My first post! Great forums here…especially this one for us geezers (I’m 39)
Hey bigdawg, it was really interesting to read these posts. I have the same problem with low HDL. 10 months ago I had an episode that led me to understand I had HDL at 22. This is the problem that caused my dad to have a heart attack (he lived, and is doing great) and it is definately a genetic issue, for the most part.
The docs went in to the lower left artery to take a look based on a calcium score test that put me in the 99th percentile, which is as bad as it gets. They came back out without installing a stent because they felt I need to get my lipids under control before they go putting a stent in that would just get plaqued over and cause other issues…so, I became the poster child for health. I elected to forego the prescription drugs and deal with my issue with intense excercise (both cardio and weights) and some supplementation. I take 2 grams of Niacin. No Niaspan. I did discuss this with both my physician and dad (dad is a doctor as well) and I get the blood profile done every 3 months to monitor the liver function.
Within 4 months, I had the HDL up to 40, and it is now still raising at 44. These kinds of improvements are something that the Niaspan people would probably pay big money for, but I don’t take it. I don’t think the niacin has any more to do with the increase than the nutrition or excercise, but I think all three combined have really helped.
The hardest thing is that I have to prioritize the cardio above all else, and I stay at a calorie maintenance level, so bulking is never an option. The performance in the weight room has been great, but it’s slower than a true bulking diet would allow.
Good luck with your situation. Don’t ever let up on the cardio, and hit the weights hard.
What was your total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides at the time? My numbers for those are all good, so they seem to discount the low HDL.
You mentioned calcium and reminded me of back when I had it tested and was told it was too high, therefore lower the testosterone dose. I didn’t understand, but it hasn’t been checked in years and you reminded me again.
My LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol were not horrible (not great, but not horrible), but that HDL is the key in my case, and my dad’s for that matter. All arteries/vessels were clear except for the one they call the widowmaker. Same with my dad.
The calcium score test was actually not a blood test at all. They put you in a donut shaped thing, lined up with the heart, and it takes a number of “picture” slices to look at the vessels. It is a way to look for blockages and is totally non-invasive. Insurance does not cover this test, but when my dad had it done, it cost $500.00. I had it done last year for $99.00 and it took about 5 minutes. The results come back with a few numbers that I did not understand at the time, but also puts you in a ranking, in which I scored, as I look at it, 1% away from dead (I panicked when the results came back). My cardiologist, who works for the practice that performs these tests, kind of admitted that these results are often more of a “kick in the head” wake up call, rather than an indicator of heart attack probability or actual blockage percentage. Of course, when they went in to take a look for real, they did see significant blockage.
I have gone from a somewhat sedentary lifestyle with terrible nutritional practices (5’10" at 200lbs) to 165lbs with 12%bf right now, and lots of additional lean mass, and even more strength. As you may be finding out, a focus on cardio as priority ONE is not really conducive to building muscle very fast, but it can happen. Nutrition is the key!
I’ll look to see if I scanned an image of the calcium score test so you can see an example. PM me and I’ll try to get that to you.
bigdawg–it looks like you have the beginnings of metabolic syndrome, probably type 2 diabetes eventually.
in my diabetic regimen, my endo has me on metformin, actos and lipitor. i’m also supposed to take fish oil. just keep forgetting to do so. also take two baby aspirin. and an ace inhibitor for hbp.
my lipids were far worse than yours. but my current hdl/total is far better. my endo also suggested having two glasses of red with dinner and it has dramatically lowered everything from my a1c to my lipids. much better than the statin which at higher doses caused muscle cramping. with metabolic you can anticipate lower T levels–mine are currently 393 and I feel it. My endo does not believe in TRT at that level but I am unable to find some other doctor who would do TRT. The endo is great on the diabetes but many want you far far sicker with it before you see them. I fired my internist when i couldn’t feel my feet anymore.
i don’t know if the reservatol which is supposedly the benefical element of wine will do the reduction alone. it is worth a try. i was planning on experimenting with it this month.
i’ m aware that alchohol is estrogenic but since i literally feel like hell what difference does two drinks make?
one thing to consider–i also took antidepressants. i’m not sure if it encouraged my diabetes or not. i know there are several medications for schizophrenia (i think) that do. but i have my suspicions. i think what was occurring was my T plunging or E spiking but hormonally
related. but i could be wrong. it isn’t worth trying to figure it out. i was 44 at the time.
I wouldn’t drink on the anti D either. the most important thing i’ve learned on this forum is that it isn’t your lab numbers that are meaningful but how you feel. if you’re not feeling right then something’s wrong.
[quote]bigdawg011 wrote:
KSman, I honestly think she really didn’t know much about TRT. Seems she is usually dealing with diabetics or people with high cholesterol.
The ironic thing is her front office staff are fat as all get out. Meanwhile, the doctor is a puny vietnamese lady.
Anyway, I’m gonna just leave it all alone and not worry about it. Just keep eating well.[/quote]
Not so ironic
Most women in medial offices are obese unless in early 20s. If you only saw the amount of free food that flows through the offices from drug reps. Most of them do not make much money and they get to order carryout lunches of choice form restaurant menus more days than not in addition to unlimited supplies of candy, cookies and donuts. You should just see their break rooms around the holidays it is actually kind of disgusting. The doctor is busy seeing patients and may care more about her health.
I do take fish oil supps. About 10g per day.[/quote]
Omega3 Fatty Accids(fish oil) is fantastic.
My body is all messed up, except my lipid profile, the doctor was actually supprised how good my numbers were.
My biology teacher in college said, no matter what anyone tells you, this is the only way to clean your arteries and your blood. He had been doing studies on it for years. It really made a difference, I am way over weight and my blood pressure is still good.
He actually expressed concern over the TSH once I asked “is this optimal?” I also pointed out the pre-diabetes, and high insulin from last May
He said he wanted to focus on the T and E2 issues first, but decided based on my concerns to order a very thorough panel of tests, including TSH, Total and Free T4 and T3, all the usual hormones, glucose, insulin, IGF-1, HbA1c, C-reactive Protein, Homocysteine, etc. He has all these done in his in-house lab. Pretty cool eh?
He was not concerned about the HDL, though. He simply remarked that that indicates my metabolic issues, and that tuning the hormones correctly will eventually lead to that issue fixing itself. That was strange to me because I thought TRT was causing the lower HDL.
Anyway, as he is a urologist, he found some other treatable issues that will be addressed early in January.
I’m hypothyroid. Total T4 and T3 were below the scale. TSH was high.
I KNEW IT! And all those other fucking “ENDOCRINOLOGISTS” that I was fine, in range, whatever!
So, I asked for Armour. The nurse said that he starts usually with synthroid then cytomel if there’s a not a lot of conversion of T4 to T3. She also said my thyroid antibody count was high.
For about 7 years I’ve complained of low energy and generally not the greatest mood.
I really hope this helps, because anti-depressants don’t fix the whole picture for me.