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High Cholesterol: how do you control it?

Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Jun 20, 2022 | Replies (49)
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@callalloo

John, how have you done with lowering cholesterol with lifestyle changes? I'm doing the same thing because every statin I tried led to near-crippling leg cramps within the first week of taking it, even in micro doses. The good news is that, despite higher cholesterol, my echocardiogram, endopat and calcium score numbers are very good so the cardiologist isn't too worried, but I'd like to make more progress. My PCP has a woman patient with very high cholesterol, who cannot take statins either. Then the PCP added that she's 96 years old, walks a few miles every day and still does her own grocery shopping so he's not too worried about her cholesterol anymore ;-).

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Replies to "John, how have you done with lowering cholesterol with lifestyle changes? I'm doing the same thing..."
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jun 1, 2022

@callalloo, My biggest lifestyle change by far has been losing weight. I've been tagged as a pre-diabetic for more than 20 years with a family history of diabetes. My weight had always ranged from a high of 330 in my mid 50s to an average of 260 to 290 in my 60s. Weight Watchers helped some but it really came down to making a decision that I had to change some bad habits. So I found a great health blog by @LeeAase where I learned about intermittent fasting and graduated to limiting my intake of carbohydrates. More info on his blog here - https://www.social-media-university-global.org/my-health-journey/

You might find the following discussion helpful -- Low-carb healthy fat living. Intermittent fasting. What’s your why?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/low-carb-healthy-fat-living-intermittent-fasting-whats-your-why/

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Teri | @tsc | Jun 3, 2022

Hi @johnbishop and @callalloo, I take plant sterols, currently betasitosterol, to manage my cholesterol. The doctor was not concerned because I always had high HDL, but after open heart surgery for a mitral valve repair, I was put on a statin, briefly, because I declined to take it. The plant sterols have reduced my cholesterol. I purchase them from Swanson Vitamins.

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