Peripheral Artery Disease

[supermofo]

I recently had ultrasound images, checking my carotid, aortic, and peripheral arteries for plaque/blood flow. Both my carotid and aortic, both sides, were all normal, according to the tests. However, my peripheral arteries showed me to have mild/moderate blockages/restricted blood flow, abnormal on both sides. My ABI was .88 on both sides. Does anyone else have this disease or any helpful knowledge about it and if so how are you best treating it with the least amount of side effects? My LDL stays around mid 100's and my HDL fluctuates from anywhere high 20's to low 40's. I currently don't use any statins (muscle and joint pain issues) or any other medication for cholesterol. I've had quite a few surgeries on my lower back and abdomen over the last few years that really limited my walking and workouts for several months to a year at a time which I'm sure didn't help because the same test I had done for PAD was fine 4 years ago. I now experience sometimes severe pain (strong muscle cramping, tightness, overly pumped with blood feeling) in my hips, glutes, lower back and sometimes calves, when I walk for any length of time, requiring me to sit or lie down frequently to stop the pain. I'm not sure if it's related to the PAD or not but read that it could be... My hips are extremely tight and inflexible though... I've got an appointment with my primary care doctor on Tuesday to discuss. Any recommendations or experience with how to successfully treat or medications for this would be helpful and appreciated. I haven't ran anything more than my doctor prescribed TRT for quite a few years now so I don't think it's related to that...

 

[thethinker48]

It's the same mechanism as CAD: atherosclerosis

So, 3 things: lipid functionality, endothelial function, and inflammation

Focus on all aspects of that; which includes cardiovascular exercise, getting a NMR profile done to see what your LDL particle count, and APO B count is, and making sure blood pressure, and other inflammatory things are kept at bay (gear plays a part here as well)

If you're older; chances are you have some form of deposits in these areas (similar to your coronary arteries), because ultimately it's a disease of age. I would discuss your report with your PCP and see what he recommends.

P.S- Carotid ultrasounds also have crazy amounts of false positives which makes healthcare providers go down a rabbit hole they shouldn't have unless there was family history there, but that's a diff conversation

 

[warlock]

P.S- Carotid ultrasounds also have crazy amounts of false positives which makes healthcare providers go down a rabbit hole they shouldn't have unless there was family history there, but that's a diff conversation

Could you go more into specifics with Carotid ultrasounds having a lot of false positives?

 

[supermofo]

It's the same mechanism as CAD: atherosclerosis

So, 3 things: lipid functionality, endothelial function, and inflammation

Focus on all aspects of that; which includes cardiovascular exercise, getting a NMR profile done to see what your LDL particle count, and APO B count is, and making sure blood pressure, and other inflammatory things are kept at bay (gear plays a part here as well)

If you're older; chances are you have some form of deposits in these areas (similar to your coronary arteries), because ultimately it's a disease of age. I would discuss your report with your PCP and see what he recommends.

P.S- Carotid ultrasounds also have crazy amounts of false positives which makes healthcare providers go down a rabbit hole they shouldn't have unless there was family history there, but that's a diff conversation

Thanks for the reply! I'm 47 years old, 5'8"or 9"ish, 240-250lbs, and probably always under 12% bodyfat but haven't been under 10% in probably 12 plus years. I never did more than 600mg-750mg cycles back when I competed but that ended probably 12 plus years ago and since it's usually only 120mg (Dr. prescribed) test cyp/wk. Once a year I may bump it up too 300mg/wk for 2 months in the summer... So, no gear for me for quite along time now. I take 50mg losartan potassium at night for pre hypertension. Since there seems to be false positives with the tests that I had performed, what would be a better test to get? I'll get new bloodwork performed. My CRP is always almost always 0 except when I had a small bowel blockage that almost killed me last August, then it got very high... Oh, I also use a BIPAP machine for sleep apnea, so that has been addressed already.

 

[chrisrivers]

I wish i could give advice but I just wanna say Good Luck with this. Our health is a priority as the years go on.

 

[supermofo]

I wish i could give advice but I just wanna say Good Luck with this. Our health is a priority as the years go on.

Thank you

 

[Bio]

Get a Calcium CT test done. It will give you your plaque score but more screening/imaging may be necessary if you have blockages. They'll be able access if you need nothing at this point, a stent/stents, or bypass surgery. Cheap out of pocket cost for the test!

 

[romo]

3 weeks ago i had a heart cath done, where they inject dye and then a sleep study done,i now have 2 stents, and sleep with a cpap machine! Damn im 55 years old,sucks aging.

 

[thethinker48]

Could you go more into specifics with Carotid ultrasounds having a lot of false positives?

“Carotid artery screening (CAS) is not recommended for asymptomatic patients at this time.”~ Society for Vascular Surgery

Public health implications of overscreening for carotid artery stenosis, prediabetes, and thyroid cancer

Overscreening occurs when people without symptoms undergo tests for diseases and the results will not improve their health. In this commentary, we examine three examples of how campaigns to screen and treat specific vascular, metabolic, and oncologic ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Choosing Wisely

Choosing Wisely Collection

www.aafp.org

It's a discussed issue of why a physician is prescribing the test; if certain risk factors and age are there, then yes. But based solely on a bruit or just randomly based upon having it be a "screening test for health" is not a good idea.

There is a plethora of health screenings offered and marketed to people through their local hospitals, and while it's good to be proactive; we also have to align testing with actual risk factors and age, instead of handing it out like candy on Halloween.

 

[romo]

But on a positive note,,i feel good.

 

[thethinker48]

Thanks for the reply! I'm 47 years old, 5'8"or 9"ish, 240-250lbs, and probably always under 12% bodyfat but haven't been under 10% in probably 12 plus years. I never did more than 600mg-750mg cycles back when I competed but that ended probably 12 plus years ago and since it's usually only 120mg (Dr. prescribed) test cyp/wk. Once a year I may bump it up too 300mg/wk for 2 months in the summer... So, no gear for me for quite along time now. I take 50mg losartan potassium at night for pre hypertension. Since there seems to be false positives with the tests that I had performed, what would be a better test to get? I'll get new bloodwork performed. My CRP is always almost always 0 except when I had a small bowel blockage that almost killed me last August, then it got very high... Oh, I also use a BIPAP machine for sleep apnea, so that has been addressed already.

Good stuff, you seem to have a good handle on your health

You're a pretty big guy for your height and age bracket, so it might be worth considering downsizing as time goes on.

Your PCP should make the proper judgement on those tests, and figure out where to head next. But write down all the questions that you have and ask him/her during your next appointment. Your health takes priority over anything else in life, and there should be a very good reason as to why things are being prescribed and done.

 

[Dipp20]

I would switch losartan to Telmisartan. It does pretty much the same but does improve your lipid profile as well without any negative sides.

Its also superior in preventing all kind of cardiocascular diseases according to the literature.

 

[supermofo]

Get a Calcium CT test done. It will give you your plaque score but more screening/imaging may be necessary if you have blockages. They'll be able access if you need nothing at this point, a stent/stents, or bypass surgery. Cheap out of pocket cost for the test!

Thanks Bio, good advice!

 

[supermofo]

3 weeks ago i had a heart cath done, where they inject dye and then a sleep study done,i now have 2 stents, and sleep with a cpap machine! Damn im 55 years old,sucks aging.

Were you experiencing any symptoms or just found the problem through screening/tests? I'm glad that you are doing well. I love my BIPAP machine and I hope your CPAP makes you feel better and improves your overall health!

 

[supermofo]

Good stuff, you seem to have a good handle on your health

You're a pretty big guy for your height and age bracket, so it might be worth considering downsizing as time goes on.

Your PCP should make the proper judgement on those tests, and figure out where to head next. But write down all the questions that you have and ask him/her during your next appointment. Your health takes priority over anything else in life, and there should be a very good reason as to why things are being prescribed and done.

thanks again for the reply. My doctor hasn't been involved yet, I initiated and paid for the screenings that I had performed out of pocket because of feeling exhausted, loss in cardiovascular conditioning, less cardio done for the past year due to surgeries, irregular heartbeat at times, pulse running close to 100 a lot of the time with no exertion, not so great cholesterol numbers, and all of the worsening pain in my lower back, hips, glutes, calves, and feet when walking. I also have numbness in my toes and fingers. My feet and calves sometimes are cold to the touch for no reason. I just thought it was a good first step to trying to figure out what's going on. I know some of the loss of sensation in my toes is due to nerve damage from having so many L5/S1 operations...

Last summer I was starting to feel better since my back fusion and was walking an additional 30 minutes to an hour everyday, hiking in the woods/hills once a week, weight training 3 days per week, and jiu-jitsu 3 days per week and it all went to 0 when I had to have the small bowel resection surgery last August which led to severe diastasis recti which led to another surgery to repair it this past January. I'm starting to resemble Frankenstein's monster, except I'm way shorter and hopefully a little better looking! LOL

I have downsized over the years, I used to walk around at 260-265ish at around 10-12% body fat and competed at 242. When I turned 37, all the injuries started happening almost back to back it seemed. I'll work on getting dropping another 10-15 lbs.

 

[supermofo]

I would switch losartan to Telmisartan. It does pretty much the same but does improve your lipid profile as well without any negative sides.

Its also superior in preventing all kind of cardiocascular diseases according to the literature.

Thanks for the reply. I started with lisinopril but it made cough while using my BIPAP which became annoying. I suggested the losartan due to not causing issues with erection quality (very important to me) and that it also lowers hemoglobin and hematocrit, both of which I need. Does telmisartan also have those benefits? I don't love the losartan and am willing to try it if it's available as a generic and if it'll make me feel better than the losartan does.

 

[romo]

Were you experiencing any symptoms or just found the problem through screening/tests? I'm glad that you are doing well. I love my BIPAP machine and I hope your CPAP makes you feel better and improves your overall health!

A slight tightness in my chest out of the ordinary when biking-running or doing squats. I told my heart doctor on a recent checkup, which i have because i have afib. Thanks buddy.

 

[KillerStack]

Supposedly Flex Wheeler has periferal artery disease. Leo Longevity mentioned this at least, he had seen some mention of it by Flex in some of his posts or videos. This Leo said is what underlies his problems with the leg etc.

 

[supermofo]

Supposedly Flex Wheeler has periferal artery disease. Leo Longevity mentioned this at least, he had seen some mention of it by Flex in some of his posts or videos. This Leo said is what underlies his problems with the leg etc.

Scary! I definitely want to get ahead of it before it progresses.

 

[Dipp20]

Thanks for the reply. I started with lisinopril but it made cough while using my BIPAP which became annoying. I suggested the losartan due to not causing issues with erection quality (very important to me) and that it also lowers hemoglobin and hematocrit, both of which I need. Does telmisartan also have those benefits? I don't love the losartan and am willing to try it if it's available as a generic and if it'll make me feel better than the losartan does.

Neither losartan nor Telmisartan should cause any ED. It didnt change anything for me. Telmisartan is really worth a shot especially since improved lipids seem important in your case. Which also comes with literally no sides so its does the same job like a mild statin but with no downsides.