Blood Work - High Cholesterol - High Triglycerides - Low Testosterone

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Iron Man

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Thanks.

I have not had my thyroid tested as I don't think it is the standard test. Next lot I get done, the Doctor has ordered some extras, so maybe he is including this next time? I know that he will be testing my cortisol next time.

I am not sure what else to do. Supplements, I still tend to believe in them. I followed Haidut's queues on this for the cholesterol and triglycerides. They have come down a little, but man do they need to come down some more. My ferritin is rising, but still in range. My testosterone has risen, but is still very low.
 

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Renky said:
post 98542 I have not had my thyroid tested as I don't think it is the standard test. Next lot I get done, the Doctor has ordered some extras, so maybe he is including this next time? I know that he will be testing my cortisol next time.
You can get some useful information yourself even without blood tests, by measuring temps, pulse, possibly getting someone to check achilles tendon reflex, and taking a look at a list of hypothyroid symptoms to see if seem to have any of the others.

It would be good if drs thought to test thyroid hormones when they see high cholesterol, since hypothyroid function has been shown to often be a key factor. I don't think the pharmaceutical industries have an interest in encouraging it.
 
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tara

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Another couple of data points you can consider is how many calories you burn through in a day, if you are reasonably weight stable, and how much water you evaporate (ie the differnece between input from food and drink, and output in urine), if you are in normal weather/humidity conditions.

Considering base metabolism is quite central to Peat's ideas about resolving health issues. I think its worth considering this angle, even if your dr isn't up with it.
 
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HI Tara,

Thanks for the post.

I am a bodybuilder (non-competitive), so I exercise regularly with weights and I watch what I eat. I am roughly at about 14%-15% body fat and still working to get it down to about 12%.

I will start taking the body temps (when I awake and around midday) over the course of a few days. I am interested in taking the pulse readings you refer to as well, but will need some instruction on what time of day to do this.

I just spoke with another Doctor and he advised that low ferritin is an issue, high ferritin is not an issue. I am totally confused now.

I would welcome someone reading my latest results and advising what they think. Thanks
 

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Renky said:
post 98577 HI Tara,

Thanks for the post.

I am a bodybuilder (non-competitive), so I exercise regularly with weights and I watch what I eat. I am roughly at about 14%-15% body fat and still working to get it down to about 12%.

I will start taking the body temps (when I awake and around midday) over the course of a few days. I am interested in taking the pulse readings you refer to as well, but will need some instruction on what time of day to do this.

I just spoke with another Doctor and he advised that low ferritin is an issue, high ferritin is not an issue. I am totally confused now.

I would welcome someone reading my latest results and advising what they think. Thanks

Ask that doctor if he has heard of "anemia of chronic disease". It is characterized by high ferritin and low serum iron. So, you are anemic and toxic at the same time. Ask him to explain how ferritin is good in that case.
 
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haidut said:
post 98594
Ask that doctor if he has heard of "anemia of chronic disease". It is characterized by high ferritin and low serum iron. So, you are anemic and toxic at the same time. Ask him to
You're good haidut.
 
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Far out!! That sounds scary... I just want to be told what to do to fix this and then have it be fixed.

I decided that I was going to get the next lot of blood tests done at the end of November or beginning of December.

With my latest lab results, does anyone see improvements? I have been working on the sleep, taking the supplements that were recommended etc.

Testosterone is still quite low and nobody seems too concerned about this.

All in all, the Doctor seemed happy, but wanted to monitor things with some extra tests.

Who knows what is going on...
 
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Latest resting body temperature was 36.29 deg C (97.32 deg F). I will take over the course of few days...
 
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I was wondering if anyone can give me an opinion on the lab results I posted? I am so very confused. Some people say my iron is out of control, my sister inlaw (a Doctor) is saying I am a candidate for a heart attack and then I have another Doctor say that my ferritin levels are fine and in the range. This is doing my head in...

The biggest issues seem to be high cholesterol, high triglycerides and low testosterone.

Thanks.
 
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haidut said:
post 90883
johns74 said:
haidut said:
Aspirin, vitamin E, milk thistle, tetracycline/doxycycline, thiamine, etc all lower iron. So, you have some other options, given that charcoal causes constipation in doses needed to lower iron (15g - 30g daily).

Do they reduce iron in the blood, or do they reduce total iron in the body? I think one should do the latter, one should remove iron from the body.

Aspirin can remove iron from the body if it causes bleeding.

Apsirin raises ceruloplasmin and that gets iron out of the cells and especially brain. Milk thistle specifically chelates iron out of the liver where it is most dangerous. This effect explains at least partially the beneficial effects of milk thistle on the liver. The tetracyclines directly chelate iron and will reduce it everywhere - cells and plasma. Doxycycline is especially effective since it is much more fat soluble than tetracycline. Just like milk thistle, the strong iron chelating effect explains some of the anti-cancer effects of the tetracyclines.

I am starting to high dose the milk thistle just in case...
 
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tara

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Hi Renky, I've just scanned back a bit in your thread, and have some more thoughts, not all chronological.

Renky said:
post 98577 I am a bodybuilder (non-competitive), so I exercise regularly with weights and I watch what I eat. I am roughly at about 14%-15% body fat and still working to get it down to about 12%.

It's possible this could be contributing to the trouble - I think a combination of overexercising and under eating can sometimes cause reduced testosterone. Maybe it can also contribute to higher triglycerides, but I'm not so sure about this.

Renky said:
post 77330 With IF dieting, maybe then this was another factor to mess things up for me?

This could well be aggravating. Peat is in favour of maintaining blood sugar to avoid spending too much time running on stress hormones. A few people have good enough glycogen storage to be able to eat one big meal a day without running out, but most of us can't. That could be messing with sleep too.

Renky said:
post 89879 Please be assured though, I am taking care of diet and not just throwing vitamins and supplements at my issues.
Maybe I've missed it - have you spelled out what and how much you are eating?
Have you found a way to get enough protein without eating lots more iron?
Are you eating enough carbs frequently enough to be able to balance the protein and keep running on sugars?
Are you getting most of your carbs from sources that also supply minerals (eg potassioum and magnesum) to help use it?

Renky said:
post 98577 I will start taking the body temps (when I awake and around midday) over the course of a few days. I am interested in taking the pulse readings you refer to as well, but will need some instruction on what time of day to do this.
It might be good to record resting temperature and pulse readings at waking, about half an hour after breakfast, and sometime in the afternoon, for a week or two. But whatever you can do can give some info. Whether temps go up or down after breakfast can help distinguish whether it's being maintained by thyroid or stress hormones. Afternoon is often the warmest time of day. So if afternoon temps never come up to a normal level, they probably aren't at other times either.

Renky said:
post 77322 You are right though, I need to get to the underlying issue. In my heart, I feel the main causes are my liver and thyroid. I need to get these right, but that is more of a long haul thing.
You could well be right that your liver and thyroid function are not optimal. Also worth looking for the root causes of these issues - I would not recommend supplementing thyroid without addressing the stress that may by causing the issues nutrition and energy balance foremost. Restrictive dieting for fat loss is one way to reduce thyroid function.

Renky said:
post 98641 I just want to be told what to do to fix this and then have it be fixed.
Me too! But after nearly 3 decades of not getting much help from the drs I've seen with resolving my chronic issues (other than alleviation of acute symptoms), I eventually stopped expecting it. And started trying to understand what was going on myself, and eventually found this site. I think there are many here in similar situations. You might be lucky and get good advice, but it's good to be able to have an idea about how things may be working.

Peat's views differ from mainstream views in a number of areas. And then there are lots of conflicting alternative views around too. It's not surprising that you are getting some conflicting stories. Bear in mind that posters here have varying degrees of understanding of and agreement with Peat's ideas and with each other. You may have noticed already, but don't assume everything everyone advises is always aligned. I don't mean you shouldn't consider non-Peat ideas, just that it can useful to exercise your own judgment too, and maybe have an idea [edit to complete:] what people's suggestions are based on, or what mechanism of action is involved in various tactics.

High dose Vit C supplements are not Peat's advice, but there is a thread describing Linus Pauling's approach to cardiovascular disease, and his approach does include lots of vit-C (and lysine).

montmorency said:
post 93861
I have noticed people here recommending the niacinamide (non-flushing) form of vitamin B3 in preference to nicotinic acid. However, according to ""Niacin: the real story" (Abram Hoffer) niacinamide has no beneficial effect on blood lipids.
My understanding was that niacinamide helps improve glucose metabolism partly by inhibiting glcolysis. Doesn't that mean that if there is enough sugar (carbs), then niacinamide should reduce fats floating around? Niacinamide is one of the supplements Peat often recommends (50-100mg up to a few times a day - some people here use more, some of us have trouble with higher doses).

Renky said:
post 90340 Lowering cortisol - I am taking Ashwaganda, getting better sleep and scaling back workouts a little.
I don't know enough about ashwaganda to advise for or against it, but I have not seen Peat recommend it. Cortisol can rise under various stress conditions, including energy deficiency from too much work and not enough carbs.

Renky said:
post 90090 Now what is the general consensus here on raising testosterone to above average and keeping it there?
Not sure that there is a general consensus. Around here, I expect many people would say increase metabolism. There are various aspects to doing this, and not everyone responds the same way to the same tactics.

I understand your reluctance to give blood - I've had to lie down for blood tests so as not to flake out a few times. But donating blood seems to be one of the most effective ways to lower iron, so I'd consider this, even if it is scary.

I'd strongly recommend reading/listening to Peat's articles and interviews, if you haven't yet, to get a bit of an idea on how he approaches physiology.
Renky said:
post 90856 I need to read up on why Ray Peat says Krill and Cod Liver oil capsules are so bad. I am certainly hooking into these to get my cholesterol and triglycerides down.
Did you see the ones on
fish oils?: http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/fishoil.shtml

thyroid?: http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/th ... ties.shtml
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/hy ... dism.shtml

Good luck
 
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Hi Tara,

Thanks for your post and attempt to consolidate everything. I am all over the place with this situation...

So far, this seems to be my temperatures -

Resting (as soon as I wake up) - 36.29 deg C (97.32 deg F)
Mid Afternoon - 36.78 deg C (98.2 deg F)

Last visit to the Doctor, he also advised that the fasting is not the best way to diet for my situation and advised that I just eat smaller meals if I am wanting to lose the weight. He said eat regularly, even if it is something small. I am taking this advice now.

Diet wise, I tend to go for a high protein diet. Doctor says I need to avoid the refined carbs anyway. My biggest carb meal would be breakfast with 1/2 - 3/4 cup of oats, raisins, milk, grated apple and Greek yoghurt. On some days, I may even have this for lunch. Usually I have just left overs from the night before. We go for the free range meats and we have our own chickens for the eggs. All in all, I eat quite healthy. Foods ingested usually consist of oats (breakfast), cottage cheese, all natural almonds, steak/curries/salads/vegetables, milk. I am reasonably lean and now weigh about 203lbs. I try and consume the appropriate calories for someone my size and who wants to gain muscle.

I have dropped the IF dieting, but I still exercise 3-4 times a week with a 48 hour rest window between workouts. I seem to be doing ok on this.

Thanks again,
 
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http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/temperature/

My Doctor is probably not even considering this, but according to the link above my temperature is on the low side. So is it just a matter of taking natural desiccated thyroid and this will fix the issue? I have been taking 7 drops of iodine most mornings for my thyroid. Maybe this is not enough?
 

tara

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Renky said:
post 98819 My Doctor is probably not even considering this, but according to the link above my temperature is on the low side. So is it just a matter of taking natural desiccated thyroid and this will fix the issue? I have been taking 7 drops of iodine most mornings for my thyroid. Maybe this is not enough?

I recommend seeing what you can do with food and sunlight and sleep to improve metabolism, and then see if you still need anything else. Supplementing thyroid without sufficient nutrition can cause more stress to the system.

If you do choose to supplement, I recommend starting low and incrementing at intervals of 3-4 weeks by small amounts, monitoring temps to see when you reach a good level. Otherwise, taking too much, the body can get defensive, and then it may get harder to resolve.

Iodine is useful if you are deficient, but it may be counterproductive if you have enough. I don't know how you tell if you are getting enough or too much - I wonder this for myself, living on low iodine soils, and I don't know what 7 drops means. Some regions have more in their soil than others. There was a recent thread with a listing of countries and average iodine levels.
 
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tara

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Renky said:
post 98803 All in all, I eat quite healthy.

Hi Renky,
There are so many different ideas around about what constitutes a healthy diet. :)
Have you taken a look at the sticky post at the top of the Diet subforum?

I'm not sure what you mean by high protein, but Peat recommends eating enough protein to meet protein needs, but to eat enough carbs and and some saturated fats as main fuels. For hypothyroid folks, 80-100g protein. For people with stronger metabolism maybe more - at other times he's talked about ~150g. Maybe a large body builder sometimes needs a bit more. Too much protein without enough carbs can cause problems. He recommends always eating carbs with protein. He also favours eating more of an animal than just the muscle meats, esp. to get a better balance of amino acids by eating lots of collagen too, in the form of gelatinous joints or gelatin/collagen hydrolysate. Milk and cottage cheese and greek yogurt are probably good (assuming you tolerate them well). Peat describes lactic acid in yogurt as a metabolic burden, and some of us are sensitive to it, but Greek yogurt and cottage cheese have a lot less of it than fulll whey-included yogurt.
He recommends eating most protein during daylight, rather than in the evening.

He also favours sugars over starches, preferably from fruit/juice and milk, which bring with them more minerals useful for metabolising the sugar well. Well cooked oats aren't the worst option, but he does suggest potatoes as being preferable as far as starches because they have more useful protein and minerals.

I guess you've come across his ideas about fats - unsaturated, esp. polyunsaturated, being metabolic poison, and saturated fats being somewhat protective. If chooks are feed much grain, soy etc, their fat tends to be fairly high in polyunsaturated fats compared with ruminants whose gut bacteria convert a good part of their food to saturated fats. A few almonds now and then are probably not a big deal, but eating a lot of them can bump up the PUFA quantities. Minimising PUFAs far as practical is one of his key recommendations. Under 4g/day may be protective, and some people here try to stay under this.
 
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I just had some blood work done and wanted to give an update...

Chemistry (serum)

Sodium - 137 mmol/L ( Reference range - 135 - 145 )
Potassium - 4.2 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.5 - 5.5 )
Chloride - 105 mmol/L ( Reference range - 135 - 145 )
Bicarbonate - 24 mmol/L ( Reference range - 20 - 32 )
Anion Gap - 8 mmol/L ( Reference range - 5 - 15 )

Ca (corr) - 2.32 mmol/L ( Reference range - 2.10 - 2.55 )
Phosphate - 1.3 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.8 - 1.5 )

Urea - 5.4 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.0 - 8.0 )
Urate - 0.42 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.20 - 0.50 )
Creatinine - 72 umol/L ( Reference range - 60 - 110 )
eGFR - >90 ( Reference Range - >59 )

Fast Glucose - 5.1 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.6 - 6.0 )

Total Protein - 75 g/L ( Reference Range - 66 - 83 )
Albumin - 45 gL ( Reference Range - 39 - 50 )
Globulin - 30 g/L ( Reference Range - 20 - 39 )
T Bilirubin - 13 umol/L ( Reference range - 4 - 20 )
ALP - 58 U/L ( Reference Range - 35 - 110 )
AST - 46 U/L ( Reference Range - 10 - 40 )
ALT - 80 U/L ( Reference Range - 5 - 40 )
GGT - 33 U/L ( Reference Range - 5 - 40 )
LDH - 240 U/L ( Reference Range - 120 - 250 )

Cholesterol - 6.3 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.9 - 5.5 )
Triglyceride - 3.9 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.6 - 2.0 )
HDL - 0.83 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.90 - 1.50 )
LDL - 3.7 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0. 0 - 4.0 )
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio - 7.6 ( Reference range - 0. 0 - 4.5 )

Haemolysis Index - 26 ( Reference Range - 0 - 40 )

Androgens

Testosterone - 8.5 nmol/L ( Reference Range - 11.0 - 40.0 )
SHBG - 21 nmol/L ( Reference Range - 10.0 - 70.0 )
Calculated FTe - 197pmol/L ( Reference Range - 260 - 740 )


Thyroid Function Tests

TSH - 1.2 mIU/L ( Reference Range - 0.3 - 3.5 )

Anaemia Profile

Iron - 21 umol/L ( Reference Range - 5 - 30 )
Transferrin - 2.4 g/L ( Reference Range - 1.9 - 3.1 )
TIBC - 59 umol/L ( Reference Range - 45 - 72 )
Trans Sat - 36% ( Reference Range - 20 - 55 )
Ferritin - 175 ug/L ( Reference Range - 25 - 220 )

The blood donation has been awesome in doing it's job of lowering my consistently elevating ferritin levels. I would recommend blood donation.

My Cholesterol and Triglycerides have come down a very long way. I just need a bit more to go...

My testosterone has not improved at all - big bummer... I have been on 50mg pregnenolone and a teaspoon of progesterone daily. No improvement.

My ALT and AST have shot up... Especially my ALT...

The Doc also advised this - C282Y - Heterozygous Mutation Detected. He said this meant that I was a carrier only.

Overall I am happy and feel my latest results are in a way better place when compared to the first lot of results at the beginning of the thread. Can anyone give some thoughts or opinion?

Thanks!
 
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I just wanted to bump this...

Since the lab results, I have spent a fair bit of time researching on solutions to the problem and here is my plan of attack;

Focus on supplements spoken about on the Anabolic Men website
Get more sleep
Drop some weight

I feel that the cholesterol and triglycerides will keep improving, so I am not too concerned there.

The ALT on the other hand... I am concerned. This has jumped a lot. I do not know why... I do not drink... Will losing weight help? I don't know what else to do really. I tried choline and milk thistle and these did nothing last time. I donate blood now and my ferritin levels have come down nicely.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? @haidut @Blossom @tara
 
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And another bump....
I am really interested in getting some thoughts and feedback.
Thanks in advance..
 

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