am back on Axiron 2 pumps under each arm once daily. anybody been in the same boat as me? I've not been on anything long enough to know how axiron works long term, I was only on it a very short time. Wonder how Axiron will affect hemoglobin like the shots? Thanks everyone. Merry XMAS

Your hemoglobin levels aren't going up because you took testosterone shots, they went up because you introduced testosterone into your body. Not all men will experience increases in hemoglobin or hematocrit when using testosterone, but many will, and some will to the point that something has to be done about it.

When you switched to Axiron or Testopel, what did your hemoglobin levels do then? What were your testosterone levels compared to the levels during injections?

Axiron, the problem with this stuff is it has a low absorption rate. I'm not a big fan of transdermals because of absorption issues, but if one is going to use a transdermal, a topical cream like Androgel will normally prove to be more effective than Axiron. Even Axiron's own data shows that it doesn't have the ability to get men to the upper ends of the reference range, in most cases.

Injectable testosterone is by far the most effective, specifically testosterone enanthate or testosterone cypionate. Aveed (testosterone undecanoate) can also work but it's unclear if your doctor was using it the intended way. You should have had more than one shot to know if it works for you. You would have had one shot and another 3-4wks later, perhaps another after that and then once every 10-12wks or so. If you don't go through the loading phase it will not work.

Regardless of the type of testosterone you use, elevated hemoglobin and hematocrit are possible, this remains true with gels, creams, injections, pellets or anything else. Some men have to perform a therapeutic phlebotomy regularly if they are going to safely continue testosterone use, there's just no way around it. Some men have to give blood as often as every 2 months, while others only a couple times a year. And plenty of people don't have to give blood at all. It's simply one of those things that's individually based.

Thanks Justin. My Dr informed me that the shots have a tendency to raise hemoglobin more so than the gel because of the amount given at one time. My hemoglobin did drop a bit after going on Axiron but I also take baby aspirin and been donating blood. Ive been on the Axiron for about a month now and although it helps a bit its not nearly as good as the shots. My recent blood work came back and my estrogen and hemoglobin are back to normal so the Dr is going to try and put me back on the shots since I feel so much better, I will need to continue the baby aspirin and donate blood and get a 3 month checkup to see where Im at. Axiron saved me no doubt but the shots make me feel like i can conquer the world ;) I did take my initial shot of aveed and was scheduled for my 4 week booster but the side effects of that stuff for me werent cool, Anger, depression etc. Blood work was taken 3 weeks after and my T was at its lowest its been so the Dr said no go on the aveed because of the side effects. I felt like death.Thank for the follow up post ;)

I was on the shots a while back but only short term ( 2-3weeks) before the DR noticed my hemoglobin skyrocket to 20 so I dont know how im going to feel on it compared to the axiron. He has me doing 1cc every 2 weeks. Im hoping I dont get that roller coaster effect towards the end of the 2 weeks :). Anyone else go from Axiron to the shots? How did you feel?