Cholesterol Woes
 

It seems that while some things improve some get worse. While I am fighting and winning my battle over PN,my cholesterol has gotten worse from last year.

Triglicerides are at 1
HDL 1.2
LDL 5
Overall cholesterol is 6.7
Just last year it was 5.2

My GP wants to see me... possibly to push me on meds. I am a bit worried because I know it's elevated, but I think my HDL and Tri's are bad. It seems cholesterol is a controversial medical topic with alot of misleading information out there. I have read very varied publications today,and I'm now confused.

I don't know if my Beta blockers have attributed to this in my case, but I have read that they do alter blood lipids. I also take alot of fishoil,8000mcg daily, and stumbled upon this article.
http://www.cholesterolcholestrol.com...holestrol.html

It seems to read that while they do lower your tryglicerides, they also increase your bad cholesterol.

I am a bit shocked,as I have cleaned up my diet,and I have been exercising for over a year now 3-4 times a week on most weeks.

Any opinions or advice on cholesterol would be appreciated. I know the lab values are different in America, I am not certain how to convert.

Thanks

benefit vs risk...
 

I think most people get higher cholesterol as they age...anyway.
This is major fodder for the drug companies.

Women have the protective effect of estrogens, as well.

There is no drug that does not affect you somehow. In this case, if you are
doing well, the benefits of your beta blocker are worth more than the risk.
(there is controversy about the risk of elevated cholesterol anyway).

Read The Cholesterol Myths:
http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

I am not aware that fish oil RAISES LDL...it has a neutral effect as far as I know. I raises HDL and reduces triglycerides (the latter which thicken the blood making it more viscous and risky). So I would continue with the fish oil.
It also reduces inflammation, and inflammation IS a risk in heart attacks.

Thanks Mrs D.
 

Thank you for the link. I went to the market today and looked in the vitamin isle. I saw 10 different cholesterol fighting formulations all between $29-35dollars for a month's supply.

I then decided, that I wasn't going to spend anymore money fighting something that I may or may not be in risk of. So I bought oatmeal and a special margarine that helps reduce LDL. I spent $35 dolllars today, but bought a bag full of groceries instead of a small jar of lord knows what.

I am also trying to cutback on my vitamin habits a bit as nobody can afford to be on every supplement out there...
COQ10,fishoil,C,E,Iron,Inositol,Carnitine,Choline, Iron,Magnesium,Calcium &D3,
B12,Bcomplex,Thiamin,Folic, I have been on all of these and all at the same time over the last 2 years. The only one that has given me real results has been Thiamin. The one I neglected oddly enough.

They say sickness sells and I am now a believer of this more than I have ever been. I was thinking of making a pros and cons list of my Beta Blocker for my doc. My "cons" list was very long. My "pros" list only had 2 things on it but those 2 things were more valuable than all the cons put together.

So I guess I'll stay on my Beta Blocker. Unbeleivable how things keep popping up though-

Hi Aussie:

What kind of results did you get from the Thiamin?

I was taking a lot of stuff like you described, but had a hard time keeping up with it. I had so many pills, that it was hard to get any food down after taking them...

Cathie

Hey Aussie,

My cholesterol was 315. Now in my case thryoid was contributing but I totally changed diet and dropped it 80 points. Went to a nutritionist and they said veggies, veggies veggies so I try to make sure that I have a2/3 plate of veggies with my protein like chicken or steak. I cut out all flour and sugar products. And I added in entertic coated fish oil...no bad taste. I am down 22 lbs in the past 16 weeks.

The other weekend we went away to my family and they have some BBQs and funny but boy did I miss the healthy food. I will have by latest cholesterol results tomorrow. We'll see

Good luck :hug:

Hi
 

For Yorkiemom- I was getting my Thiamin through my B-complex. I never supplemented extra. But I was on all the other supplements and I was OK. But I read Mrs D's thread on B1. So I was in chemist shop one afternoon and I saw it was very cheap to buy, unlike my B12 and others. So I bought a bottle of 50 tablets, each was 100mg.

The next day I took 2 and I felt good. The following day I took another 2 and I felt better. For the next 3 weeks everyday I was was feeling better than the day before. It was very evident that something good was happening. I wasn't anxious,my horrible headaches were much better & my PN at times was hardly noticable. I waited another 3-4 weeks before I posted that I had been recovering because I wanted to be certain. I am taking 200mg every morning now. But from all the supplements I have tried, this has made me feel the best. Afterall we take supplements to heal, but how do we measure healing? I measured my healing on how good or poorly I was feeling. I just felt so good it was like a small miracle or something because I was really suffering with my anxiety/autonomic symptoms.

For Shelley-Thanks for the tip. Is it ok to have frozen veggies? Also in relation to cutting flour out, you mean you don't eat any bread at all? No sugar in tea or coffee?

Aussie:

I read your numbers:

Triglicerides are at 1
HDL 1.2
LDL 5
Overall cholesterol is 6.7
Just last year it was 5.2

Now my triglicerides are 92, my cholesterol is 170.

How can your triglicerides be 1, and your cholesterol is 6.7??

Are these australian numbers?? I'm not kidding. I'm trying to understand how a person's triglicerides can be 1, etc.

Educate me.

And for the question about flour. I don't eat anyting WHITE. No rice, no white flour, no pasta made from white anything. If I go to a japanese or a chinese restaurant I ask for brown rice. I don't even eat the low-carb pasta which is made from soy flour because that impacts my diabetes so I simply gave it up. I live on fish, chicken, veggies and salads with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I do have a baked potato with my dinner. That is MY ONLY WEAKNESS. I mean, we have to have one thing that we can indulge in and my indulgence is a baked potato. I remember telling the people at Cornell, "Well, I do have a baked potato with my dinner". And they laughed and said "you don't snack, you don't cheat at night?? " The found it almost impossible to believe because all the other people in the diabetic protocol at Cornell, well they walk in the door, and these people are over 300 lbs. And here I am, I lost a lot of weight, I don't cheat, I don't eat after 7 p.m. at night, I don't snack. I don't need to do that. I don't eat anything processed. I don't eat beef. They simply look at me and they go "how on earth do you do this?" and I said 'very simple" Years ago, I was stupid. I'm not stupid anymore"

They know what I mean. I don't mean everybody is stupid. I mean, for myself, years ago, I was told "you have diabetes, you better lose weight, get your sugar under control, or you will be sorry, you will have complications, you'll get joint problems, you won't be able to carry all that weight on your knees," blah blah blah. I didn't listen. I was stupid. My brain did not process what I was told. I was not ready to give up my hero sandwiches, my ding dongs, my cupcakes, my potato chips, my cheese dips, my calzones, my pizza, etc. etc. Well, I hit a certain age, I went to Cornell, I went to a nutritionist. I got UN-STUPID. And I stuck to it. Now, it's a way of life and if I could go back in time, for example, if I could make a video recording and go back in time to talk to my younger self, as I was putting a hero sandwich in my mouth, well I would have a visual representation of myself talking to myself. But we can't do that can we??? We can't go back in time and undo our thinking process.

Thank god I didn't get un-stupid at the age of 80. I still have a shot of some years ahead of me, with a slightly healthier body and a much healthier body-building husband.....lol

So explain the triglicerides numbers, okay???

Melody

ok Mel
 

There are 4 numbers. Those are Australian values that I gave you. I have looked up a conversion and can manage to convert to the American style.

HDL-77
LDL -193
Tri-89

Total cholesteral 257

Ahhhhhh!!!! It's an Australian thing!!!! I knew it!!!!

Thanks for clearing it up.

Alan went to his podiatrist today. It's the first visit since he got the oft loading shoe about 2 weeks ago. I'm posting a question.

Melody

B-1 (Thiamine) converts carbs into energy and I know it is important to the nervous system, heart and probably muscles. No wonder you feel better. That might be worth a try here. I am fatigued and sleeping so much, you wouldn't believe it...

Why is B12 so expensive in Australia? Is it considered a prescription med? Can you not order it online?

Cathie

Guess I need to rethink more on the supplements and vitamins... I will have to look for MrsD's list.