Blood work advice (lipoprotein A)

[Infernalmango]

Yo. Just had some bloods pulled after a mini push before surgery in January. 600mg test, and 50mg var for 5 weeks, with a sprinkle of Anadrol here and there. I don’t have all results back, but I have what I’m curious on and I’m anxious to hear thoughts.

Daily Support was Ezetimibe 10mg, pitavastatin 2mg(4mg for the final week), nac 1200mg, tudca 500mg, fish oils ~5g epa/dha, daily vitamin, citrus berg, coq10, d3/k2, astragalus root, bromilain, injectable gluta (150mg daily, + additional 400mg m-w-f), l carn 500mg, .25 adex e3.5d, and I think that’s it.

I feel like everything stayed pretty decent besides hematocrit. I’m basically never below a 49/50 and have to regularly donate - only reason I haven’t is my surgeon didn’t want me to donate so close to surgery and wanted to see the levels first - but I hope once he sees this he changes his mind.

So my main question is in regards to the lipoprotein A, as it’s my first time doing this test. I chat gptd pretty much all results Iv gotten back so I know it’s genetic, but how much of a concern is it? Is pita/eze something I should consider keeping in full time to mitigate risk?

 

[BigChungusRX]

My LPA is 144. LPA just makes LDL more “sticky” as long as your LDL is low your fine.

 

[latenightdevil]

Lp(a) is a independent risk factor that is genetic. Get lepodisiran in 2030, it's a RNA cure for your borked DNA. Otherwise nothing you can do, statins do nothing for Lp(a), diet, etc. It has no association with other heart disease risk factors. But it certainly won't hurt to not make those other risk factors a problem so you don't have multiple high risks.

 

[Ghoul]

Lp(a) is a risk multiplier. It’s also suppressed while on AAS and likely higher off cycle.

As BigChing said, if LDL is low enough, Lp(a)’s impact (like all other arteriosclerosis risk factors) matters much less. Like LDL is the ammo, all other risk factors are guns. If there’s only one bullet available (very low LDL), 100 guns won’t make the damage any worse,

What it does say is that back before you got LDL under control, that high Lp(a) means you did more damage than your LDL would suggest.

Keeping LDL below <55 is where the strictest guidelines would put someone in your risk category. (AAS use is automatically “high risk” for reasons beyond the numbers you see on a lipid panel*****)

In my opinion, if the Pita and Eze aren’t causing sides, you will only gain by keeping them. Much of your old damage can be slowly undone, you’ll keep your arteries and microvessels in nice, clean condition, and you HS-CRP inflammation will be kept at the very low “20 yo athlete” level it is now. That extremely low systemic inflammation is literally a potent “anti-aging” treatment you’re giving yourself on a daily basis, slowing the degradation of everything.

Wisdom from your 50 year old future to your 30 year old self:

If you could only have one car for the rest of your life, I’m pretty sure you’d keep that thing in mint condition. You’d change the oil early, keep everything pristine, make repairs quickly and make sure you got all preventative maintenance done.

That’s your cardiovascular system right now. Almost brand new.


**** example of one of several types of “invisible” risk factor from AAS use. The change of LDL to particle sizes that penetrate arterial walls more easily

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346582001_How_the_love_of_muscle_can_break_a_heart_Impact_of_anabolic_androgenic_steroids_on_skeletal_muscle_hypertrophy_metabolic_and_cardiovascular_health

 

[Infernalmango]

Lp(a) is a risk multiplier. It’s also suppressed while on AAS and likely higher off cycle.

As BigChing said, if LDL is low enough, Lp(a)’s impact (like all other arteriosclerosis risk factors) matters much less. Like LDL is the ammo, all other risk factors are guns. If there’s only one bullet available (very low LDL), 100 guns won’t make the damage any worse,

What it does say is that back before you got LDL under control, that high Lp(a) means you did more damage than your LDL would suggest.

Keeping LDL below <55 is where the strictest guidelines would put someone in your risk category. (AAS use is automatically “high risk” for reasons beyond the numbers you see on a lipid panel*****)

In my opinion, if the Pita and Eze aren’t causing sides, you will only gain by keeping them. Much of your old damage can be slowly undone, you’ll keep your arteries as microvessels in nice, clean condition, and you HS-CRO inflammation will be kept at the very low “20 yo athlete” level it is now.

Wisdom from your 50 year old future to tour 30 year old self:

If you could only have one car for the rest of your life, I’m pretty sure you’d keep that thing in mint condition. You’d change the oil early, keep everything pristine, make repairs quickly and make sure you got all preventative maintenance done.

That’s your cardiovascular system right now. Almost brand new.


**** example of one of several types of “invisible” risk factor from AAS use. The change of LDL to particle sizes that penetrate arterial walls more easily

View attachment 367313

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346582001_How_the_love_of_muscle_can_break_a_heart_Impact_of_anabolic_androgenic_steroids_on_skeletal_muscle_hypertrophy_metabolic_and_cardiovascular_health

I looked back at all past bloodwork I could find, Iv never had ldl over 110, and typically around 70-80. so somewhat positive. I’m thinking on next order to get the bemp ez instead of just Ezetimibe. You know if people tend to get any extra sides from bemp acid? Iv had zero sides from pita/ez so far.

 

[Ghoul]

I looked back at all past bloodwork I could find, Iv never had ldl over 110, and typically around 70-80. so somewhat positive. I’m thinking on next order to get the bemp ez instead of just Ezetimibe. You know if people tend to get any extra sides from bemp acid? Iv had zero sides from pita/ez so far.

Most people have no issue with Bemp, but I’ll tell you why I don’t use it. There’s a small, but confirmed connection between long term use and increased risk of tendon injuries, mostly in people over 70. It’s connected to something Bemp interferes with and tendon repair.

To me, it’s not clear whether the age factor or “long term use” is what’s significant for those injuries. Bemp became anvailable about 20 years ago so I’d expect long term use to be concentrated in that age group.

I, like you, would only see a drop of a few pints from the very low LDL we have now, and that tendon risk doesn’t seem worth it for a nearly unmeasurable amount of additional LDL lowering. I don’t want to dissuade anyone from using it, it’s got a great safety record, and if it’s going to give you a 20+ LDL point drop by all means use it, the tendon thing reverses when use is stopped, it’s not permanent.

But with LDL <35, the anemic 2-5 point additional drop doesn’t seem worth even a small added risk of anything.

If you want to lower pill count (and the psychological “omg look at all the pills I feel sick and old” impact), get Pita 4 / eze combo tabs.