Getting my Physical tomorrow

I already got the results from the Boston Heart Test blood work, I am in big trouble. Not only are my triglycerides and cholesterol high, but insurance has no claimed paying for the test, said I owe $750. The blood test did not even do any thyroid hormones, and I am taking thyroid meds, he just did TSH, so I ordered my own online, another $120. The Boston heart blood test gives about 30 tests related to the size of the cholesterol and all this other info, I don’t really need to know about, I am just going to be told to eat right, for $750 I can buy a lot of good food!

I wanted to bring up with my GP that I am now a chronic fatigue and OA refugee, as my Rheumy and Pain Specialist have turned a blind eye to the conditions. I would like to increase my Natural desiccated thyroid meds to see if that will help with the fatigue, symptoms are erratic blood pressure, low basal temp in the afternoon, fatigue, etc. I will see if he will want to help at all.

Another condition is the sleep issues, he has me on Eszopiclone 3mg for a year, it is no longer working.

Another thing, I am on Tramadol and have to go off for my upcoming elbow surgery, I cannot take Norco with Tramadol, but I am not supposed to stop it, as it can cause serious side effects. My pain doctor did not know that Tramadol had a tricyclic antidepressant effect, so you cannot replace it with regular opioids, if I take something stronger, I would need to also temporarily take a mild tricyclic to keep from having withdrawals from it. Last time I went off it for Post OP it gave me restless leg syndrome and headaches.

So lots to talk with him about!

So interesting results from the Boston Heart Clinic blood test, this is a cutting edge science when it comes to analyzing Hyperlipidemia. With over 40 blood tests they can not only see the levels of cholesterol, but also the mechanism that makes it worse, absorption, size of the cholesterol and quantity. Then they take a snapshot of the good and bad fat in the blood, giving them an idea of the diet, (if I knew that I would not have eaten the gluten free frozen pizza a few nights before!) Then they summarize it, and give dietary suggestions and ratio of protein, carbs and fat that I should eat.
With the impact that PsA has on hyperlipidemia, this is a very good tool to see where we are at, how we are doing with the diet and inflammation markers. My hsCRP was 1.2 they stated that it was “cautious” for inflammation in the blood vessels, my triglycerides were pretty high, but it is a genetic predisposition in my family.
So the rule of thumb now, 20% of the population (probably a lot being PsA people) have high absorption of cholesterol, so they have to watch what fats they consume, but the majority of the people it does not affect the cholesterol as much.
Insulin resistance, clogged arteries, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, I hit the jackpot!
PsA can also increases the risk factor with system inflammation. So it is another thing to keep tabs on.

I also tried to bring up the Fibro and chronic fatigue refugees, seeing if he would help out, no luck. I think he forgot about the sleep issues, with all the other stuff, so I sent him a message after I got home, to see if he had any other silver bullets for sleep, as the current sleep meds were no longer working…

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So does anyone with PsA have Metabolic syndrome?
I guess I am the only one, you guys are in pretty good shape then… :roll_eyes:

@Jon_sparky
I’m have no idea what that is. I’ll ask Dr goggle. With my luck I probably do.

@Jon_sparky
After reading what metabolic syndrome is, I’m not sure if I have it or not. I’ll sure bring it up to my doctor tho. A LOT of the risk factors run in my family.

Metabolic syndrome is common with autoimmune diseases, it is High Blood Pressure, hyperlipidemia, and Insulin Resistance. Couple this with systemic inflammation that can increase the dimensions of the aorta and cause strain on the heart, it is a leading cause of death for RA, PsA people, so it is kind of a big deal. They originally linked it more to RA, because that gets all the funding for research, PsA refugees are not getting as much attention until more recently.

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I do not have metabolic syndrome and I am very new to PsA and feel like after reading your post I need to do a ton more research because idk about a lot of this stuff. :woman_shrugging:t2:

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Not everyone will have this, I have been dealing with it for years. Also might be genetic, my mother had some of the problems like high triglycerides.
There are plenty of variations in PsA, and some that may not be actually related, that is why I asked the group, but I guess I am a minority with this.

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Maybe not a minority Jon, just really well educated about your own health. Not every GP here in Australia for example would really connect all those dots, call it metabolic syndrome to the patient, and give them good comprehensive information on the increased risk factors and what they can do to reduce them. There are probably quite a few who may have it but don’t know. Here in Aus they talk a lot about pre-diabetes, and I wonder if that is essentially the same constellation of risk factors.

The hsCRP test is pretty cool - it seems to be rarely used here, but I’ve always thought we were a little behind on that. I don’t have the same group of risk factors, but then I’m missing a bit of my intestine and the bit that absorbs cholesterol does not work very well sometimes, so my cholesterol is like a yo-yo. I am often a little high, but can actually test under-range when I’m not well (the first time it happened the GP thought this was a lab error - the second time I pointed out my albumin was under as well, so it was real - my body seemed to think it was starving to death).

You are right too - for those who do absorb lots of cholesterol, then avocado, nuts, seeds, wholegrains and olive oil will make the balance of the good and bad a whole lot better (assuming you reduce the processed stuff at the same time).

Though not the amount of macadamia nuts I just binged on. They are so good. I really need to get the hang of this being hungry thing again… :joy:

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It’s not talked of much in the UK either unless you’re at a conference for life insurers, which is where I first heard of it, long before I got PsA. It’s certainly not talked about much in the NHS, that’s for sure unless possibly you were attending a diabetes clinic (although I’m not sure about that) but oddly not when you’re attending a rheumatology clinic which treats RA too.

What I can tell you though is that life insurers in the UK know all about it!

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@Jon_sparky yes what she said!
You’ve definitely encouraged me to become more educated. My dr. Seems great and I’ve heard is the best in our area but he didn’t really explain much or try to educate me on anything at all. So I’m going to have to really figure it out on my own!

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I imagine NSH sees it in most of the population, so it is considered normal… :wink:

Years ago they called in “syndrome X” but it didn’t really catch on name wise, just didn’t have that catchy ring to it.
The idea is that one of the three pronged condition is not bad, but couple them all together, and chances of a heart attack is exponentially increased!

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Yes I remember the ‘syndrome X’ name too. And yes that’s why the life insurance industry was and is all over it as it needs to know the risk of having to make a pay-out earlier than expected obviously. It’s a pity though in the NHS and indeed elsewhere that ‘patients’ aren’t more educated about it generally as of course they’re the ones who could potentially suffer it and it’s odd (isn’t it?) only those that might incur costs in treating it or paying out life insurance seem aware.

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