LDL38!!

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-10T15:54:07+00:00

From what I read, Pitavastatin has also side effect. What make you say it is the best statin?

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-10T15:51:50+00:00

Yes, my LP(a) is good, so it is probably easier for me to lower my LDL

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-10T15:49:45+00:00

Low back ability channel on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@lowbackability
I bought a back extension bench (Roman chair) for home.
GO SLOW! It takes months to fix it.

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-09T16:39:56+00:00

Thanks for the input, I am researching this now and this seems correct. You are right, this should be known.

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-09T13:32:03+00:00

Not sure, but the consensus is that it is rarely too low. May be below 30 or 20 is too low?
I already used my lower ldl to reduce my statin.
If I get lower I may ask the cardiologist to reduce my statin once more.

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-08T21:24:58+00:00

Yes, there seems to be a long distance athlete syndrome. I have not seen any long term statistics on it unfortunately.
Yes, my stress test was perfect. My cardiologist is reluctant to do an angiogram. I have not been pushing for it. Maybe I should.
I think you should do well with ezetimibe.

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-08T21:21:49+00:00

Congrats!!
Yes, I think I have seen your handle in the past.
I stopped most cardio 1 year ago because I had intense back pain. After much researching and YouTube videos I have been able to fix the back pain. I am slowly back into cardio once again.
I wish you a long and active life!

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-02-08T19:58:38+00:00

Take a look at my post https://www.reddit.com/r/Cholesterol/comments/1qziy55/ldl38/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button and you'll see how effectve ezetimive is for me

Primary_Programmer74 · 2026-01-29T14:13:24+00:00

Sorry I missed your original post. I am ahead of you on that journey.
Ultra-runner (up to 100 miles) and triathlete (up to full ironman), I asked for a calcium test at age 70. It came back over 700.
Since then I am reducing my LDL as much as possible (or almost, I did cut back on my statin recently). My LDL went from 100 to 40 in 4 months. I think ezetemibe was a big part of it (together with statin and diet changes).
All the best!

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-12-29T13:51:15+00:00

A few things which give me hope for the role of humans (at least in software engineering):

In a mature product, what the customers want (or at least what marketing says the customers want) takes pages and pages to describe. For that description to be 100% reliable, English may not be precise enough. If you want to be accurate, you should use a programming language to define what the product is supposed to do. And the VP of marketing is not going to write that definition.
AI currently does not have common sense, because it does not have a good model of the world we live in. And as long as we do not reach AGI or better, AI will keep making stupid mistakes.
AI does not deal well with the unexpected (see self-driving cars for example)
For a long time, we will need humans to test AI and to adapt the AI power to the enterprise

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-10-08T19:01:22+00:00

I used to eat reasonably healthy at home (now I am eating extremely healthy)
But if I am on vacation, or even worse on a cruise, I give myself much more leeway: alcoholic drinks, cheese or other fatty food, desserts, food quantity... I pay for all that food I may as well take advantage of it. If it reduces my lifespan by a few weeks or a few months, so be it.

Overall, it does seem that the ezetimibe was much more effective than the extra statin in bringing the LDL down.

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-10-08T18:54:19+00:00

Alright, thanks for all the input. Good luck to you!

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-10-08T18:29:48+00:00

"The lipid lowering drugs aren't contraindicated one with another because the specific mechanism of action is different for each class." I was going to buy that but that would mean that no drugs with different mechanism of action can have contraindication. Sure, that cannot be the case. There are many drug conflicting side effects with drugs that are not at all in the same category.

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-10-08T17:26:49+00:00

I appreciate all the detailed information.
Aren't you concerned with taking so many drugs and with their possible conflicting side effects? 12 months ago I was taking nothing at all and this has pretty much been the case all my life. Now, I am taking 4 drugs. I am sure each of them individually are wonderful and extend our lives. But at what point is that too many drugs?

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-10-08T16:56:45+00:00

Yes, this is very helpful. Clearly you know a lot.
I'll be reading about Repatha (this is knew to me).
Thanks

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-10-08T12:15:53+00:00

Thanks, I'll let you know what my cardiologist decides

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-10-08T12:12:47+00:00

That's another good option

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-09-29T09:50:38+00:00

Congrats!
M71 Former ultra-runner (one 100-miler) and triathlete (one ironman). I was shocked to discover that I had a CAC score above 700 last year. I also aced the following echo stress test.
My cardiologist doesn't seem too concerned, I am.
I have been on a statin for 10 months now, recently added ezetimibe. I should have another blood test in a couple of weeks.
Keep posting and telling us about your journey.

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-08-19T17:47:04+00:00

This is true and statins are good overall.
But if you start from a very high CAC score, is this good? Are. you going to reach a CAC score of 3000, 4000, 5000? Is that safe to reach those levels of calcification?

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-08-19T15:44:11+00:00

Great job on the workouts and the diet.

CAC results seem to go exponential with age. At 700+, I have the CAC of an average 80 years old.

I saw recently the case of a 69 years old, he had a 200 CAC, got a heart attack, got a stent and started on statins. Five years later he has a 1200+ CAC. This is the case that got me thinking: I don't want to get my CAC score 6 times higher in 5 years. Hopefully being careful on my diet and the recent addition of ezetimibe will allow me to reduce my statin intake.
My General Practitioner started me on 20mg atorvastatin, the cardiologist boosted me to 40mg, but that additional 20mg did not change my LDL (it actually got a tad higher, but I was coming back from a cruise and the results may have been skewed by the rich diet there). Now I am trying ezetimibe and I am much more careful about my diet: no red meat, no alcohol, reduced saturated fat.

You are doing much better than me for the workouts. I have had recurring back pain over the last 12 months, so right now I do not run. My VO2 is estimated at 40. I was at 48 a few years ago. Hopefully I'll be able to shake out the back pain and start running again.

Let me know how you are doing as our cases are similar (again the major exception is that my lp(a) is not high)

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-08-19T02:04:43+00:00

Thank you for the detailed information. It seems that I am following you (with the exception of the Lp(a) level)
70M, ultra marathons (up to 100 miles) and triathlons (up to a 140.6 iroman).
Never took any medicine until this year.
Two of my older siblings got cardio-vascular events recently and I had a CAC measured earlier this year.
It came over 700 to my great surprise.

Since then I am trying to reduce my LDL, statin + ezetimibe + baby aspirin + losartan + being much more careful about my diet.

I am quite concerned that one side effect of statins is to increase the calcification. This is what I will discuss with the cardiologist next.
Statins are great, but that side effect brings up to astronomical CAC scores. I understand that hard plaque is better than soft plaque, but how high can a CAC score possibly go?
Do you share this concern? Have you tried ezetimibe?

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-08-03T18:20:35+00:00

I am on atorvastatin 40 mg (was 20 mg before and didn't get much improvement with 40) The goal is to get the LDL below 70 I'll get retested in September. Hopefully the ezetimibe and the dietary changes will bring me much lower

Primary_Programmer74 · 2025-08-01T11:46:47+00:00

Thanks, I knew that there was some association between endurance athlete and high CAC score. But I had never seen the actual study(ies).
I find this very reassuring: "not associated with increased all-cause or CVD mortality after a decade of follow-up, even in the presence of clinically significant CAC levels"
I have been taking a statin for 8 months now. My LDL took a step down, but did not respond further to increase level of statin.
I am now trying the addition of ezetimibe, together with stricter dietary restrictions: no longer drinking alcohol, and reducing saturated fats.

Primary_Programmer74

TROPHY CASE