Definition: Polycythemia means too many red blood cells, so the blood is thicker than normal. Testosterone labels list it as "polycythemia (high red blood cells)" and track it with the hematocrit, the percent of blood made up of red cells. It is different from polycythemia vera, a rare bone marrow disease.
| Label | When hematocrit is checked |
|---|---|
| AndroGel, Aveed | Before starting, 3 to 6 months after starting, then once a year |
| Kyzatrex | Before starting and about every 3 months |
| Depo-Testosterone | Hemoglobin and hematocrit periodically with long-term use |
If hematocrit is high, the labels say treatment is stopped until it comes down. Kyzatrex adds that if it rises again after restarting, the drug is stopped for good. In the Xyosted studies, 4.2% of men had a hematocrit of 55% or more.
MedlinePlus describes polycythemia vera as a bone marrow disease, often linked to a JAK2 gene change, that raises red cells and sometimes white cells and platelets. A high count caused by testosterone is a drug effect rather than a marrow disease. MedlinePlus also notes that dehydration can push a hematocrit reading up.
The label schedule only works if results are kept. Logging each hematocrit with its date, the dose at the time and how many days after the last injection it was drawn makes a slow climb easy to spot.
Read more on Dose Track: Can you donate blood on TRT? · Testosterone and anemia · Xyosted side effects · Aveed side effects