A 47 year old recent heart attack survivor

[Drakeywilson]

I recently had a heart attack with no real symptoms, it was only picked up from a routine blood test.I have since had many tests and checks and no problems have been found with my heart or arteries but my cholesterol is 12.I am very active and eat a healthy diet and I don’t smoke or drink.The advice for what to eat or not to eat seems to vary so I’m at a loss as to what I should or shouldnt eat

[Hidden]

I think that because the advice is so varied it means it doesn't actually matter that much. I believe the dietary influence on cholesterol levels is minimal at best. However, it can't hurt to eat more oats and stuff like that - if you dislike porridge, you could try muesli or overnight oats or similar. I wouldn't bother every day, but maybe twice a week? Also, of course, keeping active helps enormously, and if your doctor has prescribed medication, take it!

[Drakeywilson in reply to Hidden]

I’m a very active person, and my diet is pretty much what the British heart foundation suggest.The statins that I’m on have given me really bad muscle aches so I’m going to look for natural alternatives

[Hidden in reply to Drakeywilson]

Give them a few weeks - the aches do pass!

[KatyB in reply to Drakeywilson]

I've had problems with statins but I was advised by a cousin to start taking one tablet a week and build up very slowly from there. At the moment, I take one each weekend and one middle of the week with no problems at all. I eat walnuts, lots of fruit and veg, benecol drinks, olive oil and mixed beans. Hope this helps.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Drakeywilson]

If you are having bad muscle pains then I would ask your doctor or consultant to change you onto a different statin, tell them it’s either that or you are going to stop them altogether.

I took statins for a short while many years ago and could barely walk after about a week, I also felt really depressed.

When I saw the doctor I was offered what the doctor I saw said was a ‘better’ statin - presumably one that cost more, I was taking simvastatin - so I stopped them altogether.

However if I had had a heart attack and my cholesterol was as high as yours then I think I would probably have persisted until I found a statin that agreed with me, especially as it sounds as if you are doing all the right things with regard to diet and exercise and you are not overweight. Have a look at heart consultant Dr Aseem Malhotra’s book about statins. Although I believe his views are somewhat controversial makes interesting reading.

Hope the MRI gives you more information about what is going on.

[Drakeywilson in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thank you for the info. I spoke to my dr yesterday and told them about the statins I’m now on a different one but still the same symptoms. I did tell them I would stop taking them but they have said to continue with them for a week and then review it then

[sandybrown]

I am sorry to gear about your heart attack and tests did not help you.

Routine blood test? would it be possible to give more information for all of us to understand?

Thank you.

Cholesterol ,80 % produced by human body for the body to function and 20 % from what goes through our mouth.

Did you doctor look at all lipid components of your blood test and to explain which lipid component could give you any heart problem?

Please ask your doctor to explain all of your blood numbers.

Healthy diet, what is your height to waist ratio?

Diet people do not always help, many years ago I had difficulty with diet information, copy of a copy! When I asked for original I was asked to leave the meeting.

You could try carb and calorie counting, a small weighing machine to check each portion and then to calculate the carb , may be difficult to start with, controlling food intake can be achieved. Was you ECG any different after heart attack?

Take care.

[Drakeywilson in reply to sandybrown]

The blood test was originally to check why I was feeling tired all the time.

I already count my calories etc so I know what I need to consume etc.

I am 5ft 11 and 88kg, I have very little body fat and a muscular physique. I have an mri scan on my heart soon so hopefully that will reveal more

[sandybrown in reply to Drakeywilson]

Thank you for your response, I was given some guidance by a family cardiologist how to take care of my health 11 years ago, I am 77 now.

I hope your MRI can help to identify the problem.

In life we take care of blood glucose, BP and blood cholesterol, do not think of other healt problems. I had a shock in December last year when they found trace of blood in a urine dip test.!

I had a biopsy for bladder cancer on January 26th ,awaiting results. Only time will tell.

Once I know what it is then there are many treatment options on NHS.

Please do give an update on your MRI.

Take care.

[Drakeywilson in reply to sandybrown]

Good luck with your test results I hope it’s nothing to worry about

[Batty1]

If your very active and eat a decent diet then I would have my thyroid levels checked (TSH, FT3, FT4, T3 and antibodies) NOT just TSH and T4 these are not enough you should do those I have put in brackets … having thyroid levels that are off can cause cholesterol levels to go very high.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Batty1]

Actually I don’t know why I didn’t think of that too. When I had Graves’ disease back in 2012 my TSH was really low and so were my cholesterol levels. Now I’m in remission my TSH has crept up to over 2 (which isn’t really very high at all and is well within *the range*) so now my cholesterol levels are raised. I mentioned that to my then doctor when she offered me statins once again and she just smiled sweetly, I think she was aware of that too.

There is a known link but it seems to be easier to dish out statins than go through the rigmarole of sorting out your thyroid especially if you are within the dreaded *range* . webmd.com/cholesterol-manag...

[Batty1 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Unfortunately doctors and Endo’s both know that low thyroid levels can raise cholesterol but neither will do anything about but if your someone who has hypothyroidism and you understand that hypothyroidism can cause elevated cholesterol levels then at the very least you can advocate for yourself.

I have extremely high cholesterol and no thyroid but I also have genetically high cholesterol.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Batty1]

It’s all such a minefield isn’t it.

[Batty1 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Sadly yes …. I personally believe it should be required that doctors perform a complete thyroid panel when a patient shows up with abnormally elevated cholesterol….They just prescribe statins.. they must rake in the money prescribing statins.

[Batty1]

Im one of those weird people who react to every statin that I have taken except this new one Livalo and I take it every other day. I will be going in April to have my levels rechecked … so time will tell. I also have hypothyroidism which actually contributes to high cholesterol plus a family history of high cholesterol. When it was first discovered that my cholesterol levels were too high it made no sense to me because I weighed 123 pounds ran marathons and taught fitness classes daily.

My HC is from bad genetics and Hypothyroidism!

[Drakeywilson in reply to Batty1]

Well I hope your levels turn out to be much lower, it’s all rather frustrating when you lead a healthy lifestyle