High cholesterol question

[Bann]

And what's ignorant is that, for me, it's easier to overhaul my diet than take one little teeny tiny pill every day. I swear I am mental. It's one of those weird aversion things that I can't explain.

My big deal is eggs - I love them and eat them daily. But I also love steel cut oatmeal with apples and nuts, so there's no reason why I can't make that transition. I rarely eat fish, even though I like it, so there's a swap. There are a lot of things I could be doing different that I'll actually enjoy. Rather than taking one little pill a day. How messed up is that?

I don't know HOW I missed this thread! I guess I've been mucho busy this week after work.

ANYHOO, I haven't read all the posts yet, so I may be repeating some other comments. However, my first thoughts are I think you are right to make the changes you are motivated to make without popping the pills first. What harm can come from that? All the diet changes you can make will probably be very good anyway. Daily exercise in the form of daily cardio is the best. Briskly walking, taking an aerobics class, doing the stationary or real life bike (at a fast enough pace to qualify as a good cardio workout.)

Anecdotally, my BFF's husband (you know who I mean) lost a LOT OF WEIGHT, lowered his triglycerides dramatically and his overall cholesterol to a healthy range by going on the Atkins diet. His triglycerides were off the chart and he was very overweight. (He's only about 5'6" or 5'7") His Dr. told him if he didn't lower the triglycerides, he was going to die. He will be 50 in June, and this was a little over 10 years ago. You've seen him, so you know he's in better shape now than what I'm describing him at younger than 40!

 

[SamSpade]

Damn it!!! I had a complete blood work thing done for my health insurance company and the lab called - my cholesterol is high (in the low 300s) and she has called in a prescription for some medication that I am to start taking right away.

I don't want to take this medication. Or any medication.

There are a number of things I could be doing to lower my cholesterol naturally. I could lose weight, I could give up eating animal things, I could get more exercise, I could eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast. And yes, I would rather do those things than take a pill every day. Plus I've been wanting to do those things anyway (except the eating animals part) but haven't really been that motivated. But I am motivated now.

So what I'm going to do is blow off getting the prescription filled. I see the doc again on Thursday anyway and will just explain to her that I'm not going to die in the next month, so I'm going to try to get rid of the bad stuff without pharmaceuticals. If I can't get my numbers lowered within a month, then I'll consider the med option.

Is this too reckless and I should do what they say and not what I think is best? I admit to being an insufferable know-it-all, but I think doctors rely too much on pills. Plus I'm not interested in the crazy side-effects that go along with statin drugs.

Any advice?

I'm probably the wrong person to answer, since I have any number of prescriptions which get automatically refilled LONG BEFORE I finish the bottle (lots of skipped pills). I just forget. I have high blood pressure. There's really only a few things I can do to lower it; my Dad is very fit, but he has it as does my mom. It's genetic.

But my thought about avoiding prescriptions is to me like holding off on calling the fire department because you think you can handle a fire in your home. Maybe you can. But if you can't, it's not that you'll die but you WILL incur damage until they do arrive IF you put off calling them. I have any number of health problems that were small once, but became large over time, because I told myself I could deal with it myself - but after awhile, I stopped. I can say that after a few rounds of very severe chest pain, my first thought was dammit, I really should have done something about this.

I'm recalling what my doctor said to me many years ago before I had my gastric bypass - that while 95% of people who *succeed* in getting the weight off by diet and exercise do in fact gain it back - he advised me that in my condition then, I might live less than the time it would take to get the weight off.

My guess is - try it on your own. But consider a backup plan. Lifestyle changes are very difficult.

 

[PsyOps]

I'm probably the wrong person to answer, since I have any number of prescriptions which get automatically refilled LONG BEFORE I finish the bottle (lots of skipped pills). I just forget. I have high blood pressure. There's really only a few things I can do to lower it; my Dad is very fit, but he has it as does my mom. It's genetic.

But my thought about avoiding prescriptions is to me like holding off on calling the fire department because you think you can handle a fire in your home. Maybe you can. But if you can't, it's not that you'll die but you WILL incur damage until they do arrive IF you put off calling them. I have any number of health problems that were small once, but became large over time, because I told myself I could deal with it myself - but after awhile, I stopped. I can say that after a few rounds of very severe chest pain, my first thought was dammit, I really should have done something about this.

I'm recalling what my doctor said to me many years ago before I had my gastric bypass - that while 95% of people who *succeed* in getting the weight off by diet and exercise do in fact gain it back - he advised me that in my condition then, I might live less than the time it would take to get the weight off.

My guess is - try it on your own. But consider a backup plan. Lifestyle changes are very difficult.

The biggest lifestyle change being ‘age’.

So, a bit off topic… my wife had HBP. One day she ended in the hospital really sick from gall stones. They did scans and happen to find a tumor on her adrenal gland. It was an ‘active’ tumor which caused her to secrete more adrenalin than normal, which caused her HBP. When it was removed her BP went back to normal. This can happen with of our glands. Just something to think about regarding HBP.

 

[ProximaCentauri]

Damn it!!! I had a complete blood work thing done for my health insurance company and the lab called - my cholesterol is high (in the low 300s) and she has called in a prescription for some medication that I am to start taking right away.

I don't want to take this medication. Or any medication.

There are a number of things I could be doing to lower my cholesterol naturally. I could lose weight, I could give up eating animal things, I could get more exercise, I could eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast. And yes, I would rather do those things than take a pill every day. Plus I've been wanting to do those things anyway (except the eating animals part) but haven't really been that motivated. But I am motivated now.

So what I'm going to do is blow off getting the prescription filled. I see the doc again on Thursday anyway and will just explain to her that I'm not going to die in the next month, so I'm going to try to get rid of the bad stuff without pharmaceuticals. If I can't get my numbers lowered within a month, then I'll consider the med option.

Is this too reckless and I should do what they say and not what I think is best? I admit to being an insufferable know-it-all, but I think doctors rely too much on pills. Plus I'm not interested in the crazy side-effects that go along with statin drugs.

Any advice?

If you have a good HDL number (55+) your risk is lowered significantly. I think you're smart to try the holistic, non drug therapy route, with no prior cardio issues. Your family history also plays a major factor for your personal risk. Both my grandfathers died before the age of 52. I had emergency open heart surgery, even though I was running 10k s and weighed only 185lbs at 6'. I dramatically changed my diet, but take a statin and a beta-blocker to further reduce my risk, and because my cardiologist would disown me.

 

[FlyFishin]

People who have changed to a plant based, whole food life style have reduced thier cholestrol levels by 40% in ten days. No meat, no fish, no dairy. No added salt, no oils, no sugar. Minimize processed foods. Read the China study by t. Colin Campbell or Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by dr Caldwell Esselstyn. Go to Netflix and watch the documentary "Forks over Knives". It is not a matter of what you can't eat its a matter of how much good food you can eat. Pharmaceutical companies, meat industry, dairy industry, mega processed food producers, and a health system that gets paid to fix health problems rather than prevent them,makes it very difficult when it comes to the Standard American Diet (SAD). Doctors are trained by Universities that have research funded by the big pharmaceuticals ,meat,dairy and processed food Giants. Plant based whole foods: the stuff our great,great grand parents called "food".

 

[MMDad]

People who have changed to a plant based, whole food life style have reduced thier cholestrol levels by 40% in ten days. No meat, no fish, no dairy. No added salt, no oils, no sugar. Minimize processed foods. Read the China study by t. Colin Campbell or Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by dr Caldwell Esselstyn. Go to Netflix and watch the documentary "Forks over Knives". It is not a matter of what you can't eat its a matter of how much good food you can eat. Pharmaceutical companies, meat industry, dairy industry, mega processed food producers, and a health system that gets paid to fix health problems rather than prevent them,makes it very difficult when it comes to the Standard American Diet (SAD). Doctors are trained by Universities that have research funded by the big pharmaceuticals ,meat,dairy and processed food Giants. Plant based whole foods: the stuff our great,great grand parents called "food".

Why would you want to live longer if it's a miserable, meatless existence? Face it, either God or Mother Nature made us omnivores. To go against that is just plain wrong. Eat meat, enjoy life, and die happy.

 

[vraiblonde]

Why would you want to live longer if it's a miserable, meatless existence? Face it, either God or Mother Nature made us omnivores. To go against that is just plain wrong. Eat meat, enjoy life, and die happy.

I have cut back on my meat eating (and dairy) a great deal and I am not miserable. :shrug:

I don't know if I really care so much about living longer, but I am very concerned about having health problems that aren't enough to kill me, just enough to incapacitate me in some way. That would suck.

 

[Pete]

I take statins and have no effects other than my chol level is down. I was not 300+ I was low 200's like 2015 or something.

 

[huntr1]

I was 300+ too. Started on 10 MG Crestor. Numbers came down. Upped to 20 MG Crestor. Numbers down more. Need to go to the Dr. now, haven't been in about a year. Need to see where my numbers are. No cramps for me. Used to be $18.00 a month w/insurance and Crestor card, now with Affordable Care Act, it's $50.00 a month for same thing.

 

[FlyFishin]

Why would you want to live longer if it's a miserable, meatless existence? Face it, either God or Mother Nature made us omnivores. To go against that is just plain wrong. Eat meat, enjoy life, and die happy.

Understood. I am on the extreme side because I need to be. Don't feel like I am missing anything. They say if you can limit meat products to a couple of times a week it is a great improvement . Paraphrasing vrai... Not worried about extending my life as much as living it until I die.

 

[PsyOps]

Please watch this video. It's a relatively short explanation about fat, cholesterol and heart disease.

[video=youtube;xQnileaJw2Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQnileaJw2Y[/video]

We have been taught that cholesterol (particularly LDL) is what causes heart disease. It does not. Our bodies need fat and both forms of cholesterol (especially the brain). Cholesterol in its pure form (as you eat it; like eggs) is extremely healthy and your body is hungry for it for health reasons. What causes heart disease is sugar (in the form of carbs). Sugar modifies the cholesterol (LDL) causing it to change its shape and causes damage to the cells of your body: Inflammation. This inflammation occurs in your arteries causing damage that allows plaque to stick to it. You have to stop all the breads, pastas, and other foods loaded with carbs. We have been conditioned to obey that food pyramid where grains are at the bottom with the most serving per day, and the fats and oils at the top with the least. Our bodies really need just the opposite. Think about what we feed babies. Breast milk. Breast milk is made mostly of fat. Nature designed it that way because the development of our brain and cells of our body need it - badly. This doesn't change just because we get older.

This doesn't even touch what high fat, high cholesterol, low carbs does for the brain and general inflammation of the body. Do some reading about this. Doctors are doing us a disservice by pumping us full of pills. You get to eat meat, eggs, and all the other things your doctor might tell you to avoid. What you should be avoiding is carbs.

 

[ArkRescue]

I take statins and have no effects other than my chol level is down. I was not 300+ I was low 200's like 2015 or something.

I was amazingly 300+ but I am in the 200's now. I will know exactly when I get to the Dr. to get my physical done.