Cholesterol Still Very High

[Catracks 865]

My A1C and glucose are normal, but my cholesterol still came back very high. It's frustrating when I'm trying to eat mainly Protein and it causes the cholesterol to shoot up.

I know I should nix the cheese, but it makes me happy and makes it easier to stay away from all the Pasta, bread and potatoes.

Should I be a thin person with bad cholesterol or a fat person with good cholesterol?

Are those my choices? It runs in my family. We don't get cancer. We have strokes in our 80s.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

My PCP has me on lipitor because one of my cholesterol is above goal. It will go down really soon I promise you. Even if your eating a lot of Protein and cheeses. I do and I have a family history of high cholesterol. Hang in there and enjoy today! No frets or worries..... enjoy your new skinniness!

[Catracks 865]

I agree about the cholesterol lowering medications, especially statins. The side effects are truly horrible and they are not shown to reduce the risk of heart attack unless you have active heart disease. Even then ...

I told my PCP point blank that I'm not going on the drugs.

Twice my A1C came back normal and I asked for him to drop the diagnosis of diabetes. He said that I still had it (even though it was always borderline), but it was controlled and that I should still consider taking the Metformin.

What is with these people???!!!

Thanks for the links. I'll look at them at home.

Thank you both. Anyone else fighting with the cholesterol thing? Fighting their PCP over diagnoses?

[AliveAgain 283]

(deleted post)

[deltadawn817 106]

all I can say is understand your numbers if your over all is high you need to MOVE more.

[AliveAgain 283]

Does anyone know how to delete a post?

[missjenny 43]

I totally know how you feel. My cholesterol was in normal range before I had surgery and last week had it re-tested and it was high. I am so frustrated and don't understand how it's possible because I'am eating barley anything.

[Catracks 865]

all I can say is understand your numbers if your over all is high you need to MOVE more.

I walk about 5 miles a day, do crunches, and lift. On the weekends I hike around 10 miles up mountains.

Moving enough?

[Catracks 865]

I won't stay away for the shellfish or the cheese or the animal Proteins. WTH would I eat then? I suspect this is largely genetic as my mom and brother are on statins and cannot get their numbers down.

I'd have to check My Fitness Pal, but I have it set at 750 calories and 21 grams of fat a day, 94 grams of Protein and 47 grams of carbs. I'm usually under on everything, but close. I don't know how I could be any healthier right now.

I believe Benjammin. I think we've been fed a load of crap.

[Wheetsin 714]

I think all you can do is edit it. Mods can delete. Flag it to a mod, or send a PM with a link to the message.

Does anyone know how to delete a post?

[Wheetsin 714]

If you could manage to never actually ingest cholesterol, you could still have high cholesterol. Your body creates cholesterol. You could eat cholesterol free, and if your liver wants to keep pumping it out, it will. Your body creates cholesterol on a cellular level. Your liver can pump out about 1000mg each and every day. Everything around us tells us that it's only an ingestion factor, and it's not. Cholesterol in and of itself is a good thing. It's in literally every cell in your body. Every part of your brain needs cholesterol. Your cells build with it. Your ovaries need it to procuce estrogen (and vice versa for men). Your immune system needs it to keep you healthy. I could keep going... just rememer that cholesterol isn't bad. It just... keeps some bad company.

Myth: there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. Cholesterol is cholesterol. LDL and HDL are lipoproteins (lipo = fat, Protein = protein).

Statins keep your liver from producing cholesterol. Does statin therapy reduce cholesterol levels? The data says yes, but there's a huge assumption that's a good thing. But cholesterol isn't the only thing they inhibit - hence the side effects. (If you're concered about this, pull up some research on statins and CoQ10)

My 2 mo post-op was about 3 weeks ago. Full labs were pulled and I was told that at an LDL count of 109, I had "pretty high cholesterol" (LDL). Now, even the most standardized chart will say that below 100 is ideal, and 100 - 129 is "near ideal". So how 109 is pretty high - I'm still chewing on that one.

More & morepeople are starting to see high cholesterol as what's called a "manufactured disease." And guess which country is really the only one all crazy about it...

[SV2 57]

Unfortunately' date=' most of that is not accurate. More veggies, yes - not a problem. But the more whole grains you introduce, the more you A) add sugars to your diet (since carbs are turned into sugar by our body, even if it's not sugar anyway and B ) Diabetes, health issues are caused by sugars.

Their advice about LDL and HDL are inaccurate as well. *facepalm* LDL and HDL are actually not Cholesterol at all. They're particles in your blood that help regulate your body's usage of Cholesterol. LDL usually transports Cholesterol back to your liver, while HDL transports it FROM your liver to the rest of your body. Fiber is OK but it's not as big a deal as doctors today would have you believe, and eating non-animal Proteins are EXACTLY the reason why you are having problems with your cholesterol and other blood panels. The exercise part is about the only truthful part of the advice. Soy is hugely overused by our society today. Yes, it has some benefits, but we shouldn't be consuming it at the levels we're having it now. In all honesty, humans should only really focus on Proteins and fats, and if you look in nature, they're often found by each other. Would we continue to reproduce if it didn't feel good? It's pretty much the same thing - as Humans we have a taste for things that are salty, fatty and sweet - they contain the nutrients that we need most (within reason for sweet things).

If you haven't, watch the documovie "Fat Head" (which is where I pulled the clip I posted from) it contains a very concentrated form of information that all of those reports out there that ARE accurate are saying, but in one place.

So many doctors have been completely lied to, it's a shame - they're steering us all the wrong way.[/quote']

Finally!!!!

So glad to see someone who has done the research and decided (correctly) that what we are being fed (pun intended) about cholesterol is not only inaccurate but killing people.

Thanks for your well-researched and reasoned posts!

[Catracks 865]

Yes, thank you all. Very informative posts. I suspect a lot a sleevers are dealing with this. I also posted a thread about PPIs awhile back. Maybe it's just a neurosis with me, but I do not like the idea of medication at all to block things that are natural. It usually end up messing up your body's equilibrium. The medical community simply does not know what secondary and tertiary things a medication could be affecting.

If it's not something like "I need this insulin or I will go into a coma/shock (I forget which)," then I would consider very carefully what's being prescribed.

[Wheetsin 714]

I'm hoping to wean off my PPIs. I can make it on one per day. But if I go a day without any, I'm in for it the next. Even at 2 PPIs I was still having some reflux. I had really weird reflux lastnight and hadn't missed a PPI in about a week. *shrug* Maybe I'll just go back to chugging Maalox & popping Tums like popcorn, like I did with my band.

From 2011:

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the mainstay of current medical management for laryngopharyngeal reflux, and treatment often involves long-term use of this class of medications. The long-term adverse effects of PPI use have not been studied extensively, but several analyses have demonstrated epidemiological links between PPI use and adverse outcomes. These include altered mineral and Vitamin absorption, orthopedic injury, acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and infectious risks.

Given these epidemiological patterns, we recommend that the clinician be aware of these possible unintended consequences. In addition, we recommend consideration of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) bone density scans in at-risk patients who have not been previously tested. We recommend consideration of Vitamin B₁₂ and Iron levels in selected patients who are at high risk. We also recommend close communication with our cardiology colleagues, as we attempt to ascertain the relationship between clopidogrel and PPI use. We recommend caution in the use of omeprazole in patients undergoing active treatment for ACS. Finally, we recommend consideration of Helicobacter pylori or serum gastrin level testing in patients with known risk factors for gastric carcinoma.

Here's a full article from 2009. Side effects start on 897.

[Catracks 865]

Holy Freaking MOLE!!!

See what I mean about medications???!!

I read somewhere that when a patient stops the PPIs, the stomach produces even more acid, but I forgot why. That's why people have trouble getting off them.

Acid also has to be present to break down Vitamin pills and Proteins. I was listening to one show where this doctor was taking about Vitamin pills passing right through the GI tract undissolved and people being deficient in Protein and Vitamins because they simply were not getting broken down because of deficient stomach acid.

I do get an acid stomach sometimes, but only once did I reach for the Gas-x. Most of the time I just guzzle Water. I may be just lucky in that regard.