Thanks for the advice and wishes everyone. I'll let you all know how quickly I can turn this around.

I guess I can get a kick-start with the meds, as long as my doc says I can go off them soon. I need to get out of the "danger zone" ASAP.

__________________
Chad
2013 Jeep Unlimited Rubicon
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL

I'm sure all of that homebrew is to blame. In the interest of saving you from yourself, and in order to remove all temptation that it may lead to (beer=mass consumption of unhealthy food), send the entire quantity to:

Mr. Swamp Yankee
304 Main St.
...



Sounds like you're on top of everything and if you're not I'm sure your Mrs. is! Good luck with the new regimen!

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

> Cholesterol: 308 - should be under 200
> HDL: 33 - should be higher than 40
> Triglycerides: 530 - should be less than 150

> There's also a history of heart disease and stroke in my family.

My family has the same history. Ugh.

You appear to have Hyperlipidemia as evidenced by the high triglyceride count. This is the same malady I have. What was suggested for me was the following:

1) cut out as many sources of fat as possible. Diet can account for up to about 25% of your cholesterol and lipid count.

2) As others have suggested, take Omega-3 fish oil. I take 9 grams (9,000 mg) per day. This will raise your HDL and thereby lower your LDL numbers

3) Take Niacin (vitamin b3) I take 4 grams (4000 mg per day). This is tough to acclimate to.

4) Take some kind of statin med.

Check this all out with your doc before doing self-prescription.

The key risk of statin drugs is the strain they put on the liver. You’ll need to do blood tests about every 3 months to see if this is a problem.

In my case, my liver has problems eliminating lipids. It is a gift from my father. The best approach is to reduce weight and to take medicines to help get the blood numbers where they should be. Exercise also goes a long long long way to changing the blood numbers. If you do nothing you will likely end up with coronary artery disease, leading to stroke, heart attack, PE or some other catastrophic problem.

The good news is that it is treatable. The bad news is that it requires daily efforts to win the battle or at least forestall the inevitable.

FWIW, my family buried my cousin 2 weeks ago. He was 62. He had the same problems as me but was afraid to go to a doctor...