Is my Cholesterol really that bad???

Musicman....your heart is the one organ in your body that keeps you alive.  So your question "do I want to save my heart and destroy my liver?" doesn’t make much sense.  I can understand your concern...my aunt has Hep C and has had it for many years (being treated).  First thing I would look at is the things in your life you can control and that is diet & exercise.  Every little thing counts so try to start to change your diet, and get out side and walk a little, get some fresh air.  I have a friend that is 33 and his Cholesterol is in the 400's...It's scary I know.  Let your cardiologist know about your concerns about the statin medications and the possible effects it may have on your liver and let him tell you what they could do.

 HI Well, i wonder why she said diet would not change anything. maybe she says that becasue it is hereditary high cholesteral, but i just refuse to beleive it, especially since you are a self confessed POOR habit eater and do no excersize.  changing those two things alone will benefit you greatly.  however as much as i love the diet whoa suggests for you, frankly it will be just too drastic to expect you to follow.Try first to stop eating bad stuff, most stuff you eat out. eat no red meat for awhile, and lower your portions to 4 or 5 oz pieces.  my numbers are worse than yours and i do not take the statins as i cannot tolerate them. i think first thing you could do that would help is start taking fish oil  no more than 3000mg daily, then get raw almonds and walnuts, not roasted, not salted,RAW, eat Only a handful daily , about 20 and do it everyday, it will increase your hdl levels, that is why you are in danger, you need to elevate that number to at least 45.  now go do it and recheck your level again in about 6weeks to 2 months.  also, if you can afford it  go buy Benecol at the grocery store  it is a margerine substitute and if you take it daily in the amount they say,(it costs alot, about 6 dollars for a small tub and that last about 5 days only,) that has plant based stanols that help you r total numbers, go for it and now,please   i am thin and excersize daily always have so it is hard for me to find something to help, but just a few changes should work for you.  frankly, i would rather die than face serious liver problems, that is just me,, not very long suffering

Phil,

Did you go ahead with the angiogram? Is that how they know for sure that you have coronary artery disease that is causing angina? How many and how bad are the blockages, and where are they? I assume not too bad yet else they would have put in a stent????

I'm asking these questions because, if I were in your position, I would want to know the answers before deciding whether to take statins (or something similar like red yeast rice which can lower your cholesterol but is like a natural statin and I believe can also have similar effects on your liver).

Your triglycerides are good (supposed to be below 150). Your LDL is high if you have confirmed coronary artery disease (it should be below 70 for those of us with heart disease). Your HDL is bad. Should be at least 40, preferably much higher.

Statins will reduce the LDL, but don't always do much for the HDL. Diet and exercise are what will raise that (there is some research to show that a low HDL "good cholesterol" is more of a risk factor for a heart attack than high LDL "bad cholesterol.").

It may be hard if not impossible to get your LDL below 70 without statins, but you should be able to get it down to a more acceptable level with diet, exercise, and natural supplements, and you should be able to get your HDL up to an acceptable level with diet and exercise.

If you have had the angiogram, and they did not find heart disease serious enough yet to put in a stent, I'd be inclined to try to natural way before risking further damage to my liver. I have had to face a similar choice (but my facts are very different). I have a stent due to a 99% blockage in my LAD, and my LFT's started to increase recently. I had a complete liver workup and there is no significant liver disease; the LFT's went down to a more normal level (though still elevated). My belief is that it is the med I take to keep my HDL up that is causing this, but we tried other things for 2 years to get my HDL up and nothing worked except the Niaspan...

I know what it's like to have to decide whether you want to die of liver disease or die of a heart attack...I decided I'd rather die slowly of a bad liver than quickly of a bad heart, BUT it seems to me our risks are opposite...my heart is worse than my liver; your liver may be worse than your heart.

Good luck; hang in there. I think it's a good idea to see a natural practioner...balancing traditional medicine with natural medicine is a delicate art that requires a lot of soul searching and research.

 musicman, the fish oil will keep your arteries 'lubed up' keep them flexabe.  the red yeast rice connie was talking about is the natural statin that is the same as mevacor. but beware, i think it too can elevate liver ##  i want to hear the answers to the questions Connie asked too? have you had an Angiogram?  and all her other questions.