I ended up getting double-checked for cholesterol this summer because in addition to my routine check from the cardiologist I also met with a lipidologist. I have been watching my cholesterol since I was 8 years old and let me tell you: I am yet to see a doctor who trusts someone else’s blood tests. They might rely on a CT scan result, or an MRI, but when it comes to blood – they will poke you again! However, in all fairness, the lipidologist was keener on checking the Apolipoprotein B and the Lipoprotein (a) than the whole lipid panel.
Here are the results:
The bottom line is that the LDL number is
the at the lowest level it’s ever been at 107 mg/dl. I wish I could say why,
but not totally sure. My cardiologist thinks it’s the fact that we added
Nexletol that made just a little bit more of a difference (in addition to
Lipitor, Zetia and Praluent). But we added it in June of last year and it’s
been higher then this in the meantime, although lower than before I was on it.
I did make two changes in my diet this
year, too, which could have helped with the numbers as well: I eat a lot more
nuts and seeds and I added more grains to my diet for about a month before
those tests were taken. I also added more dark chocolate to my diet, which is a
good antioxidant, as well (I don’t particularly like chocolate in general, but
I have found that when it’s coupled with nuts, dark chocolate is actually
bearable). Another bummer for me is that I cannot seem to get the HDL number up
at all (despite the changes in the diet). It is actually going down even more.
I am told that cholesterol medications bring all the cholesterol fractions
down, and since I am on so many of them … there you have it.
I do complain about muscle tenderness (not
so much as soreness because it hurts really bad only when I squeeze my muscles),
and sometimes joint pain, both of which I have had for years now, but because I
function just fine, I can stand up with no help nor pain, and am as
independent as a healthy person would be at 46, we have not touched the drugs.
We both want to see as much benefit as possible in the cholesterol numbers for
as long as I can possibly tolerate the drugs. I know other individuals who make
different choices here, but that is my choice. At least for now. And that’s
just the thing: everyone should make the choice that is right for them. I know
this sounds like a truism, but it bears repeating.
I was tentatively diagnosed with peripheral
neuropathy this summer (EMG test to follow in a week or so for confirmation)
which could be caused by muscle damage from statins. As a result, I added 200
mg of CoQ10 daily to my drugs to see if this will make a difference in the
tenderness. But it might be that whatever damage the muscles have had so far might
be irreversible, too – that, I don’t know for sure and no one seems to know. For
now, I opt to be on the drugs and hoping for the best. The liver and kidney
tests have almost always been normal.
The joint pain could be from my chronic
inflammation (I try to keep this to a minimum through my diet), or it could be
from Nexletol (which raises uric acid and causes gout eventually). As a result,
we added the test to measure the level of uric acid to our quarterly “routine”
tests. So, now, every quarter, I get a lipid panel, a liver panel, and a uric acid. About once a year, the cardiologist
or the PCP doctor also runs a complete metabolic panel to check for other
issues, like anemia (which I have), or kidney issues. My uric acid has been
creeping up on Nexletol, but it’s still within the normal range and I have not had
any sign of a gout attack. We did not change the amount of Nexletol and I am
still taking a full dose (140mg/day).
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