Cholesterol

Not Much Effect

Last December my PCP decided to double my dosage of simvastatin in effort to drop my LDL numbers. Six months of 40mg instead of 20mg lowered the numbers slightly, but if you look at what my numbers were last May on just the 20mg dosage, you’ll see they are pretty much indentical to this round of numbers on a 40 mg dosage. Seventy-five dollars later, his learned opinion, come back in 6 months….

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >31 <100 30-150
04/04/11 155 38 96 107
12/06/10 176 41 114 105
05/18/10 151 38 91 109
12/15/08 167 41 92 171
03/21/08 164 37 104 115
12/12/07 175 38 104 165
07/17/07 185 36 117 162
03/05/07 195 39 123 167
09/19/06 167 37 103 135
04/06/06 168 37 106 126
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
09/21/04 209 24 131 271

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 992

Double Up

Although these numbers are not too bad, Dr. PCP says with my high blood pressure they would really like to see my HDL be a lot higher, so he says we are going to double the dose of simvastatin from 20mg to 40mg. In four months we’ll check again and see if I improve.

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >31 <100 30-150
12/06/10 176 41 114 105
05/18/10 151 38 91 109
12/15/08 167 41 92 171
03/21/08 164 37 104 115
12/12/07 175 38 104 165
07/17/07 185 36 117 162
03/05/07 195 39 123 167
09/19/06 167 37 103 135
04/06/06 168 37 106 126
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
09/21/04 209 24 131 271

Started up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 911

Lipid Panel

I must have missed one of these cholesterol updates because the last one I can find is dated December 15, 2008…

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >31 <100 30-150
05/18/10 151 38 91 109
12/15/08 167 41 92 171
03/21/08 164 37 104 115
12/12/07 175 38 104 165
07/17/07 185 36 117 162
03/05/07 195 39 123 167
09/19/06 167 37 103 135
04/06/06 168 37 106 126
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
09/21/04 209 24 131 271

Turned on ABC at 9:00PM and Dancing with the Stars was on, hey, where’s TDTVS? Oh, yeah, that’s right, it’s over.

Started up, went down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 638

Good Thing It Was Last Monday

Even if you have forgotten about my cholesterol, my doctor hasn’t. As you can see from the most recent numbers I’m pretty much OK.

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >31 <100 30-150
12/15/08 167 41 92 171
03/21/08 164 37 104 115
12/12/07 175 38 104 165
07/17/07 185 36 117 162
03/05/07 195 39 123 167
09/19/06 167 37 103 135
04/06/06 168 37 106 126
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
09/21/04 209 24 131 271

But it sure was a good thing they took blood early last Monday before last week’s high fat, high calorie snack overloading (which by the way has continued unabated these last two days) because I would be willing to bet my current numbers are a lot higher.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 79

Those Numbers Look Somewhat Familiar

Got my latest cholesterol numbers back and the HDL & LDL numbers are pretty much identical, but the total number was down 10 points. Maybe because my triglycerides were the lowest they have ever been.

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >31 <100 30-150
03/21/08 164 37 104 115
12/12/07 175 38 104 165
07/17/07 185 36 117 162
03/05/07 195 39 123 167
09/19/06 167 37 103 135
04/06/06 168 37 106 126
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
09/21/04 209 24 131 271

So I guess I’ll be sticking to the 48mg Tricor in the morning and the 20mg Zocor in the evening. Actually worked out cheaper this way because I’m taking the generic for Zocor and it is only $8 bucks a month compared to the $30 a month for the Red Yeast Rice it replaced.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 94

Double Down

Had a cholesterol follow up with the doctor yesterday and as always, I’m close, but no cigar.

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >31 <100 30-150
12/12/07 175 38 104 165
07/17/07 185 36 117 162
03/05/07 195 39 123 167
09/19/06 167 37 103 135
04/06/06 168 37 106 126
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
09/21/04 209 24 131 271

No more monkeying around with the Red Yeast Rice supplement, the new course of action is to add another statin, 20 mg of simvistatin (AKA Zocor) to the 48mg of Tricor and see ya’ in March.

Rocket Man

Watched Astronaut Farmer tonight. Cute little movie that nearly lost me a few times when the unreality showed through despite my suspended beliefs. I think the only reason I didn’t turn it off, like we did for The Pursuit of Happyness the other day, is because I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up (and what kid didn’t want that if they were 8 when John Glenn orbited the planet.)

In yesterday’s episode of As the Lipids Bounce my numbers were a little better than last time, but not as good as they were the time before. The Doctor has obviously given up trying to make it any lower as his advice was, “Stay the course and I’ll see you in six months.”

  Chol HDL LDL Trig
Goal <200 >31 <100 30-150
07/17/07 185 36 117 162
03/05/07 195 39 123 167
09/19/06 167 37 103 135
04/06/06 168 37 106 126
12/08/05 182 35 120 137
07/28/05 177 30 113 169
06/17/05 164 31 85 238
05/06/05 174 27 108 194
01/10/05 176 33 110 167
09/21/04 209 24 131 271

To celebrate this “success” Donna and I went to Hardee’s for breakfast this morning and we both had Biscuits & Gravy.

Meal Cost: $3.80
Tip: None
Spent Today: $3.80
Year to Date: $1565.44
Meals out, 91 of a possible 615.

Now here’s something that doesn’t happen everyday. I got an email from Netflix letting me know that the cost of my monthly plan was being reduced by a buck. Cool, now I can afford that BMW 335i Coupe I want.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 293