My husband was supposed to start taking a statin to lower his cholesterol in July. He opted to give fish oil a try along with dietary changes. I can't say his diet has changed much. The fish oil has reduced his triglycerides but everything is still high.
July labs December labs target range
CHOLESTEROL 232 mg/dL 251 <200 mg/dL
TRIGLYCERIDES 314 mg/dL 222 <150>40 mg/dL
CHOL/HDL RATIO 5.40 5.6 <5.0
LDL 126 mg/dL 162 <100 mg/dL
NON HDL CHOLESTEROL 189 mg/dL <130 mg/dL
LDH 162 mg/dL 121 - 224
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 44 mg/dL 5 - 40
His potassium was also a bit elevated: Potassium 5.8 mmol/L (3.5-5.2)
Are there additional things we could try? Worry, don't worry, worry more with statins? It's a bit daunting. My dad ended up in the emergency room due to elevated potassium levels and my sister-in-law just had open heart surgery due to plaque in the arteries.
Cholesterol
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Cholesterol
Deb
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
Statins might help his situation, but I'm not sure that would translate into any change for you (via an FMT).
Tex
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
So is it better to take the statin with the side effects or risk problems related to high cholesterol? It seems to be a no win situation.
I didn't think much about the high cholesterol and FMT situation..... sigh. There really isn't much information out there aside from the risks are still unknown. We both did lab tests as a financial incentive for our health insurance. My LDL went from 90 (last year's test) to 109. All others remained in the good ranges. Would using my husband as a donor cause my cholesterol to go up more? Who knows...... would that be a better trade off than being tied to my house because I am in the bathroom 6-8 times a day. It used to be mornings only but now it's all day long and generally within an hour or two of eating. Although, since there are no guarantees, I could develop additional health issues from an FMT and have no change in my MC/whatever else is causing the problems.
More to think about.
I didn't think much about the high cholesterol and FMT situation..... sigh. There really isn't much information out there aside from the risks are still unknown. We both did lab tests as a financial incentive for our health insurance. My LDL went from 90 (last year's test) to 109. All others remained in the good ranges. Would using my husband as a donor cause my cholesterol to go up more? Who knows...... would that be a better trade off than being tied to my house because I am in the bathroom 6-8 times a day. It used to be mornings only but now it's all day long and generally within an hour or two of eating. Although, since there are no guarantees, I could develop additional health issues from an FMT and have no change in my MC/whatever else is causing the problems.
More to think about.
Deb
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
A stroke kind of gets your attention and one tends to reanalyze priorities. A statin lowered my LDL from 168 mg/dl to 72 mg/dl in about 3 months following the stroke.
The high triglycerides is more concerning than the cholesterol, IMO. I doubt that his current status numbers would be transferred to you with an FMT. His tendency to have elevated results might be.
I tried simvastatin back in 2009 and had to stop taking it because my fingers began to lock up at night. I'm currently taking a maintenance dose of atorvastatin with no noticeable side effects and cholesterol levels that might make some doctors stand up and cheer
Tex.
The high triglycerides is more concerning than the cholesterol, IMO. I doubt that his current status numbers would be transferred to you with an FMT. His tendency to have elevated results might be.
I tried simvastatin back in 2009 and had to stop taking it because my fingers began to lock up at night. I'm currently taking a maintenance dose of atorvastatin with no noticeable side effects and cholesterol levels that might make some doctors stand up and cheer
Tex.
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I didn’t realize the numbers got all smooshed together. The fish oil helped considerably but not good enough. Seeing the after effects of open heart surgery and the recovery that goes along with it really got my attention. He is four years away from retirement and the best laid plans could get derailed in a heartbeat.
Is it silly to put him on a statin to get him in a better range and then try to manage it again with diet/natural methods? Of course, we are working on the diet now, I just worry it may not be enough. It may creep back up eventually but that’s easier to think about later. I’m hoping to get myself in order so I can think about a meal plan that would work for the both of us. Right now, cooking is my least favorite thing to do. If I could skip meal preps and eating.... I would.
Is it silly to put him on a statin to get him in a better range and then try to manage it again with diet/natural methods? Of course, we are working on the diet now, I just worry it may not be enough. It may creep back up eventually but that’s easier to think about later. I’m hoping to get myself in order so I can think about a meal plan that would work for the both of us. Right now, cooking is my least favorite thing to do. If I could skip meal preps and eating.... I would.
Deb
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path, and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
2007 CC
2013 thyroid cancer- total thyroidectomy
2013 Hashimoto's - numbers always "normal"
2017 Lyme's Disease
If there's a history of heart attack or stroke in his family, he would probably benefit from a statin, but not if there's no history or any other indicator of cardiovascular issues.
I assume you realize that when you change his diet it's going to change the demographics of his gut microbiome. The populations of the various species will shift as some species thrive on the new diet and other species will suffer. So some populations will boom and others will decline or disappear altogether. That will presumably speed up the process by saving them from having to adjust to the diet after they have been transferred to you.
Tex
I assume you realize that when you change his diet it's going to change the demographics of his gut microbiome. The populations of the various species will shift as some species thrive on the new diet and other species will suffer. So some populations will boom and others will decline or disappear altogether. That will presumably speed up the process by saving them from having to adjust to the diet after they have been transferred to you.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.