unhappy with new results - High Cholesterol Message Board

beck6035 · 10-26-2005, 07:42 PM

I just got my test results and unfortunately my tc went up. I have been carefully watching my diet. Increased my fruits and veggies threefold. Reduced the amount of meat I have been eating and have switched my dairy products to all fat free.

date May July Oct
LDL 144 133 144
HDL 47 40 47
Tri's 115 155 123
TC 214 201 217

I think the increase between July and Oct may be due to adding eggs back into my diet. No more than 4 per wk. I did that because I thought my HDL was too low. I do take cinnamon each day and 4 cod liver oil capsules each day... I was drinking Pu-erh tea each day but now I wonder if it has done any good. And I also have been drinking 1 glass of red wine each day...and I hate red wine..

The dr wants me to go on meds. I refused to even set up the appt to go and see him for that...

Got any advice on what I can do???? I have considered the Niacin but I already have so many hot flashes that I am not certain I could handle any more...lol.

Thanks
Becky

NHone · 10-26-2005, 09:51 PM

There's nothing wrong with your numbers. HDL seems to be the important number to look at. Remember cholesterol is a blood test and it can fluctuate day to day. Since you are a woman, I might ask my doctor just what he/she thinks cholesterol medication will do for you. In all the tests and trials that have been done, it has never been shown that cholesterol medication will reduce mortality in women. I t has been shown to increase cancer. When it comes to cholesterol , men are different than women. Be really careful about the medications. There are numerous side effects on all cholesterol lowering medications, not just the statins.

Uff-Da! · 10-26-2005, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beck6035

The dr wants me to go on meds. I refused to even set up the appt to go and see him for that...

Got any advice on what I can do????

Yes, print out the article below, and take it to your doctor next time after highlighting the paragraph I'm showing in the quote:

http://www.communitycatalyst.org/resource.php?doc_id=946

Quote:

However, when one looks at the approximately 2000 women in that study who had no prior history of heart disease, the 1000 women who took Lipitor actually had 10% more heart attacks than the 1000 women taking a placebo.

There are another couple of sentences you might also want to highlight. In addition, you might want to find and take with you copies of some of the other research which also indicates similar lack of positive results from cholesterol-lowering meds for women.

I'm assuming here that you do not already have heart disease and are not diabetic. In those cases, I think current knowledge does warrant taking cholesterol-lowering meds.

What else can you do? Well, what are you currently doing about carbs and fiber? From your decrease in triglycerides this past time, it looks like maybe you either decreased the amount of carbs you ate or switched to more whole grains and higher fiber. Is that correct? Depending upon how "pure" you already are

, you could continue making further changes along those same lines, ditching more of the high-glycemic carbs you might still be eating and switching to more whole grains and legumes. On days you don't think you might be getting enough soluble fiber in the diet, you might take psyllium (like Metamucil).

beck6035 · 10-27-2005, 05:48 PM

First of all let me say thanks for everyones help. I really appreaciate your advice. Uff-Da - I think my trigs were lower since strawberries went out of season and I stopped having them with angelfood cake...it also could be the cinnamon is helping that.
Moxie you asked about what I was actually eating. Well I will try to explain. For breakfast I have a nonfat yogurt and a banana. Lunch is a Healthy Choice Entree (low fat/low cholesteral) with either a salad or carrot sticks(about 1 cup) and another piece of fruit. Dinner is usually salad, veggie such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, about 4 oz of lean meat, and a small serving (about a half cup) of either rice, pasta or a small red potato. I also have a large glass of skim milk with dinner. Snacks have been limited to air popped corn and dry cheerios. The only bread we use is whole wheat with added fiber. I dont do alot of snacking since I usually am not that hungry after dinner. On the weekends I do make oatmeal for breakfast but I just dont have time during the week as I only like the steel-cut oats and they take so long to cook.

Again thanks to all
Becky