lvjaybe
01-07-2005, 01:25 AM
Hi all, I would be greatful for any help anyone can offer me.
Had my first ever cholesterol panel done. Both my parents have high ch. and thought I should get mine done.
I am 29
5'5"
and overwiehgt, a lot :rolleyes:
My panel results are:
TC 168
hdl 29
ch/hdl ratio 5.8
tri 307
ldl 78
I know losing weight will help and am currently trying to, but what else should I be doing to lower it naturally? My doc suggested maybe meds, but I don't want to take them if I don't need to, plus my ldl and TC numbers seem good to me.
Am I fooling myself, or am I on the right track. My doc made me feel like I was likely going to keel over tomorrow!
Thank you for the help and support.
Jamie
Had my first ever cholesterol panel done. Both my parents have high ch. and thought I should get mine done.
I am 29
5'5"
and overwiehgt, a lot :rolleyes:
My panel results are:
TC 168
hdl 29
ch/hdl ratio 5.8
tri 307
ldl 78
I know losing weight will help and am currently trying to, but what else should I be doing to lower it naturally? My doc suggested maybe meds, but I don't want to take them if I don't need to, plus my ldl and TC numbers seem good to me.
Am I fooling myself, or am I on the right track. My doc made me feel like I was likely going to keel over tomorrow!
Thank you for the help and support.
Jamie
Sponsor
CobaltBlue
01-07-2005, 10:44 AM
I am 29 and overwiehgt, a lot :rolleyes:
TC 168 hdl 29 tri 307 ldl 78
Am I fooling myself, or am I on the right track. My doc made me feel like I was likely going to keel over tomorrow!
Thank you for the help and support.
Jamie
Jamie, I edited your text down a bit to respond to a few points.
I was 35, overweight, alot, my TC was 190 or so (medicated), but my HDL was 24, LDL <100, and TG above 600 mg/dL (when not medicated). I thought I was getting away with something, beating the game, fooling myself. Then, I had a heart attack.
I changed my eating habits, lost weight and started daily exercise. My TC dropped fast to less than 100 mg/dL total, but has since risen a bit, primarily due to increased HDL. My recommendation is that yes, lose weight, that will certainly help the TG come down (less backed up in the blood) and if you exercise, it will reduce it further, and start to shift the relative amounts of LDL/HDL to a more favorable ratio, regardless of fat intake. Weight loss will also benefit that.
You may be in the same boat as many of us (that are prone to metabolic syndrome), characterized by high TG, low HDL, and what would appear to be normal to optimal LDL levels. However, there is a good chance that if you look at the particle sizes all your lipoproteins, you will find that they are small and dense (higher risk). Other common symptoms are hypertension, and finally, onset of type II diabetes. Knowing now what I was too foolish to consider then, I would have tried to reverse the trends before I rolled the dice with my life. I wish you success in finding the strength to do what needs to be done to keep yourself healthy and minimize your risk.
TC 168 hdl 29 tri 307 ldl 78
Am I fooling myself, or am I on the right track. My doc made me feel like I was likely going to keel over tomorrow!
Thank you for the help and support.
Jamie
Jamie, I edited your text down a bit to respond to a few points.
I was 35, overweight, alot, my TC was 190 or so (medicated), but my HDL was 24, LDL <100, and TG above 600 mg/dL (when not medicated). I thought I was getting away with something, beating the game, fooling myself. Then, I had a heart attack.
I changed my eating habits, lost weight and started daily exercise. My TC dropped fast to less than 100 mg/dL total, but has since risen a bit, primarily due to increased HDL. My recommendation is that yes, lose weight, that will certainly help the TG come down (less backed up in the blood) and if you exercise, it will reduce it further, and start to shift the relative amounts of LDL/HDL to a more favorable ratio, regardless of fat intake. Weight loss will also benefit that.
You may be in the same boat as many of us (that are prone to metabolic syndrome), characterized by high TG, low HDL, and what would appear to be normal to optimal LDL levels. However, there is a good chance that if you look at the particle sizes all your lipoproteins, you will find that they are small and dense (higher risk). Other common symptoms are hypertension, and finally, onset of type II diabetes. Knowing now what I was too foolish to consider then, I would have tried to reverse the trends before I rolled the dice with my life. I wish you success in finding the strength to do what needs to be done to keep yourself healthy and minimize your risk.
hunter44
01-07-2005, 11:04 AM
Ubernier is right. If you are serious about being healthy start excercising and get on a good low carb diet like Protein Power Life Plan.
Uff-Da!
01-07-2005, 11:42 AM
Your high trigs indicate there is a high chance that you are eating a diet high in refined carbs. Is that the case? If so, cut out the candy, soda pop, cookies, etc. and go very easy on things like pasta. Better to get your carbs from oatmeal, legumes, squash, whole grain products and the like.
If not already doing so, eat fish frequently or start taking a fish oil supplement. Avoid high-fat meats and fried foods. Eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables. Use canola oil and olive oil in cooking and in salad dressings rather than the high omega-6 oils. Use as little margarine or butter as possible, and if you do use margarine, make it a soft margarine. These things, on top of weight loss and exercise, should help a lot.
Plan on getting another blood lipid panel done in three months or however long your doctor suggests. If you improve those figures quite a bit in three months, there is a good chance that if you continue the same diet, you can improve the figures even more in six months without meds.
If not already doing so, eat fish frequently or start taking a fish oil supplement. Avoid high-fat meats and fried foods. Eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables. Use canola oil and olive oil in cooking and in salad dressings rather than the high omega-6 oils. Use as little margarine or butter as possible, and if you do use margarine, make it a soft margarine. These things, on top of weight loss and exercise, should help a lot.
Plan on getting another blood lipid panel done in three months or however long your doctor suggests. If you improve those figures quite a bit in three months, there is a good chance that if you continue the same diet, you can improve the figures even more in six months without meds.
lvjaybe
01-07-2005, 04:41 PM
Thank you all for your replies. I was pretty worried about all of this, I still am, but I realize that I have the control to change things for myself and improve my health.
This has been just another "reminder" that I need to change my ways. I have PCOS also and it is greatly affected by diet and exercise. So if I didn't have reason enough to get healthy, this is just the kicker I guess I needed.
Thank you for the support, encouragment, and kindness. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Today is day one of my new lifestyle.
I know I can do it!
Thanks again!
Jamie
This has been just another "reminder" that I need to change my ways. I have PCOS also and it is greatly affected by diet and exercise. So if I didn't have reason enough to get healthy, this is just the kicker I guess I needed.
Thank you for the support, encouragment, and kindness. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Today is day one of my new lifestyle.
I know I can do it!
Thanks again!
Jamie
NineLives
01-07-2005, 05:23 PM
A total cholesterol at 168 doesn't sound bad when you look at it alone, but when you take into account that your good cholesterol is 29 there is reason for concern. My total cholesterol was 193 and my HDL was about 32 when my blockage was found. My triglycerides were 183. So you see the numbers do not have to be off by much to cause problems. I was 41 am female and am overweight but not much. If you add in any other factors like diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure or family history your doctor would not be a good doctor if he or she wasn't terribly concerned.
lvjaybe
01-08-2005, 11:36 PM
Thank you for all your replies, I feel like I can get control of this by changing my lifestyl. Cutting the junk, sugar, white carbs...etc, and eating morelean low fat foods. Exercise is a big part too, I need to get some! Again I thank you all for your time in helping me work through this.
Take care, God bless,
Jamie
Take care, God bless,
Jamie