Cholesterol Management Community

Also... my dad has high cholesterol. He advised to take fish oils and eat salmon twice a week.

Isn't it frustrating..I don't have a family history of cholestral that I know about but have a reading of 7.9 (Australian). I eat perfectly, with fish every day, exercise & bush-walk and have a healthy weight. Had a reading of 7 three months ago and was told I would have to go on Crestor so begged a period to try harder. No cheese, no icecream, in fact nothing at all with bad fat content passed my lips but on having the following blood test my reading had actually gone up!! from 7 to 7.9 hence I am now starting on Crestor.........WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT....HOW CAN YOU WIN THE BATTLE???mMy friends and family don't believe that I could have a problem...Does anyone have an answer. My 'good' cholestral is always very good. Carolyn0304

I am 34 and adopted so my family history is a mystery. I have had high bad cholesterol for 5+ yrs and just decided to see the cardiologist. Although I eat fairly healthy and just ran a marathon a few months back, my cholesterol is 214 (bad one). I'm on Lipitor, now Crestor. We'll see I guess. I'm starting to get headaches - wondering if that's from the medicine. It's frustrating - I hear ya! My friend said that acupuncture may be a good solution. I may try that.... here's to popping pills for heart disease in your 30s!!

I don't know about mel133's advice that B vitamins work to lower CVD risks. Check out the WebMD story published today.

www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20080818/b-vitamins-dont-help-in-heart-disease?src=RSS_PUBLIC&print=true

According to this study, B vitamins do not make a difference in CVD outcomes. They note that even the vitamin company's trade group doesn't dispute this.

Having said that, I am one of those who doesn't think a

Lighten up. Per a noted vascular surgeon: Cholesterol is " a number in search of laboratory significance"

In isolation it means nothing w/out reference to: CRP, HDL, ratio, triglycerides, homocysteine, life style and family history.

To elevate your good cholesterol try working out at close to your max. heart rate and drink good beer and wine.

My is over 175 yet I compete athletically and workout some 18 hours/week.

Ignore that post about the whole thing being a pharmaceutical company plot. Medical evidence indicates that it is not. You must examine your entire Lipid Panel report (doctor should give it to you). Total Cholesterol should be below 200, especially at your age, HDL above 40, and LDL below 130. Also check your HDL/Cholesterol ratio, which is total Cholesteral divided by HDL. You want that to be below 4.5-6.4, which is the average heart risk ratio. Considering your age, weight, exercise, and diet, it appears that you, like my daughter (she's 46, I'm 75), have hereditary high cholesterol. Both my wife and I are on statins. This problem can not be controlled other than by medication. Even a former editor of Remedy Magazine had this same problem. Do not be afraid of the statins. Follow your doctor's advice (he knows a heck of a lot more than we on this post). If Crestor doesn't help, try Lipitor (works great for my wife) or Zocor (works great for me). By the way, high cholesterol readings do not mean you are not in great health. If you feel like you are, and your doctor says you are, YOU ARE!! Cholesterol is manufactured by the liver and yours just makes a little too much. Don't sweat it -- just do what your doctor says.

It was the same with me until a new doctor sent me to a dietician. She has me eating more fiber and "good" fats to "flush out" the cholesterol my body is making (in addition to regular exercise and without cholesterol lowering drugs). It is working for me.

I have hereditary cholesterol and my doctor put me on statins to try and lower it. Well he fell to tell me the medicine had side affects. Be ware of all of the drugs. After complaining for years about the pain in my legs, he finally took me off the medicine. The extreme pain stopped but the damage was already done. I can only walk for short distances without having to stop because my legs hurt so bad. My neighbor also was taking the meds and had horrible pain in his knee. To the point he couldn't even walk some days. He thought he was going to have to have knee replacement surgery but after having all the scans, the doctor said he could not find anything to warrant surgery. He decided to come off of the statins and now he has no problem with his knee. Fortunately he was only on them a few months. I warn everyone, don't take cholesterol medicine. You will be sorry when the damage is done and all because your doctor put you on statins.

Doctors 'love' to prescribe meds. easy solution. they done their job.

I agree with you, Janetclyde and 100%....

I took a statin in 1988 called Mevacor and it destroyed my eyesight (needed cataract surgery) had a drooping eyelid, got tinnitus and leg muscle problems but my tests showed nothing...went off the statin and the tinnitus never went away but the droopy eyelid did and the leg muscle pain did. I was not on the statins that long. In 1995, doctor started me again on prevacor. The CPK levels came back and the doctor advised to get off immediately. In 2006 an endocronoligist decided to put me on Lipitor#10, 1 every 4 days....the tests were showing nothing until 145 pills later which have destroyed my hearing, swallowing, muscle pain in legs (cannot walk very far at all) food backup in my nose, kidney problems....occlusion in my head and these are all caused by the lipitor....most of these problems will not go away. NOTHING SHOWS UP IN THE TESTS except when things get very bad like my kidneys....some people cannot take statins and for those that can, that is good but not for those that can't. We are not all alike! Muscle pain in any part of the body is a clue!!!!!!! I agree totally with Janetclyde. AquariusAnne

I feel your frustration but don't beat up on yourself too bad. I know frustration because 21 years ago I gave up red meat (cold turkey) in the best shape of my life, had a cardiac infarction, father died from complications of artheroscorosis, athletely inclined...etc, etc, etc....There wasn't as much information back then as there is now but there are always going to be "exceptions to the rule". Now at 54 years of age, have issues of heart disease, brain tumor and, have been exposed to almost every "statin" drug on the market......I am one, the exception, and I have finally come to the conclusion that I would prefer quality of life rather than quantity. And it wasn't until last year that my Dr. and I (him more than I, and he wasn't talking much) finally realized that the statin drugs would probably kill me if I continued to take them. (renal failure) Everyone's situation is different, there may be some similarities, and you may try some of the info obtained, but in the end the CHOICE is yours. I will say to you that had I known then what I know now, I would have went with natural dietary supplements first and foremost. I've always felt that people should take charge of there own health because Drs. think that the FDA is god and everything is medication, medication, medication. oh, and by the way. Being a vegan, as you call it, isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

I found myself in the same situation. I did some research and learned that increasing fiber intake may help reduce the cholesterol levels. Basically it binds the cholesterol and carries it out of the body. I tried it and my cholesterol level dropped from 230 to 199 in one month.

check this out: uctv.tv/search-details.asp?showID14530 It's a lecture given by Donald Abrams, M.D., Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California Medical School. He is the head of the Osher Center (complementary medicine) there. The lecture is about all of the supplements he takes. His family has hereditary high cholesterol, >300 is common, and he recommends and uses Red Yeast Rice to great effect.

I started it six weeks ago at half his dose, 60 tablets (I take one a day) made in the USA, under $12.00. I always had low cholesterol, pre-menopause, now it's 249, but my HDL is 94, so I feel OK and my cardio guy said he's never seen anyone with a HDL that high get a heart attack. That's why I'm only taking 1.2 g/day. I and two of my women friends tried the statins for one to three months when they were rec. but none of us felt good on them and we will not take them.

It's a great, long but entertaining lecture and a great series. Good luck!