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I have had issues with borderline high cholesterol since my early 30's.
It hovered right around 195ish until menopause started last Fall--then it shot up to 255.
CoQ10, flax seed oil and increasing the duration of daily exercise for 3 months lowered it to 250.
Geez. I'm on Lipitor and wish that I did not have to take it as it makes me foggy.
Both of my parents have high cholesterol.
I have a BMI of 21, am a vegetarian, and exercise daily. I am about the last person you would expect to have an issue with high cholesterol.
Some of us just have it for no known reason. (Although I do think that the doctors could figure it out if they had time/really wanted to.) Mine was even worse than yours when I went last week. I can't take statins and the medicine he prescribed is almost $700! They tried to substitute some powdered stuff with aspartame and artificial colors and I called the dr and told them I can't take it. I have so many allergies to artificial ingredients that I know I'd have a reaction to at least one of them. Why does a powder have to contain fake coloring and fake sweetener? If it didn't have the colors and the aspartame, I was going to put it into a fruit smoothie.
Like you, I take CoQ10, exercise, am not overweight, and what I eat has absolutely no effect at all.
However, no one in my family has ever had high cholesterol, just me.
I think my insurance company will accept some kind of waiver so that I can get the pills the dr prescribed without paying $700. Yet I wonder why some of us have this uncontrollable high cholesterol.
I don't take flax oil anymore. Fish oil did lower the high triglycerides from last time though.
It runs in my family and diet didn't help. My cholesterol was 305 and I lowered it with gugulipid supplements. They are inexpensive and work well. They are used a lot in Europe and Asia. Available at nutrition centers or on line.
Location: Olde English District, SC (look it up on Wikipedia)
243 posts, read 366,871 times
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You could try a supplement called berberine. I take 1500 mg a day in three doses of 500 mg. My total cholesterol went from about 225-230 to 165 in about six months. Don't remember the ldl and hdl numbers, but I was told they were both good, too. My doctor had wanted me on a statin before, but I couldn't tolerate it.
Last edited by New Wave Carpetbagger; 05-06-2017 at 08:21 PM..
Reason: Error
I had a terrible time with statins. Lipitor got me to the point where I was sleeping more than 12 hours a day. If I walked to the mailbox and back, I would have to take a nap. So they changed me to Pravastatin, and with that I began getting the severe leg cramps.
Then they changed me to finofibric acid. No side effects for me, and it did a quite job of bringing down my cholesterol.
You could try a supplement called berberine. I take 1500 mg a day in three doses of 500 mg. My total cholesterol went from about 225-230 to 165 in about six months. Don't remember the ldl and hdl numbers, but I was told they were both good, too. My doctor had wanted me on a statin before, but I couldn't tolerate it.
Never heard of it. How did you find out about it? Any side effects?
I have had issues with borderline high cholesterol since my early 30's.
It hovered right around 195ish until menopause started last Fall--then it shot up to 255.
CoQ10, flax seed oil and increasing the duration of daily exercise for 3 months lowered it to 250.
Geez. I'm on Lipitor and wish that I did not have to take it as it makes me foggy.
Both of my parents have high cholesterol.
I have a BMI of 21, am a vegetarian, and exercise daily. I am about the last person you would expect to have an issue with high cholesterol.
Its likely genetic in your case (given your health, diet and family history).
How much soluble fiber have you got in your diet (e.g. OJ, oats etc). Keep up the exercise for sure. If you naturally have an elevated cholesterol (I'm assuming you are talking about elevated LDL) its more of a matter of controlling it and stopping it going higher than really bringing it down.
Location: Olde English District, SC (look it up on Wikipedia)
243 posts, read 366,871 times
Reputation: 299
The most common side effect is that some people have stomach issues, such as nausea or diarrhea, until they adjust to it or find the right dose. I know someone who only takes about 400 mg per day and had a 40 point reduction in cholesterol and enough of a blood glucose reduction to go from a diagnosis of type II diabetes to prediabetes. I started with 1000 mg, and after not having side effects began taking 1500 mg. At one point I dropped back down to 1000 mg for about two weeks because I was feeling queasy, but when I tried 1500 mg again, I was okay. I've been on 1500 mg for the past several months now with no problems. It's a bit of trial and error to find out the best dose depending on the individual. I've read that there can be benefits from as little as 250 or 300 mg per day if that's all that someone can tolerate without having side effects.
I found out about it when researching metabolic syndrome after deciding I probably had it (long story).
Last edited by New Wave Carpetbagger; 05-08-2017 at 07:52 AM..
Reason: Extra info
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