My doctor just put me on Niaspan 500 mg, one twice a day for my high tryglicerides. It's too soon to tell if it's working yet. If I were you I would see another doctor.
A good doctor can offer good guidance, but the workload has to be born by the patient with this health problem. Having fought the battle for years with diet, exercise and the ever-evolving drugs (now with Lipitor), I know most of the challenges since I am a food-lover, exercise & drug-hater senior citizen American male with one stent already behind me.
Walking has been the easiest excercise for me, though it is very difficult for me to stick with it in unfavorable weather condition, too hot, too cold, too windy, rainy- you get the picture.
Discovering the benefits of olive oil which I sure did not care for to begin with, smart-balance oleo substitute (hi-priced, but worth it, I guess) and using mostly homemade foods for control of fats and sugars has helped me finally to make headway.
My doctor points out that alcohol and sugars do the most harm in raising my triglycerides index. I am convinced that while the lipitor is the big factor, much of my dramatic drop after years with the drugs has come about as I switched more and more to the oilve oil in all cooking (baking goods as well) . I even have come to enjoy the flavor of the extra-v*rgin olive oil which is said to be the healthiest.
A great spread for bread can be made from 50% oilve oil with 50% smart-balance or another least worse margarine (or even butter when it's time for a real treat!)
Any way good luck with what is likely to be a lifetime concern.
Both my husband and I have high cholesterol and his dr. gave him the cholesterol lowering medicine and told him to eat lots of salad's and eat baked or broiled fish, tuna fish, mackeral or salmon. These are all foods that lower cholesterol. Another cholesterol lowerer is Garlic. He puts garlic powder into everything. I cook with lots of garlic also.
My husband's and my trigs were high, and his cholesterol was high, and we were both overweight, him WAY overweight.
We went on the Atkins diet. I lost 43 lb, he lost and has kept off 150 lb., and both lowered both trigs and cholesterol so much so that our life insurance co. lowered his life insurance premium by 30%. Diet alone did it, no meds.
Dr Atkins is a cardiologist and he developed this diet back in the 1970s specifically for his cardiology patients. It is very effective for lowering triglycerides and cholesterol.
I can beat everyone's story. My husband's trigliceride count was 2,120 !! The doctor put him on a medication (generic - gemfibrozal), and set up an appointment with a nutritionist at the local hospital.
The problem with extremely high triglicerides, is that you can develop pancreatitis, which is very bad.
The nutritionist recommended the following diet:
Calorie count 1200-1500 per day. Fat grams, 50 per day. Carbohydrates 220 per day, which is broken down into 60 for each meal, and 2 20 gram snacks per day. Your body metabolizes all carbohydrates into sugar, so you have to limit it.
We don't eat white bread or white sugar anymore, and limit potatoes, rice, which your body breaks down into simple carbs, instead of wheat bread, etc, which are complex carbs.
Once we got the hang of it, we no longer have to count because we know our portion sizes. If there is something we can't live without, we figure out how many carbs we want to "spend", then give something else up.
My husband went from 2,120 to 200 in 3 months. He lost 25 bls. and I have lost 35.
Triglycerides can be lowered, with a combination of diet, medication [especially, when the levels are as HIGH, as your husband's and others on this message thread] and exercise!!!
As, you can read, the hardest part to lowering triglycerides, is the diet. The learning HOW to recognize, which fats are good and which are bad. Teaching your taste buds, to learn to eat the GOOD fats.
One other suggestion...eat the SAME food, as your husband does!!! Not only will this make him feel *normal*, but the benefits you will reap, will make you healthier.
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Mickey [aka MmeMoxie]
"The Truth is out there...
Can anyone give me the URL???!!!"
Here is an idea, Was your hubby fasting when he had his bloodwork done?
You need to fast 15 hours for accurate counts.
Also, lets say your hubby ate a 16 oz t-bone the night before or a good old Pork Roast....this will give you high counts!
High intakes of alcohol is bad too. Cholesterol is manufactured in the liver.
I have to watch my cholesterol and every morning I have a serving of oatmeal...this is not my favorite but something I must do to keep my cholesterol in line.
I limit sweets, eat more veggies, fruit and eat sherbet instead of ice cream.(moderation only)
There are many great cookbooks out there for lowfat cooking..check them out at your local library.
I just wanted to make another point. As important as watching your fats, you MUST watch your carbohydrates. You would be amazed at how many carbs you take in in beverages. A can of soda has 57 carbs ( one meal's worth). If you drink beer, it's about the same. Multiply that by a day's intake ( which used to be about 4-5 cans) and you have more than a day's worth just in what you drink. Switch to diet beverage, water, clear carbonated drinks (like Walmart sells) and you will make an amazing difference.
It's not my husband who has the bad cholesterol... it's me. I went for a checkup and found out my cholesterol was 395!!!! I went for a fasting blood test and it was still 348! Nasty for only being 35!
My doctor wanted to put me on Lipitor and after reading the side effects I didn't like that idea at all. I went to a nutritionist and she put me on some supplements and gave me a diet that depends on blood type. My medical doctor gave me the 20/30 diet. Either way, whichever diet I follow, it's hard. After almost a month, I'm still confused as to which diet to follow.
I'm just trying to be careful. Using olive oil, eating more veggies and fruits. I'm to go back at the end of the month for a check up on my cholesterol but I'm going to put it off a while because I have absolutely not been listening like I should. We have had family reunions and picnics.
I think mine is more heredity. I am about 20-25 pounds overweight, I walk/jog everyother day, I don't eat much meat, no eggs, no lunch meat. My one weekness is bread (wheat or 12-grain) and pasta. I guess that might be my problem. If anyone has any good recipes, please pass them along. ;-) Good luck everyone!
Chris,
Having high cholesteral is becoming something more and more people are having to deal with.Excercise and diet are very important.I have recently been told that vitamins containing a high quality of grapeseed has produced phenominal results.Just thought I would mention it.
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If you can believe it..you can achieve it.
My doctor just put me on Niaspan 500 mg, one twice a day for my high tryglicerides. It's too soon to tell if it's working yet. If I were you I would see another doctor.
High Cholesterol 
"The Truth is out there...
