Terrified of heart attack at 40

[Shelly]

My doc just said he thinks I should go on cholesterol medicine because mine is way too high. Overall is 233, HDL 46, LDL 163, triglycerides normal. Anyone know a lot about cholesterol? I'm so scared my arteries are blocked and I'm going to have a heart attack. Please help again! Always something to worry about. Thanks for replies

[Meg]

Hi Shelley,

Yes, all those three readings are higher than they should be, however none are up in the danger zone.

So, it's giving you plenty of time to make lifestyle changes and reverse those readings and get yourself back on a healthy track again.

Increasing the amount of exercise you do slowly and keeping it up is really important as well as looking at the foods you eat and optimizing your diet.

You can bring all those readings down and thus reduce your risk of cardiac events.

[russ]

Shelley, Meg is correct.

The doctor's advice has given you the opportunity to help prevent any problems, many people do not get this chance.

So as Meg said, going to see the nurse/doctor over healthy eating, quitting smoking or heavy drinking, taking your medication and starting slowly some physical exercise will put you in a much better health position.

You can reduce cholesterol via the options above and your arteries cannot be blocked or the doctor would have taken more action.

I'll give you simple examples that I took. I have reduced sugar and salt in my diet, fruit or a low fat yogurt instead of chocolate/sweets all the time, I use sweetner instead of sugar all the time. In the morning I have all-bran or a healthy cereal instead of a fry-up or cereal high in fats and sugar. Instead of cooking in fat, I grill or oven cook (well, mom does!). Instead of using salt I use peppers or herbs. Instead of proper butter use low fat spread. I eat more oily fish, rich in omega-3 oils. Instead of chips all the time, I have fresh potatoes, mashed or baked. Your main aim is to reduce the sugar and salt in your diet and increase the fibre and omega-3 oils. Honestly, this isn't that difficult, and you can still enjoy things from your old diet, just in less quantity.

On exercise, try walking places you may take the car, or having a light walk after a meal. When you feel more confident and have the OK fromt he doctor, try doing some light exercise, swimming or cycling, this doesn't have to be for hours at a time, a light exercise for 20 minutes 4-5 times a week is recommended.

If you smoke, cut down or ideally STOP! If you drink heavily, try and reduce the units you drink.

You can make yourself healthier and you will feel better for a new lifestyle!

Take Care,

[mirry]

Hi , have you considered using soya products ?
I had my test and it came back as the lowest they had ever seen, I scored an exact 3 which has only ever been seen in Iceland ,lol.
Then he asked me what I ate and I said I eat alot of soya products and he said thats what it was.

Try some soya milk, it will bring your levels down.