Hubby's bloodwork..Not happy.... - High Cholesterol Message Board

JJ · 02-25-2006, 07:19 PM

Hubby had a physical last month and his reg. dr. said his BP was quite high, 163/90, normally it has been 130's/70's, and yes, he has been on BP meds. for a few years. She also found a nodule on his prostate, and said his glucose was high, been on meds. for both of these for years also, as he is type 2 diabetic. Needless to say it was not a good news physical. She made an appt. for him to see a urologist, and wanted him to keep tabs on his BP for a month and then report it to her.

Hubby called his cardio man, as he is the one who basically prescribes his meds. Cardio guy told him he was going on vacation that evening, but wanted to see him when he gets back March 7th, and in the meantime ordered bloodwork and called his reg. dr. to hurry up with the urologist appt.

Bloodwork came back to us in the mail today, and I am not a happy camper.
Can't quite remember his last cholesterol numbers, but will give an estimate.

8-05

TC.........About 212
LDL........Couldn't be caluclated due to high Trigs.
HDL.......About 38
Trigs......About 455

Everything else was fine.

2-23-06

TC......180
LDL.......75..I think too low.
HDL.......32..Definitely too low
Trigs....364..Better, but still not good.
VLDL......73..NOT good!

Also on report...A1C...7...was always 5.6-5.8
PSA......0.46....Range 0-4

One thing I saw I didn't understand was eGFR 70.8. I looked it up and it has something to do with the renal flow, and says it shouldn't be over 60. Didn't tell hubby, as I don't want him to get anymore upset then he is over the BP and prostate nodule and high A1C. All other numbers were fine.

This man is doing everything in his power to eat right and exercise, is only about 7 lbs. overweight, never eats junk food, has been doing the oatmeal, cinnamon and extra Vitamin C thing, so I am quite upset over this report. If anyone can give me any info. as to what they think may be going on, I am all ears. I intend to have a talk with the cardio guy, as I just found out his reg. dr. has him on 100mgs. of Atenolol, along with 2 other BP meds. and I'm sorry, from everything I have heard, it can raise your glucose, so I feel he shouldn't be on that high a doseage. Hopefully his cardio guy can adjust his meds. to take care of this problem, but that eGFR thing is kind of upsetting me, as I am wondering if he is having kidney problems. I know U folks aren't drs., but if anyone can give me any input, it is much appreciated. Hopefully I am not reading too much into these numbers, or maybe what I am reading is not what these numbers mean. Sorry for the long post, but this is new to me and as I said, I am quite upset.

Thanx for any input........

NHone · 02-25-2006, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ

Hubby had a physical last month and his reg. dr. said his BP was quite high, 163/90, normally it has been 130's/70's, and yes, he has been on BP meds. for a few years. She also found a nodule on his prostate, and said his glucose was high, been on meds. for both of these for years also, as he is type 2 diabetic. Needless to say it was not a good news physical. She made an appt. for him to see a urologist, and wanted him to keep tabs on his BP for a month and then report it to her.

Hubby called his cardio man, as he is the one who basically prescribes his meds. Cardio guy told him he was going on vacation that evening, but wanted to see him when he gets back March 7th, and in the meantime ordered bloodwork and called his reg. dr. to hurry up with the urologist appt.

Bloodwork came back to us in the mail today, and I am not a happy camper.
Can't quite remember his last cholesterol numbers, but will give an estimate.

8-05

TC.........About 212
LDL........Couldn't be caluclated due to high Trigs.
HDL.......About 38
Trigs......About 455

Everything else was fine.

2-23-06

TC......180
LDL.......75..I think too low.
HDL.......32..Definitely too low
Trigs....364..Better, but still not good.
VLDL......73..NOT good!

Also on report...A1C...7...was always 5.6-5.8
PSA......0.46....Range 0-4

One thing I saw I didn't understand was eGFR 70.8. I looked it up and it has something to do with the renal flow, and says it shouldn't be over 60. Didn't tell hubby, as I don't want him to get anymore upset then he is over the BP and prostate nodule and high A1C. All other numbers were fine.

This man is doing everything in his power to eat right and exercise, is only about 7 lbs. overweight, never eats junk food, has been doing the oatmeal, cinnamon and extra Vitamin C thing, so I am quite upset over this report. If anyone can give me any info. as to what they think may be going on, I am all ears. I intend to have a talk with the cardio guy, as I just found out his reg. dr. has him on 100mgs. of Atenolol, along with 2 other BP meds. and I'm sorry, from everything I have heard, it can raise your glucose, so I feel he shouldn't be on that high a doseage. Hopefully his cardio guy can adjust his meds. to take care of this problem, but that eGFR thing is kind of upsetting me, as I am wondering if he is having kidney problems. I know U folks aren't drs., but if anyone can give me any input, it is much appreciated. Hopefully I am not reading too much into these numbers, or maybe what I am reading is not what these numbers mean. Sorry for the long post, but this is new to me and as I said, I am quite upset.

Thanx for any input........

is he on any cholesterol medication?

JJ · 02-25-2006, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by finres

is he on any cholesterol medication?

No, he had his arteries cleaned in 94 and was on Lipitor for 7 years. After I was put on and got nasty side effects, he realized his problems were from them also, and his cardio man took him off, in spite of what his reg. dr. felt.

He has been doing pretty ok the last few years, except for the PN, so this is all a nasty new set of problems. Like I said, the prostate was checked about 14 years ago, he was on meds. for it since, and all has been fine, as was the BP and his A1c counts.

NHone · 02-25-2006, 10:37 PM

I know that my mother was on another beta blocker before and her trigs. went way up. We thought maybe too many sweets and such. However found an article in medical publication that said some beta bloackers raise trigs. and blood sugar. It also said that coreg would not do this. After we had the doctor switch her to coreg (which is worse than negotiating a contract with a third world country) her blood sugar and trigs went back to narmal, took less than 2 weeks. Also thought you might need to check him for magnesium... Has to be an intracellular test. Low magnesium can cause or aggrevate diabetes. ALso beta blockers deplete Coq10 and if i remember correctly some magnesium. ALso remember that some beta blockers can raise the psa scores. Mother is on 6.25 mg of coreg 2x day. started at 3.125 2x day. This is still really a low dose, but brought it down from the 160's to the 119-130 range. I will see a kidney doctor at the gym tomorrow, and will ask him about the kidney issue.

HubbleRules · 02-25-2006, 10:40 PM

JJ,

I'm sorry to hear about hubby's higher BP and the nodule that they found. Definitely get him to the urologist quickly to have the prostate examined more closely...

As far as a1C is concerned, I did some searching and it is a type of measure of blood glucose, and should not be greater than 7 - so hubby's A1C number appears OK - higher than before, but still OK.

The eGFR is a measure of how well the kidneys are functioning. From what I read, values UNDER 60 are of concern. The charts I saw indicated that 90+ indicate normal kidney function, and 60-80 indicate mildly reduced kidney function - where observation (going back and having the number recheched periodically) and maintaining BP are the suggested actions. So don't get too worried over either of these 2 numbers - I think hubby is OK or borderline-OK on both...

I pray the nodule turns out be nothing - and they usually do, but I'm sure it is what is causing most of the anxiety for you and Hubby. Getting to the doctor asap and having a definite diagnosis will tell you what the true situation is..and aleviate the 'not knowing'. It's the waiting and not knowing that is the worst... Until then, try not to get too upset... you can get sick from too much worry... REmember that his PSA level is very low - which is very good.. so the nodule is probably going to turn out to be nothing. Try to do things that will take your minds off it until you get to see the doctor... rent some comedy dvds...

Just remember that you've both been doing all the right things one could do to help with his health... and try to stay optimistic (easy for me to say, I know)...

TTYL

HubbleRules