Unfortunately high cholesterol/heart disease runs on BOTH sides of my family, so I got very unlucky 
I had blood work done 5 years ago and my levels were very high, total was high and HDL was low. I'm not overweight at all, do not smoke, I eat decent but could always be better, and I could always exercise more...but it being heredity I think I'm doomed either way. I was put on meds but had to go off of them to get pregnant/nurse. Tomorrow I have more blood work to check how things are going, and most likely get put on meds again. I hate having to be on medication at the age of 26. Can anyone relate?
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Yup! I have a bad family history of high cholesterol just like you and have high levels. My family Dr wasn't comfortable putting me on meds yet or she said at all until I am not having kids or potentially even once I can't have kids anymore. I am supposed to take fish oil to help but got out of the habit of doing it. Honestly, I am a little skeptical of how "big of a deal" it is if you are healthy otherwise. But I've been ignoring it while I'm in my child bearing years so I haven't done much research. I know I need to think about it and prepare myself for meds someday.
For what it's worth, none of my family with high cholesterol have had any actual problems or complications from it.
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I had a cholesterol level of 275 when I was 7 years old... almost 20 years later and I've managed it only with diet but have never had it under 215.
Oatmeal, tuna and fish oil help,lower it and I stay away from fried foods.
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@creativemomma15: both of my parents have had heart surgeries, well my mom had stents put in and my dad have a valve replaced...they are 53 and 57
It just really stinks because I don't feel like I'm that unhealthy overall, but if meds will help me then I will take them. On a better note, I ate like S*** back 5-6 years ago when my levels were checked. I was 20, living in an apartment, eating fast food and candy by the bag. I definitely don't eat like that now!
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@ModernDayJibarita: wow!! Why did they check it so young? Family history? My level was 280 when it was checked...have to get back on the fish oil! So you did all that without meds?!
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Mine was I think at 227 5 years ago? And I think had gone down a little from the time before, but its been awhile!
The dr. I had in Florida had me taking meds for it, but haven't taken anything since moving back to Iowa.
My dr's up here aren't as worried since my HDL levels were really high and made my total number jump. I know my sister has high numbers also...
I'm actually under-weight for my height, and don't eat horribly (although not great), so was surprised by the high numbers. -
@josina: I know, I was surprised at first too
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A vegan diet is naturally free of cholesterol ... your dietary cholesterol doesn't directly link to having low or high bodily cholesterol, but there is some link.
Obviously, I don't think anyone will just go vegan because of this, but doing swaps like: hummus + veggies (instead of ranch), or other small swaps can make a big difference. (non-dairy creamer in your coffee, cooking with coconut oil instead of butter, using infused olive oil instead of butter, using flax eggs or applesauce instead of chicken eggs in baked goods, etc.).
It's small, but I hope that can help a bit.
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@Bao: ugh so sorry. I just had blood work done and my total is 232
Not hereditary.. Just inactivity and poor eating habits.
I turn 36 tomorrow, so ive been eating crazy healthy so far this year and have been exercising 30 mins a day.
Here's to a healthy 2016! -
@littlejoy: I'm definitely willing to do a few swaps! @chopsuey: ugh! The excercise...not good at that unless it's nice out.
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@Bao: It was checked in a routine check-up no family history, in fact my dad is extremely overweight and yet his cholesterol is 160!
Since I was so young they didn't want to put me on meds, so we did diet modification instead. For a year after it was discovered, I would have oatmeal twice a day (breakfast and and snack), fish oil everyday and tuna at least 3x a week. We would check every wrapper to make sure that it was not high cholesterol or saturated fats.... ate a lot of chicken and veggies. No avocado, egg yolks or nuts.
At the end of that year it had dropped from 275 to 230 something. In the years since, it's variated between 215-235 but I have never had it go under 200
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@ModernDayJibarita: thanks for sharing! I like oatmeal but not sure I could eat it twice a day, good for you!
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DH is SOL because of family history. He has high good and really high bad cholesterol. He is in Crestor for life and I suspect soon high blood pressure. I think it's no secret that we eat very healthy. We eat fast food (Wendy's) maybe 5x a year? He exercises and runs. He has a cardiologist and obviously it's important to keep up the healthier living style. But it's just not good enough to knock his cholesterol down. His brother died suddenly at the age of 35. Turns out he had a blood clot and his heart gave out. If he had known his cholesterol was so high he would've been on cholesterol medication and blood thinners (baby aspirin). Would it have made a difference? We will never know.
My husband stopped taking his cholesterol medication a while ago because he didn't like the way it made him feel. I am getting him back into his cardiologist to see if a different script will be better. It drives him crazy because he is SO much Healthier than anyone we know. Yet his cholesterol is probably double.He has history of cancer and heart disease in his family. My side also has heart disease. These are all notes in our kids records. My 3.5 yo complained that her heart hurt the other day. It's probably a 3 yo being a 3 yo. But I wrote it down and told DH m, just in case she mentions it again to him without me around.
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@regberadaisy: man...that's so sad about your BIL, I'm sorry to hear that. It's really unfortunate how these things work.
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A family member has struggled with this- had terrible side effects from medication but was able to get the same effect by limiting animal products, particularly dairy, and adding in oat bran ( I can't remember exact dosage but something like one tablespoon a day).
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@regberadaisy: So sad and scary about your BIL!
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@Baby Boy Mom: That's great they were able to do it naturally!
Ended up getting my blood drawn this morning, so we will see...kind of nervous.
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