Part of my doctor visit on Monday was a blood test for sugar and cholesterol. My sugar number is ok, but my cholesterol is really high. It’s so much higher than my last recorded numbers on Bradaptation, that I almost think it’s a mistake. On September 11, 2017, my LDL was 105. Yesterday’s report said my LDL was 208. A HUNDRED points higher?
On my doctor office profile, there is another test from February 20, 2019. There the LDL number is 121. But still, eighty points? That’s a lot! What’s going on?
I’ve been exercising pretty regularly. I eat better than I used to. Is this just age? Going back farther in Bradaptation, I see an entry where the LDL number was 152. I was a young man of 38 back then, so maybe there’s still hope to bring it down? Maybe I need to get back to eating flax…
Yikes! That is quite a jump! I don’t know enough about cholesterol to make any informed comments, but I do remember your flax-eating days. Maybe it’s time to experiment?
For science!
Statin? I’ve been on atorvastatin (generic Lipitor) for ages already and my numbers turn out well within normal ranges.
I know…”but a PILL?” Sometimes we have to give in to “better living through chemistry”, I think. God bless you, Brad.
Thanks for the encouragement, Carol 🙂 I messaged my doctor yesterday, and he’s gotten back to me. He’s prescribed a statin. A pill is a mild inconvenience compared to blocked arteries, so I’ll be picking the medicine up today. He said we’ll test again in three months to see how it’s working out.
Good for you!
Something else we’ve done at our house for years to fight the good cholesterol/bad cholesterol fight: we only buy Smart Balance for our “butter”. It tastes like the real thing, melts and bakes well. One could even dip one’s artichoke leaves in the melted version, I wager. If you’ve not tried it yet, we recommend it. Couldn’t hurt…