Partner diagnosed with very high cholesterol at 37 yo. How can I support w/o nagging?

mjdegraw

I haven't read any of the other posts but I'm sure cooking healthy and fit meals would be a plus

mjdegraw

Also Dave Ramsey has got EMeals great program. Gives you meals recipies and choice of grocery stores to shop from. Also allows you to chose single, for two or family,and a great selection of diet types. Low carb, diabetic,low salt, and others good luck

CharlieBeansmomTracey

mjdegraw wrote: »

I haven't read any of the other posts but I'm sure cooking healthy and fit meals would be a plus

even eating healthy doesnt guarantee low cholesterol numbers for some of us. for some we have to watch our fat/saturated fat/cholesterol intake.eat high amounts of fiber and exercise too. some of us need meds,others can do it with diet and exercise alone, but it all depends on the type of high cholesterol you have.

Those with FH(familial hypercholesterolemia) shouldnt do keto or higher fat diets as our livers produce too much fat/cholesterol. so even dietary fats can raise our cholesterol where it may not in someone else with another type of high cholesterol.so low carb/keto usually means upping your fats,Those with FH should not do that.

I eat higher carb,low fat/cholesterol and high fiber diet,along with my exercise and meds my cholesterol is in normal ranges.so what works for one may not work for another.

melaniedscott

Steph38878 wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

I have FH and what worked for me was a low fat,low cholesterol high fiber diet. I do have to take statins though,in less than 6 months of eating this way coupled with the meds my cholesterol is now in the normal ranges(for the first time in over 15 years). I was thin too when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol,but didnt know it was FH until the last year. for me diet and exercise alone did not help.


If he has FH low carb/high fat is not the way to go as those of us with FH have livers that dont process fats and cholesterol like most people,it signals our brains to make more and any excess can be stored as fat pads. I ended up with those and xanthomas/xanthelasmas.

FH is not something to play with,its the kind that can cause heart attacks,strokes and TIAs(it can also be passed down to your children if you have any). if you can get him a genetic test done to see if it is FH.

I was told to keep my fats,especially saturated fats low. so I was told to avoid fatty cuts of meat,red meats,cookies,cakes,pies/any fried foods,white flours,rice, I was told to eat lean cuts of meat,whole grains,fruits,veggies and foods low in saturated fat/fat.so far its helped. I do eat those things once in awhile though.

This. I also have FH, but do not have to take statins since I fortunately only inherited from one parent.

Low fat, low cholesterol, low saturated fat, high fiber with plenty of activity controls my cholesterol for now.

In the world of saturated fat, dairy is likely the least harmful of the bunch, btw, thanks to the butyric acid.

I still occasionally have things I shouldn't have, but it's rare.

I too only inherited it from one parent but for me I have to take the stupid statins. thats the only way to keep it down. I also have things I shouldnt from time to time.I wish I didnt have to take meds. but have tried so many and they worked but not so great,went off them,it went sky high and then went on this one statin and doing great.

This is me. We tried diet with exercise. Then dr tried niacin. Oh man. Side effects were that you have a stinging sensation like fire ants all over. Holy cow did it but still didn't help. Tried Crestor but I felt like I had the flu. I'm now on pravastatin. It seems to be helping. I test again in June.

With high cholesterol, I have high blood pressure also. My numbers aren't as high some people as much as I can remember but with the combination of high blood pressure, the doctor was concerned.

I contemplated adding niacin to my regime but my husband saw the list of side effects and had a total cow. Demanded I cease any thought of taking more than standard multi-vit amounts. And he doesn't demand very often...so I decided it wasn't worth it. My bp is awesome, so...

shaumom

just re: the dietary changes and how to do it - if you cook, you can cook whatever you want to, and that includes if you decide something is good for him, you know?

That said, I can see where it is difficult to figure out what to do, because of the conflicting information. I have been trying to separate the research into, hmm, groupings. I try to see how old the research is, is it done well, were there conflicts of interest, that sort of thing. It has helped me winnow out what seems to help. I'm currently leaning toward low carb being more help than low fat (on a long term study by the NIH, low fat and low carb both had lower bad cholesterol at the end of the diet, but low carb had LOWER bad cholesterol, and also had increased good cholesterol, which low fat didn't have). But that's just my own take on the research, you know?

And a couple things that have cropped up in my research, in case they help.

1. Auto-immune disorders - there is a weird, and so far unexplained, correlation between high cholesterol levels and auto-immune disorders. Doctors don't know if it is a cause and effect, from either side, but if your SO has high cholesterol but is thin and his diet isn't that bad, he might wanna check if his family has any auto-immune disorders and get tested for those. Like celiac disease, hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's, diabetes, and a lot more. They are more often found in women, and the beginning symptoms can be super vague (like fatigue, say), so doctors will not be very likely to test him for any right now, you know?

2. Mast cells can be involved in cholesterol issues - Mast cells are kind of jack-of-all-trades cells in the body. They are involved in lots of different processes, depending on where they are. However, mast cells can release some substances that can cause high cholesterol, like tryptase, which degrades the good cholesterol and so can lead to high 'bad' cholesterol in patients with perfectly good diets. So sometimes, if the cells aren't quite working how they should, things that help stabilize mast cells - making them release their contents a little less - can help lower cholesterol. Quirky, but can be useful. Especially as mast cell stabilizers are commonly bioflavonoids found in plant products. Luteolin and quercetin are two (quercetin is more well known as it is aimed at allergies, which arise from histamine release from mast cells). Olive leaf tea is a good one for this. Many fresh herbs are as well. I believe I've read something about blueberry leaf tea, too, but wouldn't swear to that. Just...something you could explore, you know?

Rocknut53

@alaskagrown "If you've ever been through this diagnosis as either the affected or the partner, please help!"

Both my husband & I have/had high cholesterol and he has the added bonus of high blood pressure. I was diagnosed years before him and we both took statins. My doctor mistakenly assumed I had a family history and told me that I would always have to take meds. Over the past year and a half I proved him wrong by losing weight and improving my diet, not anything special, just eating less of problematic foods. I also get lots of exercise. My husband is another story. It's like he's happy with the road to self-destruction. He smoked up until 6 years ago when he had to have a stent put in his almost totally blocked brachial artery. 1 1/2 years ago he had to have part of his colon taken out due to a perforation that nearly killed him, again due to poor choices. At that point he promised he would take steps to improve his health. I can't get him to exercise, his diet has improved because I do almost all the cooking, but he still eats way too much and binges on crap almost daily. I have made a commitment to myself to keep off the 60+ pounds I lost and to keep up my workouts. I hope someday he'll wake up and realize he's missing out on good health. All this said, I can't make him do it. He has to make that decision and he has to do it himself. I've tried nagging, it doesn't work. All I can do is set a good example. It's frustrating, but it's the reality of my situation. The reality of your situation is, in your words, "he's not me."