Statins

Artifishual · Family Elder Joined: Mar 10, 2008 Posts: 307

ok just got my result from the dr : cholest=237, tri=546,and hdl=33
Now what? Guess this means another freaking Dr. appointment. Great
Can someone tell me just how bad my levels are. Please
So sick of going to the Dr.

jimmylegs · Family Elder Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 1875

arti!

if this is any help, i had great success in 1993/1994 helping my then roommate dave overcome seriously high cholesterol from familial hypercholesterolemia which is basically a liver defect (it had killed dave's dad at age 30).

we approached it by eliminating dietary cholesterol, and he started martial arts for exercise. we got a letter of acknowledgment and congrats (from the lipid clinic docs) for getting his levels normalized inside one year. (i took it too far and for too long and in hindsight would have followed a more moderate course of action in the long term!)

if you want to reduce/substitute fats/cholesterol sources rather than eliminate altogether, cut out store-bought baked goods, keep the deep frying down, and go for fatty fish w/ omega 3s, olive oils, oatmeals, nuts, seeds, that kind of thing.

vitamin b3 (niacin) is of comparable efficacy to many of the cholesterol drugs known as statins. i can get back to you about dosage per day. do you have a b-complex yet? or are you still on the b12 only. did you move your b12 to bedtime? did your sleep pattern normalize? let me know

back to cholesterol - here is some great info arti. i love www.labtestsonline.org!!!!!

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/cholesterol/test.html
In a routine setting where testing is done to screen for risk, the test results are grouped in three categories of risk:

* Desirable : A cholesterol below 200 mg/dL (5.18 mmol/L) is considered desirable and reflects a low risk of heart disease.
* Borderline high: A cholesterol of 200 to 240 mg/dL (5.18 to 6.22 mmol/L) is considered to reflect moderate risk. Your doctor may decide to order a lipid profile to see if your high cholesterol is bad cholesterol (high LDL) or good cholesterol (high HDL). Depending on the results of the lipid profile (and any other risk factors you may have) your doctor will decide what to do.
* High Risk: A cholesterol above 240 mg/dL (6.22 mmol/L) is considered high risk. Your doctor may order a lipid profile (as well as other tests) to try to determine the cause of your high cholesterol. Once the cause is known, an appropriate treatment will be prescribed.

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/hdl/test.html
High HDL is better than low HDL. It is usually reported as a measured value. If HDL is less than 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L), there is an increased risk of heart disease. A desirable level of HDL is greater than 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) and is associated with average risk of heart disease. A good level of HDL is 60 mg/dL (1.55 mmol/L) or more and is associated with a less than average risk of heart disease.

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ldl/test.html
Elevated levels of LDL cholesterol can indicate risk for heart disease, so your LDL-C result is evaluated with respect to the upper limits that are desired for you. According to the National Cholesterol Education Program, if you have no other risk factors, your LDL-C level can be evaluated as follows:
# Less than 100 mg/dL (2.59 mmol/L) — Optimal
# 100-129 mg/dL (2.59-3.34 mmol/L) — Near optimal, above optimal
# 130-159 mg/dL (3.37-4.12 mmol/L) — Borderline high
# 160-189 mg/dL (4.15-4.90 mmol/L) — High
# Greater than 189 mg/dL (4.90 mmol/L) — Very high

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/triglycerides/test.html
A normal level for fasting triglycerides is less than 150 mg/dL (1.70 mmol/L). It is unusual to have high triglycerides without also having high cholesterol. Most treatments for heart disease risk will be aimed at lowering LDL cholesterol. However, the type of treatment used to lower LDL cholesterol may differ depending on whether triglycerides are high or normal.

jimmylegs · Family Elder Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 1875

so those triglycerides look frickin ridiculous huh. the other numbers don't look too far out of whack to me, but you can definitely improve the scenario. even my old school strait-laced dad got his cholesterol under control by switching up his dietary fats.

okay so you don't want the "niacinamide" form of b3 (niacin) to deal with this. you need the straight up niacin that makes you flush red in the face. take it on an empty stomach, at the end of the day when you don't have to go anywhere. if you start, take 100mg the first time, 200mg the next day, etc, building up day by day until you feel the prickling sensation and go red. it's cheap stuff.

Artifishual · Family Elder Joined: Mar 10, 2008 Posts: 307

I'm going to have to be tested again because the morning i had these tests i had a large breakfast, as far as the sleep goes, i'm out the door right now to a sleep study. Whatever that means , later arti
oh yeah still b-12 no complex and still no sleep

jimmylegs · Family Elder Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 1875

okay, what dosage b12, stop taking it in the morning, take it at night with your magnesium, get the rest of the complex to go with it. it worked for terry. try it!

jimmylegs · Family Elder Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 1875

blech fun, more tests!! hope they get u some answers bud

Artifishual · Family Elder Joined: Mar 10, 2008 Posts: 307

Looks like simvastatin for me, oh well. anybody else? This, for me, is for me cholestrol. late

gwa · Family Elder Joined: Dec 02, 2005 Posts: 792

My husband had his cholesterol checked about 4 months ago during his annual physical. It was 330 total. The doctor put him on a statin, but I did not want him to start taking it due to side effects of statin drugs.

He started a diet I recommended to him which eliminated all bread, potatoes, rice, sugar, flour, popcorn and soybean anything.

He went back to the doctor for a follow up cholesterol test and his total was down to 175. His doctor was dumbfounded when he saw how low the cholesterol was after 3 months using only diet to control it. He avoided the statins and has continued eating a low carb diet.

Cholesterol is elevated by high carb intake, whether sugar, flour, etc, not good fat intake (butter, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts and flax seeds).

It is really irritating to watch little fat kids chow down all junk foods by the bucket and then have doctors recommend statins for them when the kids just need to quit eating crap foods.

gwa