I know some of you must have high cholesterol as well on here and trying to determine what to do as so many different things out there. Yes, I have a cardiologist so no one on here say talk to your doc. I have. Just trying to see what others are doing as now I'm nervous. Horrible heart history in my family & dad has been on cholesterol medication for years and he was a very fit Marine. Now, I've had mine checked ove rthe years. It's gone from 234 to 212 to 202. Following the right path. Today I get a call & hear it is now 224! Don't know why it's going up as I'm doing things right. HDL is good. Tryglycerides is what has taken the biggest climb. He wants to put me on Crestor. Has anyone else taken this drug? Any side effects? Have any of you been on it & then able to get off it later. Anyone know what would make #'s climb over a 6 month period? I'm fustrated, nervous and disappointed. I really thought I could do this w/out meds. Usually don't give a whole lot of personal info on here but really do need to hear from others who've taken this drug. There are so many reports, that these statins are doing more harm than good. Opinions. I will take all opinions w/ a grain of salt. This is my cardiologist who wants to start me on this. I have an appt. MOnday w/my regular doctor & will discuss w/ her as well. Thanks in advance for any opions on Crestor or how to lower cholesterol. I'm trying & am starting to lose weight even! URGHH Stephanie--mom to 7
DH took Crestor. He got a lot of the bad side effects from it and had to stop. Almost couldn't function. He now takes Vytorin and his cholesterol has dropped significantly. With no side effects. ..for him anyway. There is a website out there that is nothing but patient reviews for all kinds of drugs. I don't have it saved but if I can come across it again I'll post it.
Found it http://www.askapatient.com/rateyourmedicine.htm Here is the page for Crestor http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21366&name=CRESTOR Everything has side effects...just depends what works for you. Find what works and go with it.
Stephanie I'm right there with you. Except mine hovers anywhere between 244 and 270(and I'm only 28 yrs old and completely healthy otherwise - it runs in my family). To this point I have declined treatment from prescription drugs. I can't tell you what causes the triglicerides to change so much-that is what mine does so if I knew I could fix mine! I exercize hard core 4-5 days a week, have lost 35lbs this year and still have high cholesterol, so I decided to really take a look at my diet recently. I can tell you what I've recently discovered food wise. I started realizing just how much dairy foods I eat - cheese, milk, yogurt(the breakfast stuff and in smoothies), and pastas and bread. I think those are my main cholesterol contributors. So I got online and started doing some research and found a myriad of these foods that I LOVE available at Whole Foods that are dairy and cholesterol free AND THEY TASTE FABULOUS. I found soy based/fat free cheese that is just like real cheese. Soy based ice cream that tastes gourmet. Greek yogurt that is to die for and cholesterol free. Something called almond milk that is dairy/cholesterol/sat fat free and I can drink/cook with just like regular milk! Same with pastas. The more research I do, the more I find that processed items in a regular grocery store have so much cholesterol and saturated fats that are probably not helping my cholesterol or heart health overall. Is Whole Foods expensive? A little more than Lowes Foods, yes. But I'm limiting how much of it I eat so I go thru less food. And my husband knows to keep his paws off of "my foods" which is proving difficult b/c he actually prefers some of the snacks I've bought that are all natural and organic! I found this FAT FREE/Cholesterol free organic peanut butter and I could eat the whole jar it is soooo good. But I've decided to give this a try for six months and see how my cholesterol reacts. And yes, I've had to do a little shifting with my budget to fit it in right now, but to me it is worth it to see if I can avoid medication at my age. Just a personal choice. Ultimately you and your doctor have to decide the best course of action for you. For me, I saw what crestor and lipitor did to my father and grandmother when they tried it and I do not want to go through that. For others it works perfectly fine. If you'd like more info on some of the websites I've found for low calorie/low cholesterol eating, let me know. And feel free to PM to talk more if you'd like!
My friend from home had some type of heart problem, the doctor prescribed about 10 fifferent medications for him. He was probably a bit overweight at the time from drinking in college. He decided to start exercising religiously, lost about 40 lbs, watched his diet, hasnt taken one of the pills that were originally prescribed and is in great health. I realize this is easier said than done but if you figure the hassle with popping pills everyday and the side effects that come with ALL of them, its probably worth it.
I used to take Lipitor until it got so expensive and the doc switched me to Crestor a few months ago. I've had no problems with Crestor and my cholesterol in October was 173, which is a miracle considering how overweight I am and how much fast food I eat. The first time I ever had my cholesterol checked (many, many, many years ago) it was 312! I was in MUCH better shape then so go figure.
Or do what one of the fatasses that I work with did, instead of eating Bojangles for breakfast, lunch and dinner, switch to Zaxbys. He's been able to maintain his 150lbs overweight status because of it.
I've been taking Lipitor for years with no bad side effects. Everybody's metabolism is different, what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. Not everybody can control their cholesterol with diet and exercise, but it certainly is worth a try.
Thanks & I will pm you. Here's the deal. I'm 37, almost 38 and do NOT consider myself old despite what my kids think--LOL. I lost 2.2 lbs this past week & have lost 11 lbs. since last Jan. Though not much it's a start. I didn't seriously start doing the weight lost thing until last week. I know, stupid w/ holidays but have to start somewhere. I plan on losing 2 lbs. a week over the next few months. I'm actually doing it as a fundraiser for our adoption so even MORE motivation to stick to it. I used to be a health & fitness specialist in college and know what I'm doing & know I can lose the weight. I'm also contemplating going back to being vegetarian. Was for a short stint in college but now am not. NOT vegan(could never do that) but vegetarian. Don't know. Still playing around w/ that idea. I desperately want this to go down. We've been trying our best to eat more organic. shoot, I eat either oatmeal or cheerios for breakfast everyday except for the weekends when I have reduced fat pancakes one day. We eat a bunch of fruit in this house. Lunch for me is always a veggie fajita or salad at home. dinner isn't too bad but could be worked on for sure. And you are right... the processed foods are horrible for you for sure. We rarely ever drink soda. Just water & milk for the most part and occasionally juice. Yet, I know if I work at it, I could change the diet more. I am totally against taking more meds and I really in my gut think there is something else going on metabollically that is pushing these #'s out of whack that fast. Now, one thing I have been totally slacking on lately is exercise. My fault. no one to blame. Yes, I've been walking but not enough. I used to do cardio everyday. Getting back into that again. I know that is a huge component of all this so maybe that will help. Had the nuclear medicine stress test done last year and they said heart was perfectly healthy as a horse. This is why I'm so hesistant to start meds now. This is so hard to decide. It really is. I am talking to doc on Monday as well and see what she says. Now, you may want a hormone panel done. Some of those can indeed cause cholesterol to be out of whack. And, there are a few metabolic disorders as well. Thanks again everyone. I just realize I eat a bunch of dairy as well. Yogurt is great. I'll have to try the greek yogurt. Thanks so much for your take on things. Now, off to exercise! My goal is to lose 40 lbs. Stephanie--mom to 7
Congrats on your weight loss!! I wish I could go vegetarian, but I think it would kill me. I at least need my chicken and turkey and will splurge on a lean cut of red meat once in a while. I'm like you where I eat relatively healthy and love fruit, veggies not so much I'm a pretty picky eater. But when I sat down and actually started reading labels and paying attention about a month ago, I could not believe how much cholesterol, saturated fat, hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup is in even healthy foods! Even the low fat yogurts and cheeses, and I was eating a cup of yoplait light yogurt and a string cheese for breakfast every day for the past 2+ years! From what I have read, the hydrogenated "anything", saturated fats and fructose are what seem to effect the triglyceride readings. I think eating "healthy" and eating low cholesterol is two totally different stories. And when that lightbulb went off is when I really started making changes this month with my trip to Whole Foods. Calculating how much milk I drank or cooked with, yogurt, ice cream and cheese I ate then adding up all the grams of cholesterol was astounding to me and a real eye opener so I would challenge you to keep track of that for a couple weeks just to see what it looks like for you. LOW FAT does not = Low cholesterol!!! And even look at that salad dressing bottle and those fajita packages-you might be surprised! EVERYTHING seems to have some cholesterol in it. And portion size counts...they are talking grams/ounces and 1/4 cups on most! ANother biggie is white bread. I've gone with whole grain pita pockets to use for sandwiches now and will splurge with english muffins. But the yummy organic and cholesterol free peanut butter and spreads I found at Whole Foods will keep me happy. On your 40lbs goal - you can do it! After I lost the first 15lbs, it started coming off really quickly. Those first 15 took forever to happen and I was working my butt off, literally! So stay motivated. Losing the weight really helped calm my doctors down. And so now they give me the chance to play with my diet and try new things without stressing over my numbers so much since I don't have other risk indicators. But I do go in every 6 months to have mine checked so I know what's working and what's not. Maybe your doc would be open to that idea too. If you are at 200 now, just think it was only about 3 years ago that 200 WAS the cholesterol goal instead of the 180 it is now. If I can get down to 200, by golly I will be ecstatic and dare my doc to say anything to me about meds:lol: I've lowered mine from 297 to 250ish over 3 years and am pretty happy at that.
Greek Yogurt Here is a post from one of the healthy eating blogs I use on a greek yogurt called Fage Yogurt. I drizzle a bit of honey in it to sweeten and use a low cal granola and it is delish. A serving is the whole container, but a half is plenty for me in one sitting with granola and a piece of fruit. That helps bring the cost down as well. I've also substituted this stuff for any recipe that calls for mayo or sour cream. http://www.yummydietfood.com/2008/06/i-love-fage-yogurt-you-will-too.html
Powder peanut butter from the same site http://www.yummydietfood.com/2009/03/pb2-low-calorie-peanut-butter.html I dunno 'bout that... :ack: lol
Actually nsanemom, it is very good in smoothies! I just don't have the patience to mix it up when I want some peanut butter for other things though. I use the Better 'N Peanut Butter off that site and I am addicted to it. I seriously eat about a spoon of it a day as my "treat". In fact, I just finished a spoonful of it as my dessert after eating the pizza stuffed pretzel listed on there with a salad, clementine and kiwi...yum
I just have to point out that cholesterol in food does not necessarily equate to cholesterol in your blood. A lot of it is heredity and your own body chemistry. Case in point: As I have posted previously, DH's cholesterol is much higher than mine and we eat pretty much the same thing. Mine is below normal, his needs work. It isn't "just" what you eat.
Good Point KDC. My husband is the same way-eats basically the same things I do, but could live off of fast food and still have a cholesterol of 155. My mom too. It is crazy. Obviously my body has issues processing cholesterol or over-producing cholesterol so my best hedge against it without drugs is to limit the amount that goes in the body. You are right though that for some, diet alone still won't do the trick. It may not for me in the end. I guess my theory on trying a low cholesterol diet is you can't really tell what your natural cholesterol level is unless you stop putting extra cholesterol in and so that is what I'm trying to do.
Everybody is geared different, I suppose but my blood pressure and my cholesterol was beginning to creep up in unhealthy territory. When I took off about 30 pounds and started cutting back on sweets and exercising regularly, my blood pressure and cholesterol dropped to normal or near normal levels. I've been keeping up my diet and walking for about a year now regularly and my biking for about four months. Of course, these cold winter mornings makes the biking tougher.
I am certainly NOT saying one shouldn't eat right and exercise. That is a given, but rather that natural cholesterol in food such as eggs, does NOT automatically lead to higher cholesterol levels in general. If you eat like crap with a lot of processed, high fat food, of course your cholesterol is going to go up.
Some people experience leg cramps with cholesterol lowering medications. Sometimes pretty severe. Try a low cholesterol diet and excercise. Increase the amount of fish in your diet. If you don't like fish then you can purchase "fish oil" in the drug store/grocery store and take 1 capsule daily (it's in the supplement area). This can help for some people. High cholesterol can be hereditary so even if you are doing the above things your cholesterol may not come down without the aid of a prescription medication. Good luck!
