Worried about sludge in your veins and dying in your sleep? This may not solve your problems, but it may help manage some anxiety.
I bought this machine for home testing of the above. Hematocrit is one of those things I need to keep track of because I like Equipoise and I also like Anadrol, with Equipoise of course. The reviews of home testers are all over the map and I think the primary reason for that is people simply don't know how to use them, or can't read instructions. Surprise, surprise.
Rather than relying on any Amazon reviews, since I don't trust those anymore, I read up on the technology itself, specifically the tech in this meter which is reflectance photometry, also commonly used in blood Glucose monitors. These seem to be of the same tech that Canadian Blood Services use in testing your values at the time of a donation. I'll get into some points on taking samples in a moment, which seem to be key on getting accurate readings.
After a few weeks of use and 12 tests so far, I am satisfied that this meter is accurate enough to justify my buying it at roughly $125, this one being slighly more expensive because of the extra testing strips. Those of you who use blood glucose testing meters know that the cost, mostly, is the testing strips. For those old enough to remember buying printer ink, similar deal.
On Sept 10 I received a blood test HCT(Hematocrit) of 56% and HG(Hemoglobin) at 187. This was after being on 175 test with some Mast at ~300 for about 6 weeks where I previously was on 500/500 Test and Eq. The HG/HCT should be coming down. I dropped everything but test at that moment, and stayed at 100mgs since then.
Over the course of these last 6 weeks I've watched the HG/HCT drop from my first home test at 178/52% on Sept 28th to 172/50% on Oct 21 to 164/48% 48 hours after a donation. I take two tests each time and accept the highest reading as my data. On the day of donation the nurse tested me at 177 where my home reading an hour before was 175, which is easily within a reasonable deviation. Most of this photometer testing seems to have a deviation of anywhere from 4-8 g/DL, but the most variance I found between two immediate tests was 5, so 170/175 for example.
Some key points here in testing procedures: I was grilling the Blood Services nurse about all these things and she was super helpful.
1. Prick your finger and wipe off the first 2 or 3 drops of blood. Sample the fourth if you can. The reason for this is when you are injured, there's tissue material, plasma and platelets floating around in those first spurts of blood and those clotting platelets will dilute the red blood cell concentration and give you a falsely LOW reading. For this reason, I take two samples and log the highest one. When I saw some reviews claiming the readings were "all over the place" I suspect this was the issue. My back to back readings did not vary that much at all.
2. Calculated HCT from HG: This meter calculates your HCT from your HG. This is not ideal under some circumstances, because it can fail to include medications and treatments that affect blood thickness and whatnot. If you're not on any special meds for this sort of thing, then a calculated HCT is not really a big deal. If you're on a bunch of meds that interfere with this, then you want the lab centrefuge type measurement. I don't require this, so I'm not worried about it.
3. Yes, hydration is a factor. Keep in mind always that you are better off in the afternoon after you're sure you're hydrated to take your tests. There's a limit to how much this can affect the tests, but you don't need any falsely high readings to further confuse your data.
So, do I really need one of these things? Probably not. If you're prone to higher HCT and you like things like Eq, really you should be making donations when you can, and getting a high reading on your handy meter isn't going to get you to your blood donation any faster if you are limited in how often you can donate. So you still have to ride it out. However, if like me you lie awake at night and wonder about your heart pumping 60 weight motor oil because you just watched a video on IMMINENT DEATH AND HEMATOCRIT then it might settle your mind a bit. Especially if you've been skating along for months without checking stuff like this, it's nice to know where you stand.
I think most people will be just fine having regular blood tests, but if this is a concern...then it's damn handy to be able to check.
Have a look at what's available, and check out the technology used in the meters, or even ask your Dr or the nurse who takes your blood. Many will have no ideas but some are up on their blood issues, especially because lots of people donate exactly for high hemo due to reasons other than steroid use. All I tell the nurse is "I'm supposed to watch my iron as my HCT can get a bit high, any advice on testing at home?" . Anything we can do to broaden our knowledge on these things is a bonus.
Hope that's helpful,
Cheers.
I bought this machine for home testing of the above. Hematocrit is one of those things I need to keep track of because I like Equipoise and I also like Anadrol, with Equipoise of course. The reviews of home testers are all over the map and I think the primary reason for that is people simply don't know how to use them, or can't read instructions. Surprise, surprise.
Rather than relying on any Amazon reviews, since I don't trust those anymore, I read up on the technology itself, specifically the tech in this meter which is reflectance photometry, also commonly used in blood Glucose monitors. These seem to be of the same tech that Canadian Blood Services use in testing your values at the time of a donation. I'll get into some points on taking samples in a moment, which seem to be key on getting accurate readings.
After a few weeks of use and 12 tests so far, I am satisfied that this meter is accurate enough to justify my buying it at roughly $125, this one being slighly more expensive because of the extra testing strips. Those of you who use blood glucose testing meters know that the cost, mostly, is the testing strips. For those old enough to remember buying printer ink, similar deal.
On Sept 10 I received a blood test HCT(Hematocrit) of 56% and HG(Hemoglobin) at 187. This was after being on 175 test with some Mast at ~300 for about 6 weeks where I previously was on 500/500 Test and Eq. The HG/HCT should be coming down. I dropped everything but test at that moment, and stayed at 100mgs since then.
Over the course of these last 6 weeks I've watched the HG/HCT drop from my first home test at 178/52% on Sept 28th to 172/50% on Oct 21 to 164/48% 48 hours after a donation. I take two tests each time and accept the highest reading as my data. On the day of donation the nurse tested me at 177 where my home reading an hour before was 175, which is easily within a reasonable deviation. Most of this photometer testing seems to have a deviation of anywhere from 4-8 g/DL, but the most variance I found between two immediate tests was 5, so 170/175 for example.
Some key points here in testing procedures: I was grilling the Blood Services nurse about all these things and she was super helpful.
1. Prick your finger and wipe off the first 2 or 3 drops of blood. Sample the fourth if you can. The reason for this is when you are injured, there's tissue material, plasma and platelets floating around in those first spurts of blood and those clotting platelets will dilute the red blood cell concentration and give you a falsely LOW reading. For this reason, I take two samples and log the highest one. When I saw some reviews claiming the readings were "all over the place" I suspect this was the issue. My back to back readings did not vary that much at all.
2. Calculated HCT from HG: This meter calculates your HCT from your HG. This is not ideal under some circumstances, because it can fail to include medications and treatments that affect blood thickness and whatnot. If you're not on any special meds for this sort of thing, then a calculated HCT is not really a big deal. If you're on a bunch of meds that interfere with this, then you want the lab centrefuge type measurement. I don't require this, so I'm not worried about it.
3. Yes, hydration is a factor. Keep in mind always that you are better off in the afternoon after you're sure you're hydrated to take your tests. There's a limit to how much this can affect the tests, but you don't need any falsely high readings to further confuse your data.
So, do I really need one of these things? Probably not. If you're prone to higher HCT and you like things like Eq, really you should be making donations when you can, and getting a high reading on your handy meter isn't going to get you to your blood donation any faster if you are limited in how often you can donate. So you still have to ride it out. However, if like me you lie awake at night and wonder about your heart pumping 60 weight motor oil because you just watched a video on IMMINENT DEATH AND HEMATOCRIT then it might settle your mind a bit. Especially if you've been skating along for months without checking stuff like this, it's nice to know where you stand.
I think most people will be just fine having regular blood tests, but if this is a concern...then it's damn handy to be able to check.
Have a look at what's available, and check out the technology used in the meters, or even ask your Dr or the nurse who takes your blood. Many will have no ideas but some are up on their blood issues, especially because lots of people donate exactly for high hemo due to reasons other than steroid use. All I tell the nurse is "I'm supposed to watch my iron as my HCT can get a bit high, any advice on testing at home?" . Anything we can do to broaden our knowledge on these things is a bonus.
Hope that's helpful,
Cheers.
Last edited:
