My physical......Help!
Hi guys,
I went for my physical two weeks ago. You know, the blood, the EKG, the pap test and all of that stuff. I was wheezing then but not badly.
I went back today for other stuff and my results. My wheezing is way worse and I have bronchitis. My Doctor gave me an inhaler and I am now on antibiotics.
My pap test was fine, my iron is good, my B12 is low but in the normal range. It should be higher because I don't absorb B12 and am supposed to go for monthly shots but I sort of don't. I go every three or so months. She said my B12 should be much higher considering I get the shots. I reminded her I don't actually go monthly. So I have promised I will start making a valiant effort to go every month.
What was distressing is my cholesterol has always been better than good. This time it wasn't. My bad stuff is high and my good stuff is low. Not dangerously but none the less, this is a first in history for me. My doctor was upset considering I am vegetarian. High cholesterol does not run in my family. Thank goodness, as I am the only veggie! I am ovo-lacto though. In the last year and a half since my last physical, I have not changed my cheese or dairy intake.
I have been hugely stressed in the last year and a half, have not exercised much and have skipped meals and not gotten proper rest. The rest part due to no bedroom and stuff.
I guess I am asking, do any of you have high cholesterol? How have you remedied it? I am still going to eat cheese and eggs. I hate milk so only basically put it in cereal and I rarely eat cereal. I love soy milk but only chocolate and I am not sure how yummy that is on cereal.
As for the cheese and eggs, I am not on that part of the path to quit them yet. I buy free range organic eggs and as for cheese, I just buy it. At some point, I may be able to go on the no eggs and cheese path but I am doing the best I can with no meat, poultry, and fish.
I will cut down on cheese. I really don't eat many eggs any more. Way less than when I had great cholesterol.
She is not panicked because I am still in the OK range but high OK. She told me to start exercising!
I will once the bronchitis is gone because it is not a good idea to do serious exercise with a chest infection.
I have been getting lectures from three of my good friends and my BF about taking better care of myself and I know what they are saying is true. Hard to do when it has been to close to a year since my home has been ripped up and still is not finished, have tended to Isabela dying and Cali being very ill for several months. I do tend to skip some meals. Get no more than 3 or 4 hours sleep a night and have sort of just been a stressed lazy lump for quite some time.
Help!!!!! Are there certain foods you know that lower cholesterol? Of course I will have to google on the subject but I was highly distressed today when I got the results.
OH, please don't say oatmeal or porridge are great cholesterol lowering foods. I gag when trying them and I do keep trying.
Thanking you all in advance.
Di
P.S. I don't know if the Canadian standards are the same as the rest of the world because different labs have different numbers that are healthy or not.
My cholesterol was 5.25
HDL (the good one) is 2.35 and my LDL (the bad one) is 2.58
Thank you Baypuppy!!!!! I love avocados and olive oil. I guess the last year having my kitchen ripped up and the rest of my place, I just grab food. I will start eating avocados again and use more olive oil. Although I hate oatmeal, I love oatmeal cookies, muffins etc. So maybe I have to start making healthy oatmeal muffins! I just hate hot cereal!
I googled something today and thought cholesterol only came from animal sources, I was wrong. Some vegetable matter has it but it is so not significant that it sort of really wouldn't count.
Cheese is my downfall. I love it and probably eat way too much of it. I am hoping when I get tested again in a couple of months, I won't have been on a cheese eating fest. Although I fasted for 12 hours, I did eat too much the couple of weeks proceeding the test. I have to think that a 12 hour fast could not eliminate all the crap I put in me.
I doubt stress plays a role in cholesterol but if it did, it would explain a lot.
Thanks again your your insight!
My doctor teases me about being vegetarian but she has never made me feel bad about it. She actually has vegetarians in her family. A kid or two and a nephew's girlfriend. She was upset today to say it is not common for a vegetarian to have cholesterol issues (of course unless it runs in the family, etc.)
Her big joke to me is there is nothing a steak can't cure. She is joking of course and I adore her and no, she means no ill intent. When I had my physical two weeks ago, I nearly fell off my chair. She said, "seriously, no one should eat meat more than once or twice a week!" Today I clarified what she meant. I said as in no meat???? Or just red meat and she said red meat but in my opinion, it was great hearing that come from her. I love my doctor. She has never made me feel bad or guilty for my choices. She always asks how I am doing and is interested in discussing it. She worries about me if I have a problem and always on the next visit, asks about how things are going. I swear, I hope she never retires as I hope my holistic vet and conventional vet never retire.
Thanks again!!!!!
Di
P.S. I love she said exercise instead of drugs. She knows I have been a lump lately so didn't need to ask if I had been exercising. She knew I wasn't.
A friend of mine, who works out all the time (but doesn't eat quite that well), has high cholesterol, and her doctor said it might be because she limits her fat intake so much. She doesn't eat any meat except fish and eats eggs and dairy, but she always buys "fat free" everything and never uses oils in anything. She doesn't eat nuts/nut butters, etc. So, her saturated fat intake is probably much higher than her unsaturated fat intake, and saturated fat plays a large role in cholesterol production.
So, as baypuppy said, you'll want to increase your intake of "good" fats. The Mayo Clinic website lists a few other foods that you can eat to lower cholesterol (such as soy and flax for omega 3).
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002
A friend of mine, who works out all the time (but doesn't eat quite that well), has high cholesterol, and her doctor said it might be because she limits her fat intake so much. She doesn't eat any meat except fish and eats eggs and dairy, but she always buys "fat free" everything and never uses oils in anything. She doesn't eat nuts/nut butters, etc. So, her saturated fat intake is probably much higher than her unsaturated fat intake, and saturated fat plays a large role in cholesterol production.
So, as baypuppy said, you'll want to increase your intake of "good" fats. The Mayo Clinic website lists a few other foods that you can eat to lower cholesterol (such as soy and flax for omega 3).
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002
Thank you so much kbuettne! I think maybe I have somehow eliminated the healthy fats lately! Will read the article at lunch tomorrow at work!
Now I must go to bed as I have to get up in 4 hours!
Thanks again,
Di
I thought it was proven that the human body doesn't absorb the cholesterol from eggs. So if you don't eat many that shouldn't be a problem--and if we don't absorb it, even if you do.
The exercise factor is important but obviously that's on hold for now. And the smoking factor doesn't help, if you're still struggling with that. I do know that over here in Spain the first thing doctors ask if your cholesterol is up is, "Do you smoke?" and tell people who do they need to quit. I don't know what the exact relationship is.
How is your battle against the major tobacco companies in your bloodstream going? ;)
I thought it was proven that the human body doesn't absorb the cholesterol from eggs. So if you don't eat many that shouldn't be a problem--and if we don't absorb it, even if you do.
The exercise factor is important but obviously that's on hold for now. And the smoking factor doesn't help, if you're still struggling with that. I do know that over here in Spain the first thing doctors ask if your cholesterol is up is, "Do you smoke?" and tell people who do they need to quit. I don't know what the exact relationship is.
How is your battle against the major tobacco companies in your bloodstream going? ;)
OK...I was wondering about the smoking issue! I didn't start my antibiotics tonight because I thought how stupid. Taking them for something I created! I truly wondered if my smoking for the last five months was an issue. I am valiantly trying to smoke my last cigarettes tonight. Really!!! Way past a good bedtime because I am trying to figure things out and quit. I have 3 cigarettes left.
Do you know what the relationship is to smoking and cholesterol? I have no clue. Maybe someone on the board knows.
It is because I am smoking again that I have bronchitis and if I find out it is the reason for the bad cholesterol, I will be shamed.
I am so trying to quit but if there is a relationship, it will be the kick in the a** I need.
Actually, the kick in the a** I need is I am finally angry. And I remember the years of chronic bronchitis. I said to quit I had to make myself sick. I am now sick! Now I HAVE to quit.
Fourteen years smoke free and then 5 months of being stupid.
Somehow, I have to once again take control of my life. Get past the stressors and remember that I can do it!
I have so many people that care but right now, the most important thing is I have to care.
When I wake up tomorrow, I am praying I am smoke free. I actually worried that smoking again affected my cholesterol levels. Guess I Will find out in a few months when I am tested again.
Thanks Yabbitgirl!
Will keep you all posted!
Hugs
Di
Hi Di,I didn't think that smoking could raise LDL but I found this doing a quick search. I don't know who the author is or who they represent, so it has to be taken with a grain of salt......no, no salt, not good, raises blood pressure ;D
http://www.heartpoint.com/smoking.html
I have copied part of the article...
"The fact that smoking causes problems for the heart arteries is not surprising when you consider that smoking has been demonstrated to:
* Increase bad (LDL) cholesterol
* Lower good (HDL) cholesterol
* Increases insulin resistance
* Cigarettes are loaded with "free radicals" which "oxidize" the LDL cholesterol. Oxidized LDL is the very worst type of cholesterol.
* Directly accelerate the progression of the atherosclerotic plaque.
* Increase the heart rate and the blood pressure
* Increase fibrinogen, a protein involved in the formation of clots
* Increase the "stickiness" of platelets, the blood elements involved in clotting
* Impairs the responsiveness of the cells lining the blood vessels.
* Makes the carotid arteries thicker and other arteries stiffer.
* Causes spasm of the heart arteries."
When you are at your doctors again, talk to her about this & she can help you with a nicotine replacement therapy. It was the ONLY way that I could quit smoking.
Good luck to you :)
Di, I'll make a deal with you. You quit smoking and I will quit taking OTC sleeping meds, like Unisom etc. It's just become a mental habit--"if I don't take that what if I can't sleep?" Last night I took some melatonin and had the wierdest dream about me keeping Queen Elisabeth safe from the papparazzi!! I'm not British, so what the hey!! :D
It's not much to offer, but if you quit smoking, I'll quit eating chips and salsa! Sometimes I can go through an entire day without eating anything else, and that must be bad for me...
What about this... you are not allowed to think about me unless you are having a smoke-free kiss! ;)
Seriously, I am glad that you are trying to turn a bad thing (your cholesterol) into a good thing (motivation to quit), and I really hope this is the fuel that you need. I really will give up chips and salsa though--anything to help you quit!
From Allen Carr's The Easyway to Quite Smoking
"Smokers tend to think of the health hazard as a hit-and-miss affair, like stepping on a mine. Get it into your head: it is already happening. Every time you puff on a cigarette you are breathing cancer-triggering tars into you lungs, and cancer is by no means the worst of the killer diseases that cigarettes cause or contribute to....
It is amazing how the fear of the horrendous health risks attached to smoking is overshadowed by the fear of stopping. It's not so much that the latter fear is greater, but that if we quit today the fear is immediate, whereas the fear of contracting lung cancer is a fear of the future. Why look at the black side? Perhaps it won't happen. I'm bound to have quit by then anyway."
Di, I'm still struggling with smoking. I do smoke less, whatever that means but, I've given myself an excuse to smoke if we're out for a beer or cocktails. So naturally, I started scheduling casual business meetings over drinks, just so I could smoke. :-\ So now I'm getting fat... nice.
Don't deprive your body of the anti-biotics that it needs just to punish yourself for causing this, you'll need clear lungs. Keep quitting; every morning, if you have to.
Ovo-lacto veggies can easily turn into little cheese balls...high in fat, cholesterol and gluey casein.
Now, I am NOT dissing you about being an ovo-lacto, you do what is right for you. I will say that having been ovo-lacto for years, it is easy to get locked into using that for your protein rather than beans, TSP and tofu. We were also rather neglectful of grains like quinoa and brown rices when we were ovo-lacto.
Triglycerides also tell part of the cholesterol story. Sure, they increase with fat intake, but they also increase in the face of high carbohydrate (white foods like bread and pasta) intake as well. If your triglycerides were 400 or something, you can seek to reduce them and help your cholesterol too. You focus on whole grains and beans to do this. These low carb diets that all these meaters do is not exactly healthy, although it will decrease triglycerides. I used to be a really low carb freak. My last triglycerides were 76, down from when I was 18 and they were 384! My homeopath said that if I was having brain fog (which I was) I needed to add whole grains back into my diet and up my triglycerides closer to 100.
THe other thing is that cholesterol has a lot to do with genetics too and whether your not your mom breastfed you and for how long. This is to say, it not all your eating habits.
You might adopt the habit that some meaters do in having a vegetarian meal twice a week and have a vegan meal two nights a week. Not be a vegan, but venture into it a bit. That is how I began towards veganism and after about 3 weeks of doing that I just gave up the eggs (I am allergic to dairy, have not had it in years). That might be a less painful way to reduce your cheese intake.
di, in terms of smoking, the biggest risk is that it oxidizes your LDL (which you have an increased amount of) and that is what forms plaques in your arteries. not only that but smoking vasoconstricts your arteries (so you have less of a diameter for the blood to flow through) AND the carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin instead of oxygen making your body produce too many red blood cells, also increasing the risk of clots. having high cholesterol and smoking is definitely something you don't want to do.
in order to raise your HDL the things that are thought t improve it are moderate alcohol consumption (a glass of red wine a day?), moderate exercise (~45 minutes 4x/week), eat monounsaturated fats (it's controversial but they think these might both lower LDL and increase HDL), eat polyunsaturated fats (which unfortunately the main one in our diet is omega 6 which lowers HDL but also lowers LDL more than monounsaturated fats... omega 3's lower blood triglycerides and reduce risk of heart disease!), and cutting out trans fats are a few of the ways... it isn't easy!
to decrease LDL one of the MAJOR factors is saturated fats(besides stearic acid..which i THINK is the saturated fat found in milk?). dietary cholesterol is bad, as well, but in general saturated fats are worse because they make your cells less capable of taking up the cholesterol for use (keeping it in the bloodstream..which what leads to heart disease). also, increase your fiber intake.. it helps the cholesterol that usually gets recycled be excreted in the feces :). the best thing to do is cut down on saturated fat and cholesterol and do the things to increase your HDL.
i am not sure exactly what your serum cholesterol values mean because they are different in the states than canada but it looks like your LDL isn't much higher than your HDL, which is great!
Hi Di,I didn't think that smoking could raise LDL but I found this doing a quick search. I don't know who the author is or who they represent, so it has to be taken with a grain of salt......no, no salt, not good, raises blood pressure ;D
Jessesmum, the information was very interesting. I will actually look more into this and when I see my doctor in two weeks tell her I think smoking played a role in it. I will ask to get tested again in two months.
Thanks so much for posting the article!
Di
Di, I'll make a deal with you. You quit smoking and I will quit taking OTC sleeping meds, like Unisom etc. It's just become a mental habit--"if I don't take that what if I can't sleep?" Last night I took some melatonin and had the wierdest dream about me keeping Queen Elisabeth safe from the papparazzi!! I'm not British, so what the hey!! :D
OK Yabbitgirl....you are on so you better not take it tonight because I had my last cigarette last night and am not going to have one today! Haven't had one today!!!!!!
It was nice of you to save the queen!!!!! Shows you think beyond borders. hee hee hee.
I think we should try to report weekly on our progress unless we cave in. Then we should try to post our slip up that day.
I am already feeling happy on my decision to fight the smoking thing. Today is the first day I have felt so strongly about it. Maybe because I can't breathe!!!!!
Di
It's not much to offer, but if you quit smoking, I'll quit eating chips and salsa! Sometimes I can go through an entire day without eating anything else, and that must be bad for me...
What about this... you are not allowed to think about me unless you are having a smoke-free kiss! ;)
Seriously, I am glad that you are trying to turn a bad thing (your cholesterol) into a good thing (motivation to quit), and I really hope this is the fuel that you need. I really will give up chips and salsa though--anything to help you quit!
OK Apstaats, you make me laugh!!!!! As I truly mean it, I had my last smoke last night, I guess I will be thinking about you a lot!!!! ;D ;D ;D
I was just talking to my sweetie and told him I really had my last cigarette last night. He said..you said that a couple of nights ago. I said this time I mean it because I am angry! He hopes it is true because he very badly wants this for my health.
As for the Salsa and Chips, I don't think you should give them up altogether as Salsa really isn't bad. Maybe just limit yourself to them two times a week. By cutting down on them, it will make me remember how sweet everyone on the board is for trying to help me quit!
Thank you Apstaats. As I am going to the vet tonight with Cali so I won't see my sweetie, I will be thinking of you tomorrow night when I do see him. LMAO!!!!! ;)
Di
Di said:
Shame is a great motivator!!
Good luck, Di.
Di, I'm still struggling with smoking. I do smoke less, whatever that means but, I've given myself an excuse to smoke if we're out for a beer or cocktails. So naturally, I started scheduling casual business meetings over drinks, just so I could smoke. :-\ So now I'm getting fat... nice.
Don't deprive your body of the anti-biotics that it needs just to punish yourself for causing this, you'll need clear lungs. Keep quitting; every morning, if you have to.
Hi Nutdragon.
I did start the antibiotics this morning. Just didn't want to take them last night while I was still puffing away. Planned on starting them today after my LAST cigarette last night. I actually stayed home from work today because I was having breathing difficulties.
From the excerpt you posted, the author is right. Most don't think long term, we think short term. I was always worried about lung cancer when I smoked years ago. When I started again a few months ago after so many years, I really wanted to get bronchitis. Sounds stupid and it is a short term thing. I needed to remember how bad I could possibly feel from a habit that was so not good for my body. I always seemed to have chronic bronchitis as a smoker.
Well I did it! I feel like sh*t today and that is a good thing. The last thing I want is a cigarette. Took five or six months for me to get bronchitis again. Probably because I had got my lungs healthy from years of not smoking.
Please try again with me and everyone to finally quit. I know I can not do the have a smoke with a drink thing. Then I will be back to a pack a day. I only had one cigarette those few months ago. Then a second. Then back to a pack a day. I can't ever have one again. EVER! The only way I truly know how to quit is to stop cold turkey and then be a b*tch for a few weeks.
Oh, my lucky boyfriend! He hasn't seen me as a b*tch before. I do believe I should warn him. Or not! ;D ;D ;D
Join the quit club with us Nutdragon!!!!
Di
Di said:
Shame is a great motivator!!
Good luck, Di.
Thanks Lezly!
On my way to my holistic vet with Cali. First time she will have seen her since January. Only second time ever meeting her. Will respond to the other responces when I get home later tonight!
Di
For Di & all smokers looking for motivation to quit:
http://www.healthbolt.net/2006/07/19/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-stop-smoking-right-now
I've heard a lot about smoking's contribution to heart disease, but I've never read any study. I even heard that it contributes to heart disease more than lung cancer! (this might just be speculation because it's a bigger killer. i dunno.)
I'm trying to find this book I have, PCRM's Healthy Eating for Life for Women, which includes some pretty helpful info on cholesterol, but for the life of me I can't find it =( Well, my recollection is, that, generally:
- any whole grains can help reduce cholesterol
- saturated fat is a major contributor to cholesterol levels (it prompts the body to make more cholesterol)
- polyunsaturated fats are the healthiest
- refined grains and sugars have a correlation with raised cholesterol levels
and there were two clinical studies which showed that heart disease can be reversed by following a low-fat plant-based diet
and something I remember specifically, eggs are a biiiig no-no (so-called "cholesterol bombs") as they contain about 270 mg of cholesterol per egg (90% of the daily maximum one should get). I never heard about it being unabsorbable from eggs... my dad once swore that the cholesterol molecule was too large to be absorbed so it was actually solely fat that created bad cholesterol (therefore, he could safely eat butter ). But I now know that it definitely can be absorbed... after all, it hangs out in the cellular membrane :P
Saturated fat typically isn't too high in your everyday plants, but that all changed with hydrogenated oils (saturating or partially saturating otherwise healthy fat). I s'pose you could avoid all that "partially-hydrogenated" junk then, but I've found it pretty hard to eliminate from my diet (it's in EVERYTHING.). Also, coconut and palm (oils) are supposed to be terrible in their fat content and quality (but there's no other way for me to eat an oreo-type cookie :( ).
Also, as far as cholesterol being good in the past and bad now, a lot of it has to do with age. Not that aging itself causes clogged arteries, but that cholesterol seems to build up. Once it gets solidified, it's hard to get it off. My boyfriend now (age 20) has a terrible diet for his heart, but enjoys good cholesterol. I'm sure my efforts to "convert" him may work as he gets older and can no longer claim immunity for virtue of being young :P
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