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Hi @loriesco, I'm jumping into this conversation without knowing all the details. I'm interested in your recent post because I just started Leqvio four days ago for coronary artery disease (CAD). I started menopause hormone therapy (MHT) nine months ago for osteopenia.
How long have you been taking Leqvio? Have you experienced any side effects? What were your baseline LDL, Lp(a) and APOB levels before starting Leqvio? What are they now?
"My test score from last night was worse! (It had been stable between 66 and 88.)" What test scores are you referring to? A new coronary artery calcium (CAC) score? An Lp(a) test? An LDL test?
You mentioned "LEVEQIO LOOSENING the plaque and dumping it into my bloodstream." Leqvio doesn't directly loosen plaque or cause it to be released into the bloodstream. It doesn't directly affect existing plaque; it helps lower LDL cholesterol levels.
You also mentioned "the BHRT could be a factor." Are you using an estradiol patch? There isn't strong evidence to suggest that estradiol patches specifically help loosen plaque in the arteries.
My cardiologist said I don't have to take my statin with Leqvio. I have not taken a statin since starting Leqvio.
I understand it is not required but this confuses me. What will keep any new soft plaque stable? My understanding is that only statins can do this.
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Hello @kisu , thank you for the conversation,
I love the LEVQIO! it dramatically clears my sinuses at the time of injection and is the only injection I consistently have ZERO side effects or inflammatory reaction to, over the last year or two since I've been on it.
I inherited familial coronary artery disease FH CAD.
My baseline cholesterol lipid tests are quite good. I have a post menopausal stubborn 240 which drops 40 points when I include more fish. When I stop it goes back to 240. Now on the LEVQIO it has dropped more (I tested with the fish alone, so feel its due to the LEVQIO):
Overall: 186 • HDL-Cholesterol 72 • LDL-Chol (Calc) 87
Calculated using NIH Sampson Equation Near Optimal Value 114;
Did not do APOB
From my research before starting this journey I did READ LPa can rise in the first year due to its loosening of soft plaque which is carried out in the bloodstream and measured....
I don't use HRT patches - I use transdermal compounded hormones; here's an article which may interest you, but I conclude the jury is still out on this one - and my situation only matches parts of the studies here (ie, I was ON BHRT for 11 years upon menopause, gave it a break for 10 years now on it again, and they didn't test familial CAD as far as I can tell and also BHRT transdermal)
The biggest point is to have your heart arteries tested. mine were: 3 clear and 1 block 1/3 That is my baseline - the biggest baseline that matters. My heart calcium level was perfect on the 3 arteries and 28 on the 1/3 blocked. Those are the things that matter.
I found out last week I can't take the Prometrium transdermally so that might have thrown something off I don't know, will find out in few months when I test again.
Correct - you don't have to take a statin BUT you get increased benefit and actually possibility of plaque being removed over the long term (from my reading)
When you ask what will keep the new plaque (stable?) maybe you mean from depositing and hardening -BOTH work on DIFFERENT mechanisms. The LEVQIO inhibits the PCSK9 protein (a problem I believe I have, and that is why it will work for me), statins work on a different mechanism. The best interference is a low-fat, heart-healthy diet and exercise - I am a steadfast believer in this since I was a teenager and believe that is responsible for me not going the way of my dad and cousins. My father took statins for a couple of decades lowering his cholesterol to 169 from 350. But it obviously didn't stop his heart arteries from clogs (had three major clogged artery surgeries and many stints/angioplasties over 30 years. And eventual TIA and a major hemorrhagic stroke.
So keep the cholesterol low but be concerned about the condition of the arteries and our particular bodies' propensity to lay down plaque is my thought....