My Story, My Lipid Panel, Advise Needed page

[scotchblade]

Hi -

I am 56 and over the past year acheiving optimal health has become my goal. On December 19, 2011, I eliminated all grains and dairy except for some occasional whipping cream in coffee. Also watched my sugar intake carefully. I do enjoy a daily 1.5 oz serving of premium scotch or bourbon, neat. Exercise moderately, could do better.

The day I started primal (12/19/2011) my waist was 40" and my weight 198. Today my waist is 35" and I weigh 174. I am very pleased and feel great.

I take three blood pressure meds and one statin. My goal is to take none and I expressed this to my doctor at Kaiser at our last visit 2-1/2 months ago. He proposed I drop one blood pressure med and halve the statin dosage, which I did. Last week, I rechecked. Attached are an image of the results, the numbers did creep back up. I will be seeing him next week and will let him know I am not going to give up. I monitor my blood pressure regularly and am doing fine without the beta blocker I was taking.

I am so confused by all of the conflicting cholesterol information and feel like I am up against such a conventional approach that I'm not at all sure how to handle my upcoming meeting with him.

Comments on my numbers and any advice on how to proceed would help me tremendously.

[scotchblade]

8/12/2011 (Pre Primal Eating, taking daily statin)
Cholesterol 175
HDL 52
LDL 98
Triglyceride 124

7/13/2012 (After 7 months of Primal Eating, taking daily statin)
Cholesterol 175
HDL 56
LDL 108
Triglyceride 57

10/11/2012 (After 10 months of Primal Eating, halved statin dosage about 2-1/2 months ago)
Cholesterol 221
HDL 68
LDL 140
Triglyceride 63

(LDL Calculated)

[magicmerl]

The only 'bad' trend to me is trigs going up from 57 to 63 when you lowered your sattin dosage, but that seems well within the margin of random variation.

[otzi]

I would quit drinking, start exercising more geared toward low-intensity, steady state, ie. walking, and try to get your blood pressure under control.

Have you had a heart attack or anything? With your height and weight, you should be in pretty good shape to stop all your meds cold turkey, monitoring blood pressure at home. The statins are probably holding you back, if anything.

Have you ever had your Vit D tested? Get that done and up to 50 before you do anything. Then quit the statins, get the blood pressure under control and then start some strength training like weights or just pushups/pullups etc... Quitting the statins won't kill you, tell doc what you are doing and ask for labs every 3 months to gauge your progress. Keep close eye on BP, you may have to slowly come off meds.

If you also smoke, then disregard all I said and get your will in order...

[Paysan]

I'm not an expert; so be aware. But your cholesterol numbers, I'd say are pretty good. Your HDL is up into a favourable range, your LDL (which is only an estimate in any case) isn't bad, and your triglycerides are still in a good range. I'd expect a rebound effect from cutting statin use, but I'd rather have high cholesterol in any case. Partly because I'm a woman for whom statins are useless, and because I'd rather be dead than live with the nasty side effects. You didn't mention whether or not you are actively losing weight, which will make for more circulating blood lipids in any case.
But let me encourage you to do your own research so that YOU are convinced about what to do. I'd start with a visit to The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics and take it from there.

[noodletoy]

are you on statins because you have had a heart attack? if not, just stop taking them. they are only medication prescribed to treat something that is not a disease. high cholesterol is NOT a disease and there is no proof it causes heart attacks.

http://www.centerforpreventivemedici..._messenger.pdf

ask your doctor to check your ldl particle size. if it's light and fluffy, you are in the clear. and with your trigs number where it is, i'd say you're fine.

[scotchblade]

Thanks for the replies! I don't smoke, and no heart attacks. I consider myself very healthy and have a very strong immune system. I rarely get colds or anything else. Last time hosptialized was 1990 and that was disc surgery.

I will ask for the recommened tests. Being in the Kaiser (Thrive) system, I am up against convention, but my doc seems cooperative.

Has anyone ever worked with a holistic nutritionst? My employer funds an account I have which reimburses out of pocket expenses, but eligibility for coverage will require a doctor's note verifying that it is a "medical condition." I don't think it will fly, but I'll ask. Too bad insurance covers drugs but not other means of achieving wellness.

I really enjoy my smoky scotch at day's end, it's one of life's little pleasures. Must it go?

[peril]

No the scotch can stay. Your numbers are near perfect. You just have to keep working on getting rid of the drugs. I did and I have had a heart attack and have five stents. The statins were crippling me, making exercise unpleasant. Choosing between them was easy. Up your moderate exercise - walking etc.

Don't forgo the pleasure of the drink. I have red wine daily and my trigs are fine - not great but good enough

[otzi]

I'd get rid of the scotch until your bp is under control with no meds, then add it back in and see where it goes. Get Vit D checked! That is crucial even if you have to pay out of pocket! You can take 10,000IU of D3 a day until it is up to 50, then back off to 5000iu/day.

Since you haven't had a heart attack and don't smoke, I'd stop the statins right now. Don't even ask doc, get retested in 3 mo.

[stonefury]

I would suggest reading this post: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread4723.html

I agree with noodletoy. The concern over minimizing LDL and total cholesterol numbers is not well supported, and the cutoff for "high cholesterol" is medically arbitrary but economically very profitable for putting a lot of people on statins (look for a lecture called "The Oiling of America" for the story of how the standard cholesterol recommendations came about). Other markers like LDL particle count/size or triglycerides:HDL ratio appear to be much more predictive of heart disease. I'd say your most recent numbers look good (high HDL, low triglycerides), but getting an LDL particle count would give a more complete picture.