Cholesterol.
That word held no meaning to me til about 4 months ago when I found out I have hypothyroidism. Thanks to a wellness screening at our school, we (my doctor and I) were notified that I had abnormal levels of both the thyroid stimulating hormone and triglycerides. Joyous. The bad news was, I had to take a pill for my thyroid. The good news was it might help level off my triglycerides. Only time would tell.
Well, boys and girls. I feel pretty old and out of shape because today, I received my little blue card in the mail. That card held the news that my triglycerides are really stubborn and do not like Synthroid (Well, more likely, they don't like my choice of food....then again, with them being so high, they probably DO like my choice of food and have little parties each time I open my mouth!). Oh well. It's too bad the Synthroid and my cholesterol didn't like playing together b/c now I have to take yet another medication.
The moral of the story? One, go ahead and get a checkup. If I hadn't gone to that free screening at work, I wouldn't have found out about my thyroid. One in 10 women are diagnosed with thyroid problems. They can lead to serious complications (try death) if left undetected. The same goes with junk that clogs up your arteries. It's kinda important to have blood flowing unrestricted thru your body.
Oh yeah...and eat your fruits and veggies. However, you've seen all those commercials with the healthy folks working out and eating right and still have high cholesterol. Sometimes, it's just genetics that deal you the icky high cholesterol card. Even if you're thinking you're healthy, get your blood checked. You never know.
It's past my bedtime...
(Anyone with advice on dealing with CHO, let me know, k?)
P.S. IT'S OFFICIALLY FRIDAY!! YAAAAAAAAY!!!
4 comments:
You're not old, Amy. Just well conditioned (to borrow a phrase from antique car enthusiasts). lol!
I'm with you on the trigliceride thing. Mine are considered "through the roof". I haven't found a drug or therapy, yet that has even touched them. My problem is food and (lack of) exercise. I think once I get serious about those things, I will see my number come down.
How high were your numbers?
I don't have it all with me right now, but the worst was triglycerides at 364! I'm taking 145mg of Tricor daily and I'm also (though the doctor didn't say anything about it, but it's sort of a "duh" issue) watching my diet. I had told him if the results weren't good I wanted to try diet and exercise first but when I looked at some webistes (My results and prescription came in the mail..not at an office visit which is weird to me), I saw where the drug was necessary b/c my level was so high. Yikes.
They say those with hypothyroidism tend to also have a trigylceride problem, too.
Your trigliceride level is low compared to mine. For some reason, my last test came back with tri levels at 1250!!!
My HDL is low at around 30 (should be 40+.
Because the tri level was so high, they couldn't read the LDL.
My overall cholesterol is 208 which is only a little high.
I really don't get it. Why is the overall at a reasonable level and the triglicerides so high????
I just started a new medicine. Don't remember what it's called.
I read something last night that shocked me. Your body can make triglycerides out of anything! Eating too much protein? Well, the liver will convert it to triglycerides and store it away (fat). Same goes for carbs. Too much of anything, actually. Scary, huh? That may be why the total is low but the evil "t's" are so high. You might be overdoing it on something.
I think my total cholesterol is 216. You got me there, but MAN! 1205!!??
My HDL and LDL were pretty close to normal.
Like a dork, I had been looking for foods with little or no cholesterol when I should be looking for those low in fat AND slightly lower in cholesterol. Too much fat is just as bad as eating something with 115 mg of cholesterol in it b/c it's gonna wind up as the bad stuff, anyway.
Good luck on your quest! I take up my fat-fighting sword and wage war along with you! LOL...
Post a Comment