TRT at 40 vs natural lifting, my buddy's bloodwork blew my mind

Honestly my best friend just turned 41 and started TRT through a clinic in Austin. He showed me his labs from 6 months ago vs last week, testosterone went from 310 to 980 ng/dL and his free T doubled. But his LDL also jumped from 110 to 145 and his hematocrit is at 53 now. He feels amazing and added 15 lbs on his bench in 4 months, but the cardiologist he saw flagged the blood thickness right away. So is the tradeoff worth it if he does weekly blood donations and keeps cardio in? Has anyone else here had to pick between feeling great on paper vs what the numbers actually show?

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laura_knight542mo ago

That's a tough spot for your buddy, and honestly it's a lot more common than people admit. The jump in bench and energy is real, but a hematocrit of 53 is no joke, that's the kind of thing that makes you feel like a ticking time bomb even when you feel great. My old gym partner had similar numbers, and he did the whole blood donation thing every 8 weeks, but his doctor still made him drop his dose because the thickness kept creeping back up. It's a real tradeoff, feeling like a beast on the outside while your blood is basically sludge on the inside, so I'd tell your friend to listen to that cardiologist before he gets too comfortable.

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