cholesterol readings

[tan1225]

I am very concerned with my cholesterol readings.. my total was 148..    ldl was 100   triglycerides were 52 but my hdl was 37.  I am 37 year old female who is thinking she is a walking timebomb with clogged arteries now.  & years ago my hdl was 59 but my cholesterol was higher at 176..   why would hdl lower with weightloss and lowering cholesterol.... Is is easily brought back up?  Note, I do not eat any fish or nuts..

[Lutheran122]

Try Niacin to raise your HDL and keep your trigs nice and low. Nuts would also help but Niacin for sure can improve that number..otherwise you have good numbers. I am a 44 year old male and take 2000mg of Niaspan every day and my HDL is up from 29 to 43..my LDL is down to 66 and my trigs are 82. Niacin plus a good diet can give you good numbers. I already had heart disease before I got serious so I know how it feels to have a time bomb in your heart and I am doing my best to reverse or stop the plaque from progressing.

[tan1225]

does it mean i ahve heart disease

[tan1225]

also,, what were your readings beforehand.. did you have any other risk factors and you ar kinda young to have heart disease already.. I also read that alot of high carb or vegan diets may cause low hdls and it is not mean you are at risk for heart disease in these cases

[Lutheran122]

No it doesn't mean you have heart disease , the only way to deternine that is to get a angiogram or CT scan of your heart. A low fat/low cholesterol diet will lower your HDL but will also lower your LDL big time..its the ratio of HDL to LDL that's most important. My LDL before I started the niaspan and diet was over 100 and my total was 185 or so. In 6 weeks I have went down to the numbers you see in my first post. My trigs were at 144 and are now in the low 80's.

[tan1225]

well he did not want to put me on anything saying taht everything was fine and I ahd a better chance of getting struck by lightening...  I want to believe him but everything on the internet says otherwise....    I am not going to go on a lowfat diet as I do not want then to lower anymore..  Thats the problem.. all my other numbers are fine...   he thinks the reason it may be low is becuase I do not eat enough good fat and too many carbs...   I do not smoke, do not eat read meat maybe oncea  week.. I do eat alot of pasta , rice , fruits, crackers.. Only one serving of protein a day...  
Now I ahve added two tbls. of flaxseed to diet.... cut out white rice and pasta... eat tuna twice a week, a tbls. of olive oil .. all I nned to do now is exercise but i am afraid to becaue I am afriad it will throw me into a heart attack

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

i think your numbers are good . my trics were 562, but now 137 on meds total chol ws 134, i tried the niacin it was ok for two weeks than one night it made me have a cardio attack and pass out not all can take it and if you do always tke a aspirn before you take it . good luck