Can someone help me read these numbers????

rahod

Your biggest problem by far is the blood sugar. I assume that's a FASTING blood sugar of 186? Anything over 126 is considered diabetes, so 186 is very high. If you're 186 at any other time that's still high..you shouldn't be over 165 (many think it shouldn't be over 140) 1 hr after a meal at the max . I don't know where your Dr came up with 180 as the cut off point for diabetes

Your cholesterol numbers aren't that bad...with the exception of Triglycerides. That should be under 150. High triglycerides and diabetes go hand in hand.

rahod

One more thing...your Dr should consider a statin if you're diabetic...regardless of cholesterol level (and yours is a little high anyway). New studies indicate the use of stains may reduce the incidence of heart/vascular disease that accompanies diabetes.

jtu91952

Rahod, even if your body can't tolerate statins? I am diabetic and have high cholesterol, have tried liptor, zetia and refused all others.

ARIZONA73

MamaLambNC,

Your triglycerides and elevated blood sugar levels are by far your biggest problems. I think you need to cut way back on your carbohydrate intake, and emphasize more protein-rich foods, especially fish. By doing so, not only will you be helping to control your blood sugar, but your triglyceride level should also drop down into a far more favorable range. Taking fish oil supplements may help both in lowering triglycerides and raising HDL levels. Also, I would strongly recommend supplementing with high doses of both vitamin E and vitamin C. At least 400 IU vitamin E, and at least 2000mg vitamin C are effective doses to take. I believe that if you adhere to this advice, that you will be doing yourself a favor, and will benefit from it.

rahod

"Refused all others"? May I suggest trying Crestor at 5 mg (1/2 a standard 10 mg pill). It would be foolish to deny yourself a very important treatment for you. Crestor is not metabolized by the liver in the way Lipitor is. Also, a LOW dose may work for you.

CobaltBlue

Rahod,

I just finished reading this manuscript and found it interesting:

Rauramaa et al, Annals of Internal Medicine 2004; 140:1007-1014.

It reports a 6 year studies where the authors examined the impact of 5 d x 45-60 min aerobic exercise upon carotid atherosclerosis progression.

What I found interesting in this manuscript were 2 items:

1. No statistically significant difference in hs-CRP between the the exercise and control group. (This falls in line with other papers that report the CRP level is affected moreso by body fat/visceral fat).

2. When a subgroup of men who took statins were compared against those that did not, regular physical exercise slowed the progress of atherosclerosis only in the non-statin user subgroup.

What I found interesting in #2 is that care needs to be made in how the findings are reported. The paper is not stating that statins are not beneficial, but moreso that no additional improvement over statins, with respect to slowing carotid atherosclerosis, seems to be observed when exercise is combined with statin therapy.

Anyway, just thought you might find this pub interesting.

MamaLambNC

Yes! That was a fasting blood sugar count. I had drank the bottle of glucose....my count was 99 before that. I'm having trouble figuring out exactly what to eat. Can someone help me with this? The doctor just said to lower everything with diet, exercise, & the Metformin. Thanks in advance, Patty

CobaltBlue

MamaLamb:

If you search in the diabetes forum, you will find a bunch of posts by people with diet recommendations for controlling their diabetes.

I don't know about your situation with respect to exercise, diet and current weight, so my advice may not apply to you. I can tell you that in my case (as in cases of other type II's) that you will see a huge improvement in control, and reduction of fasting glucose levels, with weight loss and regular exercise.

About 80 lbs heavier and with a sedentary lifestyle, I had triglycerides > 600 mg/dL, a fasting glucose of 348 and 328 mg/dL, and an HDL of 25. Diet, exercise and the proper weight now keeps my triglycerides in the 30-40 mg/dL range, fasting glucose near 80 mg/dL, and an HDL of 60+ mg/dL. I can eat desserts as any non-diabetic and my post-prandial glucose is never > 140 mg/dL, at any time now.

It's not going to be easy, and there is always a chance that even with the modifications above you might still need oral meds. However, it's worth it to all you can do to impact the condition, if you have room to improve in any of the areas above.

Diabetes is not a disease to take lightly, or cut corners with. I found that out the hard way and paid the price at age 35 when I had my heart attack.

My life is many times more rewarding now, with this healthy lifestyle.

rahod

I think you're confused. That was a GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST, so your blood sugar will be LOW before (99 is normal) and much higher after taking the drink. Your 186 reading was high ( ideally, should be under 165), but not as bad had it been a FASTING READING! I don't know the #s, but some Dr's use 200 as diagnostic for diabetes in a glucose tolerance test. That test you took tells the Dr that you don't handle blood sugar (after a meal) as well as you should...this could lead to diabetes.

rahod

Thanks. My point was addressing DIABETICS and the benefit of statins regardless of cholesterol levels. the study you mention does not relate to diabetics.

CobaltBlue

Understood rahod That's why I just mentioned that in passing, along with the hs-CRP that come up in here often. Just a hunch that you might have an interest in current research in this area?

jtu91952

I would if i could get it. My gp seems to think on liptor and Zetia. i REALLY do want to lower my cholesterol, but not at any price. A quality of life is important to me. I look forward to walking my usual 3 miles ( just increased to 8 miles) each day. How can i get my dr to prescribe crestor? Also are you sure it won't damage my liver? I have enough illness without added more. I've been trying to lower it with diet, but i know it will still be high. My last tests 4/15 it was tc335 hdl65 ldl 225. I've tried adding the cod liver oil, cut all starches from my diet and use all fat free products. I really need a drug with low side effects.

rahod

You need to ask your Dr to try Crestor..I think in your case, given the high levels, you may want to start at 10mg. He will monitor the liver with regular blood tests. If he refuses, then get another Dr to do it. BTW, statins are now recommended for diabetics regardless of cholesterol levels!