help!

[rainbowtrout]

I have to get all this bloodwork done for travel and I got my cholesterol back today--it's really high for my age (176 total, 69 HDL and 99 LDL.) and I have no idea WHY...I'm a vegitarian, I eat TONS of whole grains, I get regular exercize, and I have no history of high cholesterol in my family.

should I get the test re-done? My mother and father are almost 60 and have lower levels than this. The only thing I can think of is that for the last year I've drunk a half glass of whole milk every couple of days, and I put eggs in stuff I bake. I use butter sparingly, don't eat red meat. I eat a decent amount of cheese, but mostly mozzarella.
I don't drink or smoke.

THis is silly but I am actually feeling really upset about this--I mean what did I do wrong???

 

[Kaleigh]

I''d have the test re done to be sure. Good luck!!

 

[Linda W]

I would talk to your Dr. about it also.


Linda

 

[rainbowtrout]

I emailed her when I got home; hopefully she''ll get back to me. I realize PS isn''t a substitute for her, just wanted to know if I was right that this seems high.

thanks guys.

 

[rainbowtrout]

right. so she told me it was totally normal and I shouldn't worry. Perhaps she's a twit, or perhaps I just have family with freakishly low cholesterol.

 

[FireGoddess]

I thought over 220 was borderline to high.

When I was superfit (years ago, ran a marathon, yadda yadda) my cholesterol was 130. I''m way out of shape and need to lose a few and even now though, I do watch what I eat and try to get some decent exercise and it''s around 170. That''s still within normal.

 

[icekid]

that''s kind of odd...

do your parents eat a diet that is similar to yours? do you eat a lot of sugar?

your HDL cholesterol is really good though! Your doc is probably right- nothing to worry about, but if you''re concerned I would wait 6 or 12 month and get it checked again.

 

[dani13]

Rainbow-

Those levels are fine....did you eat or drink before the test at all though? It should have been done fasting- nothing to eat or drink before...even a cup of coffee can throw the results off. I wouldn't worry about it any more though- you are in completely normal ranges for everything.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Date: 4/26/2006 3:16:42 PM
Author: icekid
that''s kind of odd...


do your parents eat a diet that is similar to yours? do you eat a lot of sugar?


your HDL cholesterol is really good though! Your doc is probably right- nothing to worry about, but if you''re concerned I would wait 6 or 12 month and get it checked again.

To be fair, my parents are health freaks. My mother runs a few miles a day and doesn''t eat "white food" (anything with sugar, flour, etc) and Dad won''t eat cheese, eggs, white bread, or meat. He also lifts weights but does no cardio. His is about 130, mom''s is about 170.

No, I don''t eat a lot of sugar, but my diet of late has been kind of bad with exams and such. I''ve also been craving French fries, which have a ton of trans fat.

I also haven''t been running as much, just been walking briskly maybe 20-40 mins a day.


I mostly freaked out because this was a traumatic visit in general (they stuck me five times to find a vein then laughed about it, the woman who weighed me told me I looked like I should weigh a lot less--I''m 5''8 and weigh 140--, etc). Also my family, as you can tell, are major health nuts so they overreacted when I told them.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Date: 4/26/2006 3:34:09 PM
Author: Dani
Rainbow-


Those levels are fine....did you eat or drink before the test at all though? It should have been done fasting- nothing to eat or drink before...even a cup of coffee can throw the results off. I wouldn''t worry about it any more though- you are in completely normal ranges for everything.

No, I didn''t eat--in fact by the time they did they test I hadn''t eaten in about 16 hours. Was hungry!

Thanks for the help.

 

[marvel]

Date: 4/26/2006 3:46:39 PM
Author: rainbowtrout


I mostly freaked out because this was a traumatic visit in general (they stuck me five times to find a vein then laughed about it, the woman who weighed me told me I looked like I should weigh a lot less--I''m 5''8 and weigh 140--, etc). Also my family, as you can tell, are major health nuts so they overreacted when I told them.

They sound like an evil bunch!

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 4/26/2006 3:46:39 PM
Author: rainbowtrout

the woman who weighed me told me I looked like I should weigh a lot less--I''m 5''8 and weigh 140--, etc).

Uh, that''s normal, even light.

 

[tawn]

Date: 4/26/2006 4:27:51 PM
Author: FireGoddess

Date: 4/26/2006 3:46:39 PM
Author: rainbowtrout

the woman who weighed me told me I looked like I should weigh a lot less--I''m 5''8 and weigh 140--, etc).

Uh, that''s normal, even light.

I agree! I''m almost 5''10" and that''s quite thin for your height! My mom used to tell me that a good general rule of thumb is 100lbs for 5", and 5lbs for every inch over! So, that would make you the absolute perfect weight for your height!

You should have gotten to take a try at her with the needle!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

Date: 4/26/2006 4:59:27 PM
Author: tawn

Date: 4/26/2006 4:27:51 PM

Author: FireGoddess

Date: 4/26/2006 3:46:39 PM

Author: rainbowtrout


the woman who weighed me told me I looked like I should weigh a lot less--I''m 5''8 and weigh 140--, etc).

Uh, that''s normal, even light.

I agree! I''m almost 5''10'' and that''s quite thin for your height! My mom used to tell me that a good general rule of thumb is 100lbs for 5'', and 5lbs for every inch over! So, that would make you the absolute perfect weight for your height!


You should have gotten to take a try at her with the needle!!

I thought about it!

I should have just stuck her with the comeback line I threw at my normally wonderful ex-runway model of a stepmother when she said I looked a little chubby in clothes:

"Yeah, but I look goooood naked." Harump!


Anyway, I''m feeling better about this now. FI promised he would go running with me in the morning, and made me promise to eat something for dinner. So it''s fine.

 

[Linda W]

I had a technician stick me 3 times ( she also thought it was funny ) and I asked for another technician .The next tech, got the needle in on the first try.

It is not funny when they do that.

Linda

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Date: 4/26/2006 1:49:27 PM
Author:rainbowtrout
I have to get all this bloodwork done for travel and I got my cholesterol back today--it''s really high for my age (176 total, 69 HDL and 99 LDL.) and I have no idea WHY...I''m a vegitarian, I eat TONS of whole grains, I get regular exercize, and I have no history of high cholesterol in my family.


should I get the test re-done? My mother and father are almost 60 and have lower levels than this. The only thing I can think of is that for the last year I''ve drunk a half glass of whole milk every couple of days, and I put eggs in stuff I bake. I use butter sparingly, don''t eat red meat. I eat a decent amount of cheese, but mostly mozzarella.

I don''t drink or smoke.


THis is silly but I am actually feeling really upset about this--I mean what did I do wrong???

I''m a vegetarian too, and I don''t think your cholesterol seems that high, but that''s just me. I know when my sister was a vegan, her cholesterol was in the 140s. When I eat less dairy, my cholesterol falls too. Also, being stressed out can raise levels.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Stupid question:

so you can lower it? I thought it just built up over your lifetime and you could control it but that was it...that was why I was so upset, I thought it piled up over your lifetime.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 4/26/2006 8:26:46 PM
Author: rainbowtrout
Stupid question:

so you can lower it? I thought it just built up over your lifetime and you could control it but that was it...that was why I was so upset, I thought it piled up over your lifetime.

Yes, you can lower it!! It doesn''t build up over your lifetime! Things like oatmeal, soy, etc are great things to manage and lower your cholesterol. So is cutting out or reducing your intake of red meat, fatty cheese (the lower-fat, part skim ones are better), etc...

 

[Odilia]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I am not an expert about what's normal or out-of-range, but where I used to work we had a statistics & design of experiments course, and the man teaching it used this exact example: a healthy, physically fit etc. woman had a cholesterol test, and it came back high, and it didn't seem right based on her history etc. She got re-tested, and the second test came back lower. His criticism of the whole thing was, - well, I don't want to get too technical - I was in the measurements field, and let's just suffice it to say that measurements are not perfect. There is always some range of error. He said once an experiment was done where they took a blood sample from one person, sent it to a bunch of labs all over the place, and the results came back in as what's known as a bell curve - a few very low, a bunch at some higher level, and a few very high. So the point was, all you have is one data point: your one test result. That result could have been anywhere on the bell curve. I am not trying to say all medical test results are worthless, but you would really have to know about the accuracy and repeatability of their test equipment etc., or get tested a bunch of times, or send it to a bunch of different labs to know for sure.

So anyway, a good doctor should take other things into account rather than just blindly use test results. He or she should take into consideration your diet, your other test results, how you feel, etc. etc.. in conjunction with these test results.

(The statistical design teacher pointed out that even after that woman he knew got her second "good" test result, they still only had two data points on the bell curve. But in her case, they believed the second result because it was more consistent with the rest of the picture: her diet, exercise etc. )

 

[dani13]

Yes, RT, you can seriously modify your cholesterol level with changes in your diet, activity level, etc. My father had borderline- high cholesterol, and he made alot of changes- became a vegetarian, exercises 4-5 days per week (lifting and cardio) and he reduced his numbers significantly. So it can be done!
Do you eat a lot of shellfish? Believe it or not, it has a lot of cholesterol. Also, like someone said, dairy is not great. My dad switched completely to soy products...

 

[rainbowtrout]

no shellfish, but I bet the dairy is the culprit, plus not doing intensive exercise.

I''d been drinking a lot of whole milk lately and probably too much cheese (easy when vegitarian). I actually love soy milk, so I''ll switch that out. I won''t give up cheese entirely, but I''ll try to use it as a garnish.

 

[tulip928]

That''s not a bad cholesterol level at all. Total cholesterol should be under 200. Your HDL level is excellent - that''s the good cholesterol. Your ratio of these numbers is 2.5. Anything under 3.5 puts you at low risk for heart disease.

 

[monarch64]

Rainbow, I''m vegetarian too, trying hard to go vegan. I have cut down quite a bit on the dairy by subbing soy milk and using shredded veggie cheese. I love, love, love shredded cheese on everything--it''s my downfall! I did happen to find some pretty good "Veggie Shreds" made by galaxy foods (galaxyfoods.com if you''re interested.) It''s not completely vegan, though--it''s made primarily of soy, but does contain "casein" or skim milk proteins(?). Anywho, I know that company also makes other "cheeses" and veggie foods, so that might help you or you could try whatever brand is available at your grocer.

Dairy and eggs are so difficult for me to cut out without feeling like I''m on a raw food diet! Arrggh!

 

[rainbowtrout]

thanks Monarch. Unfort. I have a soul-deep hatred of soy cheese...I cannot STAND the stuff.

To clarify, I''m not "vegitarian" in a committed way, I just realized after about 2 ys of not eating out hardly at all that, well, I almost never eat meat. I can''t afford humanely raised chicken more than about once a month or so, and and red free-range meat is just out of the question price-wise. I think we had steak ONCE this year.