Vitamin C Forum

Hi,

I am a type 1 diabetic and not very good controlled but also not very very bad. My total cholesterol is quite high 8,2mm/l , HDL 1,71 mm/l and LDL 6,7 mm/l. This has been very high as long a I can remember until I used statins. Even before I was a diabetic.

First I had simvastatin but had a lot of muscle cramps. Then I had Ezetrol for years. Did not have a lot of trouble with this but slowly my cholesterol did rise again and I got a new doctor.
He wants to lower my risks because my cholesterol is way too high. I have had several statins from my new doctor but again I cannot tolerate them very well and they do not lower my cholesterol enough for a "diabetic". He wants it crazy low. I also had a elevated blood pressure around 138/92.

Looking for alternatives I discovered this site and thanks to Vit C it seems my blood pressure is dropping to around 123/82 for several measurements in the last few weeks.

My doctor makes me scared because in my family several people have died early on my fathers side and now wants to check me for FH. My father also had a massive hearth attack and he was the most healthy one in the family. Fortunately he survived.

What do you think about FH?

Depending on the result he wants me on injections. I think he means PCSK9 inhibitors. That doesn't sound very good. Are they even worse than statins?

I have been taking 12g Vit C for several months now and 2g Lysine and 2g Proline per day. Cholesterol did not drop a bit, only my bloodpressure dropped. Don't know if it's too early too tell. Also taking the recommended Vit A, Super B complex, Vit D, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Q10 and Vit E among others.

I think i have to up my Lysine intake to 6g but any tips how to increase Lysine intake without taking so many 500mg pills? I already have trouble with taking so much Vit C using a water bottle. It starts to irritate my stomach and throat.

Maybe I have to try liposomal Vit C because my insulin competes with the Vit C and to increase Vit C intake without having the stomach and bowel issues? It is too expensive to buy so I have to make my own.

Any tips?

Does Insulin really increase cholesterol levels?

Thanks!

cylon75 wrote:Does Insulin really increase cholesterol levels?

It definitely increases calcification. Do you have any experiences in lifestyle-interventions (low-carb, excersise, herbals..) to get it at least a bid down?

I think i have to up my Lysine intake to 6g but any tips how to increase Lysine intake without taking so many 500mg pills? I already have trouble with taking so much Vit C using a water bottle. It starts to irritate my stomach and throat.

Don't forget a add good vitamin K2 product. If ascorbic acid powder irritates, start to add some bicarbonates (sodium or potassium) to reduce the acidity. Lysine in high doses is best taken as bulk powders:

https://purebulk.com/l-lysine-hcl-powder/
https://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/l-lysine.html

I have tried many options.

Low carb doesn't work, too many hypo's.
I am trying to eat medium carb like 100-150 carbs a day.

I do not use a lot of insulin, about 25-33 units a day, somewhat less than average for a normal person.
I use openaps to control my sugar levels but mostly the levels are driven by outside factors like temperature. Insulin doesn't seem to work for a while until the temperature stabilizes. Often I need less insulin in the cold than in warm weather which normally is the other way around. Changes in the weather destabilizes my glucose values the most. It is either very high or very low for longer periods until the weather is the same for a few days. Hydration is also very important.

I went to several dietetics apart from the one in the hospital but mostly they get scared after seeing what it does to my sugar levels, getting a lot of hypo's and gain weight very fast. Normally this results in going back to my original food which isn't that bad but relatively high in carbs like bread and potato's. Carbs help when I want to do some exercise, without it my exercise is very short lived. And I turn my pump basal setting to 33% of normal 2 hours before the exercise.

Still going to a orthomolecular doctor and I do take K2.

I do walk a lot ( 1,5 - 2 hours a day) which is fine but high intensity activities always result in dropping my glucose levels very rapidly even when my pump cannot go any lower before it thinks my tube is blocked.

My cholesterol only dropped a little with high dosage statins or a diet for very obese persons but resulted in dropping 15Kg in 4 weeks. This diet was wrongly described (for obese type 2) when I was first diagnosed (I am type 1 and not obese).

Can I mix the l-lysine in my water bottle with Vit C?

cylon75 wrote:I have tried many options.

Did you try high-fat (meaning only healthy fats)?

cylon75 wrote:Can I mix the l-lysine in my water bottle with Vit C?

One can. Though the half-life of ascorbic acid is only half an hour. Therefore after half an hour you're already only getting half of what you put in, a quarter after an hour. Therefore I always mix ascorbic acid fresh in a glass of water and drink it all at once. And repeat later.

Thanks for correcting me. Learning never ends.

ofonorow wrote:I wasn't going to mention this until after I did a two-week fast, but I have started a fast. I have watched, and rewatched the documentary THE SCIENCE OF FASTING... https://youtu.be/t1b08X-GvRs (Which is enlightening, and ends with a bombshell - the discovery that fasting not only compliments chemotherapy, but can be a strong anti=-cancer therapy without chemo.)

My strategy is to start with a 12 day fast. According to the documentary, glucose levels go to zero in 2 days.

When I was 21 I did a 21 days water fast (funny coincidence), which went just fine without problems. Though I didn't monitored labs at that time.

Therefore when I was diagnosed PAD 10 years ago I tried to water-fast again, this time with monitoring, for 1 week. A post I made that time on an other forum:

I'm 6 days into a tea fast and my glucose isn't getting much better:

2. day - 83

3. day - 72

4. day - 100

5. day - 65 (at last..so I thought)

6. day - 101

What could be the reason for such glucose reading while fasting for days?

After that real hell broke loose, with consistent fasting glucose readings of 130 mg/dl for about a year after, the 1 week fast having definitely transposed me into diabetic regions. Still don't know how that happened.

Could have been that my liver got really excellent in gluconeogenesis, or after the fast a kind of refeeding-syndrome causing complete metabolic havoc. Still don't know, but since got great respect from what a fast can do in such a short time.

Nevertheless, now I'm too playing with the thought to try it once more..

cylon75 wrote:But is there some more information about FH? and the PKCS9 inhibitors?

Statins Given for 5 Years for Heart Disease Prevention (With Known Heart Disease)

83 for mortality

In Summary, for those who took the statin for 5 years:

Benefits in NNT

1 in 83 were helped (life saved)
1 in 39 were helped (preventing non-fatal heart attack)
1 in 125 were helped (preventing stroke)

Harms in NNH

1 in 100 were harmed (develop diabetes*)
1 in 10 were harmed (muscle damage)

*The development of diabetes is one such unanticipated harm found in a recent large study and it seems likely therefore that this applies to the data above, although this is a best guess.

PKCS9 are new and therefore don't have any hard mortality data like statins. Note: above number needed to treat only applies to those already having had an heart attack, without any event that number needed to treat (NNT) turns astronomical.

So even if I already had an heart attack, and considering the much greater likelihood of not benefiting in respect to mortality (a 1 in a 83 chance), for me the decision would be very easy to refuse treatment with a statin. With absolutely no hard data for PKCS9 inhibitors the more so. If I indeed have familial hypercholesterolemia I would probably take a second look too. But not before that being definite.

But this is a highly personal decision based on one's own risk/benefit evaluation, and one's propensities to taking risks and gambling.

Found some more information about PKCS9 inhibitors to dive into on the cureality forum (formerly TrackYourPlaque):

https://www.cureality.com/forum/topics.aspx?id=20621
https://www.cureality.com/Forum/topics.aspx?ID=18468
https://www.cureality.com/forum/topics. ... 7&PAGE=102

Note: this is a forum for member fees, however each of the first posts are visible for the public.


By the way, did you try high dose immediate release nicotinic acid? In my case and together with other interventions it improved my lipids in average 40% the last 10 year (HDL up 52%, LDL and Trigs down 33% and 34% respectively).