I feel like I'm dying :(

[NY Disney fan]

I got blood test results back this morning:

Triglycerides: 285 (should be less than 150)

HDL : 18!!! (should be higher than 50 for females)

How can I reverse this??? Any advice is appreciated. I'm headed for a heart attack!

 

[Christine]

I got blood test results back this morning:

Triglycerides: 285 (should be less than 150)

HDL : 18!!! (should be higher than 50 for females)

How can I reverse this??? Any advice is appreciated. I'm headed for a heart attack!

It's hard to know what to say if we don't know what your current lifestyle is.

The biggie is diet and exercise.

What is your diet like now? Lots of sweets, junk, processed food. Alcohol consumption? If you've already got a good diet, then you need to work on your fitness and also look at taking some heart healthy supplments such as fish oils.

So, tell us what your eating habits are...

 

[NY Disney fan]

So, tell us what your eating habits are...

Bad. All Bad. Well actually, its only 50% bad. I do eat healthy normally but its not great. But I'm thinking the low HDL is hereditary. What would make a greater impact in fixing my HDL: weight lifting or fish oil?

 

[mjkacmom]

Cardio. Back when I was a gym rat, my HDL level was 168. I think my treadmill might be getting some use today (in my defense, I have no a/c where my treadmill is).

 

[Christine]

Bad. All Bad. Well actually, its only 50% bad. I do eat healthy normally but its not great. But I'm thinking the low HDL is hereditary. What would make a greater impact in fixing my HDL: weight lifting or fish oil?

Well, there is your answer. Diet. For someone with some hereditary issues, a good diet is going to make a difference. I think both exercise and the fish oil should both be used.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Cardio. Back when I was a gym rat, my HDL level was 168.

Girl you need to stop lying!

 

[FireDancer]

Bad. All Bad. Well actually, its only 50% bad. I do eat healthy normally but its not great. But I'm thinking the low HDL is hereditary. What would make a greater impact in fixing my HDL: weight lifting or fish oil?

I would concentrate on diet and exercise first. If you eat a lot of red meat I would switch some meals to chicken or fish. If you don't eat as many fruits and vegetables as you should add some to your meals. Try and stick with fresh or frozen as opposed to canned.

If you aren't getting your 30 minutes of exercise a day start. It could be walking, swimming, a class at a gym, anything that requires motion for an extended period of time.

Lastly, it might require medication. I try to avoid taking anything unless it is a last resort but if changing you lifestyle doesn't help it may be necessary. I would try to do it naturally first but if that isn't working you might need to see a doctor about getting some chemical help.

Check out the WISH boards, there will be people there who deal with the same issues and can offer more exact advice.

 

[NY Disney fan]

Well, there is your answer. Diet. For someone with some hereditary issues, a good diet is going to make a difference. I think both exercise and the fish oil should both be used.

That's it, I'm not playing around anymore. Today is a new day! I'm going to change this once and for all.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I would concentrate on diet and exercise first. If you eat a lot of red meat I would switch some meals to chicken or fish.

Yes, I want to try it naturally first before I have to go on medication. I barely eat meat in my diet. My demon is sugar. I'm a sugar-holic. Mostly I'm a cereal killer.

 

[Phlip]

Change your diet! You can still be a cereal killer-just a more selective one...
Good Luck!

 

[Frantasmic]

With numbers like that, especially the HDL, your doctor is not going to be patient very long for "natural" plans to work. It is very difficult to reverse a diet that is "half bad" (because, let's face it, the half good part is REALLY not that good either, you just don't want to admit it).

You'll probably be given a 3-6 month opportunity to correct this yourself and then you will probably need a statin drug for the HDL. Your triglycerides most definitely need to be fixed by diet and exercise. Exercise in this instance usually means 30 minutes of cardio minimum 3 times a week, ideally 5 times a week.

You can try fish oil, niacin, and oatmeal in the morning each day or some heavy bran type of product. It won't reverse your numbers as quickly as you need them to though.

 

[Christine]

Yes, I want to try it naturally first before I have to go on medication. I barely eat meat in my diet. My demon is sugar. I'm a sugar-holic. Mostly I'm a cereal killer.

I believe the sugar (and alcoholic beverages) contribute to high triglycerides in those that have a predisposition to that.

 

[eliza61]

I got blood test results back this morning:

Triglycerides: 285 (should be less than 150)

HDL : 18!!! (should be higher than 50 for females)

How can I reverse this??? Any advice is appreciated. I'm headed for a heart attack!

You're not dying yet NY, and hey at least you recognized the problem.
I was probably worse than you.
I was overweight (bad) african American (higher risk), couch potatoe and horrible diet and chronically anemic. Talk about high risk.

First, I did not try any drastic changes. for me, slow and steady wins the race. I knew I could stop bad food choices cold turkey so I took it slow.

Some things that worked to lower my cholestorol.
1) we love fried foods in my house, now instead of cutting out all fried foods we limit it to once a week and I try to use Lard (of all things) because it has no trans fat and is almost all monosaturated.

2) Walking. Free, easy and great stress reliever. whether at my gym or just in my neighborhood, I walk. Give me an Ipod and some motown and I'm a happy camper.

3) limit my fast food. I'm admitting my sins. I love a good NY Pizza!! No way no how am I even thinking of giving it up. But I do try and limit the number of times I do.

My biggest problem is that I hate fruit and water. Water I've been doing good with lately since it's so hot but fruit... Yeeek!

 

[npmommie]

Yes, I want to try it naturally first before I have to go on medication. I barely eat meat in my diet. My demon is sugar. I'm a sugar-holic. Mostly I'm a cereal killer.

What was your LDL?

yes the demon is sugar. get that and "white" foods out, white bread, flour, pasta, etc........any bad carbs need to go.
also alcohol.
this will help your triglyceride number come down.

exercise will help raise your HDL, cardio like another pp mentioned.
and fish oil may help too.

good luck!

 

[bicker]

I'm partial to this guy's advice:

http://www.jeffnovick.com/RD/Home.html

 

[npmommie]

another good one to look at is
Dr. Joel Fuhrman
http://www.drfuhrman.com/

 

[NY Disney fan]

Thanks for the advice everyone! My LDL was good and within healthy range so that's great and my Total Cholesterol was excellent. Thank you for sharing your stories and examples. I'm so excited and motivated right now. I started my day off very well with a fresh fruit and yogurt parfait (a real one not a McDonald's one!).

That you for the links although Joel Furman is vegan oriented and that is extreme for me, I will see what he has to say. I need all the help I can get. Who knows maybe I *should* go vegan if it will save my life.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Sorry for the bad news but don't lose hope. My DH has that inherited form of high cholesterol and managed to lower his numbers significantly through losing a great deal of weight and diet. For exercise he did Tony Horton's program. For diet he had me. I started us all on a heart healthy program which wasn't as hard as it sounds once you learn the ropes.

I tend to plan out our meals every week arranged like this:
Sunday pasta (won't give it up), chicken, chicken, fish, chicken, chicken, beef, chicken, chicken, pork chops either reg or on a kabob etc.

Personally, I don't like chicken so working it into our meals required a good deal of effort for me. Using low or non-fat dairy was a great way to help with my cooking too because you can almost never taste the difference in that form. Soups also help a great deal. When DH decided to change his habits I went out and bought a few recipe books from "Taste of Home" to help me and it did. I got one on chicken, one on BBQ, and 2 on soups. I often modify recipes to make them fit and favor ones that aren't too elaborate. We now eat things like fat free creamy tomato soup with chunks of multi-grain baguette, chicken stew, skewered chicken with pineapple, grilled chicken/veggie packets, tarragon tuna and instead of burgers we do chicken burgers or turkey hot dogs and for bread we tend to favor Sandwich Thins. I even made a nice chicken pot pie the other day with Cambell's Healthy request cream of chicken soup and Pillsbury's reduced fat crescent rolls on top. Instead of potato chips we now have either Tostitos with salsa or Sunchips because both are easier on the fats. Instead of Ice cream we will have either fruit bars or plain ice. Instead of mashed potatoes with butter we have sweet potatoes with sugarfree maple syrup. The biggest change was eliminating a good chunk of carbs from our diet, I didn't realize how much we were eating or that carbs send triglycerides through the roof.

It's not an easy change to make but once you make the investment in different products it gets easier until you don't seem to notice it any longer. Good luck.

 

[Christine]

I started my day off very well with a fresh fruit and yogurt parfait (a real one not a McDonald's one!).

What kind of yogurt did you use?

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Bad. All Bad. Well actually, its only 50% bad. I do eat healthy normally but its not great. But I'm thinking the low HDL is hereditary. What would make a greater impact in fixing my HDL: weight lifting or fish oil?

If it is hereditary then you cannot do all that much. I increased my exercise , and my Trigilcirides were 400 and I got them down to 121 with meds. I was so upset I had exercised 5x per week for 45 per day and it did no good but I found that I had been eating things that make it shoot up like shell fish and chocolate(so just kill me b/c there is so little left that I can eat). It was better but not great. Exercize, diet, and meds are all that help.