High triglcerides for a 27 year old?

[lalab]

Wow, I just went for a physical and my PA said my tri's were off the chart - 969! They were not able to screen for the 'bad' cholesterol since the tri's were so high. His immediate thought was medication but he is giving me 6 weeks to do something about it - diet and exercise wise. He also put me on Omega 3. Any thoughts on this? One year ago my tri's were 340... I take birth control and lexapro but I don't think they would effect me that bad... No my diet is not good and I barely exercise but this has scared me enough into walking for 30 minutes everyday and cutting out as much sugar, fat and carbs that I can. I also quit smoking. Cold turkey. Only my third day but this is life changing for me...

[Andy84012]

Adult beverages a big no no when it comes to high tri's.

[lalab]

Adult beverages are not really a concern for me. If I drink, it's a glass of white merlot and maybe once a week...

[Fathersson]

When you say you are on Omega-3's, do you mean over-the-counter fish oil, or the prescription stuff, Omacor? Fish oil made a difference in my numbers, but I still need a fibrate (Tricor) to get my and keep my trig's down. I have read that Omacor can be much more effective then OTC fish oil. With your triglycerides, I'm surprised your doctor didn't at least have you go on a 30-day round of gemfibrozil just to at least get the trig's down quickly (triglycerides that high have a real risk of inducing pancreatitis).

Stopping smoking will help, as will the exercise. Actually, more reports every year support the claim that the single most effective thing you can do to control lipid problems and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke is to exercise regularly.

[cook82]

From what I've read, birth control pills can raise triglycerides.
Check your pill formulation for side effects online.

But your trigs are very high. I think it would behoove you to switch to another form of birth control while you are trying to get those numbers down.

Good luck.