Wednesday 28 May 2014

And the diagnosis is in

Familial hypercholesterolaemia. Doctors love to use long words, don't they? Even if it is for something simple that could be described as hereditary cholesterol. But the GP couldn't say that, could he? He had to use the slightly more complicated wording, probably just to confuse me, so that I had to ask (slightly terrified) 'what'? Anyway, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.


Since we moved to our property I had to register to a local GP. JJ was pushing me to do that for let's say some weeks (months) and I finally gave in. I don't really like going to the doctor's and to be honest if I can postpone it, I will. To give you an idea of how bad it was, the previous GP I was registered to, was close to my third from last address! I kept saying that since I will soon move again, what's the point? But now that excuse doesn't work since I’m no longer renting and I plan on staying put.

Doctor?

So, the week before leaving for Greece I visited my local practice and one day before leaving for my holidays I took some blood tests. While I was on holidays, a nurse left a message on our answering machine. That was quite funny. She had a thick Eastern European accent * and without being able to pronounce my name (that wasn't her fault) she said I should arrange a meeting to discuss my 'leakage'. JJ played that message to me a couple of times on the phone. He was scheduled to come to Athens the following day and meet me there, so he was still in London when we got the call. She wasn't being very clear, but the word used came strongly as being 'leakage'! JJ suggested ordering a handful of diapers just in case. They were on offer online.

Anyway, after coming back I met with a GP. He then told me 'familial hypercholesterolaemia'. All my other vitals are perfectly fine including my triglycerides. But my 'bad' cholesterol is 8.1 when it should be around 5.5! My 'good' cholesterol is also high. In UK they use a different metric system for that as well! In Greece I used to know around 200 to 210 the normal value and everything above that to be bad, but not in the UK. I think equivalent I'm in my 310s. I know that I'm slightly overweight by a few kilos, have some stored fat around my belly and I'm not eating as many fruits as I should. But I do regular exercise, eat my salads and I'm relatively young to have that high LDL. That can only be explained by my family bad history when it comes to heart disease. I had some signs that FH could be the case since it’s not the first time I was blood tested and had slightly higher cholesterol, just not by that much. So, something needs to be done.

That's the enemy

Since my diagnosis, I'm in the process of changing my eating habits. I know it’s still very early to say that I've successfully changed them but at the moment I'm trying to lower my fat and calories intake. I really hope that even small changes like swapping cappuccinos to black americanos without sugar or only having cereal for breakfast instead of toast with cheese might help. If I combine that with avoiding fried stuff altogether and fatty food, I might be able to lower my LDL in the long term. I've been doing that for a week already and I’m feeling confident on keeping on. Already I weight a bit less than before. Although I know that the real test will be in a couple months down the road or when we go on holidays. Will I still be able to keep up? I pray I will.


At the same time, I’m being referred to a hospital for further examinations. My GP said he will arrange the documents and post me the referral soon. It could be I have insulin intolerance caused by a gene deficiency. We'll see. My best hope is to consult with a dietician and avoid start taking medications. I read online that after you start taking stuff like statins, it's very difficult to stop. I know that I need to lower my LDL by about 30% though! That will not be easy and will take some time.

That wasn’t the nicest of posts, I know. But it's something that's on my mind and wanted to write about. I could have written about my visit to Greece, which was amazing by the way, but I couldn't. Suffering a heart attack or a stroke is not a very pleasant conversation subject. Now, I really need to convince my brother to go get tested.

* having a heavy Greek / Mediterranean accent myself, I can make fun of people with funny accents. We now believe she was trying to say 'liver' that came up as 'leakage'.

9 comments:

  1. Join the club, so to speak! Admittedly, diet is the bane of my life (more to do with cravings and portions rather than what I eat- avoiding stuff like cream and cheese and red meat etc. is a way of life now), but I was on top of stuff at my last check-up last year, and have been for several years (and fingers crossed I can come out on top at the next annual check-up). I'm Greek (Cypriot), as you probably recall; food is a big things in our families! Good luck, nevertheless. My thoughts are with you.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, food is a big thing for us. There are so many occasions where the family gathers and a massive feast is organised / planned / expected. Hopefully at some point I'll manage to get all my readings clear like you. I hope that it will also be a way of life and I won't think about it as a special diet...

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  2. I'm not one to dispense medical advice. I can only give you what my doctor told me. Back in 1993, he put me on statin drugs (over here, Lipitor, Torvast, etc.). Then after a year off back in about 2008, taken to study the effects, etc. of those drugs, took me off of them after determining that there are much better indicators of heart disease and chance of heart attack. So he did another battery of tests that show me at a much lower risk than cholesterol readings alone would suggest. I'm pretty convinced after reading some of the things he directed me to (The China Study, in particular). People should educate themselves on the diagnosis, how that might affect their lifestyle (it certainly changed my eating habits, which have improved my lab numbers considerably), and what effects the medicines may have (many men don't know that impotence is one side effect of statins that is very common, little talked about, and easily solved by another expensive drug known as Viagra - made by the same company that invented Lipitor - coincidence?).

    The best thing is to eat healthy, exercise, and watch the numbers, whatever ones you and your doctor decide to use, improve over time, no drugs involved!

    Peace <3
    Jay

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    1. Yes, I will definitely need to do my homework and study about everything I can regarding the condition. In any case I think avoiding prescription for any other natural solution is the best. I'm still waiting for my referral to the hospital, so I don't know exactly what's going to happen.
      Thank you for the advice. Definitely healthy eating and exercise will help. Who knows? Maybe I might even get a flat belly! I never had one. :-)
      Peace. <3

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  3. Men are more inclined to skip doctor's appointments and routine check ups than women. I'm glad you made an appointment and got diagnosed so you can make changes now that will give you more time with JJ in the years that follow.

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    1. Thank you for that.
      Yes, I know. I'm not the only one in denial ignoring sings and not going to the doctor's. I hope as well that it will all be fine.

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  4. now that MDs are typing more rather than dictating, they write hi-chol .
    Good luck with the diet/exercise; my ratio used to be 8.1 now it is 2.3 it can be done.

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    1. Wow. you went from 8.1 to 2.3? That's impressive. How long did it take you? It's so nice to know that it can be done...

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  5. Oh no! Hope it works out for you though. :)

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