Dr. Prescribed Niaspan & My Results - High Cholesterol Message Board

mghealth · 10-25-2005, 01:13 PM

My numbers are worse than last time, and the only thing that really changed is that I have been eating a lot more sweets:

Total Chol. = 169 (<200)
LDL Chol. = 77 (<130)
Triglycerides = 307 (44-148)
VLDL = 63 (<=22)
MID-C = 18 (<=23)
MID-B = 11 (<=15)
MID-A = 9 (<=25)
LDL-1 = 13 (<=57)
LDL-2 = 6 (<=30)
LDL-3 = 6 (0)
LDL-4 = 6 (0)
LDL-5 = 8 (0)
HDL = 29

So, I'm now going to start taking 500mg of Niaspan nightly. Hopefully the flushing isn't too bad!

mghealth · 10-25-2005, 01:39 PM

Last time, 2/24/05, my numbers were:

Total Chol. = 176 (<200)
LDL Chol. = 112 (<130)
Triglycerides = 131 (44-148)
VLDL = 27 (<=22)
MID-C = 21 (<=23)
MID-B = 13 (<=15)
MID-A = 12 (<=25)
LDL-1 = 26 (<=57)
LDL-2 = 30 (<=30)
LDL-3 = 9 (0)
LDL-4 = 0 (0)
LDL-5 = 0 (0)
HDL = 36

As you can see, Total Chol. lowered by 4%; LDL lowered by 31%; triglycerides raised by 134%; HDL lowered by 19%; VLDL increased by 133%.

Uff-Da! · 10-25-2005, 02:32 PM

Your numbers are worse because you've been eating too many sweets, but you'd rather take meds than give up the sweets. Hmmm, not the choice I would have made, but to each his own.

mghealth · 10-25-2005, 02:55 PM

But if you take a look at my "best" numbers (2/24/05), they were obtained via the best diet and combination of exercise I've ever experimented with: I ate no sweets, very little carbs, no red meats, very little chicken and turkey, lots of tuna and salmon, lots of veggies (green and red), lots of natural garlic, all of my supplements (Omega-3, multi-vitamin, etc.), olive oil for cooking, exercised (cardio) an hour a day, etc. That scheme gave the best case scenario - which was STILL bad!

And it has been this way for several years now. No matter what extreme diet scheme I procure and implement, it doesn't make the numbers go where I'd like them to. Therefore, medicinal help is inevitable.

I, like my grandmother, am cursed by my genes.

So, adding the sweets to my diet may have exacerbated my numbers, but eliminating them won't make them normal again - since they were never normal to begin with.

Uff-Da! · 10-25-2005, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mghealth

So, adding the sweets to my diet may have exacerbated my numbers, but eliminating them won't make them normal again - since they were never normal to begin with.

I guess you are right about that, though the only thing wrong with your 2/24/09 numbers was the HDL. Did you try to increase that by (1) increasing exercise? (2) having a glass of wine a day, if female, or up to two glasses a day, if male? (3) having an egg a day? Maybe you already tried those.

I won't argue with your choice to try Niaspan if you really couldn't get the numbers you wanted otherwise. I'm on 750 mg. Enduracin (an OTC sustained-release niacin) myself. But my TC was running 237-247 on "improved" diet and my LDL was around 157. (If I knew then what I know now, I might have done better, but I doubt that I'd do enough better to avoid the meds, either.) My HDL/TC ratio was never as bad as yours, though. In the past 16 years, the lowest my HDL has ever been was 62.

Keep in mind, though, that it is your health you are concerned about, not just numbers. And excess sweets doesn't make for a healthy diet. Of course, just because you increased sweets doesn't necessarily mean you are eating them to excess, either.

Let us know how you make out with the Niaspan. I only had minor flush when I started Enduracin, but I take only 250 mg at a time, and take it with meals to minimize flush. There is also the recommendation to take an aspirin 30 minutes before the niacin to minimize flush, but I never felt that was necessary.