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Help - Cholesterol


Anticlimb

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Went to GP last week for routine check up . He called me back on Friday and told me to go on medication straight away . My total cholesterol is 7 , my LDL4.2 and my HDL 1.2 .

I am 34 old , I ride about 7 hours /week and would say that I am just about fit . I am 1.96 tall and weigh 110kg's .

 

Question is now , does anybody else have the same problem ? How much should I worry ? Any advice .

 

This is an inherrited problem , my whole family suffers from cholesterol . 
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Cholesterol is to be taken very seriously - a high level needs controlling.

 

Diet as well as genetics is a big factor. Do plenty of research and reading on the subject  - the breakdown of HDL / LDL is very significant.

 

Think yourself lucky that you tested and have time to take some positive action - many don't.
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Anticlimb, worry a lot!  I have the same.  Am now eating correctly (little fat, NO mutton Cry, etc).  Mine was higher than yours and is now down to reasonable levels. 

 

One word of advise though, the family of atorvastatin pills, Lipitor and Adco-Simvastatin, causes major muscle fatigue, cramps, tiredness, etc in most of it's users.  This was told to me by a pharmacist to did research in CT.  I went off the stuff and onto a natural/herbal type medication.  This has helped up to now, am going for my 3 monthly checkup in October.

 

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Thanx ewep , I am taking Adco simvastatin since Sunday felt tired yesterday but this mornings ride was ok . Will see tomorrow . Relieved to know that I am not the only one .

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Hi Anticlimb

 

I've got a similar situation to you - though a couple of years further down the track.

 

Your GP should advise dietary change and if that doesn't work its medication time.

 

I was pretty much Vegan (no, not from Star Trek) this year trying to get down from 7.8 but no dice.

 

I'm on 10mg Lipitor for a month now and everything's fine now.  No side effects from this one but I tried Simvastatin last year and was sick as a dog for the week I was on it.

 

So try out different things and see what works. 

 

 
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I thought we had little space ships inside us that took care of that stuff. I saw it on TV. Or you can use that new Flora. It will break it up while you read a magazine. Unfortunately I don't know which magazine.

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ROFLOL, ja toe, MAMPARA, your name says it all!!!!!  Anticlimb, the Flora works, but you have to take 20g per day.  That is a HELL of a lot of margarine.  And it has to be in conjunction with a balanced diet, etc, etc.

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same here

i follow a perfect diet, have a bf% of between 10-12% and still have high cholesterol.

watch out for the statins - they cause nasty cramps & fatigue as ewep says. at one stage I could hardly climb a flight of stairs without extreme muscle pain.

i was on Lipitor for a long time (about 4 years) & switched to Lovacol - no more cramps & muscle fatigue. i think that the Lovacol is a newer drug than the Lipitor.

tried the natural / herbal stuff but no luck - if it is in your genes there is nothing you can do about it.

i also supplement with Q10 - statin drugs deplete this enzyme to close to nothing in your body & your heart really needs to it function optimally - especially if you exercise.

O ja - best to take these meds (too scared to say drugs 'cause I don?t want to end up on Carte Blanche!!!) with your evening meal.  take the Q10 twice a day with breakfast & supper.

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Don't want to make light of a serious subject but I thought Q10 was for oiling squeaky bikes. Wink 

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Isn't it Q20 IanJ?

 

Another problem with any simvastatin based drug that I forgot about is that it lowers your good cholesterol (can never remember if it's LDL or HDL).  I was told eating right and training would bring the good one up but it didn't help.  Only found out recently that the simvastatins "lowers/supresses" the manufacturing of ALL cholesterol.

 

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...don?t really want to get into the TCS guys oiling their squeaky bits!

 

That's only Jason LOL but enough now, didn't want to hijack the thread.

 

 
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The majority of cholesterol issues with normal healthy people (as most folk here) is genetic and seldom diet related.

 

Doctors love to throw the diet issue up, but the fact is the majority of them, unless they know your life style personally, assume you fall into the "average population" who do little more than walk to the fridge and back in the evening, in fact of all the doctors I know (and my brother is one, so I know quite a lot) none of them could even cycle or run around the block (my brother included).

 

If one is obese (and thats not likely if you are riding a bike or excersizing regularly).......... well thats differant, but generally, unless you are eating 6 burgers a day along with a few fizzy drinks changing your diet is not going to do enough, and you will probably find you will be on these drugs for many years, maybe even life.

 

I can also second the lipitor / fatigue / cramp issue, this is very well known in sport circles but usually only when the drug is taken in highish doses 20mg or so daily. Smaller doses do not really have such an effect, but if it dos, tell your doctor and ask for alternatives.

 

Generally high cholesterol is also a flashing orange light to check blood pressure (hypertension) as well as the two are often found in unison.

 

................and me - well yup, I have it too although its only slightly elevated, but I have been on 10 mg lipitor daily for longer than I can remember, its now something I do without thinking, and its always better to take a pill daily now, rather than suffer drastic life changing operations  later on. 
widget2006-09-26 05:43:20
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Have to agree Widget.  OK, I was/still am a bit rond, but my the obese side was not there after the first "scare".  The first thing the doc told me is to look at my diet.  Only thing I cut out was mutton.

 

Secondly he told me to exercise more often.  He told me I was lying when I said I was spending about 9-12 hours a week on the bike.  His first reaction was, YOU EAT WRONG AND DON'T EXERCISE.  So look at what you eat, drink your pills, train and let life go on.  Remember to have the cholesterol tested at least once a year!

 

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Widget , have you made any major changes to your diet . I eat everything in moderation . But I found myself on Sunday in Pickpay looking at labels to make sure that what I was buying was low fat or fat free . I guess eating healthy is for the better . A way of life .

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I was very afraid to go to the doctor fro my last check up due to the fact that I eat extremely unhealthy. Pizza and cheese burger the same day is not uncommon for my daily food dosage. But when I got the results I was touching the "below average" mark. This was not a sign that I could continue eating like a pig but the scare was rather a wake-up call that I should rather eat healthier so that I wouldn't have to be afraid of the results.

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