Hi all, I had some bad news yesterday, my bloods show my bad cholesterol is high and getting worse. They are thinking of putting me on a new medication which is an injection every 6 months, I really don’t want any more meds and although I don’t smoke, drink and I’m vegetarian nothings really working. If I carry like this I fear another HT or my bypasses will start to block up.
So does anyone know of an app that you can scan the barcode on food with, telling you how good it is for you heart? I know there are app’s for calories and so on but is there one for cholesterol?
Thanks in advance everyone.
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Jako999
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Have you been on cholesterol lowering medication ( statins) and a low cholesterol diet for 3 months or more and still have high results? Did the GP suggest that you may have Familial HyperCholesteroleimia ? ( genetic high cholesterol that may not be helped by diet or statins alone which is actually more common than people realise but is seldom discussed)
I have FHc , I cannot lower my cholesterol with diet or natural products like plant sterols alone. Statins were not enough for me either so I am also on Ezetimibe.
The regime works for me at the moment.
My symptoms in general , especially inflammatory pain that I get from another health condition and my breathing improved.
To be honest , if you have tried diet alone , or diet and statins and the cholesterol levels are still high or rising FHc is likely and the risks of illnesses occurring that are linked to high cholesterol increase.
In that situation , as both a treatment for high cholesterol and to help prevent serious conditions occurring or getting worse , or increasing your risk of a heart event happening again it is worth trialling and taking another medication.
Try not to think about having to take another medication as bad or a failure.
If you require it , choosing to take a prescribed treatment shows that you are a sensible proactive person ready to do what is required to keep as healthy as you can for as long as you can.
Unfortunately, sometimes old principles about lifestyle, duet or health alternatives may need to change as we get older or we have a chronic health issue no matter how much we'd still like to follow them.
There may be apps out there but it can make shopping harder or longer to do.
As a vegetarian it helps to look at which veggie foods may include hidden fats and cholesterol.
Avoiding premade vegetarian foods , power and energy bars and many branded foods which often contain more coconut fat or palm oil and a lot of hidden fats and sugars.
Take care with the amount of cheese or vegan cheese and butters and spreads you eat and go for lighter alternatives.
Not all fats are equal , reduce use of bad fats or foods that contain saturates or trans fats. Olive oil and seed oils is a good option.
You may find that you need to limit the portion size of certain nuts in your diet, macadamia is a particular one to save for rare treats only.
Increased the vitamin rich vegetables and fruits and foods containing B12 and Folates because vegetarians are often low in these nutrients and they are important in helping the metabolism, liver and heart function, thyroid as well as helping it to absorb Vitamin D and Iron.
High fat , Low Carbohydrate Diets do not help people with conditions that affect how well the body can eliminate excess cholesterol on its own in the way they sometimes help generally healthy people , and they are better avoided by people with cardiac conditions.
Good hydration is also very important to improve your bodies ability to absorb the medications to help treat a cholesterol issue and help the body eliminate the cholesterol in general too.
I haven't heard of any specific app for advising on whether a particular food is heart health or not. However the BHF website and other similar sites advise what you should be eating for a heart healthy diet and if you follow that general guidance (fats, salt, vegetables etc) and plan menus accordingly plus other lifestyle measures like exercise and body weight management, smoking and alcohol, you are doing the best you can. As far as medication is concerned you may well already be taking statins with perhaps ezetimibe, like me, but if that isn't enough then your periodic injection is likely to be Inclisiran which has shown to be successful in controlling cholesterol when other medication cannot quite manage it.
I’m on 80mg a day of Statins and I did try Ezetimibe but it gave me terrible wind and abdominal cramps, I think I may have to try the injection. It’s just I would rather help myself if possible and stay of the statins because of the other problems they cause in the long run.
hi Jako999, I can’t add a lot to what others have said except I am on a trial for the injections, and I have not e perienced any side effects, it may be that the injections will enable you to replace the statins? Not sure but worth asking. Take care, Judi
I thought that if you were on the Orion Inclisiran trial you could either be on the drug itself or a placebo and you didn't know which you were on. Are you on another drug trial?
I am on the trial. In the absence of any other meds my cholesterol would not have improved to the extent it has. Due to being diabetic I am being closely monitored.
In addition to dietary considerations, though, and in consultation with your specialist or GP, medicine may be the way to go: as Blearyeyed says, don't consider that to be a failure.
Hi Jako999, I too am a vegetarian non-smoker who has always had high cholesterol. I didn’t worry about it as my HDL and triglycerides levels were good. However, I discovered last year that I have coronary artery disease. (presumed by medics as inherited but not actually tested).
I posted about my coronary calcium score 4 months ago and received some excellent advice around diet from Bluehope81.
If you can find that post I think you might find it helpful. The research Bluehope81 alerted me to chimed well with my own thinking about moving further towards a whole food plant based diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, whole grains etc.
My understanding is that we must cut our consumption of saturated fats to the absolute minimum. I didn’t think that my diet included much saturated fat as I don’t eat snacks, butter, cream, pastry or cakes etc. but I did enjoy milk and full fat yoghurt. Sometimes we just need to make small tweaks to improve our health. This, along with taking statins has cut my cholesterol reading in half.
Hi Jako999. I have no idea about apps., but I know the spread Benecol lowers chloresterol if you use this instead of coconut oil based spreads and butter. Best wishes, sam-sam32
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