cholesteral

Originally Posted by Garandshooter

total cholesteral 232, Triglycerides 299, HLD 44. My usual diet consists mostley of red meat, some pork, pasta's and large volumes of cheese. I know I eat too many cheeseburgers with fries. I don't mind eating fish, but I'm never going to like chicken unless it's fried.
I asked my sister and she also has high numbers, My dad also. I have a reputation for the large amounts of food I eat during my work day, but I've always been thin, so I didn't worry about it. I also have a high activity work day with 13 hour days the norm.

Ok your total cholesterol is borderline high (less than 200 would be ideal). Your HDL (the good cholesterol), is kind of low as well. Anything less than a 40 increases your chance of heart disease. Ideally, you want your LDL (the bad cholesterol) to be low, and your HDL (the good kind) to be high. If you have low LDL but also a low HDL, you are STILL AT RISK.

Your triglycerides are more for concern. That is no doubt high. The triglycerides are NOT cholesterol. Triglycerides are basically your building blocks of FAT, which you mostly acquire from eating fat. Based on your diet, you are eating quite a bit of fat, mainly in the form of burgers and red meats (i know they are good, i love them too). If you wanted to reduce those numbers, some quick things you can do.

1) cut down on the carbs (like the pastas, burger buns etc)
2) increae more omega 3 fatty acid in your diet through some fish
3 try and drop a few pounds...like 5-8
4) if you drink alcohol, it would be a good idea to put a stop that to.

Also, get a test for your fasting blood sugar. and make sure that you are NOT pre-diabetic.

try some of these first to get your numbers down. There are drugs available that can target your cholesterol levels, but there is a big downside to those drugs.

Originally Posted by mscomc

For starters, was it just your cholesterol that was high? or did you also have high triglycerides?

Gymcoach is absolutely right, genetics can play a big role, especially if you have a family history of: early heart attacks, heart disease, atherosclerosis etc. That would be a place to start, and then discuss that with your doctor.

In terms of reducing your numbers. The best thing in my oppinion is diet and exercise. I myself have a big family history of high cholesterol and diabetes in my family, and I once had bad numbers as well. But through diet and exercise I changed that. In diet, you are going to want to reduce your fat content, specifically your saturated and trans-fat. This would include: Bacon, sausages, burgers, fries, lots of red meats, butters etc. Start eating healthier meats like: fish and chicken (but not the fried kind).

In terms of exercise, start running or biking or do something that will give you a good sweat for 30-40 min. If you are worried that your numbers are high, based on your hight and weight that you gave us: try losing 5-10 lbs. Even that small amount of weight can help WONDERS for your cholesterol numbers.

Finally, there are medications (like Lipitor) that can help with cholesterol problems. But beleive me, you do NOT want to go on medications. It should be one of your last resorts.

Can you elaborate? Reason I ask, I've been on Lipitor for 2-1/2 years now. My dad died of heart disease at 56 and his dad at 49. I have heard mixed things about Lipitor. I've heard some people having muscle problems, liver failure, all kinds of things. I really do not like being on it, but my doctor says given my family history and my levels before I started taking the Lipitor, I need to be on it. The last time they checked my levels I was doing great. My TG's were low, my LDL was low and my HDL was up. But, I shed about 55 lbs before then. I asked my doctor if he would consider taking me off the med to see where my levels would go, but he told me no.

Am I slowly killing myself being on this medication? I would hate to find out when I'm 50 that my heart is healthy, but my liver is shot!

And did you know that one of the ingredients in Lipitor is Talc?????? That cannot be good for you!

Originally Posted by CAVEMAN

Can you elaborate? Reason I ask, I've been on Lipitor for 2-1/2 years now. My dad died of heart disease at 56 and his dad at 49. I have heard mixed things about Lipitor. I've heard some people having muscle problems, liver failure, all kinds of things. I really do not like being on it, but my doctor says given my family history and my levels before I started taking the Lipitor, I need to be on it. The last time they checked my levels I was doing great. My TG's were low, my LDL was low and my HDL was up. But, I shed about 55 lbs before then. I asked my doctor if he would consider taking me off the med to see where my levels would go, but he told me no.

Am I slowly killing myself being on this medication? I would hate to find out when I'm 50 that my heart is healthy, but my liver is shot!

And did you know that one of the ingredients in Lipitor is Talc?????? That cannot be good for you!

being from the pharma industry, talc and other items are just used as filler .. these are fine ingesting, but not inhaling, so don't crush and snort your lipitor .. it is always best to try and lower your cholesterol naturally ... there are many things you can do, diet, exercise. with these you should see a decrease in levels (and increase in hdl) ... usually doctors put you on these if they have had limited success with levels after diet and exercise programs implemented. tell the doc your concerns and see if you can lower them naturally ...

Originally Posted by CAVEMAN

Can you elaborate? Reason I ask, I've been on Lipitor for 2-1/2 years now. My dad died of heart disease at 56 and his dad at 49. I have heard mixed things about Lipitor. I've heard some people having muscle problems, liver failure, all kinds of things. I really do not like being on it, but my doctor says given my family history and my levels before I started taking the Lipitor, I need to be on it. The last time they checked my levels I was doing great. My TG's were low, my LDL was low and my HDL was up. But, I shed about 55 lbs before then. I asked my doctor if he would consider taking me off the med to see where my levels would go, but he told me no.
Am I slowly killing myself being on this medication? I would hate to find out when I'm 50 that my heart is healthy, but my liver is shot!

And did you know that one of the ingredients in Lipitor is Talc?????? That cannot be good for you!

Beleive me, I know exactly where you are coming from. I myself have a family history of high cholesterol and diabetes.

Rearnakedchoke is right. When your diet and exercise are NOT enough to drop your bad cholesterol (HDL) while simultaneously raising your good cholesterol (HDL), then you are in a different group of people. You either have some underlying condition, like diabetes (not saying you do, its just an example). Or, you have a family history of such problems, as you already eluded to.

Lipitor has good and bad things. From a postive side, it does drop your LDL cholesterol by up 60%, and you get the maximum effect usually after about a month of use. Here are the problems...it does not really raise your HDL (the good cholesterol). If you are someone who has low LDL, but you also have low HDL, you are still at risk of heart disease. Furthermore, the side effects often include: muslce pain and muscle degredation, headaches, soarness and problems on liver etc etc. Heres the catch. Ideally, YOU want to come off lipitor. To do that, you have to really modify your diet and exercise to drop about 10% of your body weight. BUT! if you are experiencing the side effects of pain, muscle weakness etc, are you going to be able to workout? Probably not, so you will need to stay on the drug. So there is one double edge sword.

The thing is, drug companies DONT want you to stop using their medication. That is bad business. Do you know how much money lipitor brought in alone in 2007 in the U.S? 12 BILLION DOLLARS!!!! They have you hooked now, and they dont want you coming off. By being on lipitor, yes, the benefits do outweigh the risks, but there is a catch.... the side effects. That is what I meant by going on the drugs (for chronic problems). Once you start, 9/10, you arent coming off them.

But in your case, you have lost about 55 lbs (good job man ). That fact that your doctor said NO to taking you off for a few months and seeing where your levels go is very suspect in my oppinion. I would go to another doctor for another oppinion. By shedding that extra fat, I would imagine you could go off it (you have to gradually reduce the dose).

[rockdawg21]

Avoid large amounts of saturated fats. Dietary cholesterol has very little effect on blood plasma levels. High levels of LDL cholesterol are mostly a result of large intakes of saturated fat. Always avoid trans fats. Saturated fats should make up no more than 20% of your daily fat intake. This doesn't mean you should remove them entirely because testosterone is created from saturated fat.

Increase your fiber content to at least 25g a day.

Exercise is always a plus too!

Originally Posted by CAVEMAN

Can you elaborate? Reason I ask, I've been on Lipitor for 2-1/2 years now. My dad died of heart disease at 56 and his dad at 49. I have heard mixed things about Lipitor. I've heard some people having muscle problems, liver failure, all kinds of things. I really do not like being on it, but my doctor says given my family history and my levels before I started taking the Lipitor, I need to be on it. The last time they checked my levels I was doing great. My TG's were low, my LDL was low and my HDL was up. But, I shed about 55 lbs before then. I asked my doctor if he would consider taking me off the med to see where my levels would go, but he told me no.

Am I slowly killing myself being on this medication? I would hate to find out when I'm 50 that my heart is healthy, but my liver is shot!

And did you know that one of the ingredients in Lipitor is Talc?????? That cannot be good for you!

Sorry as a follow up... I forgot to ask one thing...

Do you have actuall underlying heart disease in the family? I know you mentioned your father and grandfather dying early, but did they have any kind of metabolic dieases?

For example: did they have hyperlipidemias, chylomicronemias, anything that would naturally make you have high levels of LDL and TG normally? Because if THAT is that case, then you unfortunately need medicine. Diet and exercise wont be enough.

Originally Posted by mscomc

Sorry as a follow up... I forgot to ask one thing...

Do you have actuall underlying heart disease in the family? I know you mentioned your father and grandfather dying early, but did they have any kind of metabolic dieases?

For example: did they have hyperlipidemias, chylomicronemias, anything that would naturally make you have high levels of LDL and TG normally? Because if THAT is that case, then you unfortunately need medicine. Diet and exercise wont be enough.

Not that I know of. I do know both of them had atherosclerosis. My father was a smoker and pretty much ate whatever he wanted, but he was not overweight by any means. My grandfather was not a smoker and was actually quite an athlete.

I myself, have always worked out since my days in high school. AND I actually do some pretty intense workouts, like kettlebell, interval training, tabata style training, etc. The doctor told me I have a athletes resting heart rate(55 to 62 bpm). My diet did get out of hand for awhile, but I have it back under control. I do not consume any cheese or milk, very limited oils, hardly any read meat, no pork at all. Now there is the ocassional cheat day, but thats about it. I eat lots of green veggies, fruit, brown rice, beans, multigrain or whole wheat pastas, nuts and seeds, and any meat is turkey or chicken. For milk I drink rice milk or almond milk which usually goes on my whole grain cereal.

I appreciate you and RNC's feedback. I have had blood tests every 6 months to check for liver problems since I have been on the Lipitor and so far so good. I just hear of all the serious side effects that one can get from taking this medication and to be honest it is a little frightening! I have another appointment with this doctor in May and if my levels are still good or even better I'm going to ask him again. If he does not budge, I'll get a second opinion.