High Cholesterol

[Catherine]

I am enquiring as to whether anyone else has had their cholesterol checked recently only to be shocked to find that it is significantly raised.

I have been having mine checked regularly as it has been raised for over a year and I did not want to take the statins (I suffer from fybromyalgia which causes pain in my muscles and joints). It started at 7.2 and went up to 8.2 then back down to 7.2 and now this week it is 8.3. I have really tried to eat well with lots of veggies and fruit, I very rarely eat cakes, biscuits, chocolate etc, so I cant understand why it is so high. I have to see the doctor next week and I know she will this time insist that I go on statins. Any suggestions as to how I can reduce the blessed thing. I feel quite dejected that I have not been able to reduce it naturally. By the way my youngest sister had a high count and is now on statins, my twin stupidly will not take the test saying she does not want to know and my eldest sister has a slightly raised count.

[Stephen]

Catherine
I am sorry to hear this. I am wondering about my own as I appear to have some minor problems with circulation. Seeing the doctor on Wednesday.
Like you, I would want to address the problem by diet if possible.

[Johnboy]

Hi Catherine,
I had similar troubles several years ago and I was well on towards 8.
I was put on Statins and now I am a healthy 3.5. I take Simvastatin.
I understand that you should be no more than 5 which is where several things meet. My doctor is very happy with my state so I suppose I should be. If I could get something that would actually cure or even check Arthritis I would be a very happy bunny. I refuse to take painkillers and I am in need of a new hip or even both but my doctor cannot/will not refer me to the hospital specialist because I refuse to take painkillers.
In the end I will go private because I will not take something that only masks what is occurring.
JB.

[snooky]

Evening Catherine,
I had a high cholesterol count too, and I refused to go on statins much to my Doctors annoyance.I pointed out to him that they had made my wife very ill,and I was taking no chances with them.Fortunately.my daughter worked in the local health shop and found a herbal substitute called "LESTRIN" a plant sterol which acts in the same way as Benecol added to that spread.
Within a year of taking them and taking salads to work instead of sandwiches for my lunch my cholesterol dropped from 7.8 to a point where the meter could no longer read it i.e. below 3.8.I still take the tablets which are helping me keep my levels low.

[donedigging]

Good Evening Catherine,

I too have high cholesterol, but mine is unfortunately inherited, ( Familiarhypercholesterolemia).

When I was first tested in my late teens, my levels were above 14 I think that contributed to my two heart attacks, as you can't take the medication while pregnant.

Mine cannot be controlled by diet alone so I do have to take Statins aswell, which do work, without any nasty side-affects. My levels are now down to a 3.2, lower than my own doctors

I still follow a very low fat diet, alot of white meat, never the skin. although I do admit to a small piece of steak once aweek, everthing in moderation.

[mrs l]

I was seeing the nurse at our doctors about 3yrs ago just for a routine smear test and I asked if I could have my cholestrol checked as I have no idea what it is and she said-oh no we dont do healthy peoples in case it gives them something to worry about!!!!!!! So I just hope it is ok. My dad is on statins because his body produces cholestrol and he is fine on them.

[Johnboy]

Hi Catherine,
I forgot to mention this morning that although I take Simvastatin I have had no noticeable side effects whatsoever and they have really worked very well.
I eat both white and red meat but do not eat any fat and I eat a very large variety of vegetables including a lot of Broccoli which I suppose must help. I cook things like sausages on a rack in the oven and most of the fat drops out (I keep telling myself) 'cos I simply adore Pork and Leek sausages with fried onions!
JB.

[Colin Miles]

My son, who is a GP, recently advised another relative when she was told that her level of 7.3 was high. Inquired further and found that the LDL was such that the 3rd criteria below was more than adequately fulfilled. This assumes that there are no other risk factors, in particular high blood pressure, overweight, etc. You should ask your doctor for more information as to the breakdown between the HDL and LDL. Below is an extract from a site which deals with ratios. There is another where you can put in your HDL and LDL and it will tell you whether you have an increased risk (assuming no other factors), but I can't find it again.

----------------------
What is a 'high' cholesterol level?

The following levels are generally regarded as desirable:

* Total cholesterol (TC) - 5.0 mmol/l or less. However, about 2 in 3 adults in the UK have a total cholesterol level of 5.0 mmol/l or above.
* Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol after an overnight fast: 3.0 mmol/l or less.
* High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol: 1.2 mmol/l or more.
* TC/HDL ratio: 4.5 or less. That is, your total cholesterol divided by your HDL cholesterol. This reflects the fact that for any given total cholesterol level, the more HDL, the better.

As a rule, the higher the cholesterol level, the greater the risk to health.

[Catherine]

Thank you everyone for all your information. It has been very helpful. I am seeing my doctor on Friday about something else so I will ask him more questions. I like the sound of a more herbal side than the chemical side of treatment. I will let you know how I go on.

[richard p]

ive recently read a book, put your heart in your mouth by dr campbell mcbride. she quotes the latest research into cholesterol and heart disease. its well worth getting hold of.


the book has now been returned to its owner so i cant give any quotes.

but
your body makes cholesterol, so diet isnt the be all and end all of high counts.

the body uses cholesterol in the blood stream to move raw materials arround the body for cell repair.... hence a high count can indicate that the body is busy trying to mend something... its a bit like the martian over new york seeing fire engines at burning buildings and then assuming that fire engines burn down buildings..

suffice to say that there is a body of opinion that is questioning the simplistic fat in the diet = high cholesterol=heart disease message which has been arround for a long time now but heart disease hasnt been defeated .

its well worth getting some books or researching the net

[JohnN]

Hi Catherine,
Sorry to hear about your C troubles. For what it's worth here is my experience with it, which I've been treating for over 10 years.
I was originally 9.5 and went on a low fat diet. After about 6 months the doc rang me up and congratulated me on getting it down to 7.5. "That's as low as you'll get it without statins" he said. He put me on Simverstatin, which pulled the C down, but had no effect on high triglycerides, which I also had. (Too much real ale!).
I then went on Atorvastatin, which is superb, but very expensive so they don't like prescribing it. I'm now 3.5-4.0 and have been for several years, and I've had no side effects as far as I know. Good luck,
John N

[Elaine]

Like Donedigging, the Familiarhypercholesterolemia, runs in my family. Both my parents suffer this and the subsequent health problems, ie, stroke and heart disease.
Going back 40 years, my father developed angina at the age of 50 which resulted in a Triple bypass op 10 years later. Nothing was said much about high cholesterol then and we hadn't even heard of it! After the op his cholesterol was monitored and found to be 10.0 and he was prescribed statins. Another 13 years passed and he had to undergo the op again as the three original coronary artery grafts had again "furred up". Nine years later, Dad is still on statins and to date doesn't have any heart problems (fingers crossed) at the age of 82.

My mothers' high cholesterol wasn't discovered until she had her first stroke, aged 62, which revealed a high level of 13.7. She stopped smoking, followed a low fat diet, took statins and had a further 2 strokes. She also has unstable angina. She is now 85 and quite well considering the problems arising from the strokes.

I have had my cholsterol levels checked every year since I was 40, and consider myself very fortunate that it varies between 4.0 and 4.7, considering the family history. My brother has never had his checked, doing the head in the sand thing.

Dad researched his family's side of the family tree and found lots of his relatives died of heart problems, so it goes back at least 6 generations!
Hopefully, the buck stops here.
Cheers.

[Catherine]

Just an update from my original post some two years ago. I was eventually put on statins (Simvastatin) 5 weeks ago, after finding out earlier this year that my sister, who lives abroad, is on diabetic medicine and my father had a minor heart attack in his 40's. Both bits of information I only learned about in May. My Cholesterol was, on the last reading, 7.3 which is one point less than the last time I had it done.

My side effects from taking this tablet have been horrible. I suffer from Fybromyalgia and it has made this much worse, today has been the worse day for ages, I feel like I have flu. And heartburn.

I feel very dozy and very tired and just want to go to sleep, particularly around lunch time. I get up two or three times a night to go to the loo. But can't wake in the morning, I normally get up around 6 - 6.30 now I can sleep till 8.30. So from tonight I am no longer going to take them until I speak to my doctor. I have an appointment next month for a check up.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Catherine, i do hope you soon get sorted, there's nothing worse than not having any get up and go.

These kind of side effects seem to be getting more common place.

[Nature's Babe]

Catherine, sorry to hear you are still having problems, there are a lot of hidden saturated fats in supermarket foods, in buiscuits, sauces, and things like gravy powders so read all the labels carefully.
Do you have oily fish three times a week? that really helps. Olive oil and the polyunsaturated oils are ok in moderation. A general guide here

http://www.takeheart.co.uk/choldiet.htm