Cholesterol Problems

Moley

Moley

Moley

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In a world of my own
So I've just found out from the Doctor that I have a Cholesterol Problem - its been measured several times over the past couple of years and last week it was 6.8, which he described as being "the highest he would like to see it".

Now I know that we have a family problem with Cholesterol as my granddad died of a massive heart attack at 56 (I was just 3 or 4 and can still see him laid out on the bed dead) and my Mum who is now 54 has just been put on Statins to control her Cholesterol.

At 37 I'm not really worried about heart disease as I don't smoke, don't drink heavily and am not overweight. However it was interesting talking to the Doctor when he explained that I've got to now take a more grown up attitude to my life and start thinking about how I take more care of my body. If I think about it he's right too - I've probably lived half the lifespan I am going to (just going on averages) and I'm sure as hell not ready to kick the bucket yet, if anything I want to maximise the time I have left - hell I've only been married less than two years and we are just trying for kids now.

Really makes you think that the little things in life like what you choose to eat and how much exercise you get can have a serious effect on how long you get to play here on this planet.

So the wife and I are now reviewing our shopping to just move our choices towards the more healthy range of foods (she wants to lose a little weight too) so we are both going on a low-fat diet. Also when we move in a few weeks time we will join the gym that is just up the road - and actually make use of it!

Anyone else had this diagnosis and how have you dealt with it?

Lets not turn this into a medical thread though folks - lets try and keep it lifestyle.

:)
 
A docs visit like that can be a shock but it can be easily dealt with. I had a 7.2 last year, but doctor said they had to deal with my blood pressure first at over 150/110! (which is still being looked at my medication is bringing it down slowly once they find the right combination!). It seems to be genetic, im generally fit, just over 40, not overweight (over 6 foot 13.5 stone), but have made quite a few changes. No binge drinking, trying to eat meat only once a week, lots of fruit and vegetables, trying to have a diet along the lines of a Mediterranean diet.

It has been hard at time, and the only way to stop eating things is just not to have them in the house! (or have massive willower like not opening the jaffa cakes that are staring you in the face). It would be good to get down the gym and just not do only aerobic excercise, its been proved that even adding a little muscle means that you can burn calories more and have a greater fitness (ask doc first though!)

Just having a little daughter has made me even more realise that I 'need to be around', and so I am trying to swim a little and take up some sort of sport, a great way to get fit without feeling the boredom of something like a treadmill lol

What i did find however, is it cumulative I find the more I exercise the more I actually want to exercise, and Ill add my 'top tip' that really made a big difference, drink lots of water, and take a little cod liver oil (for the joints)!

good luck!

Am
 
Good advice.

The gym is definately and good start. I have been going for some time now and the more I go, the more I want to go. Its not an obsession, its just I feel more energized and want to become healthier. I have been advised a number of times by my instructer to increase my RDA of calories as I am burning a lot off now with plenty of cardio.

Eating plenty of fruit and veg can never be a chore and there is so much you can do with it.

Do you drive? Maybe get some bycicles and take the family out once a week for a ride through woods etc.

My best mate has just joined the gym and he was told his blood pressure is pretty high so his plan is to work on cardio slowly and concentrate on gaining muscle so his body starts to burn calories that way. Then once his blood pressure gets better, he will then do more cardio.

A good alternative to cod liver oil is to drizzle Olive Oil over salads as that helps the speed of cell replication after a good stint at the gym. Plenty of water also, even if you dont go to the gym.
 
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Are you Diabetic as well? you may have high Cholesterol levels due to that. My dad has to take tablets for both.
 
Grimley said:
Are you Diabetic as well? you may have high Cholesterol levels due to that. My dad has to take tablets for both.
Click to expand...

No, my blood sugar levels, blood pressure and liver functions were tested at the same time and shown to be normal.

Just the LDLs I have to worry about.
 
mine was a similat level to yours, doc prescribed Simvastatin

isn't it something like 80% is just how you are you can only affect the other 20% ?
 
My dad had a heart attack just before Christmas he is 58 and its made me think about my life and health, I had been active for most of my life and I have let my self go from 2007 been for a health check and my blood pressure is fine and going for a blood test on Tuesday.

My dad has been healthy and has rarely drunk for 10 years and has never smoked but him having an heart attack means that I could have one if its genetics and I use to eat fast food and crap.

I got back on my bike 2 weeks ago and I have done about 120 miles so far and I am lifting my weights again and getting more fit, its slow but I dont want to over do it and injury myself stop being fit.
 
Well, all I have to say is be careful.

For obvious reasons OC canot accept blatent medical advice on these forums.

I am in no way medically qualified.

And with these provisos out the way I say again be careful.

The medical profession loves to decide that such and such level of cholesterol is dangerous and onto drugs you go. It loves to decide that such and such level of blood pressure is dangerous and onto drugs you go. And so on.

Speaking as someone with gout, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tendonitus, and piles, I say this.

These are all symptoms of modern life. The treatment is exercise, sensible diet, moderation in recreational drugs like alcohol, sleep, quality leisure time and loads and loads of water. The treatment should not be an automatic home run to the pill bottle.

Be careful of these cheap wonder drugs like statins the medical profession is ramming down our thoats.. Read alternative views on statins. If you are taking anything KNOW the side effects. Statins particularly have vicious musculo-skeletal side effects that are often not tied up with the nasty little pills and people suffer horribly on a day to day basis for some overrated benefit.

From my personal experience with Statins, Allupruinol, Dichlofenac, Naproxen, Ibuprofen and one or two others the cure is often worse than the disease.

For a dose of reality and an alternative view to to common Drs' practice look up Dr Batmanghelidj (I think thats right) or just google Dr Batman as he is often known.

Bottom line is to take what the quacks say with a pinch of salt, research anything they tell you thoroughly. Check the drugs they give you for contra indications. Monitor yourself for side effects from drugs. Try to correct the problem (modern lifestyle), not suppress the symptoms - cholesterol, uric acid, blood pressure, etc).

Edit: Oh, and don't believe you have a blood pressure problem until they have given you one of those little monitors you wear 24 hours per day for two or three days that automaticall takes a reading every hour and dumps the results into a nurse's PC at the end of the test. A single one off reading in the Doctor's surgery, even if repeated a few times over a few weeks, just proves that going to the Doctor is stressful.
 
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Effbee, yes I tend to agree. The old white coat syndrome is very evident for many. I went for ages with high results and they just wanted to put me on tablets until I said to them perhaps I should try a 24 hour monitor....so off to hospital, they took my pressure and it was 199/125 - the nurse said 'ill pop this one and you go quickly' I think she thought I was going to blow a gasket. Anyway, wore it for a day, two weeks later results said 150/91 - no where near as bad as I thought but from this I do need medication (after trying for 6 months to get it down with lifestyle changes), interestingly I had a long talk about 'stats' and the doc sort of said that my chance of having a heart attack/stroke etc between now and 60 had gone from an average of 5% to 7% or something like that (according to some formula applied) - as for cholestorel also make sure they inform you corretly of the result, sometimes they give you a number which is made of of both good and bad so the bad can be 1 or 2 points lower

nothing like gym, veg and lots of water though, and 8 hours sleep a night :P

bit different from my 20s when it was 8 pints, kebab, 5 hours, work, repeat - but hey that was good too :)

Am
 
Well I started my new low-fat diet on Saturday morning and already my IBS-type symptoms have started up... I guess this is going to take some getting used to.
 
I posted a somewhat anti-establishment view in this thread a few days ago. I advised people to think a bit and research the issues - seeking out alternative viewpoints.

Just to get you started...

Commonly distributed wisdom is that high cholesterol deposits on artery walls leading to a loss of flexibility of the arteries and a buildup of material restricting blood flow leading to blockages and problems.

Why does a body produce substances that are counter productive to health unless something else is wrong?

Arterial walls are supposed to be low friction slick surfaces, what makes cholesterol stick to them, why doesn't anything else?

Why doesn't cholesterol block veins?

If cholesterol is sticking to arterial walls for a good reason (and I'll leave you figure that one out), is it possible to remove the cause rather than reducing the amount of cholesterol in the body.

What is cholesterol actually for? What benefits does it bring to the body.

Given that cholesterol is produced in the liver, what percentage of cholesterol can be controlled by reducing dietary intake? Is it worth bothering. Eggs are notoriously high in dietary cholesterol. Does eating an egg raise my bodily cholesterol levels. Doesit just pass through the gut or get converted to something else?

What is the actual risk of disease as those little numbers from the cholesterol test start to mount up? If cholesterol count is, say 40%, above the current medically accepted norm, is risk of heart disease +100%. +50% +10% +5%? Unknown, but if thousands of people have levels raised by this much a few dozen WILL have a heart problem by the time they are 60?

Cofactors, for instance effect of chlorinated water on heart disease?

And to finish - just a word of warning about drinking tap water. Some people are worried about the chlorine in it. If you leave the water to stand and maybe even stir it occasionally the chlorine comes out after a short while. You don't necessarily need expensive filters. A lot of water companies use Chloramine now instead of chlorine. Apart from being potentially dangerous to pet fish Chloramine isn't removed by letting water stand according to my latest reading.
 
3 moths after heart attack and still trying to sort out my blood pressure tablets and simvastatins. They just ain't agreeing with me. In fact google simvastation side effects and i think it'll put anybody of them for life, same with blood pressure tablets. Currently trying Perindopril after Ramipril caused nasty side effects and stopped my simvastatins all together until i can get these side effects under control
 
EffBee said:
<SNIP one hell of a lot of questions>
Click to expand...

I bought "Controlling Cholesterol for dummies" this weekend as I wanted to know what I was up against in an easy to read form.

Most of the questions you asked in your post are answered in that book.

:)
 
McManicMan said:
3 moths after heart attack and still trying to sort out my blood pressure tablets and simvastatins. They just ain't agreeing with me. In fact google simvastation side effects and i think it'll put anybody of them for life, same with blood pressure tablets. Currently trying Perindopril after Ramipril caused nasty side effects and stopped my simvastatins all together until i can get these side effects under control
Click to expand...

I would be crapping myself in your position mate - hope you manage to get it all sorted. What age are you and what caused your HA btw?
 
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