got the results today

[waterflow]

The MRI was fine. So the dizziness is the inner eat thing which he said would take 3-4 months to go away. He said there is medicine to take for it which I have already been taking for at least 5 years so not sure how it will all gone. As for the blood work the only thing was my cholesterol is 283 which I’m pretty sure is high. Isn’t 300 the cut off limit? He gave me the low/no fat diet to follow and will recheck in 3 months. If it isn’t down by then he will put me on the medicine for that which I really do not want to take. Know all about it since a relative takes the stuff. I did ask him if nothing is wrong then why am I so tired all the time. Is it from the bladder after all these years? He said no I still say yes. He said I could have a sleeping disorder thing and has order for me to wear a finger clip over night. Company will call to drop it off sometimes. So, I have 3 months to get the cholesterol in check. Not sure how this will go since there is nothing to really eat. Did buy no fat jello. Yum…Guess there is a reason for me not to be baking anymore just will make my own bread still. Bet my body goes into no sugar shock. Oh, did look at that frozen ice stuff in a small container. Thought maybe they came out with a new flavor since I can’t get down the lime or lemon. There was one box left of chocolate flavored. The box looked like it had been run over by every shopping cart in the store. Normally I wouldn’t buy it looking like that but I didn’t care. Ha These are desperate times now.

I'm beginning to think going to doctors is really a waste of time. WIth all the tests over the year nothing was wrong with me. So why do I feel so lousy? :confused:

[SharonA]

High cholesterol begins at 200 not 300. I take Lipitor 20mg at bedtime without problems. My cholesterol was about as high as yours when I was first diagnosed as having high cholesterol. As of last blood count, it was down to about 170.

There are two kinds of people...those who's eating habits cause their cholesterol to go up and those who have a genetic problem with it. I am one of the 2nd kind. I have to take meds to lower my count. I am very glad that they are there to help. The only way for you and your doctor to know which one you are is for you to go low fat/no fat and see if diet and exercise lowers the count.

[SandyRN]

My Cholesterol and triglycerides were high and I do a mixture of the diet and meds. I take Zocor which now has a generic so it's a lot cheaper, and it works for me. I don't take it every day. I cleared this with my doctor. I have been watching the fats in what I eat and have done well enough that I got my Cholesterol down from 278 to 180 by using the meds and diet. Now it's stable at around 180 by taking the meds every other day or so and watching what I eat. I don't have any side effects from the meds either. It's better than knowing your arteries may clog up eventually from the plaque. THAT was enough to scare me into watching it very carefully.

[traceann]

Oh gosh, all this talk and you know, I am ashamed to say I don't even know mine and have NEVER had it checked (that I am aware of anyway!) YIKES!! Mary, thanks for bringing this subject up - might get others to take care when it comes to that, I think I should ask my doc about it...

And no worries - you will conquer it - I have faith!!!! ;)

[dg2901]

Hopefully you'll be fortunate enough to respond to the diet and exercise route. My cholesterol was high 6-8 months ago (225) and with diet and exercise I lowered mine significantly (160 ldl and 45 hdl). I'm one of the lucky ones who is genetically prone to high cholesterol (fathers side) however I was determined NOT to have to go on meds. My husband was put on Zocor; ended up with terrible muscle pain and had to stop the rx. He's been fortunate to have good results from diet/exercise.
So, dont get discouraged and give up just yet. Where there's a will theres a way; watching cholesterol/fat intake isnt that difficult.

Wishing you well!
D

[Kip]

I have been diagnosed with familial hypercholestraemia. This means that I have inherited high cholesterol and have had high since birth. I am only 34 and was diagnosed at 21. Heart UK do lots of work to help people diagnosed with high cholesterol, check out there website as it is really helpful

Kip

[ihurttoo]

Dear Mary,

Hello! I am so sorry to hear about your high cholesterol! I have had it before too. Ughh! It scared me to death too! I can't remember my exact number, (it's been about 3 yrs ago), but I am thinking mine was around 260. But, like you, my Dr. also decided to have me try diet and exersize before we tried cholesterol lowering meds, to see if I would respond to that. When he gave me the diet sheet, I saw that shrimp was listed as a MAJOR no-no food. (It has a TON of cholesterol in it!!!) Well, I had been eating shrimp almost every day, because it only has about 40 calories per serving, and I love it! Of course, I had NO IDEA that it had all that cholesteral in it when I was eating it daily! So, when I cut back and just started eating it once a week, and started eating Cheerieos for breakfast (because it is suppossed to lower cholesterol too), those two changes alone were enough to get my cholesterol levels back down to normal. :)

I hope that you can get yours down with diet and excersize too. But, if you can't, don't be afraid of taking the meds. Lots of people take them now and don't seem to be bothered by them.

As for your being so tired all the time, it could be any number of things. First, of course, you are right, lots of ICers complain of the fatigue. But, one other possibility is fibromyalgia. It is one of the frequently co-existing conditions with IC. The symptoms are muscle aches, profound exaustion, some patients are also very clumsy, others also complain of "Fibro Fog", which is where we get confused easily or frequently forgetful. There are other symptoms of it too, so please Google it and see if this sounds like you, (if you haven't already been d/xed with this).

Of course there are tons of other things that could cause fatigue too. Lots of the meds that we take can cause fatigue. I know that in my case, Elavil, Baclifin, Morphine, Percecet, Ambien, and Atarax all cause drowsiness! (And that is each one BY THEMSELVES! So, imagine if I took each one at the same time! Whew! I'd NEVER wake up!

I am not sure what meds you take, but I am willing to bet that you take at least one med that causes drowsiness! (Perhaps a pain med, or muscle relaxer, or Elavil, Atarax, etc.)

To offset the drowsy side effects of my meds, I take Provigil. It is a med that is frequently r/xed to patients with sleep Apnea, Narcolepsy, and shift workers. I set the alarm and take it with my morning meds, and it works in about 35-40 min, and keeps me awake for the day. (I take 100 mg a day.) Since fatigue has been such a problem for you, you might ask your Dr. if he would r/x this for you. I definately think it would help you. Just a thought!

By the way, I want to thank you for replying to the Prayer Request that Brigette wrote for me when I was in the hospital. It really meant alot to me that you replied. Brigette read all the responses to the thread to me while I was in the hospital and I was truly overwhelmed. It meant so much to me that you replied. I have still been too sick to get online until last night, but I was finally able to get on here last night and go over there to thank everyone. But, I wanted to let you know personally how much your post meant to me. So, thank you again. It really meant alot to me.

I hope that you get to feeling better soon!

Love and hugs,
Amy

[Silverfox]

I believe that I read somewhere that cholesterol that is resistant to diet, exercise and cholesterol lowering meds might be due to having a low thyroid.
Make certain your Doctor is not missing this diagnosis. They missed this in my case until I was severely ill. I was dead tired and had lived with a multitude of symptoms from the time I was a child. Treatment has helped me feel better, but I suffered so much damage from lack of early treatment.

Really give that diet and exercise a chance!

Silver

[ICNDonna]

I think I'll probably be on Zocor when I see my doctor on November 10. I just got started on diabetes medication and he didn't want to start more than one med at a time. My husband takes it without a problem so I imagine I'll be okay with it too.

Donna

[waterflow]

Amy!!!!!!!!!!! Amy!!!!!!!!!!! Amy!!!!!!!!!!! You're back!!!!!!!!!!:woohoo: :woohoo: Last I read you were just home from the hospital. So glad to have our missing link back on board! :kissing: Glad you are feeling a little better and I hope you get to feeling a whole lot better soon. :smile tee

Thank you to all who responded. I can only pop on here for a few minutes. The dizziness, headache, eye thing has hit hard again so I can't be here too long because I'm afraid I will fall over and hit my head, which in this case might be a good thing. :bonk: I will try and respond as soon as I can.

thanks for making me feel like I'm not alone on all of this. :smile tee You are a great bunch of people. :grouphug:

[ihurttoo]

Dear Mary,

Thank you for the kind words and warm welcome back! I have thought of you often and missed you dearly. You were always one of my favorites on here! In fact, as Kara and Brigette can attest, you were the one I always asked about most often!

I hate to hear that you have been feeling bad lately too. Hopefully we can catch up when we are both feeling better. I would really like that.

Again, thank you for your kind words on this post, on the prayer request post, and throughout the years. You have been a true source of strength for me and so many others.

With love,
Amy

[waterflow]

Well, I finally have this low fat diet thing where I understand it. Took a few days but got it down pack now. Was still trying to count calories along with fat but the calories are already figured in with the fat that I am allowed so that made it easier. I was looking on the M & M bag and it has 5 grams of fat which I am only allowed 4. Wow! Think my down fall was the peanut butter, coffee creamer, store bought baked goods. Got out of baking all the sweets and store bought has a lot of extra fat. Went grocery shopping trying to find things I could eat. Thought I would have to survive on dill pickles and sugar free jello for life but I was in the peanut butter isle and a lady picked up a jar of Fluff. I thought why not look and see. Guess what??? I can eat fluff!!!!!! :dance: I almost broke out into a dance of joy and song. Is it normal for a lady in her mid 40’s to be over excited about fluff? Had to stop eating it years ago because it made me sick but not anymore. Guess my stomach is happy just to have anything sweet (that tastes good) so it sits just fine. Still can’t really stomach skim milk but I’m getting down my 2 cups each day. I do need to find more beef recipes. Have tons of chicken/turkey but my family doesn’t like that. They want beef which I can’t have. Oh and the best part…I’ve lost 4 pounds since Thursday!! I am finally loosing weight again. Had my summer cloths all packed up to give away but I unpacked them.
I do drop things a lot and I have a memory of an elephant. The other thing too is I bump into furniture and doors a lot too. I just figured it was old age creeping up on me. No one has called about that monitor finger thing yet so not sure if they ever will or when but I do think it’s from the bladder and not that sleeping thing. There are times when I feel like I have the flu big time and it just hits fast and then leaves fast. I did have to take the cystoprotek again (not sure how I will pay for it yet) because that helped some.
I’m just so excited about mini marshmallows and the 4 pounds I lost. Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeee……:woohoo:
Also found out I can have suckers so I went to one of the dollar stores and they had their 50% off Halloween candy. I bought what bags of suckers I could have. They are the really really small ones. The one bag of suckers I bought was a Giant bag of dum dums. Got each bag for .50 cents. :smile tee Will probably rot out my teeth but hopefully my chlesterol will do down but then without teeth all I could eat would be mush. :toilet: I still get that 7:00 pm sweet craving so I just grab one of my zillion suckers and start to suck my brains out. :bonk:
I had a feeling back in January somthing was up. Started having sharp quick chest pains where the heart is. Then as time went on they got stronger and would go down my left arm. In January I didn't really care but since I have the cats :cat: now I have to stick around to take care of them.
Thanks everyone again for the responses. :kiss:

[leelee88]

Mary, So glad the diet is working..And thanks for sharing your tips about the Fluff and Suckers:)