Dang!

I do not have experience with this at all, but holy cow, I'm sure you're shocked. Do you have a family history of high cholesterol? Genetics can contribute to this. I have a friend who doesn't eat a whole lot of crap, who is not overweight, but has really high cholesterol, and I have a friend who is very overweight, and has perfectly normal cholesterol so sometimes, it's about good or bad genes, for lack of a scientific explanation.

Has your doctor given you any tips, or some direction on how to manage it so that you won't have to be on the drugs long terms. I wonder if a nutritionist may be able to help you. I thought this site was pretty comprehensive on the cause, diet , meds etc: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/high_cholesterol/article_em.htm

I'm sorry on top of the surgery, this has come up as well. To me, the foods they suggest and the foods they say to stay away from are what you see for most healthy diets. It'll be manageable while on warfarin. You just may need to get your INR checked a bit more often if you change your diet to accommodate any changes that could impact your INR, but you already know that.

I have to agree that much of it may be genetic. My grandmother who lived well into her 80's never hear the word low fat... Had no problems with her cholesterol.
A friend who is not over weight eats only fish for meat. has a problem her numbers.

TNT. I was diagnosed with high cholesterol also. I tried diet to control it but it didn't work. It went down temporarily but then shot back up. A lot of it can be genetic. I take 10 mg. of lipitor daily. It affects your heart if it is high. Your arteries can get blocked. My BP has been a bit high but I have really been stressing about all the tests I have been going for in the past two weeks: pulmonary function, visit with pulmo, visit with GP, follow up doppler, orthopedist, and finally today the hema. Also can't seem to shake this depression even though tests are coming out as well as can be expected.

So if dr. thinks you need meds it will be okay. You can ask to try diet and exercise but it may not work like me or your dr. may want faster results.

Good luck.

The first time the doc ordered a cholesterol test, it was so high it could not be calculated. After months of trying the reading was 2800. I am suprised I am still here. It is a hereditary condition in my family.

High Cholesterol is a major cause of heart attacks. The plaque build up in arteries comes loose and clogs blood supply to the heart. It is also a major contributor to strokes. Also adds to high blood pressure.

A question to my hematologist, since I am a warfarin lifer, how does it play with the high cholesterol issue. She said my chances of clogged arteries are lessened with the use of warfarin thinning the blood. But still had to get the cholesterol down. Statins are the primary med of doc choice but I had a severe reaction after 2 weeks of being on them. Since, have been taking 2000 mcg of fish oil per day. My level has since come down to about 500 last check but still a way to go.

It can be controlled over time, meds, change in diet, exercise

It is interesting that y'all pointed to genetics first thing. When my doc called with the news, my first thought was that I now had a medical problem that was MY own fault! I felt, really, well mortified. "Shocked" is a good word also, RMB.

I honestly don't know if it might be genetic. My dad is a veg and my mom only eats meat once a week or so. They eat super healthy and if they have cholesterol issues, I don't know about it at all. I know there are high BP issues in the family, but I'm not going that way right now.

Jptdad, this is probably silly but I'm comforted by the fact that your numbers were higher than mine. Everyone's jaw has been dropping when I tell them how high it was; I'm really feeling like a bit of a freak.

I'm really hoping that dropping some weight and improving my diet will have a heavy impact. I'm not happy about having to possibly add another med to my pile. Really hoping to not be on meds long term. Guess we'll see.

My doc and I are planning to tackle this after the surgery so I'm not trying to deal with too much right now. She left me the lab results in a message so I haven't had a chance to go over it face to face yet. I see another appointment to add to my calendar ...

Hi TNT,
Another contributing factor can be stress. My cholesterol can be predicted by what time of year it is. During the school year, it's too high, but during the summer (when I don't teach) it's well within normal. There are tons of research studies that back this up. But I also concur with the others, the MAIN contributor is genetics. Don't beat yourself up about it (just adds to the stress :-). Diet and exercise can help, so those do need to be included, but medications may be the way to go.
Hang in there!
KS

Toss,
If you have take a statin my vote is Zocor. It is the only one that has shown some prevention against Dementia. I take it and no problems with side effects.

Hi! I can relate on a lot of levels! I have had 4 sinus surgeries and I have a family history of high cholesterol. I'm 3 months out from having multiple PEs and am on warfarin and the dr recently started me on lipitor (which does not affect the warfarin). I have yet to have my 90 day test. My cholesterol was at 300. I have not ever really been a junk eater and I exercise, etc. but these recent health problems have really taken me by surprise. I think you will find that the dr can put you on a cholesterol med (I know, I hate having more meds to take too) that will not interfere with your warfarin. I hope this helped some. The main deal right now is getting you through surgery without clotting and without bleeding out. Best wishes for a successful surgery and quick recovery. Give yourself plenty of time to recover and rest.

One more thing. Genetics don't care how healthy one eats or behaves. My uncle is a vegatarian and was always the healthiest until he had three heart attacks and a quadruple by pass surgery. Genetics don't care. His blessing was that he did eat as healthy as he did. It helped save him. But it makes it that much harder for us that have genetic issues because we have to have medicine to help us. Diet just doesn't do it for us.