"THREAD OF THE WEEK" cholesterol....

[canuck]

Often when that sudden increase occurs it is a sign of a genetic condition so stay on top of it, is heart disease in your family, work with your doc, do allot of research on meds and alternatives and throw no idea out the window, trust your instincts and research, work hand in hand with your doc, ya cant go it alone and we are not medical experts here so take what fits from comments here and use them and what doesn’t fit toss it. We all have opinions but can’t advise you what to take or do, only share our info and you and your doc make an informed decision. Some people have side effects to meds and alternative meds and some don’t so it’s all trial and error. There are no blanket statements when it comes to conditions and use of meds.

Still lots of work needs to be done in this area.

I too am stunned what happened with mine as it dropped so good then boom then began to rise and still is although all above ideas were tried and didnt work so after several months and after much research and especially being as a diabetic I will use a statin for awhile as lots of data I have read to support it works.I will try again to go off it as I get more lean body muscle.

No one has a heart attack immediately…… the small particles collect and can puncture the walls of arteries and you can build a clot then eventually you can have a stroke or heart attack so it isn’t something to freak about but is something you need to look at.

Only ten ys ago a diabetic normal chol was 11 and now is 2.8 (metric), this is all due to good sound medical research, so just keep reading, keep working with your doc, sounds like he knows about low carbing and see what works for you.

Keep sharing with us as this is an area we all need to learn more about.

[markmcsw2000]

I just heard on AOL about some guy suing Atkins for his heart attack. I too have seen my cholesterol go up and down depending on how much meat I ate. One time I had NO meat for 30 days and my cholesterol went from 268 to 179! And I found out there is as much cholesterol in lean turkey or fish as in a steak. So this lawsuit kinda scares me.

[kimmee13]

I've only had my cholesterol checked once before (5 years ago) and my total was 147. To make sure I was still ok I had them check it again last week.. 239!! I just don't understand, I eat very little cheese, beef like once a week, how can it have jumped so high?? My LDL is now 152, HDL is good at 58 and she said my triglycerides are fine, but I just can't understand how I could have exchanged fried foods, etc for veggies and seen such a huge increase. So now she wants me to go on a low fat diet for 6 months and have it rechecked, grrr >.<
Still haven't decided what to do, leaving for Jamaica in 3 days, guess I'll worry about figuring it out when I get back.

[beaglemamma]

cholesterol

I guess I am one of the lucky ones... my cholesterol was so high they put me on lipitor.... and it's in my family - big time. My mom is a little bit of a thing and her cholesterol is through the roof. But I decided to fight this thing in my diet and it worked.

It's the main reason I haven't left atkins. I have only lost 13lbs, but my cholesterol, blood sugar and pressure are all normal now.

I didn't cut back on meats or fats. (not saying you should or shouldn't) Bacon has been my friend! :hug

I was worried about it but it all went to normal. This is a girl who was two steps from being diebetic, was on lipitor and had extremely high blood pressure.

Another suggestion is to add some flax meal to your diet. It has to be ground flax as your body can't break down the seeds enough on it's own. Flax oil is good too.

Are you taking any fish oils or anything?

[kimmee13]

Back! No I don't take any supplements at all. I have a feeling that my initial reading was unreliable, at the time I wasn't really eating anything, so it makes sense my cholesterol was low, I just think it jumped after that. Guess I will wait it out and just try to stick with lower fat meats, etc and see what happens when I get it checked next.

[RationalBeing]

Man this post is scaring me to ****. I got my cholesterol checked last summer and it was like 160. I weighed around 210lbs and was defined as "obese" according to BMI.

I now weigh 158lbs but I eat a ton of meat. My blood pressure is 115/68. I'm only 23 but this is a scary thread. If my blood pressure is fine, and I exercise daily, can my cholesterol still be high and posing a health threat I can't detect?

Anyone know if theres a "cheap way" to get cholesterol checked, or do I definitely have to go through a lab with a doctor?

[RationalBeing]

Ok, I went to walgreens and for $18 I got a kit for cholesterol.

I did both tests and they both read within 1 "mark"

So my over all cholesterol is:

125 to 132

Well, that puts my mind at ease.

So here are the vitals:

Total lost: 48lbs
Starting Cholesterol: ~160
Ending Cholesterol: 125 to 132
Blood Pressure: 114 / 72
Heart Rate: In the 50's

Exercise 5 days a week. I eat a lot of chicken breast... beef probably 3 days a week. About 6 or 7 eggs a week, not a ton of butter.

[kimmee13]

That's what I've decided to do, cut back on the higher fat stuff like beef and pork and stick more to poultry. Never used butter or cheese that much anyway, so will stear clear of that too, then get it checked again in 6 months like she wanted me too and go from there. It HAS to go down, I don't understand how it couldn't then (no history of heart disease or high cholesterol in my family).

[mattkins]

There are 2 types of fiber soluble and insoluble. One of them binds to cholesterol and flushes it out of your system. I can't remember which one though.

I too would advise against the statins. Like skank said. Bad cholesterol is not a disease it's a statistical indicator. You don't die of bad cholesterol, you die of a heart attack. Our society is plagued by over-prescription of drugs that treat symptoms. Take prozac because your depressed. No! How about finding out what in your life is making you depressed and finding a way to fix it? Anyway....

My LDL went up too a year after doing Atkins. But so did my HDL. So much so that my overall profile improved. So I'm not too worried about it. I don't see how loosing bodyfat would ever be a bad thing, unless you get way, way down to like 3% or something. But who here among us is in danger of that? LOL!

[ScotsCats]

Glad I found this thread. Lots of good advice. DH today was called by his doc and his BP is not good at 160/90. Cholesterol at 256; Trig at 296; LDL 141, forgot to ask about HDL. Problem I'm going to have with him is he only weighs 144 at 5'7" so weight is obviously not an issue. Gotta get those levels down. Tonight will be his last red meat for a while. Fact is both his parents had heart problems: mother had triple bypass twife; father had his first heart attack at age 46. We're going to try the Lipitor until I can get him to cut out the cigs and booze. Maybe I'll check out maintenance for him. Think that might help?

Wish me (and him) well. It's going to be a tough fight. Just needed to get in off my chest so we can start to deal with it.

[timthenavyguy]

is there a way for me to check my cholesteral by myself without going to a doctor

[thinsgreat]

Update--- It has been a couple months since last i posted--- i spent the summer cutting back on red meats, working out and taking new supplements, via my nutritionist. Well, the news is not good-- my ldl is up to 240--- rose 34 points since May-- tris and hdl remained the same. Have a meeting set up with Dr to discuss statins....

[2big4mysize]

Looks like you are one of us geneticly predisposed to high LDL folks.

it aint the red meats it is the saturated fats in your Atkins plan. There are several lean cuts of red meat the AHA recommends as heart healthy. How low did you take your sat fats?

What supplements did you add?

skank er Shawnee had some good results with adding creatine to his. he got a 5% lowering of his LDL from just that change in his plan

[silview]

Yeah, I know how it goes, because I experience it all the time, but try not to get so caught up with data results you see on the devise. Keep going what you were doing. If this persits, ask doctor or specialist for advice.

[daione]

Re: "THREAD OF THE WEEK" cholesterol....

Wow! that is encouraging. My doctor wants to put me on medicine so bad. i told him that i don't want to. i told him that I want to bring it down naturally. I told him that I am doing the atkins, he is okay with that but he said that I can not have the fried food and fat. tell me more of what you ate ... thanks for sharring.

Ok, I went to walgreens and for $18 I got a kit for cholesterol.

I did both tests and they both read within 1 "mark"

So my over all cholesterol is:

125 to 132

Well, that puts my mind at ease.

So here are the vitals:

Total lost: 48lbs
Starting Cholesterol: ~160
Ending Cholesterol: 125 to 132
Blood Pressure: 114 / 72
Heart Rate: In the 50's

Exercise 5 days a week. I eat a lot of chicken breast... beef probably 3 days a week. About 6 or 7 eggs a week, not a ton of butter.