I am 64 and have just been diagnosed with high cholesterol and tbh, am scared!
I used to have an active lifestyle doing lots of walking, but my walking companion, a Springer spaniel, is now unable to walk long distances due to her age, so I am not exercising as much as I used to do.
There is a history of heart disease in my family so think its mostly familial rather than lifestyle but i do smoke, which I know is stupid. I smoke roll ups.
I live on my own with my 2 dogs and am working in a stressful job-have just started a new job and about to move house so can't give up smoking yet!
Anyone have any words of wisdom/reassurance?!🙂
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Bellalongstone
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Have you been offered treatment? Familial high cholesterol can be dealt with by medication. Dietary changes, unfortunately, don't seem to have much effect.
You know that giving up smoking would be beneficial, but now is probably not the time! Hope the move and new job go well.
Hello
You start of with saying how worried you are about having high cholesterol which I presume you are now going to take medication for which will help to get it down
You know that smoking is not good for you , I was a smoker to stopped when I had pneumonia never thought I would but when you are gasping to breath then it shows you what smoking could end up doing to you
Before then though I did used to feel guilty about smoking as I knew it was bad for me and heart attacks run in my family and I would always have an excuse as to why this moment was not going to be the right moment to stop and deep down when I thought about it there was never going to be a right moment I was always going to find an excuse as I still enjoyed smoking and did not want to stop and I think most of the battle with stopping smoking is you have got to want to stop and once you do no matter what is happening in life you will cope without smoking because life will always be throwing something at us
Cholesterol can be controlled with the help of meds , healthy eating , stopping smoking , exercise all these things all will get that cholesterol down and if because it is up you are fearful then you no longer will have to be if you start to put those things into place
Your dog sounds like a good companion and I am sorry to hear he cannot walk as far now but you could get an exercise bike or find other ways to keep fit
I ended up with 3 heart attacks a triple Bypass and now am a total wreck I so wished I had listened more and sooner than I did please make those changes while you can one at a time but make them while you still are in good health other than your Cholesterol which will be sorted I am sure x
"AND I was told by the smoking cessation nurse if you must smoke, roll ups are less damaging than the ready made"
This is simply wrong. Here's what the NHS has to say about rolling tobacco.
Many people who smoke roll-ups don't use a filter, so they also end up inhaling more tar and nicotine and therefore become highly addicted and dependent on their habit.Roll-ups are at least as harmful for you as ordinary cigarettes, and can cause the same health risks. Studies have suggested that people who smoke roll-ups also have an increased risk of cancer of the mouth, oesophagus, pharynx and larynx compared to smokers of manufactured cigarettes.
"between 21% and 40% of RYO smokers have reported that a reason they smoked RYO cigarettes was because they thought that they were healthier than manufactured cigarettes. However, this perception is false. Epidemiological evidence shows that RYO cigarettes are at least as hazardous as any other type of cigarette,5 and animal research suggests increased addictiveness"
Nothing worse than knowing you should really do something but you don’t really want to adds to the guilt and the stress and so I will just have another cigarette
You will stop when you are ready, I stopped in September last year, my mum died in October I started again, had my heart attack in November and haven’t smoked since, I’m not completely free yet as I use a vape and I’m not ready to give that up but it’s a step.
There’s an NHS app that I find really useful quit smoking
Speak to your Dr about statins especially if there is a family history for high cholesterol they are one of the most researched drugs on the market
Once you move house and settle into your new job you will be in a better place in your head to decide what you are going to do and when is right for you
Gone on make it a triple whammy new house, new job, new lifestyle ……… good luck
Then hopefully she's no longer spouting dangerous claptrap.
Smoking is known to increase your heart disease risk, so it is recommended you stop. There is support from the NHS to do that, so I suggest you research what is available. You will also save money as well as other benefits, including reducing your risk of lung, throat, mouth and oesophageal cancers and COPD.
As far as your high cholesterol is concerned you need to follow the advice of your GP and if offered statins, try them. If you have really high cholesterol and there is a suspicion it may be genetic you may be tested and perhaps be referred to a lipidologist.
And there are plenty of tips in the BHF webpages about lifestyle changes to lower your heart disease risk which can help, but in your case these are unlikely to be a substitute for cholesterol reducing medication.
Hi Bella, I can understand your feelings of anxiety brought on by your diagnosis of high levels of cholesterol. How did you find out? Had you been feeling unwell or did ths just come up following routine health check?
I was diagnosed a severe stenosis (tightening of the LAD) at 72 which in turn led to a bypass last September. When I was 60 I attended the wellman clinic and was told my cholesterol at 6 was high and was advised to start taking Statins.
I look at the pros & cons. The initial research carried out in the late 20th century. That led in turn to the development of the major Statin brands such as Atorvastatin etc. which are currently taken by millions of people around the world today.
All medications even the humble Aspirin can have dangerous side effects and for that reason I decided not to start Statin therapy. Did that decision come back to bite me 12 years later?
I think what I'm getting at is that sadly there are no easy answers. Lots of people have high levels of cholesterol and live long and happy lives. Is it something to lose sleep over maybe? I know I did!
What will definitely shorten your life is smoking that's one piece of advice I can give you without falling out with anyone.
I think that it is big picture time: age? family history? weight? exercise routine? diet? chloresterol? smoking? alcohol consumption? stress levels? BP? self motivation? All these singly or in combination could cause CV trouble.Perhaps self motivation is the most significant as it is this that will compel you to work your way through the list and start to turn your possibly high risk to low risk.
There's never a right time to stop smoking. It was a heart attack 5 years ago that got me down to one a day but guess what? I'm still smoking even though I can't afford it. So I'm not going to criticise you. You have to really really want to. Is this a big enough scare to make you stop? For cholesterol do take the statins. The first one I tried didn't suit me. The second is fine- no side effects. If you google statin side effects you will only see posts from people who think they have problems because the vast majority have no problems and just don't post. Look at your diet. NO take aways or ready meals, cut down on red meat and fat; cakes biscuits sweets and alcohol. The main BHF page has a link to hundreds of heart healthy recipes all cooked from scratch and not at all difficult. Take your dog for its gentle walks then go for a short but brisk walk yourself. Maybe take a camera with you to give you a reason to exercise. You are lucky to have had the warning before something bad happens so you can now act on it.
Without wishing to be judgemental, there is a right time to stop smoking, and that is 'asap', or better, never start in the first place. Quite apart from the heart and cancer risks it is also responsible for COPD. And having watched a friend slowly and progressively succumb to COPD after a lifetime of smoking, where he was finally more or less confined to a wheel chair, totally reliant on oxygen, fearful of chest infections, in and out of hospital, he eventually 'moved on' after contracting bronchial pneumonia, and so you might see it from my point of view, and also that of the widow he left.
I totally agree with what you say. The right time is obviously NOW but what I meant is that for the addict no time is ever right; they will always find an excuse; too busy, too stressed, moving house, worried about children. As you saw in your friend, I bet he made excuses despite the COPD. My sister in law's the same and I have made similar excuses. IT can take something really serious to give you the push to do it and you have to be absolutely determined.
The problem with waiting for 'something really serious to give you the push to do it' is that whilst you are waiting, the health damage might be accumulating, but you don't notice it, and it creeps up on you later, as in the case of my friend and millions of others over the years. There is enough help out there to help people stop nowadays, as well as evidence about the harm it does, and I am really surprised that we still see many people smoking and sadly this includes those who are young and think they are immune but are probably laying down problems for themselves in later life. I was a moderate to heavy smoker way back in my teens and twenties years ago, but stopped at age 27 and now decades later they tell me I have a respiratory issue which is linked to the thousands of cigs I smoked, although tbf it doesn't usually cause me too much hassle although I am on the NHS 'at risk' radar,. But where would I be now if I hadn't stopped?
Hi I had a coronary bypass age 31 now 77, no heart attack but angina I was a very fit 31.Familia High Cholesterol my problem runs obviously in my family. Scary Op.at a youngish age plus the operation was in early stages.Suffice to say I do take statins and a few other drugs my cholesterol is reasonably controlled and I have survived nearly 46 years now play walking football and ride bikes, things I never thought I’d do again and even reach this age.So take Statins it’s worked for me, plus I don’t know if it’s safe advice so check it out-have you tried vaping? I don’t know if it’s safer but no nicotine so it could be and get some indoor exercise equipment. Bikes, rowing machines and if you can leave your dog go to the gym they will induce you and work out some routines. Also get some yoghurts or milk or Marge that contain sternols they are supposed to be good for reducing cholesterol, check that out to..I myself buy Pro Activ milk to help me levels.
All the other bypass patients I've read about who have survived 30+ years seem to have had multiple subsequent interventions. In most cases stents then subsequent bypass surgeries (one guy has now had a total of four separate bypass operations!) so for these "long haul" CABG patients each individual bypass seemed to last on average about 10-12 years.
No I did have an investigation when I thought I was getting angina back I think and it was found that it had actually regressed.Initially I had cholesterol in little lumps that moved on the back of my hands when I clasped them into a fist, had it in my ankles. Arcing in the eyes which if you notice it in a friend let them know they are at risk even it scares them.
The doctor at the time put me on a whole range of drugs which seem to have done the trick.I did see some stats about the longevity of life after single, double and triple bypass ops a triple time wasn’t that good.Record in Guinness Book of Records is 34 years I am 45 1/2 years and counting,I’ve applied for the record and it’s in the melting pot at the moment. If you read Heart Matters I emailed my history recently and they have indicated they may use it so keep an eye out. I seem to have been very lucky and the doctors and surgeons of the NHS did a remarkable job.
I appreciate that the headline story is always going to be "longest surviving bypass patient", but for me the bigger and more important story is how long an individual bypass graft can last. And that's where you're not just 5% or 10% longer than the next person, you're 300% or 400% longer!
Take this guy for example, he's very typical of long surviving bypass patients.
He'd survived 43 years when this story was written, but actually he'd had four separate bypass operation. So each individual set of grafts only lasted him about eleven years on average, which as I said is very typical. But your original grafts have lasted over 45 years! I'm not aware of anyone else who comes anywhere close to that. In fact it's exceptionally rare to find someone whose grafts have lasted even twenty years without a subsequent surgical intervention.
Have you any thoughts on why your grafts have lasted such an amazingly long time, and what advice can you offer the rest of us?
My vein grafts were from leg don’t know if that’s a reason don’t know about others.Also I had not had a heart attack.I was caught before that happened. I was supremely fit and my then a Dr Snider was well ahead of the game and after a normal ecg at rest insisted an exercise one.Because I was so fit that is what was needed.Then statins and drugs must play a big part.I keep fit for a 77 year old with tough cycling and tough walking football.
I'm going to have my cholesterol checked this week - I know it will be high as it has always been in the past. What is "tbh?"
My dog is only 3 but he won't walk out side (goes on pads in the house) and I'm going to get a stroller for him. He's only 12 lbs but they have them for almost all size dogs. Exercise is SO important and diet, of course. Good luck to you - just google "diet for high cholesterol" and try to stick to it. The smoking? Good outdoor exercise will help you get over that.
Hi ,I am the same age as you are and wish my GP had taken my concerns more seriously! My cholesterol was 6 but it was mostly my high BP that was concerning.I've never smoked but had severe chocolate cravings!Eventually diagnosed with the deadly Conns Disease. I Am really suffering now and have very little good life quality.All I wanted was a happy retirement and a couple of dogs to walk but sadly that will not happen,the resistant BP has caused alot of damage,so I say to you do everything you can to protect your health so you can enjoy life into old age.You only get 1 life ,live it.
Hi all , In the states here. 65 yrs old and had a David V (valve sparing ) procedure 3 yrs ago for an aortic root aneurysm. Pre-op I was scoped to check for blockages too. Results were clean and I have family history(father died at 42) of atherosclerosis. My LDL has always run on the higher side of the what is considered acceptable. Last several lipid panels LDL was elevated to 119 so doc scripted a statin. I experienced very frequent PAC’s 3 weeks after starting Crestor. I was told it was “highly unlikely” the cause.
Well I took it upon myself to stop the crestor and went scorched earth on a heart healthy diet and exercise. After 8 weeks had my blood lipid tested again . My LDL dropped 52 points from 119 down to 67. My total cholesterol was 130 . Previously it was 182. HDL is 51. All done with proper diet and exercise. I know not everyone may see these results but it’s worth the good all college try before giving in to the statins. NO CHEATING. btw the PAC’s are gone too. Guess maybe I was that “ highly unlikely” case to experience the flip flops from Crestor. Some folks may need the drugs because of hereditary reasons, I get it. Do yourself, your heart and lungs a big favor. Quit the cancer sticks too.
I apologize… here our numbers are in mg/dl to convert multiply by 0.02586 to arrive at mmol/l And by 38.67 for mmol/l to mg/dl
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