Wow talk about your good news/bad news from the doc.

[Liberal Veteran]

In addition to getting medication for my sinus infection, I got the test results from my last bloodwork back in August. I didn't really worry too much because I trust my doc enough to know that if something really bad came up, he would call me. Apparently he typed a letter in my chart but the nurse didn't mail it off to me.

So the good news is that my viral load is still undectable and my t-cell count is the highest it has been since I got my HIV diagnosis. It's not "gee whiz great" but from where I started it gets me well out of the danger zone of opportunistic infections.

All my other blood work is really good, except my cholesterol which he said has been steadily moving up for 5 years and now has hit the danger zone. My ldl 167 and hdl is 56

So please feel free to tell me your ldl cholesterol lowering tips (as long as it doesn't include losing weight (cause I am already thin).

[democrat in Tallahassee]

1. I don't eat margarine, mayo or red meat and I walk 20 min a day.

My total cholesterol is 118. I use a margarine spray thing called Smart Beat--it has no calories and no fat. It's not bad. The no fat stuff has gotten a lot better.
sounds like the news was basically good. Congrats.

[SheilaT]

2. For what it's worth,

the danger of cholesterol has been overestimated. Apparently much of one's cholesterol is simply genetically based, although eating well is always a good idea.

I'd say the good news far outweighs the bad news in this case.

[Liberal Veteran]

3. Thank you

Generally, I wouldn't worrry too much, but it has been moving steadily up the last few years. It's one of the nasty little side effects of HIV meds.


I agree though there's more positive. Hell, considering where I started from, I'm in good shape.

[Lex]

4. Congrats on your viral load and t-cell count!

About the cholesterol--all the stuff I've read lately says even light exercising actually helps naturally bring your cholesterol down. Particularly the triglycerides which are the scary ones.

Exercise & triglycerides:
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=124181
http://heartdisease.about.com/od/exerciseandheartdisease/a/exervess.htm


Lex

[auntAgonist]

5. Just off the top of my head ..

Isn't Oatmeal supposed to be really good at lowering cholesterol?

**thinking**

on edit: found this

http://cholesterol.about.com/b/a/063981.htm

February 08, 2004
Oatmeal Lowers Cholesterol
Oatmeal, a rich source of dietary fiber, has been discovered to lower cholesterol levels in over 40 separate research studies. It is thought that the oat fibers mix with cholesterol in the small intestine and carry the cholesterol out of the body instead of it being absorbed into the blood. The Food and Drug Administration is also convinced---oatmeal was the first food to carry the distinction on its label to lower cholesterol levels