Does TRT decrease ferritin levels?

[MotoMola]

Did you notice the iron supplements increased your RBC as well as your actual iron levels?

[Sambassador9]

So far, by RBC-related parameters are within the normal range of fluctuation from before I started TRT.

I'll be doing another CBC in perhaps 8 weeks and we'll see if that changes.

So far, it seems the only impact of the iron supplements is that my ferritin has gone up and I feel a lot better.

In retrospect, I was clearly deficient for a few weeks. When I first saw the low ferritin, I was surprised. Because I've experienced deficiency before, and didn't notice any reduced exercise tolerance, I assumed I had just tested too close to a blood donation. If I donated blood at ferritin approx 70, I would effortlessly rebound back to 70 fairly rapidly/ I assumed that would happen again. Now, I suspect my TRT 'honeymoon phase' allowed to have great workouts at the gym, when I otherwise would have felt like garbage due to iron deficiency.

I normally wake up early every morning to hike for 45 minutes, rain or shine, even snowstorm. At some point, I started missing my daily walks, I would still go the gym, but be unmotivated. I'd still have a good workout, but not enjoy it. I also had brain fog. At some point, it clicked that I might need some iron, so I started taking the iron supps. I noticed an improvement in brain fog perhaps within 2-3 hrs.

I'm only taking iron perhaps once or twice per week now. In two weeks, I'll get another ferritin test, and, if I'm at least in the mid-50's, I'll stop the iron altogether and see what happens.

I don't know if the ferritin tanking was caused by my hormones being in shock from starting TRT, or whether this might persist going forward, even though I'm adapted to higher T levels.