People who have had fasting total cholesterol over 240: how did you lower your cholesterol?

Ok. Here we go. I’m 25 and I have hypertension. I read up on Metamucil and it has helped! I cut out red meats for a while. (I should stop again since I moved out I kind of ate anything again)

Exercise is important too. I’m what you might call a hypochondriac. Cheerios and soymilk works best for me to start the day off in the right path. Then it’s a matter of getting through lunch and dinner. (Where I ALWAYS think about meat)

All about the diet I’d say. The Metamucil just helps with the mindset and knowing I’m getting psyllium fiber in my body is a positive thing. Green Tea is also really good with high cholesterol.

My exercise just included doing 3 miles every other day or at least 4 days a week. I even bought a new pair of running shoes to get motivated.

Lots of walking, and drinking a gallon of Pomegranate juice ever day.

Can people please give their before and after numbers. Sorry I did not include that in the Q.

@pleiades Are you saying you have high cholesterol and high blood pressure?

@filmfann Did your tryglicerides go up drinking all that juice?

Mine fluctuates with weight, so when I get bad numbers (245 – 260) it’s a sign I have to drop some pounds.

A dozen years ago I was going to apply for life insurance and knew I had to have an“official” physical, so I went vegetarian for about 7 weeks. My starting number was 244, and I knew I had to get it below 230. I never found out my final number (the insurance company wouldn’t give it to me) but I go the policy.

I am planning to get tested next month, because I have dropped a lot of weight since Christmas.

Statins. I know that’s not what your looking for, but that’s what worked for me.

My brother took Metamucil also and it works very well for him. I can’t tell you the numbers though. The only problem he has had is that it seems to make his skin very dry. He has very dry sky to begin with and the Metamucil seems to exacerbate the problem. However he considers it a small price to pay.

A friend of mine changed her diet, walked everyday and took a herbal medication. I can’t say it really helped. But it was early days when she had started. I do believe in time it will help.

I know this does not exactly answer your question, but it is in Social so here goes:

What I don’t understand is people who take cholesterol medication but yet continue to eat whatever they want: burgers, fries, bacon, all kinds of high cholesterol shit. Do they not realize that taking any medication long-term has negative effects on your body? Do they not realize that perhaps a certain part of that dose is countered by the crap they eat? Do they not realize that eating awful stuff has other negative effects on their body, other than just their cholesterol level?

Long daily walk and healthier diet.

Alas, also Lipitor.

I will answer your question using my husband as the example as soon as I find his printout from his last checkup at his doctor. I hope you don’t mind if I give information while I have the time about his background and what he’s currently doing for his cholesterol health.

He took himself off the Lipitor about nine months ago because of severe joint pain. He had taken the Lipitor for about 13 or 14 years and his numbers were always very high despite taking the drug. He has been taking red yeast rice tablets for about 18 months.

The most important part of his improved health isn’t the medicines he’s taking or isn’t taking. The improvement is because he stopped smoking a year ago and he’s lost 40 pounds because of watching his calorie intake and increasing his activity levels. Not having crippling joint pain from the prescription Lipitor helped his overall physical activity and mental health.

His blood pressure has gone from scary high; at times 198/170-yes, that is correct-to 130/70 almost daily. His systolic is never over 145 now and his diaostolic is around the 70–80 range. Sometimes it is lower. We are beyond thrilled. His pulse is in an excellent range resting and exercising. His blood pressure medications are finally able to work. We are hoping when he goes to his next doctor’s visit in August, he can be taken off some of his blood pressure meds.

Are you on medications for your cholesterol, @JLeslie?

@bkcunningham That’s wonderful that your husband’s health has improved so much! You have probably seen on other Q’s what I do for my cholesterol problem. A couple months ago I had a crazy high lab result, higher than ever, 290. I was in the throws of moving to another state, and had not been very vigilant in what I was eating, but still that number was ridiculous. I also had other cardiac assessments at the same time and it showed how I even had too much vegetable fats floating around inside of me. I am not overweight in terms of BMI or any charts you might look at. The heaviest I have ever been in my life was 150 and it didn’t last long (maybe 3 months at the most, I can’t believe I ever weighed that much) but was around the time of this bad test. I usually weigh between 135 and 145 and I am 5’6”. Those weights put me in a dress size 6 or 8, I am usually an 8. Even when I was a size 4 in my teens my cholesterol basically responded the same. I do zumba regularly, etc. I don’t have blood pressure or sugar problems. The only exception is when I am over or undermedicated on my thyroid drugs my blood pressure can get high or low, but it corrects quickly once I correct my thyroid.

Anyway, my fear was that I might be moving in the same direction of my father, which was in his 50’s diet stopped working to keep his cholesterol down, but he is significantly overweight, at his best 50 pounds, probably sometimes as much as 80, he is 5’9” I think (maybe a little shorter now) to give you an idea of what that is like on his frame.

So, I have this result of 290 and I crack down, mostly vegan at home, and eating whatever for the most part when out, we eat out usualy once a week. I just received the results of my recent test and my total cholesterol did indeed drop to 221. So, I still have the power through diet to lower my cholesterol.

Now, I am curious about other “tricks” beside the obvious avoid eating cholesterol. A lot of people say they do a certain thing to lower cholesterol, but they don’t really track it, and they don’t isolate the thing they are doing, they do many things at once. I have a loooong history with cholesterol and I try to key into what really works for me, but this extensive testing I had done that shows even other fats are a problem for me is a very interesting piece of information. Basically, it seems like I need to cut most fats altogether. I hope to go to a cardiologist sometime in the next few months to get more information.

I won’t take statins because I already have muscle pain and weakness all over my body and worry about other side effects of the drug in general. I’m with @jca in that camp, but I admit I might be desperate enough to try a drug of some sort if my numbers had stayed up above 250 even while eating 90% vegan. My mom takes a drug that is not a statin, I don’t remember the name. It’s a powder of some sort, it is a prescription.

I bet she is taking colestipol, @JLeslie. Did you happen to see the videos I posted on another thread from the Dr. Oz show regarding cholesterol? Dr. Stephen Sinatra and Dr. Jonny Bowden are interviewed and they talk about the particle size test we should all insist on when having our labs done.

Thanks for the link. The video isn’t working on my ipad, but I will watch it on my husband’s laptop later today. I’m very interested to see it.

Also regarding heart disease I take vitmain D and K hoping to get the calcium into my bones and not laying down in my arteries. My mom had an EBCT done years ago and she has calcium everywhere, the doctor is suprised she is alive (said half seriously) and she does have osteopenia. The D also greatly improves my muscle problems. I’ve been getting more sun than usual and I feel so much stronger, and I still am taking my prescription D. My last test was a total D of 80, which is much higher than I have ever been and I feel the best I have in a long time. The number will go down again, because I will start super protecting my skin from the sun again, we just have been doing a lot of tourist things since we moved to FL, so out in it all day, and a day or two where I wasn’t protected and out in the sun for 20 or 30 minutes, that sort of thing. I actually have a slight tan, usually when I live in FL I am the whitest of any other state because I am so careful not to burn here.

@JLeslie 210 to 215 but HDL ( Good Cholesterol ) was very high. Particle size was and issue so on the statins I go and now Cholesterol is 135 to140 and my HDL is still extremely high and LDL ( Bad Cholesterol ) is very very low.

@Tropical_Willie the statins correct the particle size?

Your numbers weren’t terrible to begin with it sounds like. Your total was a little elevated, but your HDL was good, I assume your ratio was good. Is there heart disease in your family? Did you even try with diet to bring it down?

I need to read up more on the particle size info.

@JLeslie High blood pressure, strokes and mini-strokes. Tried diets and increased Olive Oil, helped but Statins did it.
The Dr was most concerned about the particle size and that was the most dramatic change after going on meds.

Interesting. I wonder if the particle size was in that cardiac panel I had done? Do you know the name of that test?

I think it was a “Complete Lipid Panel”, ( not cheap ) insurance will only cover it one every twelve months.

And, it is actually called particle size? I had an in depth lipid panel, but nothing is called particle size.

It had the usual plus:

Sd-LDL
Lipoprotein a
apoliprotein a-1
Apoliprotein b
Non HDL
VLDL
%sd LDL
And then ratios for some of those figures.

I have LDL-P which total number of particles, more particles means smaller particles. 1000 or less is super; range goes to 5000. Is there phone number to call for an explanation.