Triglycerides through roof-The Pred effect?

Hello folks,

I have been consolidating all my lab tests over the years to see how things have changed over the time. Collected my last year's lab results from PCP and noticed that the triglycerides are through roof, 378 when the range is 100 below normal, 100-150 optimal, 150-200 high and >200 very high. My cholesterol is 136 (less than optimal), HDL is 26, again less than optimal.
Sugar is consistently on little higher side (132, when I think higher side of the range is 125)

I checked up on the causes and noticed the use of steroid consistently shows up. I admit that I do not exercise and I need to look into that but I have been on Pred on and off for the year of 2011 and now since the new year. These tests were done when I just got off the steroids (for that course).

I was wondering has anyone been through this? My diet is not at all full of fats (and actually I watch it very carefully) so I wonder if these levels will normalize when I am off Pred and over the time or I do need to seek medical attention. When PCP discussed the results, he just mentioned about exercise and walnuts, nothing serious.

Many thanks in advance.

From my preliminary reading, I learned that if ingested sugar is not utilized quickly then body converts it to triglycerides (and so fasting triglycerides testing is good else you get false numbers). I have also switched to stevia and reducing a LOT of regular sugar. HFCS (High Fructose Corn Sugar) is so so abundant in food that sometimes you really have a hard time finding a food without it. I do plan to go zero with sugar with this new report.

With Fish oil, I take 2.4gms a day that translates to ~700mg of EFAs. I am using Nature Made brand that I got a deal on, not the best brand when you think of best bang for the buck so will research for better brand. Consumer Reports did some work a while ago, will go through that again. I don't have subscription of ConsumerLabs so have to go without it.

700mg of EFAs is not very much. Just two capsules of Life Extension fish oil (to name one brand that I remember that was checked out by consumerlab) provides 720 mg of EPA and another 480 mg of DHA. The directions said 2-4 capsules a day. Just one teaspoon of Carlson's cod liver oil yields 1100 mg of omega-3s.

I have not tried it but there is a blood test for omega-3 that provides a clear picture of the percentage of EPA/DHA omega-3 fatty acids in your blood to estimate your risk of a major cardiac event.

And it is not hard to avoid most hfcs. Just stay away from soda and most candy. Any other small amounts of hfcs in some processed foods doesn't seem to affect my blood sugar or triglycerides (or my UC).

HDL is 26, again less than optimal.
I don't know if your low HDL is from pred or not. My HDL varies all over the map. Sometimes it is very high which makes me happy. I am beginning to think it may be the coconut oil that raises it but I am not sure. Will have another blood test soon that may tell me more. Do some research on coconut oil and see if it raises your HDL. You should a least be in the 40's.

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 3/21/2012 7:59:54 AM (GMT-6)

@ InSoFla,
You have a point with gluten (and grains). The reason I have super hard time buying that in my case is because being an Indian, its a staple. I have always had wheat (and grains) at least twice a day in the form of bread or similar. Secondly, if I was really intolerant, I would had definitely seen reactions during my childhood. The only issues I had was some skin allergy (during my teens) that nobody could figure out and as I progressed into twenties, it disappeared so one doc concluded, it could have been hormonal. Never looked back as it never showed up again.

Only other theory could be, that I became gluten intolerant later in the life, if thats possible. Even today, I eat wheat twice a day so if your theory fits, it COULD be gluten (as my GI suspects now that I am lactose intolerant, so gave up all milk products). I will have to look into it but I just wonder what do you eat if you decide to skip gluten?

@Babesinthewoods,
My cholesterol has always been below normal since my teens. Nobody raised a flag that time and was told that its OK. With coconut oil, I essentially lived on coconut oil when was still in India. My family used to use coconut oil for cooking (a gallon for a family of 4) and still my cholesterol numbers were low.. I don't use it now as its not wallet friendly here in the US but I would love to switch. I will look into it again.

With Fish oil, as I said the brand I use is not the best. I looked into CR Jan 2012 issue. The work they did is little sloppy but their suggestion is, http://www.walmart.com/ip/Spring-Valley-Fish-Oil-1000-mg-Omega-3-100-Softgels/11997229 offers best bang for the buck, next best is http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/finest-natural-fish-oil-1000-mg-dietary-supplement-softgels/id=prod4220732-product (which is BOGO this week). I will have to do some research on which fish oil is the best, may be will make an excel sheet to compare.

I am considering taking Nicotinic acid for a short term but before that will run another lipid profile to check the current number and will talk to the GI for solution. May be she will Rx me Nicotinic acid.

deltaforce,

Only other theory could be, that I became gluten intolerant later in the life, if thats possible. Even today, I eat wheat twice a day so if your theory fits, it COULD be gluten (as my GI suspects now that I am lactose intolerant, so gave up all milk products). I will have to look into it but I just wonder what do you eat if you decide to skip gluten?

You could have become gluten intolerant when you became lactose intolerant (as your GI suspects), no?

I would suggest you stay away from all  gluten, wheat, grains of all kinds - for a good month and then have your blood re-tested, to see if it's made a difference with your triglycerides and elevated cholesterol values - I bet it will make a huge difference.

Yes, it's tough. We are so culturally conditioned to eat bread, pasta, etc.... and it's bad for us ;(

What do you replace gluten with? Veggies if you can tolerate them, potatoes. Nuts if you can tolerate them. It's a lifestyle choice which is sometime necessary for various healthy outcomes.

In your case, that would normalizing your triglycerides and cholesterol levels.

 

consider reading the book "wheat belly"

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Had colonoscopy yesterday and there is very small part of sigmoid colon still inflamed but GI said thats OK and I should start tapering my Pred dose.
When I told her about triglyerides, she disagreed that its Pred effect. I also talked about lactose and gluten intolerance. Her reply was, she is not too sure and she was just giving a try as I was going through the flare and getting a lot of bloating and gas, so her obvious suspicion was lactose intolerance. She asked me to add lactose slowly back (after 3 weeks of off) and see if it again causes gas. Now that we know there is no/little inflammation, if it causes gas, it proves lactose intolerance. With gluten, she wasn't in favor at all but no harm in giving a try, was her answer. She did tell me to add up fish oils if I would like to.

My plan of action now is,
- Reduce salt and sugar (already started, pretty successful with salt but not that much with sugar)
- Add up fish oil
- Try going gluten-free if I manage to live without bread and pasta. (I hate, so called whole grain wheat pasta, I think its just colored pasta, feels extremely weird crunchy feeling like ground stone in the food)

Thanks again everyone for comments. I really appreciate it.

Deltaforce,

Babe is right, whole wheat has as much gluten if not more than  regular wheat.  And he's offering good alteratives for you.

However if you really want to see if you have metabolic disorder that creates abnormal cholesterol and sky-high triglycerides, then the only way to test that would be to go completely gluten and wheat free for 30 days and get re-tested.