My MD recommended statin drugs (lipitor). After reviewing this med and with her permission, I am instead trying niacin. I will have blood re-tested in 3 month. My LDL is 208. It needs to be 50-70. My HDL is 68 which is within range of 60-240. My Triglycerides are 68 and the ideal range is 30-60. Yesterday, I added the following: Niacin 250 mg X 2 per day (the immediate-release type) because it is the safest. I take it with breakfast and with lunch. I also have added phytosterol complex 2,000 mg at breakfast and at lunch. Yes I do get a "hot flush" but it does not last too long. I might switch over to Slo Niacin or Euduracin if I get tired of the flush.
Here is a good article regarding Niacin.
Here is the link from the Track Your Plaque blog: http://blog.trackyourplaque.com/2011/04 ... -safe.html
I hope this helps.
Deb
PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT an MD. I am a retired PhD (higher education-marketing and administration). I love research and I am doing my best to heal myself with a minimal amount of prescription meds.
PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT an MD. I am a retired PhD (higher education-marketing and administration). I love research and I am doing my best to heal myself with a minimal amount of prescription meds.
Man prescribed Big Pharma combo drug for IBS gets leukemia i
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
-
drdebc
- Adélie Penguin
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:15 pm
- Location: On a lake in the N GA mountains
Thanks Deb
For sharing this wonderful website about hypothyroidism.
Retired marketing Higher Ed PhD striving to heal myself with a minimal amount of prescription meds.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
Drdebc, unless you are using different values for your LDL and triglycerides or some special treatment, I'm confused. I thought ideal LDL readings were under 130 and triglycerides were under 150. I know my doctor was pleased when my triglycerides dropped in half to 80-90. Tex has written that as we age we perhaps need a higher cholesterol. My last reading was 240 something and my doctor wasn't happy. I had insisted she run the particle size and as I suspected most of mine was the big fluffy type, not the small dense ones which cause the problems. I had anticipated a higher reading as I'd been eating low carb and a lot of meat (as per Gary Taubes research). My HDL was excellent...upper 80s. I have used the OTC Slo-Niacin as does DH. My doctor gave DH a prescription for it...I went to fill it (high deductible so we pay most everything). They said it would be $140....I asked them if they were crazy. They said, "Don't you have insurance?" I said, "What difference does that make?" I found it OTC for $12 at Walmart same dosage. The pharmacist said the time-release might be a little different. 
Deb
Deb-
drdebc
- Adélie Penguin
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:15 pm
- Location: On a lake in the N GA mountains
Hey Deb re: Niacin
Check out the link re: niacin: http://blog.trackyourplaque.com/2011/04 ... -safe.html I am on day two of it and the flush was not so bad today. The reason I elected it VS slo-Niacin is that it is safer. Also it is cheaper. I know what you mean re: supplements-the "rip off" industry! I am now ordering online from puritanspride.com. I actually get free shipping and a 20% discount through my insurance. Their products are gluten and a lot of other things free of containing.
Dr. Davis, Wheat belly author and trackyourplaque.com web site uses lower levels of cholestrol and blood pressure than others in the industry. Since his background is in cardiology, I tend to trust his reasoning. As an A personality, I will strive for his levels. I will also try to not beat myself up if I am making progress without actually being there yet.
Take care,
Deb
Dr. Davis, Wheat belly author and trackyourplaque.com web site uses lower levels of cholestrol and blood pressure than others in the industry. Since his background is in cardiology, I tend to trust his reasoning. As an A personality, I will strive for his levels. I will also try to not beat myself up if I am making progress without actually being there yet.
Take care,
Deb
Retired marketing Higher Ed PhD striving to heal myself with a minimal amount of prescription meds.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
Doctors can act so dumb at times, and apparently some of them forgot how to do math the day after they were handed their diploma.Deb wrote:My last reading was 240 something and my doctor wasn't happy. I had insisted she run the particle size and as I suspected most of mine was the big fluffy type, not the small dense ones which cause the problems. I had anticipated a higher reading as I'd been eating low carb and a lot of meat (as per Gary Taubes research). My HDL was excellent...upper 80s.
One of the reasons why your total cholesterol is above average is because your HDL is above average. Nothing mysterious there.
From my last CBC, my total cholesterol was 199, but that was because my HDL was only 39. My doctor was as happy as a lark.
I, on the other hand, was disappointed, because I would like to see my total cholesterol higher. I'm having trouble getting it back higher, though, because they removed part of my terminal ilium during my last surgery, and that's where cholesterol/bile salts are absorbed. 
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
-
drdebc
- Adélie Penguin
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:15 pm
- Location: On a lake in the N GA mountains
Ouch, Tex
I can definitely see why you are practicing the anti-drug path to health. You are so correct. We DO need to be our own doctors. So sorry they cut you like that!
You are definitely onto something here with your site and the recommendations for MC. Thanks again for your contribution to mankind. I do recommend that you check out wheatbelly.com and trackyourplaque.com. I am doing my best to combine these two somewhat complimentary schools of thought.
As per Dr. Davis' strong recommendation to me, I have added 1/3 c of raw nuts and 3 tbs of flaxseed meal to my daily 7 weeks left Pepto Curielle plan. So far so good. I have them in the am.
It is thrilling to be on the cutting edge of this disease. Thank you for this.
Tex, thanks again for all you do,
Deb
You are definitely onto something here with your site and the recommendations for MC. Thanks again for your contribution to mankind. I do recommend that you check out wheatbelly.com and trackyourplaque.com. I am doing my best to combine these two somewhat complimentary schools of thought.
As per Dr. Davis' strong recommendation to me, I have added 1/3 c of raw nuts and 3 tbs of flaxseed meal to my daily 7 weeks left Pepto Curielle plan. So far so good. I have them in the am.
It is thrilling to be on the cutting edge of this disease. Thank you for this.
Tex, thanks again for all you do,
Deb
Retired marketing Higher Ed PhD striving to heal myself with a minimal amount of prescription meds.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
DrDeb,
As far as I can tell, most of us here are pretty much in agreement with Dr. Davis when it comes to food and diet issues, including myself. I appreciate your kind words about this site, but I have to point out that I had a lot of help setting it up. Polly (who is an MD), and many other founding members spent a lot of hours helping to set up much of the original information on the site.
And of course, your input, and posts from everyone else who shares information here, help to make this the largest database in the world, of practical information about the disease. And the best part is that so much of it is based on real-world experiences of people who actually have the disease, rather than opinions of medical professionals who consider MC to be "just a little diarrhea".
Yes, each and every one of us is a pioneer, in a sense, and we sometimes have to serve as our own guinea pig, when the only way to find out whether or not something will work for us, is to try it.
Tex
As far as I can tell, most of us here are pretty much in agreement with Dr. Davis when it comes to food and diet issues, including myself. I appreciate your kind words about this site, but I have to point out that I had a lot of help setting it up. Polly (who is an MD), and many other founding members spent a lot of hours helping to set up much of the original information on the site.
And of course, your input, and posts from everyone else who shares information here, help to make this the largest database in the world, of practical information about the disease. And the best part is that so much of it is based on real-world experiences of people who actually have the disease, rather than opinions of medical professionals who consider MC to be "just a little diarrhea".
Yes, each and every one of us is a pioneer, in a sense, and we sometimes have to serve as our own guinea pig, when the only way to find out whether or not something will work for us, is to try it.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
-
drdebc
- Adélie Penguin
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 9:15 pm
- Location: On a lake in the N GA mountains
Thx as always Tex and Polly and all the other founders!
Now that I am retired I have more time to research and I will continue to post all I find related to this embarrassing, humiliating, and depressing predicament called MC.
Can you tell I am feeling SO much better-actually joyful- after I week on the plan?
Thanks again to all of you,
Deb
Can you tell I am feeling SO much better-actually joyful- after I week on the plan?
Thanks again to all of you,
Deb
Retired marketing Higher Ed PhD striving to heal myself with a minimal amount of prescription meds.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
Diagnosed w/collagenous MC, Barrett's Esophagus, Celiac, Hypothyroidism.
Yes I can. I hope your progress continues.Deb wrote:Can you tell I am feeling SO much better-actually joyful- after I week on the plan?
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
-
d'libarian
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2012 4:13 pm
- Location: Clarkston, Washington
Re: Niacin
It's good stuff, but for the record, and because this is a group of people with multiple sensitivities...
I took niacin for cholesterol (Slo-Niacin, 250 mg dly) for years. I, too, would get an occasional flush which was perfectly survivable. But in the last year I developed a sensitivity to it and had to stop taking it, on orders from my naturopathic doc.
A sensitivity reaction can be frightening, even if you know what it is. It is much more than a strong flush:
Skin turns bright red all over and HURTS like it's on fire for real.
When bending a joint, the inner sensation is like the skin is cracking like burnt paper, even though to touch it with a hand the skin just feels hot.
Racing heart
Chest pains
Breathlessness
Sudden severe lightheadedness
Tunnel vision
Weakness
Because I was taking a slow-release, this went on for at least an hour. It took another hour to mostly go away and then I was unfunctional for about 6 hours afterward. This is not a flush!
It took 3 episodes over a couple months for me to suspect the niacin. I dropped my dose back to 100 mg slow release, another episode. Dropped back to 50 mg slow-release, another episode. Quit. No more episodes. My naturopathic doc (who is also a chiropractor and a licenses nurse practitioner [I asked and he admits he does argue with himself from time to time!]) -- he told me he'd heard of this and that I am now sensitive to Niacin and should never take it again. I don't seem to be bothered with the niacin in my multivit. but it is niacinamide, another form from the one that helps cholresterol.
Not many get a sensitivity to niacin. You don't find this in any of the standard material on using niacin. But since we're a group of people who are already sensitive to many things, I thought this should be in the record -- not to discourage the use of niacin, but so that we are aware this can happen. If it does happen, just quit the niacin. Totally and permanently!
le
It's good stuff, but for the record, and because this is a group of people with multiple sensitivities...
I took niacin for cholesterol (Slo-Niacin, 250 mg dly) for years. I, too, would get an occasional flush which was perfectly survivable. But in the last year I developed a sensitivity to it and had to stop taking it, on orders from my naturopathic doc.
A sensitivity reaction can be frightening, even if you know what it is. It is much more than a strong flush:
Skin turns bright red all over and HURTS like it's on fire for real.
When bending a joint, the inner sensation is like the skin is cracking like burnt paper, even though to touch it with a hand the skin just feels hot.
Racing heart
Chest pains
Breathlessness
Sudden severe lightheadedness
Tunnel vision
Weakness
Because I was taking a slow-release, this went on for at least an hour. It took another hour to mostly go away and then I was unfunctional for about 6 hours afterward. This is not a flush!
It took 3 episodes over a couple months for me to suspect the niacin. I dropped my dose back to 100 mg slow release, another episode. Dropped back to 50 mg slow-release, another episode. Quit. No more episodes. My naturopathic doc (who is also a chiropractor and a licenses nurse practitioner [I asked and he admits he does argue with himself from time to time!]) -- he told me he'd heard of this and that I am now sensitive to Niacin and should never take it again. I don't seem to be bothered with the niacin in my multivit. but it is niacinamide, another form from the one that helps cholresterol.
Not many get a sensitivity to niacin. You don't find this in any of the standard material on using niacin. But since we're a group of people who are already sensitive to many things, I thought this should be in the record -- not to discourage the use of niacin, but so that we are aware this can happen. If it does happen, just quit the niacin. Totally and permanently!
le
Many thanks for posting that. That's definitely good information to know, especially since many doctors might not recognize the symptoms.
Tex
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.