high cholesterol

[just4mimi2002]

does anyone have high cholesterol, pleaselet me know what to do my anxietyis on high

[Blueruth]

Yes. Not anymore. You can lower it. It depends on the reason but if you are just experiencing this at 58 it is probably your diet and activity. There are people who have hereditary issues but you usually know that earlier.

Let your anxiousness motivate rather than freeze you. If you change your diet and increase movement you can get past this. It means really committing to a healthy diet which I can recommend aids that worked for me if you want. Movement… literally starting with a 20 minute walk will help. It seriously doesn’t take much. Diet is the most important and hardest but totally doable.

Lesson is it is important but not unsolvable. Old school doctors will try to scare you into meds. If you don’t want to take my advice do the meds. If you want to avoid the meds take my advice. There is of course a middle ground.

[nana2327 in reply to Blueruth]

Thank you so much, I was on meds for a year but they didn’t help, so you know any diets that will help?

[Blueruth in reply to nana2327]

Yeah. I used PlateJoy and set it to low carb. If I got bored I changed it for a little bit and I still ate healthy. The meals are delicious. What worked for me is it took out menu planning. I just bought what they told me to and had healthy meals all week. I used that for about 4 years or more.

Last year I did Noom. That worked well. It is educationally focused. I lost 30 lbs. I’m actually slow but I know that you are more likely to keep it off that way.

I may join one of these again to get through winter. Travel derails me and I’ve been doing some of that.

For exercise I found something I like. That’s key. If you struggle with routine I recommend reading atomic tasks. If you don’t know try different things and don’t worry about skill. Doesn’t matter. Trust me. I’m still the slowest hiker! If you can get this under control by 60 you will be much more able to enjoy retirement

[nana2327 in reply to Blueruth]

Thank you

[Hidden in reply to nana2327]

Hi I got mine down by lowerring my saturated fat read the food labels limit it to 8g a day and swim or exercise if you can, mine was 5 cholestrol then it was 4.3 stop eating chocolate cream cheese have skimmed milk you can look a diet up

[nana2327 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[Blueruth]

Last time went to the doctor and it was high she was pretty laissez faire about the whole thing. Healthy behavior is obviously important but I think if you do those things they are less concerned about it. Old school or doctors on the take…different story

[Dolphin14]

When a full cholesterol panel is done the other numbers are very significant in seeing the full picture, HDL, LDL, triglycerides. I have very high HDL which is good. Also, were you fasting when your labs were drawn? My doctor believed a random cholesterol was ok. She did this once on me and I told her I don't buy into the theory. She has since changed her thought process on this. Must have been some random study where she got her idea.

Anyway, meds, diet and exercise as the others have said. Hereditary is a different ball game and that has been pointed out also.

🐬

[nana2327 in reply to Dolphin14]

Thank you

[Hidden in reply to nana2327]

I hope you don't smoke it narrows hardens the arteries my mam and a relation age 6o have coronary heart disease from smoking and wrong foods, chicken legs are also high in saturated fat you can get biscuits that are only o.1 rich tea but check as some makes vary

[Hidden]

I’ve heard that taking fish oil capsules can help to lower your cholesterol. Sometimes my tryglycerides are high. Just try to eat more fruit and vegetables.

[nana2327 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[hypercat54]

That's interesting. Years ago my cholesterol level was 7.4 and the nurse didn't seem to worry about it. She advised me to cut down on hard cheese and eat wholemeal bread rather than white. It's now 6.3.

However when I went for a check up last week the doctor said I need to take statins now and prescribed them. Apparently many over 60's are on them as it is supposed to cut down on the chance of having heart problems.

I am not sure and haven't actually started them yet, and not sure whether I want to. I have heard good reports and some bad so the jury is out at the moment.

[Blueruth in reply to hypercat54]

Get a second opinion. The science has been changing. One doctor kept pushing them on me to the point I fired her. No other doctor has pushed them and I got my numbers down on my own. They ticked up a little but the doctor still didn’t suggest them. I’m not 60 yet. It is harder to make changes as you age. Still…those drugs has risks and there are a lot of drug pushers.

[nana2327 in reply to Blueruth]

Thank you

[hypercat54 in reply to Blueruth]

Thanks I will. I have just arranged to change doctors so will wait until I see them before making a decision.

Can I ask how you got yours down please?

[Blueruth in reply to hypercat54]

I wrote a long explanation above. It was diet and exercise basically. Nothing restrictive or impossible to maintain. Just a major change in lifestyle. I'm convinced if everyone started *really* taking care of themselves food processors would be out of business.

[Hidden in reply to Blueruth]

My mam went on statins after her heart attack she had just before that on Xmas 2 pork pies very high in saturated fat beef chocolates, she went on very strick diet and exercised but 4 years later had another heart attack her cholestrol was 2.3 but as she had smoked prior her arteries were narror, she has 2 stents she had 2 block arteries cholestrol deposits can break off, I guess each body is a bit different age genetics, I did get mine down from diet 🤗

[Hidden in reply to hypercat54]

Perhaps go on them.for a while to get it down with diet

[hypercat54 in reply to Hidden]

I plan to ask my new surgery when I am accepted. They are much better than my old one. Actually they are terrible.

[Arymretep in reply to hypercat54]

Same happened to me, they do seem to push statins , I wonder why 🤔

[nana2327 in reply to Arymretep]

Thank you

[Isinatra in reply to Arymretep]

It’s easier for a doctor to write a script than give extensive nutritional advice. And sometimes it’s easier for a person to take a pill than change their lifestyle. And some take statins and think they have carte Blanche to eat anything they want and so still have high cholesterol. I can’t take statins so I control my cholesterol through diet.

[Hidden in reply to Arymretep]

To save NHS on stent heart operations which cost 12 k, medication keeps us alive too long and now it's causing problems no care for elderly and raise in dementia due to old age 🙄🤗

[nana2327 in reply to hypercat54]

Thank you

[Hidden in reply to hypercat54]

Hi HC I really think you should take statins my dad came off his and he had a stroke, his cholestrol was 6 watch your saturated fat intake my mam's was over 5 she had heart attacks chicken legs are bad I'm.afraid 🤗😿

[RupertBrown]

Both my wife and I havd it. Here's what our doctors told us: concentrate on eating foods with soluble fiber. They mentioned chia seeds in particular. They can be added to yogurt or on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (just go easy on the peanut butter!). You can do some research to see what foods contain it that might appeal to you. You can also get it from Metamucil and other similar products. They also strongly suggested a diet rich in high fiber, low carb foods. A good rule of thumb is to divide the grams of carbs per serving by the grams of fiber. Ideally, you want the number at 5 or lower. But 6 or 7 is good too. This will mean eliminating a lot of empty calories from your diet and result in losing a few pounds as a bonus! (Wife and I were both overweight as well). At the end of the day though, listen to your doctor's advice over internet strangers though! Good luck!

[Blueruth in reply to RupertBrown]

If your diet is whole food mostly plants with minimal meat and processed food you shouldn’t need those supplements or the math. The key is whole fresh produce.

[RupertBrown in reply to Blueruth]

True. Once I started reading the labels and doing the math it wasn't too hard to realize in general what foods to eat and which to avoid. What shocked us is that my wife is pescatarian (no land meat) and still had high cholesterol. After seeing a nutritionist, they determined it was partly hereditary, aggravated by all the processed food.

[nana2327 in reply to RupertBrown]

Thank you

[nana2327 in reply to Blueruth]

Thank you

[nana2327 in reply to RupertBrown]

Thank you

[nana2327]

Thank you