momto3girls

My husband just started taking fish oil to help his cholesterol, and I was going to start too.  I just read your post about fish oil helping you.  Are you getting any benefit with your psvt where the fish oil is concerned?  Please let me know :)

Also, are you taking medication to control yours or are you relying on vagal maneuvers like me?

[lilCharlie]

I too am in the same boat as you.  My wife and I both started taking fish oils about a week ago.  I have an appointment in 6 months to show if its helping.  My doctor highly recommended it for raising HDL levels.  

My currently plan is loosing weight, taking fish oils, cardio workout (30min a day/at least 5 days a week).  I know working out helps a lot with my palps issues, but generally i feel better mentally and physically.  I'll post some results with the fish oils when i get them, but i too am curious if anybody out there has some data to support the use of fish oils.

[mysterychemist54]

According to the AHA, fish oils do the following

The ways that omega-3 fatty acids reduce CVD risk are still being studied.  However, research has shown that they

A) decrease risk of arrhythmias, which can lead to sudden cardiac death
B) decrease triglyceride levels
C)decrease growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque
D)lower blood pressure (slightly)

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4632

I have heard other folks claim on other message boards that fish oils helps to raise HDL, but it has not happen to me.

I have been taking 1000 grams of fish oil twice aday since April. I have seen no evidence of it help my choleserol numbers.  Of course, I may not be taking a large enough dose of fish oil or it may have different effects in different people.

The only thing that help my HDL was taking 1500 mg of Niaspan where it went from 31 to 41. From what I can tell, cutting out trans fat, stopping smoking, and increased amount of exercise did not increase the HDL.

Even if fish oils do not raise the HDL, I think any of the reasons given by the AHA make it worth taking the fish oil pills. They are cheap.

Just my 2 cents.

[anacyde]

Thank you both!  I had read that from the AHA when I was researching ways to get my husband's HDL up.  His total number is fine, but the HDL has read as low as 29.  I believe it is 34 now after three months of 500mg Niacin.  Pleased with the result, our cardiologist raised him to 1,000mg Niacin.  He's actually due for a re-check this month, so I look forward to seeing a bigger increase.

I think I read somewhere that 1,200 - 1,500 was recommended for CVD prevention.  Right now we have the 1,000, but we plan on getting the next dose up when we finish our current bottle.

[suzy61]

what is a vagal maneuver

[anacyde]

A hard cough.

Pressing gently against your stomach and using your stomach muscles to push the hand away.

Bearing down like you're grunting or lifting something heavy.

Or if that all fails, icy cold water to the face does the trick nicely.  It gives me a headrush though, and I hate that.