Tuesday, October 18

cholesterol: 184

I blogged on 14/10/5 about donating blood. It always takes a few days to get the cholesterol result; that's not immediate gratification like the other stuff (hemoglobin/iron; blood pressure; etc.) So, I checked this morning and my cholesterol was posted: 184!

A good cholesterol number is below 200, and when I started monitoring this (2 years ago), it was off the scale: almost 90 points higher, so .. this is very good. Sadly, I don't know what the HDL/LDL/triglyceride breakdown is; that'll have to wait for a doctor visit and a full blood panel.

I suspect a large part of my cholesterol success has been weaning myself from most beef/pork and consequently, most fast food. I still find myself at the drive-thru too often, but mostly it's to get something like grilled chicken or a salad, and making a serious effort to avoid the fried stuff, as well as most of the bread (carbs).

All this goes to prove: sometimes, you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't.

1 comment:

William Bob said...

I ignored my high cholesterol for many years, until this spring. Two consecutive tests of 295 convinced me to do something. My father's artery woes of the past couple of years also helped to convince me of the need.

Three months later my total cholesterol was 169.

I had started taking Lipitor (20mg) and changed my diet. I didn't cut out red meat, but I did cut back on sweets and other refined carbs. I also made more of an effort to eat fruits and vegetables.

Next step is to add exercise and to try Lovastatin (an older, off-patent statin drug with a better, and longer, safety record than the new stuff).