Blood Tests (not sure if this is the right place to post this)
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Marisela170
Posts: 48 Member
So I had blood tests done a couple of weeks ago and my doctor just called me and said my cholesterol is borderline high, my potassium is low and something about my liver enzymes. Not really sure what any of this means, but I have another appointment in about a month.
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Replies
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Your doctor didn't give you advice on how to address the issues?
If it were me, I'd research foods high in potassium and those low in cholesterol and adjust my meals accordingly.
If you don't understand what they told you about your liver enzymes, call the office and ask. A proactive patient can take better care of themselves.9 -
Honestly at this point I wouldn't make any drastic changes before your follow up appointment with your doctor. He/she can give you more precise advice based on your results about how to best address the issues.5
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There are lots of potassium rich fruits and veggie like kiwi and bananas. For cholesterol, focus on whole grains (high fiber) and lower saturated fat. If they are not already there, you can add tracking for fiber and saturated fat under your diary settings. You got this!!!5
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Dietary cholesterol has no influence on blood cholesterol. Rather than that, foods high in fiber are helpful, as is reducing saturated fats. So is regular exercise.
I wouldn't make any more changes than that before talking to a doctor, since you seem unclear on what's actually in need of addressing.11 -
Dietary cholesterol has no influence on blood cholesterol. Rather than that, foods high in fiber are helpful, as is reducing saturated fats. So is regular exercise.
I wouldn't make any more changes than that before talking to a doctor, since you seem unclear on what's actually in need of addressing.
Yeah, she didn’t explain too much over the phone.
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You're allowed to ask questions. 😉2
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Your doctor didn't give you advice on how to address the issues?
If it were me, I'd research foods high in potassium and those low in cholesterol and adjust my meals accordingly.
If you don't understand what they told you about your liver enzymes, call the office and ask. A proactive patient can take better care of themselves.
so for the potassium thing they just said to eat more avocados and the issue with the liver enzymes, when i asked about it they said my doctor will discuss that with me at my next appointment. I googled it and theres a long list of possible causes.1 -
Marisela170 wrote: »Your doctor didn't give you advice on how to address the issues?
If it were me, I'd research foods high in potassium and those low in cholesterol and adjust my meals accordingly.
If you don't understand what they told you about your liver enzymes, call the office and ask. A proactive patient can take better care of themselves.
so for the potassium thing they just said to eat more avocados and the issue with the liver enzymes, when i asked about it they said my doctor will discuss that with me at my next appointment. I googled it and theres a long list of possible causes.
Rather than worrying about it and trying to self diagnose, I would just wait for your doctors appointment. A lot of things are not as scary as they sound but rather just need minor lifestyle changes.
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Marisela170 wrote: »Your doctor didn't give you advice on how to address the issues?
If it were me, I'd research foods high in potassium and those low in cholesterol and adjust my meals accordingly.
If you don't understand what they told you about your liver enzymes, call the office and ask. A proactive patient can take better care of themselves.
so for the potassium thing they just said to eat more avocados and the issue with the liver enzymes, when i asked about it they said my doctor will discuss that with me at my next appointment. I googled it and theres a long list of possible causes.
Rather than worrying about it and trying to self diagnose, I would just wait for your doctors appointment. A lot of things are not as scary as they sound but rather just need minor lifestyle changes.
Agreed. No sense in blowing things up before you can get the facts. If it were urgent I would think the doctor would see you a little sooner.
If you have any additional weight to lose you can just focus on that for the time being.4 -
I had border line cholesterol and blood glucose 2 years back..i dropped weight by 10lbs and last year both numbers were normal. just sharing my experience..6
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You need to ask your doctor for more information. Low blood potassium levels can be caused by several things that are not always related to how much potassium you eat. Some of those things concern the liver, so your doctor needs to follow up with you on what your potassium and liver tests mean when they are considered together.2
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If it were urgent I would think the doctor would see you a little sooner..
Even if it's not urgent, waiting 6 weeks to improve the health of a patient seems careless & irresponsible.
OP, if you drink alcohol, stop, because of your liver enzymes. Reducing carbs improves LDL cholesterol according to my doctor. If you're overweight, get to a healthy weight.2 -
Strongly agree with @novusdies. If there was something urgent or huge, the Dr woulda told you to come in NOW. If he's saying to mosey on over in a month, then that says something different.
My advice from hard-learned experience and also a hypocondriac family member: Try to avoid reading online about this stuff while waiting to see the Dr. In the wild world of online medical sites and discussion fora, you can quickly conclude that an ingrown toe nail means brain cancer. Every minor thing has a cohort of people who are absolutely convinced it is time-to-write-your-will serious. Your Dr will know what to do about it, and if he's saying see you in a month, you can relax. Honestly, stay away from the medical sites for your own sanity.
Five years ago, I was out one winter night and my fingers turned white. Not "white-ish". White. Completely bloodless and numb. Weirdest thing I ever saw. Soaked them in very hot water and 15-20 minutes later, the blood slowly returned. Made an appt with the Dr. In the meantime I read all about it on the web and everything was DIRE and very depressing. Turns out I have Raynaud's Syndrome, which is, yes, a disease, but in the grand scheme of things, not a very serious one. That I learned from my Dr. The Internet had me convinced I had days to live. I feel like the Internet plays into peoples' natural fears when it comes to medical stuff, when what's needed is a face to face meeting and analysis by a trained professional with a degree.4 -
Marisela170 wrote: »Your doctor didn't give you advice on how to address the issues?
If it were me, I'd research foods high in potassium and those low in cholesterol and adjust my meals accordingly.
If you don't understand what they told you about your liver enzymes, call the office and ask. A proactive patient can take better care of themselves.
so for the potassium thing they just said to eat more avocados and the issue with the liver enzymes, when i asked about it they said my doctor will discuss that with me at my next appointment. I googled it and theres a long list of possible causes.
It also can be a one-off. Any blood test can have an outlier number. Does your doctor's health care group have something like MyChart available? You can check your test results as well as historical results for comparison.
Adding foods higher in potassium would not be a bad thing because so many of them are high in many nutrients so they are good to eat in general. I wouldn't do anything else until you get more information.4 -
Cherimoose wrote: »If it were urgent I would think the doctor would see you a little sooner..
Even if it's not urgent, waiting 6 weeks to improve the health of a patient seems careless & irresponsible.
OP, if you drink alcohol, stop, because of your liver enzymes. Reducing carbs improves LDL cholesterol according to my doctor. If you're overweight, get to a healthy weight.
i decided to cut way back on my drinking a few years ago, like i only have one beer on my birthday. And im currently working on losing weight, I've lost a little over 30 pounds this year, still have about 25 to get to a healthy weight.1 -
Strongly agree with @novusdies. If there was something urgent or huge, the Dr woulda told you to come in NOW. If he's saying to mosey on over in a month, then that says something different.
My advice from hard-learned experience and also a hypocondriac family member: Try to avoid reading online about this stuff while waiting to see the Dr. In the wild world of online medical sites and discussion fora, you can quickly conclude that an ingrown toe nail means brain cancer. Every minor thing has a cohort of people who are absolutely convinced it is time-to-write-your-will serious. Your Dr will know what to do about it, and if he's saying see you in a month, you can relax. Honestly, stay away from the medical sites for your own sanity.
Five years ago, I was out one winter night and my fingers turned white. Not "white-ish". White. Completely bloodless and numb. Weirdest thing I ever saw. Soaked them in very hot water and 15-20 minutes later, the blood slowly returned. Made an appt with the Dr. In the meantime I read all about it on the web and everything was DIRE and very depressing. Turns out I have Raynaud's Syndrome, which is, yes, a disease, but in the grand scheme of things, not a very serious one. That I learned from my Dr. The Internet had me convinced I had days to live. I feel like the Internet plays into peoples' natural fears when it comes to medical stuff, when what's needed is a face to face meeting and analysis by a trained professional with a degree.
i am definitely one to think do that. I hadnt been to a doctor in over 10 years up until last month. I'd always google my symptoms and I thought i was probably dying. I honestly thought I'd end up passing away in my sleep.0 -
Strongly agree with @novusdies. If there was something urgent or huge, the Dr woulda told you to come in NOW. If he's saying to mosey on over in a month, then that says something different.
My advice from hard-learned experience and also a hypocondriac family member: Try to avoid reading online about this stuff while waiting to see the Dr. In the wild world of online medical sites and discussion fora, you can quickly conclude that an ingrown toe nail means brain cancer. Every minor thing has a cohort of people who are absolutely convinced it is time-to-write-your-will serious. Your Dr will know what to do about it, and if he's saying see you in a month, you can relax. Honestly, stay away from the medical sites for your own sanity.
Five years ago, I was out one winter night and my fingers turned white. Not "white-ish". White. Completely bloodless and numb. Weirdest thing I ever saw. Soaked them in very hot water and 15-20 minutes later, the blood slowly returned. Made an appt with the Dr. In the meantime I read all about it on the web and everything was DIRE and very depressing. Turns out I have Raynaud's Syndrome, which is, yes, a disease, but in the grand scheme of things, not a very serious one. That I learned from my Dr. The Internet had me convinced I had days to live. I feel like the Internet plays into peoples' natural fears when it comes to medical stuff, when what's needed is a face to face meeting and analysis by a trained professional with a degree.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Raynaud's. I can't go in a store that has the AC on high unless I'm wearing gloves.
I try to keep in mind that Dr. Google does not have an actual medical degree.2
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