To Arizona73

auburn62 · 02-03-2004, 03:20 AM

I posted this additional posting under my original post - "New test results - so much for diet"

Didn't know if you would be looking back at it again, and I would like your further opinion on my new post.

Arizona73, I do fit all of the criteria for Syndrome X. I am approximately 89 pounds overweight, have abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high trigs and low hdl. The only good thing is that my fasting glucose in Dec. was 100 and on Jan. 31 was 98. I ordered the two Syndrome X diet books and have been trying to go by them. Syndrome X, the Silent Killer: The New Heart Disease Risk by Gerald M. Reaven, and Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance by Burton Berkson and Jack Callem. The book written by the doctor that discovered Syndrome X, Gerald Reaven, suggests some of the very foods a low carb diet does not allow. Example: some types of bread, white potatoes, raisin bran cereal. I tried very hard to follow the information in the two books. If I had even stayed the same on my trigs I would not be so upset. But for them to have gone up by 103 points, which is the highest they have ever been, amazes me! My Aunt is taking Pravochol 40 mg a day and Lopid 660 mg a day. She is not overweight, she walks briskly every morning, eats correctly, and with all the medication her trigs are 159. I know there is a hereditary facter in play here, but what to do?

I looked up the drug Lopid, (that my Aunt is taking) and it is only used as a last resort when no other drug or diet has helped and when trigs are more than 1000. Now I am scared that my liver is getting like my Aunt's and the trigs will become uncontrollable. A 103 point jump in trigs, in a month's time, is a lot! I am 62 yrs old.

Thanks,
Susan

ARIZONA73 · 02-03-2004, 09:40 PM

Susan,

In most cases, elevated triglycerides can be controlled through diet, mainly through a reduced intake of carbohydrates. It's rather unusual for such a diet to have an opposite effect. An elevated insulin level (hyperinsulinism) is also associated with high triglycerides, low HDL, and a condition known as Syndrome X. There are tests to measure insulin levels. Has your doctor bothered to check it?

On the other hand, it is possible, as you stated that you may have an inherited disorder. Your aunt, who is not overweight, also has a problem with high triglycerides and is taking Lopid. People who have such an inherited disorder have a condition known as familial hypertriglyceridemia. There is usually just an elevation in blood triglycerides, and HDL levels tend to be low. The defect is that the VLDL particles made by the liver are larger than normal and carry more triglycerides. Sometimes such an inherited disorder requires more aggressive treatment.

In any case, I think it would be a good idea to try to get to the bottom of this, and try to find out once and for all exactly what is going on. Have you discussed this with your doctor? If so, what did he say?

auburn62 · 02-04-2004, 01:40 AM

I haven't been to a doctor to discuss it yet. Plan to go to an Endo when I do. A doctor recommended an Endo that is good at treating diabeties and metabolic problems. Sounds like just what i need! What seems unfair, is my nextdoor neighbor weighed 550 pounds and ate sweets by the handful, yet his lab tests were perfect!

Thanks for the advise. I'll post again when I have an update.

Susan