Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group high triglycerides! causes? cures?

hi john,

yes, i've read about metabolic syndrome too, and feel like i'm headed that way if i don't get it turned around now.

i eat fatty fish about twice a week and i've started taking fish oil recently, but read that the capsules can be a problem for diabetes, they say its better to eat the fish. if i bake its with canola, otherwise extra virgin olive oil is used for everything else. we don't fry, we grill, roast, bake, etc. don't eat a lot of red meat or much dairy, but still could be too much for me.

my carbs are mostly vegetables and beans.
if i eat grains, its whole grains.

so i'm hoping that i really need to exercise more, because there is some wiggle room in my diet, but not a huge amount. but there is a lot of wiggle room in my exercise. so, now i'm walking every day, even if i have to ice before and after my walk. i'm starting off just a mile, but plan to progress.

had my CRP and ESR done a few months back when "looking for arthritis" as the doctor seemed to be doing. one was 8 and the other 10, don't remember which was which, but both were about average for AS, and they're below "the normal" limit. doctors don't seem concerned. should i be?

and my lipid and sugar numbers were after a 15 hour fast...just slept a long time so wouldn't get hungry and wouldn't make stomach unhappy.

sue

thanks for the encouraging words Kat,

its good to hear about your mum's story.

yes, my diet is good (i recently bought this book on how to lower your cholesterol 30 points in 30 days, and i'm already eating "better" than this, you know very little of the bad fat, good fat in moderation (nuts, fish, EVOO, etc), lots of fiber, veggies, beans, fruit in moderation, etc, etc)....

but like your mum, i may just have to go crazy with the diet.

can you tell me the highlights of that diet your mother was on?
what % of her calories came from fat?
what did she really stay clear of?
what did she eat a lot of?
anything you can ask / remember would be greatly appreciated.

but, here's where i could make a big change....exercise....i've started walking every day, regardless....i ice before and after i walk when i need to. i'm starting out just 1 mile / 20 minutes, but will progress when my SI / knees let me. this should help stave off diabetes as long as possible too.


thanks again for the support,

sue

PS and please don't tell me i can't have ANY dark chocolate,
surely i wont' survive

aloha ben,

thanks for the support.

though i watch a lot of Food Network where everything is about butter and bacon, and i don't seriously know how several of those chefs don't have a coronary.....

but seriously, i know all the rules of good fat/bad fat, and have been eating that way for years. i know all the rules about good carbs/bad carbs, and likewise have been eating that way as well.

but, either genetics is winning, or i need to get moving.....

my husband and i eat basically the same thing, except that he cheats more than i. we're the same age. his lipids are still excellent, like mine were at age 30. the only real difference is that he's more active, does lots of gardening. and i bet his genes are better.

i can't fix my genes, but i can start moving....

i've thought about the niacin..high levels are bad for blood sugar...low levels might be just what the doctor ordered....

can i avoid statins and fibrates? i'll do what i can.

who knows, maybe its just the wakeup call i needed???

sue

jeanne,

thanks for the links. i've skimmed some of these articles....
the trick is to decide which of the contradictory information is correct....

oh to be a cave-woman who spends her day gathering twigs and berries,
and doesn't have to worry about old age, because she'll be eaten by a saber-tooth tiger way before then

oh well, my brain is fried....i'm going to go gather some twigs and berries....i mean, go for a walk.....

sue

Hi Sue,

Here's the my original post where I talked about my trigycerides. click here I think you can tell I was terrified about it.

Yes the reason why they have us fast before these tests is so that any food that throws off the test has a chance to leave the bloodstream. The problem is they don't have us fast long enough to get rid of dairy's negative effects on the test. I think they had me fast for 12-18 hours (not many doctors have asked me to fast longer than that).

I'm not sure who told me this... it could have been a nurse or it could have been someone here, but I have been getting much lower scores on the test since then. I even got to discontinue Tricor (which I still feel was effective too, but I believe my first cholesterol reading was exaggerated).

Take Care,
James.

hi james,

i read your post and the responses to your post.

you didn't sound as panicked as i felt when i saw my results.
maybe you just hid it well.

since you are back here, i'm assuming you kicked the smoking....you probably reported that here at one time....i hope so.....both my parents quit when they got some lung test results.....my mother-in-law passed away 2 years ago from esophageal cancer, from smoking and drinking most likely....so i do hope you quit....

i understand the urge to smoke when on the computer...i'm like that with chewing my pens when i read or write...all my pens are chewed at the ends

here's one thing i found:

"High blood triglycerides levels - over 199 mg/dL, or 2.3 mmol/L - are a common symptom of pre-diabetes."

i think for me, that has something to do with it....exercise should help there too.

i'll be going to an endocrinologist in august for other things, so hopefully, he can help me with all of this as well.

before that, its to the GPs office.....we'll see what he says.

til then, like you making that promise to quit smoking, i've made myself a promise to walk everyday....its been 5 days and so far, so good.

just a lot of info to get my mind around right now....but i'll get it sorted out.

maybe like you, i can start on the drugs to get things turned around, and then taper off.

thanks so much,

sue

Hi Sue,
Honestly, I am ashamed to say that I haven't quit smoking yet. It's a thought that haunts me every day. I've tried Chantix, and it didn't even phase me. I tried taking Wellbutrin (because of it's anti-smoking side effect (which was working)) but I went through more other side effects than I could handle. At that time I was smoking one every 8 hours maximum. Then later came the news about my surgeries, then both the nervousness and excitement set in. One surgery down 2 more to go. The next surgery probably won't happen until the beginning of next year. I'm back up to about 6 cigarettes a day now (twice as much, which still isn't alot to most people). As soon as I'm able to enjoy the outdoors again, and stay out there, which won't be long, I am going to tackle this problem again. I do so much better outdoors at cessation. I have alot of things working against me too, such as dependency to a med, living with a smoker, panic disorder etc. Sometimes it all seems like a bunch of excuses, even to me, but I know deep down I need to work on some things in order to accomplish something else. I'm off most meds now so that's going to help me (except Toprol, Tambocor, and the one I'm dependent on (lorazepam)), and getting cleared from my back surgery will allow me to be able to do more things, which will help too. sometimes I need to take 1/4th of a tylenol#3 to get through migrains and some milder pain, but that's it. To sum things up, things have been stressful more or less. I'm still going to keep my promise though.

I also put myself on a walking exercise program, since my surgery. Each day I walk from the living room to the bedroom and back. Yesterday I got as far as seven times. I decided that each week I am going to increase it a lap. Today I even vacuumed the floors I haven't been able to do that in years. How cool is that??? I'm a little too nervous about walking outdoors right now because the sidewalk out front isn't flat... I'm afraid I might bump or jar my back the wrong way. I'd much rather be outdoors though, soaking up more sun, instead of walking around in circles lol. Maybe I will give that a trial run in the morning, and see how I do.

I'm glad you are doing something about the triglycerides by walking. 5 days already... cool, keep it going. I'm proud of you.

All this talk about walking makes me want to get started on that so...
take care,
James.

Hey Sue, I don't actually remember the whole diet Mum was on and she's not home for me to ask right now, but this recommendation looks very close to what she was doing. She was on it for 4-6 weeks.

The main difference Mum had from this article was that her naturopath told her that if she insisted on having butter, to whip it with olive oil. That way, she was still getting the butter flavour, but the goodness of olive oil. She was to stay away from margarine altogether.

Buzzle.com Article

This article also looks good, but I disagree on the egg whites only issue. They have recently found that the HDL egg whites counteract the LDL egg yolks and so the whole egg, in moderation of course, is actually OK.

Target Woman.com Article

Mum also takes psyllium husks, by the way.

Once her system was clear of all the crap, Mum's naturopath allowed her to start reintroducing some foods, but always mindful of the types of fat she was eating. It was really hard on her, as she started doubting all food at one point during the first month. I remember her phoning me in tears because she could barely make herself eat for fear of the fat contents and such. Thankfully, I had gone of wheat about 6 months before and cow dairy the year before, so I totally understood where she was coming from.

These diets are for cleansing purposes only, not to be espoused as a lifestyle, to my mind. 4-6 weeks should be all you do on this, then slowly reintroduce foods you've not been eating.

Good for you on the walking! One of the things we suggest at the Arthritis Society is to set a baseline fitness level. So, if you can walk a mile in 20 minutes now (which is not too shabby, by the way), a few weeks from now, see how far you can walk in 20 minutes ... theoretically, you should be able to go farther in 20 minutes than you can now.

Hugs,

hi Kat,

thanks for the info.....i'm already eating like this, but now, no cheating until i get things under control......

so my weapon now, exercise! i hope it can really make the difference.

also, i will probably have to get the extra poundage off, that' apparently can make a huge difference. i hope the exercise does it. its hard to eat much less than i am without it bothering both my stomach and blood sugar, though fiber is more filling with fewer calories. i've been eating the psyllium in the AM and PM in a little applesauce chased with herbal tea, as it quiets down my overactive stomach in the morning and helps keep it quiet overnight.

i saw an episode on 60 minutes where patients that had gastric bypass were "cured" of their diabetes...and it was shown not to be just a weight-loss thing. i can see that. i really do think there is a connection for me with my overactive stomach, feeling really hungry, needing to overeat, etc. but the psyllium seems to help a lot. that and popcorn. and mylanta at night.

as for the walking, i'm not really sure how far i'm going at work, but when i'm home, it takes about 15-20 minutes to go the mile. here, i walk around all the connected buildings and go up and down stairs some too. yesterday i went longer and took more stairs. its actually a pretty good workout if you include stairs. purposely doing it indoors so i'll keep doing it in the long winters we have here. lucky to work at a place with so many big long connected buildings. the only downside, if i do it too early in the day, i work up a sweat and then don't smell so great, so i do it after everyone else has gone home.

sue

hi james,

i always say "one day at a time" and i also say "one thing at a time"...
trying to handle too many big things at once can be stressful,
so just take one thing slowly and you'll get there.

you will quit the smoking, once you get other things settled. it really sounded like you wanted to, so i'm sure you will. please do this for yourself when you can. i know my husband regrets not forcing his mother to quit.

sue