Minor Bad News From The Doctors

[Menudo]

Well, I just got back from my follow-up appointment with the Dr., and it didn't turn out so good. I was in last week with shingles, which are almost gone at this point. However, I also complained that I had been having lots of stomach issues, getting pains and nausea often after eating.

 

The Dr. did some blood work, and today, I got a wake-up call. My tryglicerides were 440 and my 'bad' cholesterol count was 220. My Dr. told me that these numbers were cause for concern. He put me on 20 MG of Lovastatin a day to the lower the cholesterol, and then he gave me the lecture that I've probably needed for quite some time. He told me that I needed to lose a significant amount of weight. I'm currently 6'0 and was 251 today Over the last several years, my eating habits have been awful. My wife says I'm either "on a diet" or REALLY "not on a diet" Basically, when I diet, I go WAY overboard and am extremely disciplined, losing large amounts of weight quickly, but, then, I go back to my awful eating habits and quickly put that weight back on.

 

The good news is that the Dr. said all other things pointed to good health and that if I change my ways quickly, all can be fixed. I'm only 33, and to hear him talking about future concerns of diabetes & heart disease (the two things that killed my father at a young age) had my heart beating rather quickly. It shouldn't have taken this to motivate me, but, I'm officially heading back to the 'Huddle Weight Loss Forum'

 

Once again, I'm glad this place give me somewhere to vent. I've got a great wife and son, and a good life altogether, I don't want to be leaving anytime soon.

Edited May 27, 2008 by Menudo

[Bier Meister]

i got that high bp report about 1 1/2 years ago.... has a much bigger impact now that i have a child..... i brought it down quickly and didn't have to give up too much flavor while doing so. my best.

[Cameltosis]

Getting old stinks. The good news is your young enough to get on track. But then agian so am i and I dont know where the track is. Once I find it I will get back on it.

[The Wolf]

Eat oatmeal every morning...put a little bit of real maple syrup in it for flavor and I promise you that your numbers will begin to realign. I did this several years ago and it worked like a charm.

 

Oh...and however you got the wake up call, you got it. Doesn't matter when, how, or where. The fact that it came and you recognized it is good enough.

 

See you over at the Weight Loss Forum pal!

[dmarc117]

2 words.......

 

flax seed

[Duchess Jack]

maybe its a blessing in disguise... as I have the same issue... 6'1" 245. My wife is 100% happy with me so I can't see me stopping my bad habbits outside of a doctors order.

[Egret]

My numbers and weight picked up after our son was born. I lowered my cholesterol within a few months, but weight was harder. I've gotten that under better control this year. It takes effort, but once you get used to the routine it's easier. I eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast. I eat a lot of "health" foods and avoid junk. I had fast food for the first time in months today. It didn't make me feel good. Giving up fast food was a big way for me to lose weight.

[loaf]

been putting of the checkup. guess it's time.

good luck!

[MrTed46]

To be honest with you, I would avoid taking the pills and try real hard to lower your Cholesterol yourself. Try for 6months.

 

Once you get on that pill you rarely get off.

 

Besides - 220 isnt THAT bad

 

Eat alot of Whole Grains and avoid fatty foods (Red Meat).

 

Edit to add: My mom is 66 and she has 235 and the doctor told her to try for 6months and if the numbers doesnt go down to take the pill.

 

I had 240 and that was my wakeup call and in 6months I lowered it to 215 and 6 months after that its 195.

Edited May 27, 2008 by MrTed46

[Chargerz]

Medical wake-up calls are always nice if you are young enough to do something about them. Being truly motivated to "get healthy" can add many years to your life. Diet and cholesterol-lowering medication is a good start. Regular check-ups are also helpful to catch hypertension and diabetes before they can take their toll.

 

I have a strong family history of heart disease too, so it's something I'm very familiar with. If you have any future medical questions, don't hesitate to PM me (that goes for ALL Huddlers as well).

[MojoMan]

Menudo, it sounds like it's nothing that a steady regimen of high colonics can't fix.

 

JMMO

Edited May 27, 2008 by MojoMan

[wiegie]

To be honest with you, I would avoid taking the pills and try real hard to lower your Cholesterol yourself. Try for 6months.

 

Once you get on that pill you rarely get off.

hmmm... exercise and healthy food vs. $15 per month copay for lipitor

 

I'll take the latter.

 

[TheShiznit]

Well, I just got back from my follow-up appointment with the Dr., and it didn't turn out so good. I was in last week with shingles, which are almost gone at this point. However, I also complained that I had been having lots of stomach issues, getting pains and nausea often after eating.

 

The Dr. did some blood work, and today, I got a wake-up call. My tryglicerides were 440 and my 'bad' cholesterol count was 220. My Dr. told me that these numbers were cause for concern. He put me on 20 MG of Lovastatin a day to the lower the cholesterol, and then he gave me the lecture that I've probably needed for quite some time. He told me that I needed to lose a significant amount of weight. I'm currently 6'0 and was 251 today Over the last several years, my eating habits have been awful. My wife says I'm either "on a diet" or REALLY "not on a diet" Basically, when I diet, I go WAY overboard and am extremely disciplined, losing large amounts of weight quickly, but, then, I go back to my awful eating habits and quickly put that weight back on.

 

The good news is that the Dr. said all other things pointed to good health and that if I change my ways quickly, all can be fixed. I'm only 33, and to hear him talking about future concerns of diabetes & heart disease (the two things that killed my father at a young age) had my heart beating rather quickly. It shouldn't have taken this to motivate me, but, I'm officially heading back to the 'Huddle Weight Loss Forum'

 

Once again, I'm glad this place give me somewhere to vent. I've got a great wife and son, and a good life altogether, I don't want to be leaving anytime soon.

 

I heard that for every 30 pounds you lose you gain one inch of penis length!!!! Is that motivation for you....or umm...your wife?

 

Problem is my wife told me I need to lose 150 pounds....

[broncosn05]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=7825

 

That's ironic.....

Edited May 27, 2008 by broncosn05

[wildcat2334]

hmmm... exercise and healthy food vs. $15 per month copay for lipitor

 

I'll take the latter.

 

solid

 

and you wonder why the US healthcare is effed up - screw the healthy lifestyle, just take some meds

 

Menudo- a healthy lifestyle and eating better will do wonders for you- not to mention the family history - cmon man

 

gradual changes in diet/exercise- it isn't that hard - you used to be an athlete, no??

[whoopazz]

Diet and excercise. Pretty simple really, especially at your age. You need to decide if you want to be around for grandkids, or if you prefer philly cheeseteak sammiches three times a week. From what i've read here, I think you know the answer.

[T_bone65]

Best of luck Menudo, even though you are a Pirates fan. I bet Jay Bruce doesn't have this problem :irishwink:

[Skippy]

I heard that for every 30 pounds you lose you gain one inch of penis length!!!! Is that motivation for you....or umm...your wife?

 

Problem is my wife told me I need to lose 150 pounds....

My wife saw this on TV one day. I swear without even a blink she looked over at me with a shocking look in her eyes and said, "you could be in the porno movies".

[isleseeya]

good luck Menudo ..medicine will help ...flax seed oil and cod liver oil also work imho

 

watch the diet ( i have to as well ) and exercise when you can

 

good luck

[Menudo]

Menudo- a healthy lifestyle and eating better will do wonders for you- not to mention the family history - cmon man

 

gradual changes in diet/exercise- it isn't that hard - you used to be an athlete, no??

 

Trust me man, I know I have no excuse for letting it get this bad.

 

...and yes, I played football in College and was a three sport athlete (Football, Wrestling, Baseball) from 5 years old until I graduated High School. I wrestled 160 in High School and before breaking my foot did a brief stint wrestling 177 my Sophomore year in College. Played MLB at about 215 my Senior Year, but, it was a VERY good 215. Ever since then, it has slowly gone downhill.......

 

I'm going to get this under control. Thanks to everyone for the helpful words of advice and encouragement.

[Menudo]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=7825

 

That's ironic.....

 

I don't get it ?????

[tonorator]

To be honest with you, I would avoid taking the pills and try real hard to lower your Cholesterol yourself. Try for 6months.

 

Once you get on that pill you rarely get off.

 

Besides - 220 isnt THAT bad

 

Eat alot of Whole Grains and avoid fatty foods (Red Meat).

 

i couldn't agree more with this. give it 6 months. sweat some on treadmill. change your eating habits to cut out the fast food and add some more oats and veggies to your diet. if you do this, you will bring your numbers down, feel better, and avoid pumping drugs into your system on a regular basis. these statins are now recommended at the drop of a hat because the profits are so good and we aren't even trying to stress better living. i've got no data to support this, but the ever increasing ways that we are putting non-natural substances into our bodies, either via drugs or processed foods, can't be a good thing over the long haul. you really have nothing to lose by giving this a shot, and everything to gain. if it doesn't get the job done or you don't have the willpower to follow through, then you can resort to the drugs.

[tonorator]

very interesting article here, and i'm sure you can find many more like it. this is definitely worth the read and could change your thinking. do some research!

 

this section stands out:

 

So what are the LDL and HDL monsters we hear so much about.

 

Low density lipoproteins have the job of transporting cholesterol throughout the body to be used in the construction of cells, etc. They are very soft and can squeeze into very tight places throughout the body as every cell in the body needs cholesterol. If there is an excess of cholesterol the low density lipoproteins release the cholesterol into the blood stream. Here it is retrieved by the high density lipoproteins and returned to the liver to be recycled. LDL has receives the “bad” title because it drops off the cholesterol, and HDL receives the “good” title because it takes the cholesterol out of the blood stream. A good balance between the HDL and LDL is 2 to 1.

 

But neither are bad. They are doing their job in the body. The problem is that some cholesterol sticks.

 

What makes some cholesterol stick and others float around in the blood stream to be retrieved by HDL? The answer is that the one ones that stick have been oxidized or damaged by free radicals. Free radicals are molecules that are capable of pulling hydrogen off of useful molecules in the body, giving them an electrical charge that causes them to bind with other molecules. Some free radicals are produced naturally through exercise or cellular metabolism. The body has natural antioxidants to combat these free radicals. The best known of these antioxidants to restore the cholesterol to its normal unsticky self is Vitamin E. This is why vitamin E has such a good reputation for combating heart disease.

 

Unfortunately, many people consume massive amounts of free radicals in the form of fried foods, fatty meat, alcohol, and cigarette smoke. Each free radical is capable of creating 27 generations of free radicals–one creates a second one, those two create four to the 27th generation which could make approximately 250 million damaged molecules. A typical puff of cigarette smoke contains approximately 1 billion free-radicals. Free radical damage to the skin of smokers is easily recognized by the tough leathery appearance. Over consumption of free-radicals can over-power the body’s ability to restore damage, especially if the diet is low in natural anti-oxidants such as vitamin E. The more free radicals we consume, the higher the damage to cholesterol.

 

But there’s another puzzle to solve. If this cholesterol is so sticky, why does it only stick in the arteries around the heart area. Why not all over the body? The answer was found by Dr. Mathias Roth, MD in his research at the Linus Pauling Institute.

 

Scurvy is a condition that exists in the body when insufficient Vitamin C is present. Among other things, a symptom of scurvy is that the walls in the blood vessels break down and the victim bleeds to death internally. The National Science Federation has determined that 60 mg of Vitamin C per day will prevent scurvy and that is where the RDA/RDI for Vitamin C is set. But it is possible for you to have symptoms of Vitamin C deficiency with out dying. Instead of your blood vessels breaking down completely, tiny cracks or micro-fissures are formed. Of course, they are most apt to occur in the blood vessels where there is the most pressure, next to the heart. When the blood vessels break down, the body creates an inflamation response. As mentioned before, cholesterol plays a role in the inflamation response.

 

First on the scene is fibrin, a blood protein involved in the clotting process. The fibrin fills in the cracks. Fibrin is like barbed wire in that everything sticks to it, especially collagen proteins and cholesterol. The crack is repaired. According to Dr. Rath, if the body gets 800 mg of Vitamin C in the diet daily, the cracks don’t form. To rephrase Dr. Rath, if there are no cracks, there’s nothing for the cholesterol to stick to.

 

The body is pretty cool in that it does not make anything it can’t use. We get into problems, though when we feed the body foods high in free-radicals. If the free-radical damaged cholesterol is part of the plaque that fills in the crack, it attracts other free-radical damaged cholesterol and the plaque begins to build. Vitamin E and other antioxidants not only remove the damage to the free-radical damage in the blood stream, they also neutralize the free radical damage in the plaque. In addition, if the diet contains enough Vitamin C and lecithin, the body can remove the excess cholesterol plaque and restore flow to the arteries.

 

Let’s take a look at the Allopathic approach, lowering cholesterol. Assuming that we really want to lower cholesterol, the most popular approach is treatment with statin drugs. One of the side effects is that it damages muscle tissue...

 

At this point some of you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, isn’t the heart a muscle?”

 

I never said this approach made sense. Dr. Don Rosendale, MD put it this way:

 

“Using the same conventional medical thinking that is being used for cholesterol would lead one to believe that doctors should reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by taking out everybody's brain.” –“Cholesterol is not the Cause of Heart Disease”

[HowboutthemCowboys]

Good luck Menudo.

[polksalet]

I've gotta go get my blood checked. I am curious to se what this modified atkins is doing to my blood. I think I should have a lot better cholesterol as well as blood sugar. However we can never be sure.

 

Anyway, good luck!!!