It took longer than I'd hoped to get this 3rd segment written. In this edition, I'll walk through my 1st lipid panel on April, 07 to my third in Feb, 08. This period during my ongoing journey is the most significant. Refer back to the chart in Segment 1.
In April '07, my doctor raised the flag after reviewing the lipid panel - I was just under the borderline (<239) with cholesterol at 237; and on the better side of the line with HDL (>40) at 47; but my triglycerides (TGl) were 16% too high at 232 (should be <199) which caused my calculated LDL (<129) to be off at 144. The doctor prescribed statins. A little shaken, I left the appointment without filling my prescription. A couple of days later I emailed my doctor and got him to agree to give me six months to try controlling my lipids on my own.
I did what I thought was best, with yoga and hiking and consciously controlling diet; I thought I was doing well. I took seven months instead of six before going back for the next lipid panel. You can tell from the chart that I actually regressed. When I went in to see the doctor in person, I was read the riot act.
Fortunately for me, the results were online a week before I got my appointment. During that week, I met with a few friends who had been there before and had seen good results without using statins (if you are reading this, you know who you are & thank you again!!), I read through reference material, and with help came up with a game plan for myself. At the in-person doctor's appointment, right after I was read the riot act, I presented the plan, asked for his input and permission to try this over the next 6 months. This time around I got permission only for 3 and a strict ban on taking any grace period. Exactly 3 months later on Feb 21st, '08 I went back for the tests. If you recall the chart, you know how that turned out! Let me share that game plan with you - it worked for me. Work with your doctor perhaps he will OK a version of the plan for you. Here goes...
1) Sugars in the diet seem to be the main cause for high TGl and the best way to reduce it is by controlling sugars. In the process you may notice that you drop a few pounds.
I am 5' 9" (175 cm) tall and in Nov, '07 I weighed 156 lbs (70.8 Kg). I never thought I was overweight - but dropping the pounds was still recommended - goal was to drop 15 lbs (6.8Kg). I eliminated most things white: refined sugar, rice, white bread, etc. I switched to honey and raw brown sugar, 9 grain, oatnut & whole wheat breads, and I'm continue to avoid rice. I was pre-diabetic with my fasting glucose going from 121 to 127 and then down to 119 at the Feb 08 test.
2) Reducing the bad and further improving the good HDL cholesterol came from introducing Niacin and Omega-3 into the mix. The target was to achieve the therapeutic concentration with 3 gms/day of Niacin. During this period I took one 1gm capsule of Omega-3 a day. Acclimatizing to the Niacin dosage took some effort and pain, more on that in the next blog.
To say the least, I believe I have had some success in getting a handle on my numbers as evidenced by my Feb 21, '08 numbers. The process of putting this little game plan in place is worth a separate edition - and I promise I'll put that up soon.
Please share your thoughts in the mean time - click below and leave a comment.
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