Cholesterol

My GP has just phoned me to say my cholesterol has risen from 5.7 to 6.1. Looks like the steps I took haven't had any effect at all.

She wants me to take a medium-level pill daily to bring it down a bit.

I don't even know what the pill is yet, as I'll be picking up the prescription when I go to my diabetic clinic next week.

Anyone else on this kind of medication?

Vicky the main group of medicines for lowering cholesterol are statins and work by reducing the production of cholesterol in the liver.

If you think you have got problems, last month mine was 11.5. Have a read of the link below.

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=77167

Thanks Colin x

Simvastatin is a common one, usually taken at night.
Lots of my oldies are on that.
But Vicki make sure she is not just going by the number but the actuall type of cholesterol.
I had alevel of 5.1, was told that was high, lost over 5 stone and spent nearly a year on benecol, nothing eaten over 5%fat, oily fish, at least 10 portions of fruit and veg a day.... and what happened to my level? It went to 6.7
The nurse sent me a book as to how to lower it, lmao, I was eating better than the book said!
So I saw my GP, who showed me the actual make up of the reading, not just the number.
My good cholesterol had massively increased and my bad had gone down, so my actual score (forget the name of this) ie my risk of heart problems was <1%, which was the lowest possible score.... and it all flashed up green on his screen not red.
So, to my diet nurse!

Don't worry about the medication, just don't rely on it alone, make sure you are doing the best you can for your health too..... and I am a big believer a little of what you fanc from time to time, will help. Hence my day off my diet today.

Thansk Becky - and well done for dropping all that weight!

Doc told me it was genetic.....
I don't really want to take the medication, as I don't fancy the side effects (muscle ache etc) and especially the liver problems it can cause.
To say I'm a tad fed up is an understatement.....

sorry to hear your news vicki. maybe another visit to docs/nurse to discuss the options further??

my cholestrol is good according to my gp but i dont understand why as very obese.

sue

Have you tried these little bottles of Benecol? Also oats lowers cholesterol. Might be worth trying these things first instead of taking the tablets. Boots the chemist will give you a free cholesterol check after you have tried the benecol/ diet method to see if it has worked. Then if no change you could then go on the statins.

Thanks, Eleanor. That's an option

I'm diabetic and mine was 5.6, so the nurse put me on Pravastatin, only took them for 3 months, my chloresterol came down to 4.1.....but they dried my joints out completely and now my left wrist is basically kna**ered, the pain is quite unbearable most of the time. I'm now waiting for a hospital appointment to see if there is anything they can do to help relieve the pain.

I struggle to do most day to day things, including grooming my dogs they've taken me off them, but I think the damage has now been done!!