High cholesterol?

[Toonces]

I saw another cholesterol thread re where to get tested, so I know there are a few CCers with high cholesterol.

If you have high cholesterol, how do you keep it under control? Mine was 228 so I went back for a fasting profile and it was 231. :rolleyes: They told me to eat a low cholesterol/low fat diet and exercise. What's everyone else doing?

[Kay]

My cholesterol was 210 when I had it checked in December. I too am supposed to be eating a low fat/ low cholesterol diet and exercise. I admit I really haven't been exercising. I don't have time to join a gym and its been too cold to go out for walks. My house is also very tiny and if I even attempt to do any kind of exercise my 4yr. old constantly interrupts. I really am going to try to get out everyday and walk or jog once its gets warmer out. I need to find some more low fat recipes. I have cut out most of the junk food I used to eat. I try to find low fat snacks. I have tried to eat more oatmeal. I need to go back in a week or two and have my bloodwork checked again. I am afraid to see the results because I don't think I have done enough to reflect any change in my cholesterol.

[jennylou]

Mine was 215 before I got pregnant with DD. I've been trying to call our family Dr to get in for a repeat and an appt, but every time I remember to call, they aren't taking appointments any more for the day (despite the fact that they are open until 7pm).

I've been doing WW for 2 months now and lost 35 pounds (well, actually I've probably lose more than that since the last cholesterol test), so I'm curious to see the difference. :)

[ronspumpkin]

I just got really shockng news yesterday. I had bloodwork done this week and my cholesterol was 256. :eek: I'm in complete shock.
I meet with my Dr on Friday next week to discuss, but I'm starting a low fat diet asap and joining a gym. I just can't believe I'm dealing with this at 30. :(

[Toonces]

Thanks, ladies. I'm sorry you all are dealing with this, too. It sucks, but I'm glad it was caught. I'm terrified of heart disease.

So I did some research yesterday and I'm consuming much less than the recommended 300mg max of cholesterol/day. I'm consuming about 200mg. I think mine must be genetic. I'm going on a really strict diet and will report back in 3 months to see if that helped. I honestly have zero time to exercise with a baby and a toddler. I'm lucky if I get to take a shower everyday. :rolleyes:

FWIW, my BFF is 5'6", weighs about 115 lbs and she has high cholesterol. She also exercises.

[t3h_wookiee]

When I first got my cholesterol checked 2 years ago, it was 230. I cut down my sat fats and my cholesterol intake, upped my exercise, cut out all fried foods, etc. I had it rechecked after 2 years (should have sooner, but kept forgetting) in December, and it was only down to 225. Barely dropped at all. Due to my family history of heart problems and high cholesterol, my doctor put me on 10mg of Lipitor. I took it for 8 weeks, and my cholesterol fell to 121! I'm off the medicine now, and I'll be going in for a check in another 6 months to see how it's doing with just the diet and exercise to try to keep it down.

[camberne]

Thanks, ladies. I'm sorry you all are dealing with this, too. It sucks, but I'm glad it was caught. I'm terrified of heart disease.

So I did some research yesterday and I'm consuming much less than the recommended 300mg max of cholesterol/day. I'm consuming about 200mg. I think mine must be genetic. I'm going on a really strict diet and will report back in 3 months to see if that helped. I honestly have zero time to exercise with a baby and a toddler. I'm lucky if I get to take a shower everyday. :rolleyes:

FWIW, my BFF is 5'6", weighs about 115 lbs and she has high cholesterol. She also exercises.
High cholesterol is genetic in our family. My mother's doctor was horrified when she tested at 404 (this was about 22 years ago)!! She switched her died (and ours) to bran muffins in the mornings along with other drastic modifications to our diets for several years. She's still in the high 200's, she exercises every day, eats well, and is on medication for it. Sometimes, you just can't win the numbers race in this one.

I honestly don't know what my "combined" number is... my HDL is on the low side (35)and my LDL (140) is borderline high. I think the doctor said it was something like 192, but I'm not sure.

[sparkle&shine]

I am not sure to how many of you this might apply but there is a link between nursing and high cholesterol. (http://parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/nbreastfeed/0,,3wx3,00.html)
Nursing women also have higher levels of HDL and other beneficial lipoproteins. In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 1989, the authors recommend against lipid screening during lactation.

[heather1029]

I have been reading a lot about cholesterol and fat lately. High cholesterol runs in my family, but both myself and my mother have brought ours down significantly (into really perfectly healthy range) by actually decreasing carbohydrate and vegetable (esp. trans) fat consumption and increasing animal fat consumption.

I thought this article was especially interesting:
http://www.newstarget.com/001503.html

I've also been reading this book, and I recommend it to ANYONE, not just people struggling with high cholesterol. It tells you how high cholesterol tells you your body is in distress. It isn't the cholesterol that is causing problems.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0967089735.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Peever]

Mine was 231. I have a family history of it as well. I lost 30 lbs, mostly through diet. I majorly upped my fiber intake as that's supposed to help lower it and it's good for my IBS anway. After 6 months I had it checked again and it was 170. My HDL has always been high, around 70 I think. I usually have it checked every couple of years now.

[Toonces]

I am not sure to how many of you this might apply but there is a link between nursing and high cholesterol. (http://parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/nbreastfeed/0,,3wx3,00.html)

Very interesting. I wonder if that's part of my problem. I've been pregnant and/or nursing since January '04. I'll mention this to my doctor next time.

heather1029 ~ That sounds like an interesting book. I'll have to check that out.

[hockeybrat]

Count me in the high cholesterol club. :(

I've been exercising a lot more than I have the past few years, plus I've been more careful with what I eat. Still, my last test shows that overall, they've gotten worse. Stupid genetics. :(

I going to see my health care professional next week to talk about medication but I am a little scared about taking meds.

[jnshanna]

Unfortunately I have high cholesterol too. For me not much helps other than meds. I'm 5'6" and 125 lbs so I'm not overweight. It's just all genetics with me. :( I was TTC for a couple of years so I came off Lipitor and since then my cholestrol has gone back up to 360. That's better than it was about 5 years ago. It was over 400! It really sucks and it scares me sometimes. I'm about to turn 31 and I'm so worried that I'm going to have a heart attack young. We're not TTC anymore so as soon as my new insurance kicks in I'm going to get evaluated again and start meds up. That at least gets me into the 200 range which is still too high but it's better.

It's so frustrating to be dealing with this at a young age. I original learned it was so high at least 5 years ago. Dealing with 400 plus cholesterol at 25 was pretty devastating.

[Kay]

I had my cholesterol rechecked and its even higher now at 227. It was 212. My mother has high cholesterol and is on lipitor. There is a family history of high blood pressure and heart disease so my doctor and I decided it would be best to start taking medication. I started on 10mg of Lipitor yesterday. I have to go back and have my blood work done in 3months to monitor my liver. I still need to work on changing my diet. I had started out well but slipped in the past couple of months. I really need to start eating better all the time instead of just occasionally. I need to start exercising too. I really need to lose about 30lbs.

Anyone else have any updates?

[jennylou]

I just had a recheck. Last time it was checked it was 215. I've lost about 70 pounds this year. I am on WW and also exercise. I eat tons of veggies, fruits, lean meats, and whole grains mostly. Anyways, my recheck my total cholesterol was 144. My Dr was thrilled.

All of my other cholesterol numbers (triglycerides, etc) were all within limits.

ETA - my father has high cholesterol, his father died young of a heart attack, one of my sisters has high cholesterol - so there's certainly a family link for me as well.

[pixielou]

i'm actually looking for a new doctor because of my cholesterol. i had it checked at my annual physical in april 2005. it was 202. my md sent me a letter with a bunch of info about a low cholesterol/low fat diet. so i pretty much cut out red meat, eggs, dairy, most saturated fat. i ended up loosing 35 lbs. plus i joined a gym. i went for another annual physical in january 2007 - my cholesterol was up to 237. and i got the same form letter from my md. i tried to call her - but just got a nurse to call back and tell me to follow the diet and exercise recomendations in the form letter. ummm - i'd been following the rec's in the letter for 1.5 years. . .

both of my grandmothers were/are on lipitor. my dad has high cholesterol as well. and my sister just got the high cholesterol diagnosis. so i think it's genetic. yay me.

~pixie

[QPDoll]

I went to the doctor today and found out I have hc of a certain type, but I cant recall the details of what he said. The bad number was in the 400's, but all my other numbers were good. Im suppose to start on Tricor and fish oil caplets.

He didn't mention anything to me about heart problems, but talked about something with my pancreas.

he didn't say anything about diet/exercises or other changes. anyone have a good website to point me to?

[jennylou]

Tina - there's a lot of things that you can try changing in your diet before resulting to pills and I would definitely look into those more natural methods. If you pick up this months copy of Cooking Light, they have a great breakdown on various fats (saturated, polyunsaturated, transfat, etc) and it explains how each is for the body.

[QPDoll]

Tina - there's a lot of things that you can try changing in your diet before resulting to pills and I would definitely look into those more natural methods. If you pick up this months copy of Cooking Light, they have a great breakdown on various fats (saturated, polyunsaturated, transfat, etc) and it explains how each is for the body.

Is there a reason *not* to use medication to bring it down?

I think I need to see a nutricianilist to start off with, I understand good fat/bad fat, but haven't figured out what foods are good and which are not. I had Chinese food the other day: broccoli beef, and had no idea till later that it a high cholesterol food. :rolleyes: I figured its half vegis, so its good. lol

[jennylou]

I just don't like to be dependant on meds, especially before finding out if you can control it in other ways. There are many conditions that can be treated sucessfully just through diet and exercise (or at least a portion of the patients can be treated this way, some it will be genetic). I just think people should try to bring it down first before resulting to a pill that you'll need to take for the rest of your life.

[QPDoll]

That makes sense.
If I start on the meds while also starting with diet and exercise, will I have to continue the med forever? My largest concern being that its so high, I'd like to lower it as soon as I can, and I really don't know where to start with diet (I'm learning though).

[jennylou]

Why not try diet for 3 months and re-evaluate then?