Statins and weight training.

[Biofuze]

Hello Dr. Houser,

I have familial hypercholesterolemia as such my doctor has prescribed Vytorin for me (20/20 mg). Knowing that some statins have been associated with various myopathies such as Rhabdomyolysis, i am very concered about taking them in conjuction with my heavy weight training. I am wondering what are you thoughts regarding Statins (Vytorin in this case) and weight training . Is there any concerns that i should be aware of ?

Also, and on a different note , would it be ok for someone who has high cholesterol and not on any antilipemic agents to take any AI's such as 6-Bromo ?

Note: i am 6' 2 180lbs and 12% BF. I am in very good health except for lipid panel.

Thank you !

[dinoiii]

Hey there BioFuze,

Welcome to the forum!

Please Note that the information I provide in this forum is merely for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY and to hopefully aid in continued levels of increasing rapport between you and your primary care physician. This is NOT, therefore to take the place of information given by your primary care provider - who knows your case a lot better than me. I will offer some info, however, because the level of understanding various ingredients is not always the forte of physicians.

In order to proceed in an intellectual manner, I am hoping you can aid my understanding the following questions of my own for you:

(1) Do you know which type of Familial Hypercholesterolemia you have?

(2) How often is it that you work out?

(3) You have noted that you are in very good health, except for the lipids? What level of lipidemia are we talking about (read: do you have access to your most recent Total Chol, LDL, HDL, and Triglycerides?)? Have you ever had an MR Analysis of VAP testing done to figure out your "particle size"? If not, I would direct you to invest in this modality for future reference and minimally inquire with your physician about potentially having one done.


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Statins and Weightlifting are an interesting discussion.

Coupling this with 6-Bromo ingestion is something that certainly complicates the discussion for sure.

I will address each in turn.


[1] Weightlifting + Statin:

With the weightlifting, the level of intensity (defined by me as how close you are lifting toward your 1RM) combined with frequency will likely be rather imperative to give personalized thought. However, CCK and liver function studies should prudently be run on you more than the average person to verify any potential confounding issue. In order to obtain accurate values and see how the Simvastatin component of the Vytorin is contributing to potential development of myopathy...you would want to abstain from working out anywhere from 36-48 hours prior to the blood draw and likely have this done about every three months minimally.

At high doses - which I would not consider yours at 20mg to be, statin medications can impair production of certain proteins involved in muscle metabolism and function. Now, this certainly can impede recovery unfortunately and make it more difficult to aid your body composition quest.

It will be difficult to discern myopathic pain and DOMS with the average lifter which is always concerning. The thing you DO want to note is that if you come down with any of the following, it could be a step in the right direction to discerning between the two:

* Severe muscle aching — in which all your muscles may hurt and be tender to the touch rather than just a muscle you had recently worked out, which is why I would recommend a BODYPART SPLIT rather than whole body and/or push/pulls for people on statins.
* Muscle weakness - this would be MUCH more pronounced than the prototypical DOMS-style pain, almost to a level of not being able to hold various muscle groups up.
* Dark or cola-colored urine from muscle breakdown products unto which IMMEDIATE CESSATION and checking yourself into an emergency would be warranted.

The trio of symptoms I describe above is a very severe reaction form of myopathy known as Rhabdomyolysis, you MUST immediately stop the drug in this instance and employing techniques like working one bodypart per day with even a full day rest in-between would obviously bode the concurrent treatment and potential side-effect occurance well.


[2] 6-Bromo + Statin:

As far as the 6-Bromo, the concern I have is more liver function. 6-Bromo and Statins undergo similar metabolic processing believe it or not and are both acted on by the enzymatic processing system of your liver known as the cytochrome P450 system and one enzyme in particular 3A4, which incidentally is the most prevalent interaction-causing cytochrome enzyme in existence so the concurrent metabolism would be something to watch.

Again, tagging liver function studies periodically alongside the CPK would be VERY PRUDENT. Oftentimes, monitoring is less-often considered...but with a bodybuilder using statins, 3-4 month intervals religiously would be expectation. This may be able to be toned down in frequency with time as most myopathic conditions happen upon beginning statin therapy rather than as therapy progresses, BUT to be careful of discernment with all that goes on with the continual muscular insult by bodybuilders, the condition is certainly unique.



I await your response to my questions above to proceed further...


D_

[Biofuze]

Thank you for your response Dr. Houser.

As for the info you requested:

1) I do have heterozygous FH , as a previous treatment with lipitor was effective.

2) i workout 5 days a week

3) Total C = 396
HDL = 33
LDL = 250

My liver tests are normal.

As for the MR Analysis of VAP testing, i have not done such a test.

Currently, i am not taking vytorin because of my intense workout routine and my concerns of myopathy that might be attributed with it.

[Biofuze]

In my case, what would be your advice regarding training and supplementation. Is there any supplements i should avoiding with vytorin or statins in general ? the supplements i am considering are :

BodyOctane, Blueprint and Clout by man sports.

Also, i am wondering if 6-bromo has any impact on lipid profiles ?

[dinoiii]

Originally Posted by Biofuze

Thank you for your response Dr. Houser.

As for the info you requested:

1) I do have heterozygous FH , as a previous treatment with lipitor was effective.

2) i workout 5 days a week

3) Total C = 396
HDL = 33
LDL = 250

My liver tests are normal.

As for the MR Analysis of VAP testing, i have not done such a test.

Currently, i am not taking vytorin because of my intense workout routine and my concerns of myopathy that might be attributed with it.

Have you tried routes like niacin and/or fish oil (at dinoiii-recommended doses)?

Originally Posted by Biofuze

In my case, what would be your advice regarding training and supplementation. Is there any supplements i should avoiding with vytorin or statins in general ? the supplements i am considering are :

BodyOctane, Blueprint and Clout by man sports.

Also, i am wondering if 6-bromo has any impact on lipid profiles ?

Of the supplements you list, the MAN products are nothing that will alter your blood lipid levels. In fact, some of the B-vitamin components may actually contribute to better overall cardiovascular status in a number of ways.

As for the 6-Bromo, it didn't alter my blood lipid levels personally when I was on the original Hyperdrol, BUT still it wouldn't be prudent of me to suggest use of it until more first-hand data was in, and at that point even I could only suggest use with the full consent of your own physician obviously.

You may be interested in the 6-Bromo piece in the next 2 issues of my newsletter. Have you signed up for it yet (unfortunately, I cannot figure who's email goes with which forum moniker - HA! Not with 20,000+ of you!).

There WILL be blood work done in that instance on 3 individuals (hint).

If there are specific supplements you can ask as above, but full lists (far too broad) would take a rather long time likely to compile.



D_