When I got my blood tests back before starting on T everything checked out very well. The doctor was impressed at the state of my health. Only one thing stood out even mildly. My HDL that is good cholesterol was a bit low. Everything else considering my cholesterol was perfectly fine. The doctor didn't seem to concerned at the time.
I researched this and discovered the T can lower good cholesterol just as a side effect. I came up with this product called Niacin. Available over the counter it supports heart and cardiovascular wellness. Anyone have any experience with it? I heard it can cause hot flashes and such which isn't good but keeping a healthy balance in my body might be worth it.
Quote from: Squirrel698 on May 29, 2010, 04:57:05 PM
When I got my blood tests back before starting on T everything checked out very well. The doctor was impressed at the state of my health. Only one thing stood out even mildly. My HDL that is good cholesterol was a bit low. Everything else considering my cholesterol was perfectly fine. The doctor didn't seem to concerned at the time.
I researched this and discovered the T can lower good cholesterol just as a side effect. I came up with this product called Niacin. Available over the counter it supports heart and cardiovascular wellness. Anyone have any experience with it? I heard it can cause hot flashes and such which isn't good but keeping a healthy balance in my body might be worth it.
lol I used to take niacin when I was younger just for the itchy/burn effect it had on my skin. I take it sometimes randomly.
Quote from: Squirrel698 on May 29, 2010, 04:57:05 PM
When I got my blood tests back before starting on T everything checked out very well. The doctor was impressed at the state of my health. Only one thing stood out even mildly. My HDL that is good cholesterol was a bit low. Everything else considering my cholesterol was perfectly fine. The doctor didn't seem to concerned at the time.
I researched this and discovered the T can lower good cholesterol just as a side effect. I came up with this product called Niacin. Available over the counter it supports heart and cardiovascular wellness. Anyone have any experience with it? I heard it can cause hot flashes and such which isn't good but keeping a healthy balance in my body might be worth it.
Niacin is a very good medication for raising HDL. I take 100mg each day and last time I checked my HDL was 70—now that was before I started T, so I'll find out pretty soon how much it dropped.
To prevent the flushing, you can take aspirin 325mg or ibuprofen 200mg 30 minutes prior to taking niacin (given that you don't have an allergy/condition or concurrent medications that would prevent you from taking aspirin or ibuprofen). If you don't want to take it with aspirin, you can always just take niacin at bedtime too. (And the flushing side effect means that it's working, so that's actually a good thing). Personally, I don't even notice the flushing anymore, but that could be because I've been taking it for so long (before when I first started, I used to flush real bad); hopefully, it's not because the brand I'm getting sucks and its not working... that wouldn't be good. But I don't know—that 70 HDL is pretty darn high. I've got to be doing something to get it way up there!
Since your HDL levels are a bit low now, you may want to do more than 100mg each day. I would start out at 100 though and slowly titrate up. You can do 100mg three times a day if you can remember to do that (I would never remember three times day; I'm surprised I remember to take my vitamins every morning). But each week you can go up to like 200mg each day (or three times a day), the following week increase it to 300mg. You can keep doing that per tolerance up to 1,000mg (max dose is 1,000 mg three times a day). (Niacin can also be pretty rough on the stomach, so definitely take it with food—especially with higher doses).
Also if you really want to, you can ask your doctor for a prescription for Niaspan, but it's pretty expensive, and it's also the same thing as niacin except in an extended dosage form—so you'd only have to take it once a day instead of three times a day.
The only conditions that would warrant a caution for taking niacin is if you have diabetes or gout. So if you have any of those, make sure you talk to your doctor before starting niacin. Good luck!
Thank you for the instruction Basil! Very informative and helpful. I'm going to pick some up today and see how it works.