High cholesterol

cityontheup said:
Is porridge good for lowering cholesterol?
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Apparently not, it's better than eating a full English but porridge oats are very carby and carbs increase cholesterol as well as your weight.

I've been on statins for nearly 20 years and my arteries remain unclogged.

OP... there's a lot of scaremongering bollocks out there about statins but I'm thankful for them as high cholesterol runs in the male side of my family
 
Centur100ns said:
I have been on them for a couple of years, levels came down but consultant recommended taking an additional tablet to bring it down further. I then seemed to drop off any clinic appointments and they called me after about 8 months apologising and sent me for blood tests. Cholesterol levels were perfect but my liver levels were sky high. Had to come off the tablets for a couple of months to see if they were causing the damage to the liver or something else. Being off them had lowered the liver levels to an acceptable level but cholesterol gone really high again. I am now trying a different statin and they are meant to be testing my blood every 2 months to keep an eye on things.

Just make sure they keep on top of your blood testing and call your doctor to book them in if longer than 3 months or you could end up fixing one issue but causing another.

Luckily I have BUPA through work which doesn’t cover the ongoing cholesterol checking but was handy for having my liver scans done which NHS consultant said I needed to check what damage had been done, but still haven’t received an appointment via the NHS for 3 months later.
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Hope things settle down for you mate
 
cityontheup said:
Nothing in my genes, figures are only just above acceptable, I’m exercising and heating healthier more but not coming down as yet. Any suggestions on best diet?
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Switch your white breads and pastas to whole wheat. Plenty of veg, fruit and beans. Not the Heinz kind! Try to limit the red meat to once a week. Eat more fish. Stay away from cheese, egg yolks, and anything high in saturated fat.

Not going to lie pal, it's a right fucker of a diet to lower cholesterol, but it's the choice of eating boring for 6 months or having a clutcher when you're having a shite one day.

Try and get out and walk for an hour a day. Especially now the weather is nice. Good luck pal.
 
cityontheup said:
Nothing in my genes, figures are only just above acceptable, I’m exercising and heating healthier more but not coming down as yet. Any suggestions on best diet?
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Lots of oats. I have a bowl of sugar-free Alpen a day...I think it helps keep my cholesterol low. Or just plain porridge.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned but it is important that as well as the cholesterol details (LDL etc) that you ask for triglycerides to be checked. These are all the other fats that can get into your blood.
Not completely accurate but cholesterol is what your liver does and triglycerides are what your diet does.
 
cityontheup said:
I have just been prescribed statins because my cholesterol level is slightly higher than recommended. Has anyone been advised the same as have read bad reports about taking statins?
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I had them prescribed to me some years ago, if I remember my cholesterol reading was between 7 and 8, and after taking them for some time, the blood test results shown some strange reading for my liver. My GP got me off them and the liver went back to normal. I lowered my cholesterol by completely changing my diet that led to a weight loss and I never looked back. It is my experience that what you eat and how much eat is the biggest contributor to cholesterol levels.
 
Bill Walker said:
Apparently not, it's better than eating a full English but porridge oats are very carby and carbs increase cholesterol as well as your weight.

I've been on statins for nearly 20 years and my arteries remain unclogged.

OP... there's a lot of scaremongering bollocks out there about statins but I'm thankful for them as high cholesterol runs in the male side of my family
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Not sure the porridge oats comment is entirely true & perhaps a simplistic way at looking at this type of food.

Yes, it contains carbs but the oats contain beta-glucan highly soluble fibre content which helps reduce LDL 'bad' cholesterol. Loosely works by creating a gel & preventing bile acids getting easily absorbed in your bloodstream.
 
cityontheup said:
I have just been prescribed statins because my cholesterol level is slightly higher than recommended. Has anyone been advised the same as have read bad reports about taking statins?
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Yes. Mine’s “slightly high” according to doctor at last check up. No side effects.
There’s no great secret - burn off more calories than you put in.
If you like chips, eat chips.
If you like white bread, eat white bread.
Enjoy a bevvy and don’t stress - life’s to be lived.
 
I had blood tests a couple of years ago, and they indicated high cholesterol levels. I was prescribed statins. Over the next six to nine months later, I had no energy, couldn’t keep my food down, so I was scared to eat. I was a complete wreck, suffered from vertigo and other symptoms I won’t share regarding my digestive system. After various uncomfortable and intrusive tests, I eventually came off the statins, and gradually got my appetite back. Subsequently had an ECG and echocardiogram and the results indicated my heart is fine. More blood tests in a month or so, but no way will I take statins again.
 
After being prescribed satins after a blood test about 3 months I did not take the statins. Instead I ate healthier and started exercising, had another blood test done last week and my cholesterol levels are coming down and are just above the recommended levels. So I will keep doing what I’m doing without the statins and have my blood checked again in a few months.
 
cityontheup said:
After being prescribed satins after a blood test about 3 months I did not take the statins. Instead I ate healthier and started exercising, had another blood test done last week and my cholesterol levels are coming down and are just above the recommended levels. So I will keep doing what I’m doing without the statins and have my blood checked again in a few months.
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Well done mate. If you can avoid any kind of medication it's the best way forward.
 
cityontheup said:
I have just been prescribed statins because my cholesterol level is slightly higher than recommended. Has anyone been advised the same as have read bad reports about taking statins?
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Yep. My reading was 5.8 at the doctors. Given me 6 months to get it down to 4 otherwise statins
 
bluem@n said:
Some statins can give you leg cramps in the early hours. If you get that your GP can prescribe different statins. (Been on them over 20 years )
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I've been on Atorvastatin and have been getting occasional foot and leg cramps, never put it together with taking the tablets. No other issues but might speak to the GP. Thanks for the post.
 
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