Letro and Cholesterol

[trut31]

I just purchased 2 bottles of letro and I planned on running it through out my next cycle. I have a slight case of gyno that I got after my last cycle, its a small lump under my left nipple about the size of a pea and I was hoping that the letro would get rid of it. My problem is that I just got some blood work back, before every cycle I get a full check up, liver, kidneys etc., and my cholesterol was fine 170 but my triglicerides were up to 406 normal is less than 150. I want to know if the letro will make this worse as I realize that estrogen is needed to help regulate cholesterol. I guess I am a little confused about how triglicerides and cholesterol are related. Aslo if I were to run nolvadex with the letro would this keep my levels in check as nolvadex is actually estrogen itself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[shortie]

Here's a couple studies for you that indicate letro has little or no long term effect on blood lipids, but IMO I would wait until you have corrected this condition before using letrozole . Gyno not being a life threatening condition or anything, I think I'd get my blood lipids back to normal or close before trying it, JMO.


Wickman S, Saukkonen T, Dunkel L.

Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Helsinki, PL281, FIN-00029 HUS, Helsinki, Finland.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to study the sex steroid -mediated changes in serum insulin and lipid concentrations in boys during puberty. DESIGN AND METHODS: We treated boys with constitutional delay of puberty either with testosterone plus placebo or with testosterone plus an aromatase inhibitor, letrozole, which inhibits the conversion of androgens to oestrogens. We demonstrated previously that during treatment with testosterone plus letrozole the increase in testosterone concentration was more than 5-fold higher than during treatment with testosterone plus placebo. The concentrations of 17beta-oestradiol, IGF-I and IGF-binding protein-3 increased during testosterone-plus-placebo treatment, but during testosterone-plus-letrozole treatment the concentrations remained unchanged. These divergent changes in the two groups enabled us to study the effects of sex steroids and GH on insulin sensitivity and lipid concentrations. RESULTS: The insulin concentration in the testosterone-plus-placebo-treated group did not change. In contrast, in the testosterone-plus-letrozole-treated group, the concentration decreased during letrozole treatment, indicating improved insulin sensitivity. Changes in insulin and IGF-I concentrations within 12 and 18 months were correlated. In the testosterone-plus-placebo-treated group, the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration did not change but in the testosterone-plus-letrozole-treated group the concentration decreased. The concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) and triglycerides did not change in either of the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that androgens do not directly alter insulin sensitivity in boys during puberty. In contrast, the observations suggest tight regulation of glucose--insulin homeostasis by GH in boys at this stage. Furthermore, our findings indicate that sex steroids do not significantly participate in the regulation of serum concentrations of LDL-cholesterol or triglycerides in boys during early and mid-puberty.




Wasan KM, Goss PE, Pritchard PH, Shepherd L, Palmer MJ, Liu S, Tu D, Ingle JN, Heath M, Deangelis D, Perez EA.

Division of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in serum lipid parameters {cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]}, in postmenopausal women receiving letrozole or placebo after adjuvant tamoxifen for early stage breast cancer (NCIC CTG MA.17L). PATIENTS AND METHODS: MA.17L is a substudy of MA.17, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of letrozole 2.5 mg taken daily for 5 years in postmenopausal women with primary breast cancer completing approximately 5 years of prior adjuvant tamoxifen. Patients consenting to participate in this companion study had blood drawn and lipid parameters (total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, Lp(a), triglycerides) evaluated at baseline, 6 months, 12 months and yearly thereafter until completion of protocol therapy. It was required that women be non-hyperlipidemic and not taking lipid-lowering drugs at time of entry on this trial. RESULTS: Three hundred and forty seven women were enrolled in the study. The letrozole and the placebo groups demonstrated marginally significant differences in the percentage change from baseline in HDL cholesterol at 6 months (P=0.049), in LDL cholesterol at 12 months (P=0.033) and triglycerides at 24 months (P=0.036). All comparisons of lipid parameters at other time points were not significantly different between the two treatment groups. No statistically significant differences in the number of patients exceeding the thresholds defined for the lipid parameters were found between the two treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: The MA.17 trial demonstrated a significant improvement in disease-free survival with the use of letrozole as extended adjuvant therapy post tamoxifen. Results from this study suggests that letrozole does not significantly alter serum cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides or Lp(a) in non-hyperlidiemic postmenopausal women with primary breast cancer treated up to 36 months following at least 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy. These findings further support the tolerability of extended adjuvant letrozole in postmenopausal women following standard tamoxifen therapy.

[trut31]

Thanks Shortie thats interesting. I do plan on trying to get it in check, but I may be prone to high triglycerides as I have been off cycle for 10 months and my diet has been pretty tight. Not sure what esle would cuase the high reading.

[shortie]

That sux bro, good luck with it. If you do jump in with the letro just make sure to get checked out regularly-none of this shit is worth dying young over.