I come from a familly with excessive heart disease. My mother at age 52 had a heart attack. Out of her 10 brothers 2 of them had a heart attack under 35 and 6 others have had heart attacks in their 40's and up. Her father died of heart disease at 56. I'm a 26year old female with Hypothyroid, prenicious anemia, iron deficiency and possible Addison's Disease(final stage of testing, all other blood work points to it). I'm 5"4 about 150pnds.

This lab was done Oct/03. I was Hypothyroid at the time so the doctor chalked it up to that.

Chol 301
Trig 554
HDL 30
LDL unsuitable do to Trig's

Chol/HDL ratio 9.97

Latest labs as of Mar/04. My thyroid is stable and has been since December.

Chol 290
Trig 320
HDL 35
LDL 190

Chol/HDL ratio 7.99

So they seemed to have come down some but i'm not sure what to do from here. I eat mostly a vegetarian diet. We eat nothing that is fried. Our chicken is always bonless skinless baked or BBQ. I really don't want anymore meds but i'm not sure if diet and exercise alone will help me. What would u do in my position??

thanks, Nicole

I guess i'm on my own. :(

Your cholesterol results are terrible,and your familial history is worse. You have so many life-threatening things to sort out (pernicious anemia, possible Addison's) that it must be tough to concentrate on diet.

If I were you, I'd go the statin route if your doctors approve. You must be highly medicated and make triply sure that you can even DO statins with your other conditions and their drugs.

I wouldn't know what else to recommend dietarily to someone already on a low saturated fat diet (vegetarian and skinless chicken). Perhaps one supplement: fish oil to get the HDL's up....maybe lecithin if you're in the mood.

Good luck to you....you're under a HEAVY load!

Thanks so much for your reply. :) I feel kinda lost and not sure what's best for me at this point.
Does omega 3 count as a fish oil?? It's improved my thyroid eye disease some but not sure if it will help with the chol. I've been taking them since December. I'm also taking flaxseed. Does this help in any way?

You don't mention carbohydrates. Are you on a low carb diet? That would greatly reduce both your triglycerides and cholesterol levels. Yes, fish oil is the source of omega-3 and flaxseed is another good source. I take both. Make sure you get about 1000 mg of omega-3.

Nicole,

Considering your risk factors, and your family history of heart disease, I would strongly encourage you to supplement with high doses of both Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Take between 400-800 units of natural Vitamin E, and a minimum of 2000mg Vitamin C. Take the Vitamin C in about four divided doses over the course of the day. You are still young. These two critically important supplements can make a difference in terms of preventing premature heart disease. The time to start is now. So please, don't take chances. Prevention is still the key, and these are two extremely valuable supplements.

Thanks so much for your reply. :) I feel kinda lost and not sure what's best for me at this point.
Does omega 3 count as a fish oil?? It's improved my thyroid eye disease some but not sure if it will help with the chol. I've been taking them since December. I'm also taking flaxseed. Does this help in any way?

Hi Nicolle:

I have read extensively about the benfits of flaxseed for cholesterol but I am allergic to flaxseed so could not use it very much. However, 2 tbsp per day of freshly crushed seeds does the trick. Try it. Omega 3 is fish oil, so you are fine with that. Good luck.
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