jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

just registered at a new docs recently and had to have bloods done.
Results came back okay apart from cholesterol which was 7.9 which is considered very high!

I havent been prescribed any statins, but I have been given a sheet of foods to avoid / eat rarely / often etc and to have bloods done again in a few months time.

I am overweight but not obese, have put on just over a stone this year since a car crash, and wasnt able to exercise for 4 months due to a back injury (just getting back into it now), exercise consists of aerobic and weights (run a few miles a few times a week / cycle 8 miles on exercise bike a few times etc)

They did say as high cholesterol runs in the family, it could be that, and my risk of coronary disease is actually less than 10% over the next 10 years (think it was 4%), but I obviously want to get my cholesterol levels as low as possible (less than 5)

Anyone else suffer and have you managed to reduce it without medication?

Cheers

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

I think just losing weight is the answer. I recently put on a stone over the winter because i was laid up most of the time because of my back. I have now lost half a stone. I bet my Cholesterol level went up but i bet its back to normal now.

Just make sure if you pig out that you also exercise. Junk food and immobility equals bad health

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

I found that cutting right down on the fatty and processed foods had only a minimal effect and I've always ate lots of fruit and veg.
Don't be afraid of the statins, they pull the level back without making your life one long, boring diet!

JohnD

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

hmmm I wouldnt really say I eat a lot of junk food to be honest, I have been told in the past that I didn't eat enough food (I am a big frame) and that my body is probably storing food as fat as it may not know when the next meal is coming (quite often I used to have only 1 meal a day in the evening )

I do try to eat at least 3 times a day now, and will bump that back to 5 (tins of tuna as snacks etc - helped me lose over 3 stone the other year when I was obese)

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

just realised, a sensible post by sarasquares

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

cheers John, the reason I dont really want the medication (if offered) is I read that you are then on them for life??? I know its simple popping a pill in the morning but I would rather avoid that if poss

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

Morning posts have a different flavour to later ones


Afternoon posts are more fattening

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

you mean the caffeine hasnt kicked in

Leslie

I had to have a quad bypass and it was down to my cholesterol being around the 5-6 mark. There are better ways to spend an afternoon than having that op believe me!

I am on statins now, and will remain so. You actually pop that pill at night as you go to bed anyway.

The pills are tasteless and easy to take, don't even need water.

They are advertised to have side effects but every pill in the world advertises that just in case-but they rarely cause a problem.

When I was on Simvastatin I used to get pains in the lower legs. I was changed to Atorvastatin which stopped all those problems.

My cholesterol used to be around 6 but since taking the statins it is now 3.7-3.9. That is without any kind of outlandish diet but eating sensibly.

I too was not keen on having to take a pill but the way I feel now is that I would much rather do that which is really very easy, then risk blocking of the coronary arteries and having to have yet another bypass or even going through a heart attack or worse!

If you have inherited a high cholesterol count, the statins are by far the best and safest way to deal with it.

Les

PG

11.3 at the last count here.
Runs in my family. I am fit, healthy, active and don't eat too much crap. Your body isn't up to dealing with the day to day fats so taking statins is the only answer. I had mine down to 6. odds at one point and ran out of statins and never bothered to get any more. I was quite shocked at the increase thereafter.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

cheers Les, when you put it like that, I suppose popping 1 pill a day isnt too bad

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

I too WAS on statins and pills for my blood pressure, but both had nasty side effects, (made my legs swell, and my old man refuse to)

I stopped both, and am now back on the bp pills in a different form, to ensure THEY are OK and working, before going onto different statins too.

Both were just one pill at night.

Better to get it right and not get into difficulty.

Maybe, had I done the same with my back ten years ago, I'd not be in the position I now am.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

jaytc2003

Without giving too much away how old are you ? if you are over 50 then it looks like statins are on the cards

Shaun

my06 ppp silver

iTrader: (2)

never eat fried food again. eat porridge in mornings (its filling, releases energy slowly and soaks up excess body fat) and eat fruit you enjoy eg. i like raisins, water melon, strawberries, blackcurrants. it does not seem as much of a chore then.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

He's not that old, unless he's fibbing on his profile.

Jay, if the docs have given you a sheet of foods to avoid, try that for now, and see what impact it has, I'd imagine they are keeping an eye on it.

oldsplice

My cholesterol level is 6. err.....something.....can't remember the next bit. I've never been a lover of dairy products, cook with olive oil and rapeseed, love fruit and veg and eats lots of it, etc etc. Mr OS is the one who eats all the crap......cakes, biscuits, puddings, lashings of butter etc and his level is 5! It's not bleedin' fair!! If you're thin it doesn't mean you've got low cholesterol. Our mate is 20st and his level is 4! Git!

Try the food way first as MY06 said........porridge, purple grape juice, benecol stuff. You can still have fried stuff from time to time, but as a treat. What's your alcohol intake? You may need to cut down on that. Have you got to back for a repeat blood test?

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

Yep i suffer from it think my reading is a bout 8.6 ,doctor informed me it should be 6.5 or less (iirc) i had all the other tests to go with it as well (TFT,glucose etc) and only the cholesterol one was bad.

Basically i avoid dairy prdoucts,white bread and chocolate (i have them about once a week),doing some cardio exercise will help.
I told the doctor my objection to popping pills as well he pointed out about how would i object to a heart attack

john banks

jaytc2003, approx 100 people with your present risk would have to take a statin for five years to prevent one heart attack or stroke in that period, that is why it has not been recommended.

njkmrs

I have been in a similar position .Had it checked at work when about 25 yrs old and it was 5.7 .Not overweight at time ,reasonable diet etc .

Had it done 10 yrs later and it had gone to 6.3 ish .Spoke with Doc ,cut out all the sh1te and started exercising ,playing football ,benecol products etc .6 month later it had gone to 7.1 !!!!!!!

Back at Docs,told him my concerns ,Dad had died at 66 yrs old (heart attack ),one yr after retiring ,God rest him .He said it was my choice and he would rather me not worry about it and have them ,rather than not give them to me .

Went on the Statins ,it came down to 5 .All Ok .In my wisdom I decided to now stop bothering with the tablets and 6 month later it was back up at 6 ish again .Now back taking them regular and it is back at 5 ish (not had it checked for a while to be honest .)

I know a Surgeon who is about 9 stone wet through ,vegetarian and he demanded them from his Doc because his was over 7 .
As previously said in a post ,some people cannot for whatever reason rid their body of enough bad Cholesterol ,so taking the tablets is the only way .It doesnt give me any side effects that I am aware of to be honest .
Take the tab and forget about it ,is my advice .

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

cheers guys, not been offered the meds, just a list of foods to avoid etc. White bread is probably my downfall, and also peanuts which I eat a fair few due to protein for when I am exercising. I have got to have repeat bloods at the end of July, but I may give it until august so its more like 3 months so the slight change of eating habits have more chance of taking effect and see what happens then. I was a bit worried about the 7.9 as reading on the web it was dangerously high, but it seems mild in comparision to others on here .

Midlife / Shaun, I am 34 in August

john banks

The triglycerides, LDL are just as important, but the one used to calculate 10 year risk is total cholesterol:HDL ratio. If the others are good your total cholesterol figure might not be so bad.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

my others were good (so they said) and that I was at low risk of coronary disease, so the 7.9 is the total figure or is that still the bad cholesterol figure?

If it is the bad cholesterol is it still wise to try to reduce this even if other levels are good?

thanks

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

According to my Dr that figure is still too high and needs to be lowered.

According to a heart attack risk calculator my Dr has i 've a 4% of a heart attack within the next 10 years i think

(36 6'2" 15 stone cholesterol value of 8.5)

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

jaytc2003

Your age / risk would not put you in a priority group for statins as JB says. There's a study in a medical journal (BMJ) looking at the benefits of statins for 55 years +.

Not long for me to go then LOL


Shaun

Leslie

I'd be really worried with cholesterol figures as high as that. I certainly have no objection to taking the statins-could be a life saver. You usually dont get two chances with a coronary! And even if you get away with it, your heart will be damaged. "Priorities!" I say.

Les

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

thats similar stats to mine, sure I was a 4% risk of coronary disease within 10 years (33, 6'3", 17st 2)


surely though its better to reduce it now as at the end of the day it is a risk is it not? What I mean is I am 33, if my current cholesterol level is maintained for the next 22 years at 7.9, surely its better for my cholesterol to be 5% for the next 22 years as over that period of time with the difference there is gonna be less furring/clogging etc?

john banks

If you need to treat 100 low risk people for 5 years, or 50 people for 10 years to prevent one heart attack of stroke, it isn't an impressive treatment for that group, from a health economics viewpoint, or from doing more good than harm as the side effects experienced by some of the unaffected 49 people may well do them no good.

As you get older your risk rises anyway, and it may become more relevant.

It is appealing to believe that treating cholesterol is a good idea to prevent future problems, but so far the trials haven't demonstrated that to be the case in otherwise low risk individuals. This is the foundation of evidence based medicine, not to always do what appears sensible, but to do it if there is evidence for it.

I tell this or a version of it to my patients depending on their interest and understanding. Some want me to decide, some want treatment anyway even if they are low risk, and I do not deny it to them. Bare statistics and the individual person are not often an easy marriage.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

cheers John thats cleared my mind up a lot. I will just try to lower it then via diet, and once im back into the full swing of exercise that should increase my good cholesterol and hopefully imrpove the ratio even more

njkmrs

Mine at 25 =5.7

Mine at 35 =6.7

Mine at 45 =7.7 ??? Maybe .

Mine at 55 =8.7 ???? Maybe .

I dont see the point of letting it get up there .I feel a whole lot better keeping it down at 5 ish .By taking the Simvastatins .
I think the cost issue arises for the Docs also .They have to keep an eye on what they dish out or the country would be Bankrup all together .!!!

If you are concerned then Demand the Tablets .

I did all the things asked of me by the Doc and it still increased .Hopefully your new regime will work for you .