Checking through some older postings and found this thread. Found it to be a very interesting topic.
By chance I had happened to have some blood work done about a month before starting TRT and that test showed my baseline hematocrit was 44.8. When I first started TRT it climbed to 48.6 and when I had a later bump up (of AndroGel), it jumped to 50.4. No one along the way expressed any concern (one of my treating Endos at one point - when the 50.4 result came back specifically mentioned that it was nothing to be concerned about... he pointed out that the labs they used used to have an upper limit of 50 and had recently moved it to 52... and that they even then didn't get concerned about it until it was "55 or so"). I have also read online a couple of places - one including a Cleveland Clinic article if I recall it right - that have specified 55 as being the level of concern.
As to iron levels, the biggest thing to watch out for are supplements that CONTAIN any form of iron supplementation... and do what you can to avoid foods that have been "fortified" with supplements that include iron. Check that next loaf of bread or box of cereal, etc. Even if it doesn't have the word "fortified" on it, you'd be amazed at how many have been "fortified" by including some form of iron (along with other things like niacin or whatever). One slice of bread, etc. isn't that much, but it does add up over time. Unfortunately two of the most heavy suppliers of iron in one's diet is red meat in general and liver in particular!
Also, don't understand all of this... you indicate:
"The numbers to watch are the Ferritin and Iron Saturation %. You divide the Serum Iron by the TIBC to obtain that %. Normal range is 12%-45%. Optimum range (despite what the lab test says) for Ferritin is under 10."
Well, if I take your Ferritin level (92) and divide it by the TIBC (244) I come up woth 0.377. If I reverse it and divide the TIBC (244) by the Ferritin level (thinking maybe you had it reversed), that comes up with 2.65... either way is below the quoted "10".
Otherwise seemed that all of your levels looked to be in normal ranges, but not sure on that Iron Saturation (or Ferritin Saturations) aspect.
Here's an excellent site that explains a lot about it:
http://www.mercola.com/2002/dec/18/iron_diagnosis.htm
QUOTE: The transferrin saturation, as a percentage, is calculated from 100 times serum iron concentration divided by total iron binding capacity. Transferrin saturation of greater than 50 percent detects most males or females with or without iron loading, whereas normally it is 20 percent to 50 percent. It has been proposed that the screening cutoff point should be 60 percent for males and 50 percent for females. END QUOTE
Going on that quoted statement, we take the Serum Ferritin of 92 and multiply it times 100 (for 9200) and then divide that by your TIBC (244) which gives us a 37.7... And according to Dr. Mercola, 20 - 50% ranges are normal, common, and no problem. According to your Labs own reference ranges, 12 - 45% is the normal reference range.
I think that I would definitely re-check the advice about getting that level under 10. Yeah, 37.7 might be somewhat high and you might want to get that down some but getting it under 10 might be counter productive and unhealthy. I have checked numerous sites and can't find anything that recommends under 10% as being optimum level (in fact uinder 10% would probably be anemic to a degree!)....
See:
http://www.hemocue.com/hemocueUS_2/anaemia.html
QUOTE: This type of anaemia is caused by decreased formation of haemoglobin due either to iron deficiency or abnormal production of globin. To distinguish between these two causes, it is necessary to obtain information about the iron saturation in plasma. This is done by determining the serum iron concentration and the TIBC (Total Iron Binding Capacity) from which the degree of saturation of the transferrin may be calculated. In iron deficiency the saturation is less than 10-15%, whereas it is normal at 30% or high above 45%... END QUOTE
Also:
http://www.scpath.com.au/hb/scplethbi.htm
BTW, how often are you having blood draws done and has having your blood drawn had any effect on lowering your hematocrit levels (though I think yu were good were you were at)...
LRS
Another decent site with explanations and references ranges on lots of lab tests...
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcls-txt/t-prtcl-072.html
DNA Lab Test:
http://www.dnadirect.com/tests/hfe/what.jsp?source=overture&term=HFE&OVRAW=%22Iron%20Saturation%22%20reference%20range&OVKEY=iron%20saturation&OVMTC=advanced
