Cholesterol levels
 

hi all. Just been to the dr. and was expecting all this good news since I have lost over 40 lbs!
Well, turns out I'm pre-diabetic and my cholesterol levels are not great. (ldl 139)I'm not asking anyone for medical advice, I was just wondering if any of you have similar readings. Looking on line it doesn't seem to be really high, it's considered borderline, but they did perscribe me crestor which confused me a bit. I also didn't expect to have a sugar problem either. This news just blew me away . I guess I was expecting to be more healthy that ever now that I'm thinner and exercising. I don't know what else I can do to watch my diet for sugar and as far as the cholesterol goes, I don't even eat any kind of meat. my whole atkins lifestyle consists of chicken, fish and eggs/ maybe those eggs arent' as good as I think they are!
Maggie

Hi Maggie,
I'm new around here, and that does seem odd. I am starting Atkins in hopes of bringing both my sugar and cholesterol levels down. I have been on it 1 week so far, so I guess we'll see what happens.
Congats on the 40 pound loss, that's great!:carrot:

Maggie: I was told by my doc that you can be a vegetarian, exercise like crazy and STILL have high cholesterol. I'm surprised they pushed the drugs right away for that. Without asking if you wanted to try and change your diet & exercise routines to see if that would help. I don't know anything about the diabetes and sugar levels and stuff so can't help there. Good luck and keep us informed!! And WTG on the success with you weight loss so far. Keep up the great work!!

Thanks all. I saw a nutrionist tonight and besides telling me to go off atkins, she said that my sugar wasn't really "that" bad it's more like "pre-diabetic" and since I had gestational diabetes with my three pregnancies I suppose they jumped the gun a bit. She also told me my cholesterol wasn't bad IT's under 200 so it's ok and my triglyverides were actually very good. (whatever that means) So I flushed the pills and will see how I can tweek my diet a little. I really don't know what else to do with it but we'll see.
Brenda - I guess your doc's right. because he just described me! I really don't have a family history of it either. WHO KNOWS! Seems that it is still at a level where I could control it if Itry.
Kathi- Oh, that's great! your a RN and this sounds odd to you! Makes me think I was right about thinking this Dr was a little off. Anyone who throws meds at you like that isn't good! I agree that he should have tried tohelp in other ways first like you said!
Thanks for all the input!

maggie

Your triglycerides are a direct result of how many carbs and sugars you consume. They will drop the most dramatically of all your Cholesterol levels when you go on Atkins.

Before I started dieting at all, my triglycerides were measured at 500! After a few months on Atkins they were down to the 70s. The nurse told me that my triglycerides were so good because of Atkins.

They still wanted to keep an eye on me for "high" cholesterol. But I've been told that their numbers don't really mean much for someone on Atkins, that what really matters is the ratio of Good cholesterol (HDL) to Bad cholesterol (LDL).

What was your HDL level?

Sherry - Well that's good news! my HDL is 46 triglycerides are 59 and LDL 139 I think they were concerned about my LDL becaue they didn't like my sugar reading(125) which I didn't think was THAT bad! I've decided to try some herbal type supplements to get my LDL under 100 (where they told me it should be)
Thanks for your input! that helped a lot!
Maggie

:welcome2: back Maggie!!:hug: Ya know,up to 120 USED to be considered good for sugar. Good news is, most people can bring their sugar down with diet & exercise:) And what eating plan could be better for anyone with blood sugar problems than Atkins! On Atkins, you avoid sugar and potatoes, rice, pasta & white bread....all the things that diabetics are told to stay away from. And good for you deciding to try some herbal supplements to get your LDL down:)

All the best to you!!

Kim

:thanks: Kim!
You have helped me from giving up! And for that I am very thankful! Our little "chat" was just what I needed the other day!:tread: i am off to my treadmill right now! and I won't weigh in until next Friday! Wish me luck!
keep in touch
Maggie :hug:

Well I stay away from the board due to really hectic work and I stop in for a great conversation!1 Darn how many others did I miss????

Let metell you my story..
Family history on 2 sides of diabeties and High Cholesterol.

when I was 39 I was prediabetic, having many times of low glucose shakes, and triglycerides were up to over 300, HDL was about 35 (bad) LDL was also high

I did atkins (PP for those that know me, really no different from atkins just a minimal tweak in the carb count). and exercised daily within 9 months my LDL was 79 (great) HDL was 69 (Wonderful) and Triglycerides were 98 (OMG GREAT!!!) (I refused to go back to the doctor until I had lost good weight)The goal according to the PPLP book is to have 3:1 ratio (or less)of triglycerides to HDL. I exceeded the goal. If you really want to learn about that there is the PPLP book which is very technical about the cholesteral. Going to such detail about even the size of the cholesteral molecules. glucose was about 90.

But let me alo tell you I was taking good supplements No fish oil as it was making me burp cod, Eating tuna 3+ times a week for the fish oil. NO Cheating carbs were keep to about 50 daily due to the extensive exercise I was doing. I was the picture of health.

NOW>>> If I remember correctly from what I was reading this is josteling my brain which is good. Initially you WILL see an increase of the cholesterol count. As your body is taking a dramatic change in your eating style. And is adjusting. Also you did not say where your body started off from. You could have been so much higher and are actually comming down.

Also some advice here from the doctor whi si seeing my husband a cardiologist whi is specializing in cholesterol. All those medicines can and will make changes in the liver he at 49 has had to have a liver scan just to make sure there was not pernament damage. with 5 or so years of bouncing from one med to another. Just put him on OMNICOR (special high quality fish oil capsules) which taking half the dose reduced his triglycerides from 700 to under 200 (before he went to him he was taking (at different times) zetia, provocol, zocor, lipitor, and a few others I do not remember)

Well I hope this has helped, please stick true for a while longer your body just needs to adjust and how is the exercise going that is also one of the best things for cholesterol

WOW Sue! That sure is a lot of info! I was taking notes as I read it all!
I really don't know what my 'before' numbers would have been. It's good to hear others people experiences with all this since this is the first time I have been going through it! Thanks I will keep on Atkins for sure, I'm just trying to figure out what other supplements (is any ) I should take.
thanks again
maggie

I don't post much, mostly a lurker, but I just wanted to add that doctors do get monetary kickbacks from pharmaceutical(sp) companies to push their drugs.

I'm not saying that that is what happened in your instance, but it does make ME go hmmmmmm.

totally agree