Should I take a statin? Please take a look at my bloodwork.

[Pantera]

Zetia… thats what they gave me total cholesterol of 270, ldl of 177…. (I still havent trued the zetia) i tried crestor 5 mlg eod and ended up with a left calf tibial blood clot… never touched a statin again…

I got some super in depth boold work but this isnt my thread to throw my stuff into… have had high cholesterol since early 2000’s… quit trt early 2014(ish) after 10-12 yrs of trt now test levels are 643 naturally…

What made you quit TRT?

 

[lift4lyfe]

For science. Firming up and validating the hypothesis that lowering SHBG will not increase absolute FT under constant exogenous Testosterone. Oxandrolone or stanozolol are ideal agents to use for this work.

I reported on my previous experiments but did not use equilibrium dialysis to measure FT. Always wanted to repeat that using FT by ED instead of calculating using cFTv.

Oxandrolone Troche Experience: Potential Atherosclerosis Marker WMD

I’d be interested in hearing others experience using oxandrolone troches instead of oral delivery (capsules) to bypass first-pass metabolism and reduce liver toxicity and lower minimum effective dose . Since oxandrolone has excellent oral bioavailability (97-98%) and is actually metabolized...

forums.t-nation.com

Sorry for the derail OP.

What was the outcome of that hypothesis using ED to measure FT? Did lowering SHBG change absolute FT under constant exogenous Test dose?

 

[readalot]

What was the outcome of that hypothesis using ED to measure FT? Did lowering SHBG change absolute FT under constant exogenous Test dose?

Pulling blood tomorrow. Should have this wrapped up soon.

 

[lift4lyfe]

Pulling blood tomorrow. Should have this wrapped up soon.

My results on anavar and TRT dose (unfortunately I didn't have recently taken pre-anavar bloods): Total T 820 ng/dL and Free T 256 pg/mL

Testosterone, Free (Dialysis) and Total MS

 

[lift4lyfe]

Pulling blood tomorrow. Should have this wrapped up soon.

Any thoughts on ezetimibe monotherapy as an alternative to statins for LDL and apoB control? It seems ezetimibe is only used with statins since major studies on ezetimibe monotherapy failed to demonstrate any beneficial effect of cardiovascular outcomes, despite its LDL lowering effects.

Asking because I'd like to lower LDL and apoB because of familial history of ASCVD. But hesitant to start a statin due to their systemic effects.

Other not so appealing options include bempedoic acid (but I have family history of gout, and risk of tendon rupture sounds terrible) and PCSK9 inhibitors (not easy to find without a prescription and expensive)

Ezetimibe and Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes: Current Evidence and Perspectives - PMC

Low-density lipoprotein lowering with statins has convincingly and consistently proven to reduce cardiovascular events in both primary and secondary prevention. However, despite high-dose statin therapy, residual cardiovascular risk remains and many ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[readalot]

My results on anavar and TRT dose (unfortunately I didn't have recently taken pre-anavar bloods): Total T 820 ng/dL and Free T 256 pg/mL

Testosterone, Free (Dialysis) and Total MS

Cool. Why don't you just pull bloods again a few weeks after you drop the oxandrolone if you want comparison? Ensure the same product, same dose and same time point after injection.

 

[readalot]

Any thoughts on ezetimibe monotherapy as an alternative to statins for LDL and apoB control? It seems ezetimibe is only used with statins since major studies on ezetimibe monotherapy failed to demonstrate any beneficial effect of cardiovascular outcomes, despite its LDL lowering effects.

Asking because I'd like to lower LDL and apoB because of familial history of ASCVD. But hesitant to start a statin due to their systemic effects.

Other not so appealing options include bempedoic acid (but I have family history of gout, and risk of tendon rupture sounds terrible) and PCSK9 inhibitors (not easy to find without a prescription and expensive)

Ezetimibe and Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes: Current Evidence and Perspectives - PMC

Low-density lipoprotein lowering with statins has convincingly and consistently proven to reduce cardiovascular events in both primary and secondary prevention. However, despite high-dose statin therapy, residual cardiovascular risk remains and many ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The first thing that comes to mind is what your lipid panel looks like on TRT type dose. Or cruise or whatever you have. Triglycerides, hdl-c, cRP?

Have you ever had an NMR lipoprotein assay?

What kind of Apolipoprotein B-100 levels are we talking about here?

 

[macedog24]

Red yeast rice did absolutely nothing for me and upon further research found

Red yeast rice products that have considerable amounts of monacolin K may effectively lower blood cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels, and blood pressure. They may also reduce the risk of heart problems and death in people with metabolic syndrome. (Metabolic syndrome, also called insulin resistance syndrome, is a group of conditions that raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.) But, because of the levels of monacolin K, these products are considered by the FDA to be unapproved new drugs and are not sold legally in the United States.

Other red yeast rice products may contain very little monacolin K, and it’s unknown if these products are effective in reducing cholesterol levels or improving other areas of health. Some products have levels of monacolin K that are below the level known to lower cholesterol in clinical trials.

I thought they put a ban On this year's ago. Most red yeast rice available now doesn't have monacolin k. I may be wrong but this use to be a hot topic a few years back. You know pharma doesn't want you to get the same results from a supplement (red yeast rice) when you can be put on statins... I use to take an all in one supplement years ago that had red yeast rice in it. Think it was called life support... It was great... Bloodwork was always in range..

 

[macedog24]

I would like to suggest for you to try a product by Naomi it's called citrus bergamot. You take one capsule a day or two if you like .. I used it and did my own blood work to see how effective it really was.
It dropped my cholesterol by 20 points in a month with one capsule a day. Hope this helps you. I like to be my own guinea pig and then run labs before I blindly start to give anyone my money. But it worked so this is part of my daily supps
My Dr wanted me to take statins.. so I got this and tested it on myself.. bloods before and after .
When I went back to see him. First thing he said was I see your cholesterol was down 20 points . He was very happy until I told him I was t taking a statin it was from this..hia while attitude changed he was one of the dr's that just wanted to constantly put you on meds. I ended up switching dr's after this..

 

[lift4lyfe]

The first thing that comes to mind is what your lipid panel looks like on TRT type dose. Or cruise or whatever you have. Triglycerides, hdl-c, cRP?

Have you ever had an NMR lipoprotein assay?

What kind of Apolipoprotein B-100 levels are we talking about here?

CRP is elevated for other reasons (MCT not treating me well), so that’s not a helpful metric at the moment.

Triglycerides high, hdl 20s, and apoB 120 but I was on orals so that skewed it. Dropped the orals and retaking tests.

NMR is on the list for next blood test.

Peter Attia recommends crushing ApoB as much as possible if family history of CVD, or at least that was his recommendation about 6-12 months ago.

 

[lift4lyfe]

I would like to suggest for you to try a product by Naomi it's called citrus bergamot. You take one capsule a day or two if you like .. I used it and did my own blood work to see how effective it really was.
It dropped my cholesterol by 20 points in a month with one capsule a day. Hope this helps you. I like to be my own guinea pig and then run labs before I blindly start to give anyone my money. But it worked so this is part of my daily supps
My Dr wanted me to take statins.. so I got this and tested it on myself.. bloods before and after .
When I went back to see him. First thing he said was I see your cholesterol was down 20 points . He was very happy until I told him I was t taking a statin it was from this..hia while attitude changed he was one of the dr's that just wanted to constantly put you on meds. I ended up switching dr's after this..

I heard citrus bergamot “masks” bad lipids by making it appear as if they’re better than they really are. Maybe I’m wrong but anyone heard that before?

 

[PeterBond]

For what it's worth, my cardiologist is an advocate for adding statins to the public drinking water supply, similar to fluoride (no kidding). They are that much of a "free lunch" against cardiovascular disease, he says.

Ha, I can sympathize with the sentiment. I'd advocate it for PCSK9 inhibitors if they were orally bioavailable though.

I figured I might as well decrease my atherosclerotic disease risk close to 0 by tossing in 5 mg rosuvastatin daily on top of my already near-perfect LDL cholesterol of 1,8 mmol/L. No side effects for me and got it down to 1,2 mmol/L.

 

[OldGHGuy]

Ha, I can sympathize with the sentiment. I'd advocate it for PCSK9 inhibitors if they were orally bioavailable though.

I figured I might as well decrease my atherosclerotic disease risk close to 0 by tossing in 5 mg rosuvastatin daily on top of my already near-perfect LDL cholesterol of 1,8 mmol/L. No side effects for me and got it down to 1,2 mmol/L.

Yes, I'm an over-responder to everything so low dose Atorvastatin (20mg) has me within excellent ranges with no side effects as well.

 

[Marineman]

High cholesterol and early cardiac related death runs in my mothers family. The VA put me on 10mg Rosuvastatin a couple years ago when I was maybe 45. I don't notice anything from it other than my lipids are the best they have ever been. I also had a calcium heart scan to ensure I wasn't already dealing with a ticking time bomb. thankfully that showed nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Pantera]

Ha, I can sympathize with the sentiment. I'd advocate it for PCSK9 inhibitors if they were orally bioavailable though.

I figured I might as well decrease my atherosclerotic disease risk close to 0 by tossing in 5 mg rosuvastatin daily on top of my already near-perfect LDL cholesterol of 1,8 mmol/L. No side effects for me and got it down to 1,2 mmol/L.

Have you noticed the statin negatively affecting your ability to build muscle?

 

[PeterBond]

Have you noticed the statin negatively affecting your ability to build muscle?

Nope. No side effects for me, and I don't experience any increase in DOMS at all either.

 

[jdubzzz44]

I have been having some annoying knee, shoulder and elbow pain on and off around the time I started 10mg Ed rousuvastain. Not enough to keep me out of the gym but limiting myself on some exercises. I’m going to see if I can change meds and see if it improves