Cholesterol progress, what will the doc do?

Uncle_Bob wrote: I only take the one Niacin though because when i took the three i thought i was having a panic attack

Well first off I'd like to congratulate you on getting things under control so far and for being so committed to it. It is not easy and when you are younger (like you) some people tend to not want to bother. You, however, are doing great!

I can only give a rough number, but believe that most people's total cholesterol is produced 75% by the body, not ingested. Now why is it that you (or your Dr.) does not want you on a statin?? I know that some people have problems - but it is a few, and some just don't believe in them. But drugs like Lipitor have such a great track record and work so well. You just need to start low and work up. If you have a problem it will be caught early. If it is your Dr recommending this, then I suspect he/she is trying to induce you to do as much as you can on your own, but that's not fair.

Niacin is great stuff if you take it right. Talking baby aspirin just before will supposedly counteract the flushing. I've been doing that for years before taking (Rx) Niaspan and it works wonders. It raises HDL and lowers LDL too. Eventually you get used to the flushing anyway. I take my largest dose before bedtime and sleep when I am flushing. Again it is one of these start low and work up kind of things.

Now several years ago I wasn't that bad (maybe 250 Tot Chol, LDL of 125, etc.). But for several years I have taken Lipitor 20mg and Niaspan 1000 with 250mg OTC SR NIacin twice during the day. My latest numbers were approximately 125 T Chol, LDL of around 70, and TG of about 80. I do work out regularly - but not nearly as much as you do - and I eat well, but am not fanatic anymore. Being fanatic about eating didn't seem to help. The Statin and Niacin seems to have the biggest effects.

Whatever you do - good luck.

Uncle_Bob wrote:...Niacin timed release...

Here's a link to all the blogs about niacin on The Heart Scan Blog http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Niacin. Davis says timed-release niacin is not a good choice for heart health. Best thing to get checked is the size of your LDL particles; it they're the large, fluffy, safe ize, then even if the number is high, it' isn't something to be worried about (as long as TRI is <100 meaning you're not over-eating carbs). I got the VAT Cholesterol Profile to ID the size. You can ask that the LDL particle size be measured directly (don't be surprised if your doc is surprised or gives you an argument against doing that). DreamStalker is a fan of the other measurement system, Berkely I think.

Hey, congrats on the great change!

Muse-Inc wrote: Davis says timed-release niacin is not a good choice for heart health.

I don't see where he says that at all. All he says is that Niacin can aggravate insulin resistance. If you don't have a problem in that area then niacin should be fine.

Actually Davis' data was skimpy at best which is typical of most medical research. They do a few low volume studies and their statistics can be made to say almost anything. This is how they steer people in the wrong direction.

The bottom line is to take a multi-pronged approach to cholesterol reduction (or any problem for that matter). Niacin, statins, exercise, diet, sleep - you cover all your bases. You find what works and take it from there and maximize your numbers and heart health. It is a good thing to determine cholesterol size distribution and most cardiologists or internists that are any good at all do this at least a couple of times as you work your levels down. My point is not to listen to any one physician. They all have their biases and have rarely thought out all of this beyond a point. They are trained to do what is "medically acceptable" and that may change from year to year. They also won't pay nearly as much attention to you as you would believe - so more opinions are more help. Then you choose what you think is best to listen to.

Sorry to run on with this one, but when I see medical Dr's like this guy Davis spouting off partial truths as reality it gets me going. I've just seen too many people in general get very sick or worse because they listened to only one doctor. As my wife says, " It's your life - but to them it's just their 3pm appointment". I married a very wise woman.