Here is the most recent thread. There is some stuff in there from Mrsd on R-lipoic acid. The second one is on cinnamon.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ghlight=lipoic

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread53708.html

That is a relief for you.

But I don't understand why fish oil is not being recommended?
Did he say? There are many studies showing improvements in
heart arrhythmias with fish oil. I thought most cardiologists are coming around now to the benefits of fish oil.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum
Fish oils raise HDLs but do not affect LDLs much.

Also beta blockers can affect lipids. They vary from each other in this regard. (may raise LDL and lower HDL) If you search PubMed you will see.

Beta Blockers are also tough for diabetics.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...k-50-cent.html

So you will have to be very vigilant for this consquence.
In your case choosing a more benign beta blocker (I don't recall which you have)...may help.
But benefit vs risk...for heart issues, you may have to live with the potential for diabetes in the future.
Some people do very well on the Zone Diet to control metabolic syndrome and type II.

And I am still not clear on the QT issues. If you do have this, then you will have to check the drug lists I've posted on Chronic Pain (the sticky there) to see if there are any additive things with your other drugs. Also do not get dehydrated, or low in potassium or magnesium. Low values of these two minerals can set off a QT event.

But it is good you show no occlusions at this time.

Thank you, Shelley & MrsD., for the links; it will take me some time, but I will visit all .


For my HDL, he explained why the level has caught my PCPs (she's an Internal Med. doc) and his attention. He said that the number is too low for a woman but he'd be pleased to see the same level in a male patient.

He said a lot, and yet I don't remember him citing a specific reason for why he wants me to take Niacin rather than the Omega3, only that he believes Niacin is what will work for me to get the level up.

The other levels re: Cholestoral (sp? - to tired to double-check it right now) were good. That was the thing that threw me when my PCP said my HDL level is too low.

Because I was, and still am a bit confused, by how some numbers can be so good and yet one is so out of whack, I had given my cardio. doc the labwork, too, to go over with me (in case the lab hadn't provided a copy, which it didn't).


The beta blocker I take is Toprol XL.

Definite QTs. He said, by the loop back monitoring that was done (for, what seemed to me, an excessive amt. of days and $2400 - $900 of which insurance isn't covering): "You do feel it when it's happening." He showed me the print-outs (?) of my heart recordings / beats when events were recorded that showed the PACs and PVTs. Then, so that I could see what he meant, he also showed recordings where there were no events, and how a heart should be beating or having rhythms.

In addition to Niacin, he also said I should be taking Magnesium and Calcium. The amt. on the Magnesium he suggested is 250 to 500 mg.

Along with buying myself flowers, I did get what he suggested and have been taking it every day.

Please visit my mag thread on Vitamin forum.

Magnesium oxide is very poor...shown recently to be very poorly absorbed.

Choose a chelated version instead.
Also 250mg to 500mg....did he mean ELEMENTAL levels?

Basic reference to say 250mg of Mag oxide would be 100mg of elemental, for example. Some chelates are LESS than that ratio.
I discuss this on my Mag thread as well.

RDA for a woman is over 300mg elemental daily. (that is well absorbed).

... really, I'm not a lame person but I am so lost on the stuff involving the supplements.

I asked him how much Magnesium I should take a day (because I didn't think to ask him that before and, then, didn't know how much to take). He stated a bunch of numbers in how Magnesium is sold, and I probably looked totally stupid by my expression. I had to ask him: Just tell me how much, like milligrams.

I've no idea what elemental levels or chelated mean. (I'll look up the defs.)

The type I bought: Nature Made (Calcium 333 mg, Magnesium 133 mg, Zinc 5 mg with Vitamin D 200 I.U. - something my PCP also repeatedly has tested). The bottle states that it's formulated for easy absorption and with no yeast or gluten.

The Niacin is: Natural (brand or label name) Time Release 250 mg.

Maybe I got the wrong things .

My heart was feeling so funky, I thought the sooner I started taking the stuff, possibly the quicker it would stop beating so weirdly.

I know that he says I'm not going to die from it being all haywire feeling, only ... it's creepy and just want to get it controlled better.

to give you what you need.

Mixtures are basically almost ALL oxide (sometimes they list chelate on them, BUT when you call them, they say...we don't know how much of each there really is). Magnesium oxide remains because it is historically known, and is VERY CHEAP.

Now Oxide was the first available. So it ended up in doctor's therapeutic handbooks (this is what they consult before they talk to YOU).

It turns out with studies done on people who took various forms of magnesium that oxide is very poorly absorbed. (blood levels were drawn and compared to pre-dose levels in humans).

Chelates are amino acids bound to the magnesium and they do not impair absorption. Examples are citrate, lactate, malate, glycinate.

If you click on the links I give on the Vitamin Mag thread, you will see explanations for it. I really DOUBT that your doctor knows the difference.
You can get SlowMag..which was made for doctors' use in patients, and feel pretty confident that it will work for you.
Two of them provide 1/2 of the RDA for magnesium.(this recommendation is typical and it assumes you eat some magnesium daily.)

You can get magnesium from foods. 3oz of unsalted almonds have 270mg in them. Also Edamame beans, navy beans, are also good sources.

This is confusing. For example 250mg of ferrous sulfate contain
about 27mg of elemental iron. The new carbonyl version of iron supplements contain 50mg of elemental iron.

The FDA requires elemental on only iron products' labels so far.
Basically with supplements unless you are shown the difference you don't know it exists. That is why I made the magnesium thread. And most doctors do not know either--a very sad truth.

If you took 400mg of magnesium oxide (poorest form) you would get into your body about 8mg of elemental magnesium.
This is like spitting in the ocean. (an egg has the same value, the lowest in the tables made for magnesium sources).
To get 320mg a day you would have to eat ---40 eggs!

Compare to 270mg for 3oz of unsalted almonds! Big difference.
Low magnesium is common in about 70% of the US population. And when it gets low from
taking certain drugs (like diuretics, caffeine), or chemo, or from poor diet...you can have your heart stop! If you have a QT tendency this is more critical than for regular folks.
It is a SERIOUS deficiency.