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907968 tn?1292622204

three month update

  As if anyone cared...  It's been three months where I get blood tested for thyroid issues and while there we test the cholecterol.  Once the numbers are correct and settled we'll check cholesterol every six or twelve months.  so...

Total
was 125 - now 147

LDL
was 74 - now 93

Trigs
was 116 - now 134

  It's a wonder what being a couch potato will do!   I have been riding my bike for exorcise but because of the hot weather I've averaged since April 1;
minutes - 32 (94, high of)
miles - 2.7 (7, high of)

  What is different is I stopped eating fruits, I was eating like crazy Apples, Grapes, Oranges, and Pairs. And I cut the Simvastatin 40mg pills in half.  Because my total cholesterol did drop last year from 136 to a low of 104, I have to believe the numbers are tainted by showing what you have had within the last few days and not some kind of running average or a running average of the last few months.

  Also of note, the HDL has steadily climbed from a low of 22.  LDL has been bouncing around all over the place between 57 and 93
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907968 tn?1292622204
American Heart Association numbers from last year and mine...
LDL=93 - AHA wants 80 or lower.
Blood tests every 3 months from April '09...
LDL...80, (skip 7 months), 83, 57, 74, 93.
  There is an upward trend during the last three.  Without current changes can assume 110mm/dl in Nov '10.

HDL=27 - AHA wants 40 or higher
Blood tests every 3 months from April '09...
HDL...42, (skip 7 months), 24, 22, 28, 27..
Trend for the last "four" tests suggests 25-30mm/dl in Nov '10.

LDL to HDL ratio = 3.44/1.  2/1 is the target to shoot for.
With the trends we'll be approaching 4/1 in Nov. '10.

  Trig.s took a jump recently but I believe I know where that came from and can probably drop it next time.  In the mean time, the other numbers have a bad trend to them.  I'm pretty sure it's because of the lack of fruits and nuts but I question my memory so I'll check my old posts between Nov '09 to Feb '10 when the numbers were looking good to see if I can gather any info.
Helpful - 0
976897 tn?1379167602
I don't know why you are concerned, your levels don't look terrifying. Your LDL (93mg) converts to 2.4mmol/L in UK terms and we look for anything lower than 4.0. Yours seems pretty low. You did have 1.91mmol/L which I would have thought was too low. I would be leaping for joy with 2.4mmol/L.
Your HDL converts to 0.72mmol/L which is a bit low, but better than it was. It needs to be 1.0mmol/L or higher (38mg/dl or higher).
Trigs do tend to leap around quite a bit. Mine have fluctuated like crazy with each test. You have 1.5mmol/L and it should be around 1.2mmol/L so I wouldn't worry much over this. If you have another test tomorrow you will probably find the results very different. They still don't know the relationship between trigs and atherosclerosis for sure anyway, but LDL/HDL is known.
So going by UK levels, you seem to be much closer to desired levels than before. Do they prefer levels much lower in the US? I know here they raised the baseline of LDL because too many people were getting mental issues with low levels.
Helpful - 0
907968 tn?1292622204
  Local Walmart carries the brand, I'll assume also carries the specific product.  I'll look for them.  As for the fish pills, same brand, but "burpless" or "burp free"...  just to let you know you didn't have to have that happen with fish pills.

  The Temporary services call up and describe a job.  I say I like it and they say they'll set me up with an interview.  Then I don't hear from them for weeks. where we go through the same thing again.  I swear they get tax credits for having us on the rolles no matter if they get us a job or not :-(  Any how, "if" I get a job I should be more active.  till then I'm a couch potato.
Helpful - 0
212161 tn?1599427282
i take fish oils to and there are some hug pills out there  and a few made me burp a fish taste . but i have found one pill that does not give me the fish burps and is easy to take still big but thinner than rest i was doing. its ;;;;;;  spring valley  omega 3 1000mg a pill i get it at wal-mart try thoses
Helpful - 0
907968 tn?1292622204
  I pointed out the fact that the overall cholesteral was 104mm/dl to my PCP and asked about cutting it in half back.  She liked the idea but prescribed 2000mg fish oil 2x/day.  I could only find 1200mg horse pills, a week later I stopped taking them because of the size.  I'm back to taking them plus she prescribed Niaspan for the low HDL and said if this doesn't help we'll try Crestor.

  Either way, you could look at this as an experiment... Raising HDL is done through exorcise with some help through Fruits and Nuts.  I nearly stopped all three these past three months and been working on educating my self on a new science project.  Lots of reading but little else.
Helpful - 0
63984 tn?1385437939
I'm having trouble sorting out the details, my friend, but what stands out is that you cut the statin in half.  My guess it is less than a medicinal dose.  I'd suggest going back to a full dosage and see what the lab tests are.  Unless you have adverse symptoms from the statin, why mess with success? I'd suggest mixing in about 2000 grams of high quality fish oil and see if the hdl improves.  

Helpful - 0
907968 tn?1292622204
  Ooops, forgot yo add the HDL..
Was 27 - now 28 mm/dl

  I'm pretty sure I didn't explain things right...
Riding my bicycle but obviously not enough to budge my HDL.  No other exorcising at all.
With all the medication I'm on I would assume my ratio's would be a whole lot better.
Because of the way the numbers are, I want to believe the tests can only catch the cholesterol averages during the last few days.  I.E. The numbers would change drastically every other day or so making the yearly checks worthless.  Just my uneducated opinion.
Helpful - 0
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