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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / March 2005I Finally Got My Lab Results!!
The results took so long cause the lab lost one vial of blood and I had to give more. But the results are in now. Saturday I will have a conference with the doc about the results. The results are unbelievable!! Smoking caused my Hct and Hgb to be a bit too high; but everything else is just fine, thank you very much!! All the other readings are within limits; even my cholesterol! Triglycerides--71 Cholesterol--189 HDL cholesterol--59 LDL cholesterol--116 VLDL cholesterol--14 Cardiac risk ratio--3.2 This figure is lower than the printed range! This is excellent. I am floored. I was so sure it would be sky-high. Even my sodium content is right in the middle of the range. All the rest of that long list is mid-range! My liver and BUN/creatinine are mid-range! But there is a problem. My thyroid. It is a bit high. The range is .3--5.0. My thyroid is 5.57. The nurse who gave me the copy of my results told me hyper-thyroid can cause a lot of different effects on the body. And then i remembered my Mama and my older sister had been taking thyroid meds for 50 years! So maybe there is a genetic predisposition. I will find out Saturday. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I just had dinner: Chicken and Sausage Tuscano, sprinkled with Parmesan and accompanied by a buttered bagel! :-) -- CATherine > The results took so long cause the lab lost one vial of blood and I > had to give more. But the results are in now. Saturday I will have a [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > In the meantime, I just had dinner: Chicken and Sausage Tuscano, > sprinkled with Parmesan and accompanied by a buttered bagel! :-) Everything looks great! Your LDL is a little high compared with your HDL cholesterol. You can raise your HDL or "good cholesterol" and lower your bad or LDL cholesterol by eating more beans. No kidding. Even just canned baked beans, but I make a great 15-bean soup just lightly flavored with ham or bits of homemade Italian sausage. Lentils, black-eyed peas, even some light kidney beans or chick peas in salads, or hummus will help raise your good cholesterol and lower your bad. Oatmeal does too. Congrats on your good report! > > The results took so long cause the lab lost one vial of blood and I > > had to give more. But the results are in now. Saturday I will have a [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > cholesterol and lower your bad. Oatmeal does too. Congrats on > your good report! She's still in a good range, although it's hard to have too high an HDL or too low an LDL unless you are pregnant. One unit of HDL balances more than one unit of LDL--the exact ratios vary with several things including sex and age, but, very roughly, one unit of HDL covers about three units of HDL. Triglycerides and VLDL can complicate things when they are high, which they aren't. So, the usual health estimate is the ratio of HDL to total cholesterol, which is considered healthy (again with age variation) when 5 or less. 3.2 is superb. *snif* I wish I could have oatmeal. Even a small cup for breakfast spikes my blood sugar too high. I _like_ oatmeal. I suppose if I ever get into the habit of really hard post-breakfast workouts, I can have it. Ironically, my lipid levels aren't terribly affected by eggs, given that I _must_ take lipid lowering drugs due to genetics. OK Howard: What about lower cholesterol? I have "low" cholesterol at 3.86 (CDN) = 149 mg/dl US My LDL is 1.67 (CDN) = 64.6 mg/dl US and My HDL is 1.53 (CDB) = 59.2 mg/dl US My cholesterol in University was near 3.0 ( 116.1). That was 20 years ago and I was under severe stress. I've been following a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet for the past four years and have low B-12 and iron. I've started more routinely taking B-12 supplements and eating organic pasture raised meat 3 times a week. I *will not* eat factory farmed animals or those given routine antibiotic shots. (I read recently that, because people like to eat chicken breast meat, that the breasts are filled with hormones and the chickens are so top heavy that they can't stand up for the last few months of their lives!!) I understand that 80% of your cholesterol comes from your liver and that much of it is hereditary. I also know that my tissue repair has been slow and my injuries have been high over the past few years. I have read all sorts of things lately linking anxiety and depression (hereditary and in my family) and increased heart attack risk to low cholesterol - the study of Japanese men that showed, as the Japanese diet deterioirated over the past 30 years, those with the lowest cholesterol died. High risk of heart attack with *too low* HDL. I hate reading stuff on the internet. Everything can be worrisome. Susan M Otis and Chester Finally eating organic pasture raised red meat >> > The results took so long cause the lab lost one vial of blood and I >> > had to give more. But the results are in now. Saturday I will have a [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > it. Ironically, my lipid levels aren't terribly affected by eggs, given > that I _must_ take lipid lowering drugs due to genetics. > OK Howard: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > ago > and I was under severe stress. Obviously, we don't know everything about the role of cholesterol. The major emphasis, for what seem good reasons, are its role in atherosclerosis (deposition of cholesterol plaques in blood vessels, etc., with the real potential of blocking circulation), as well as disorders where a plaque breaks loose (e.g., from the leg in "Economy Class Syndrome" or deep vein thrombosis) and winds up in a Really Bad Place, blocking blood flow in the brain, from the heart to the lungs, etc. While the singular of data is not anecdote, a complication of my coronary artery bypass surgery was that I threw some sort of blocking material -- we don't know if it was cholesterol, a blood clot that shouldn't have been there, or even debris in the heart-lung machine -- the blood vessel supplying my left auditory nerve was completely blocked. I already had some hearing loss in that ear from a childhood sunstroke, but am now completely deaf in the left ear. ) > I understand that 80% of your cholesterol comes from your liver and that > much of it is hereditary. Correct. Remember people who would have seemed to have led an optimal lifestyle, like Jim Fixx, still died of atherosclerotic heart disease. The trend in human medicine is to give lifestyle modification a reasonable chance, but to start using the lipid-lowering [1] drugs, principally of the statin class, much earlier -- the assumption is that if your genetics are wrong, it's not worth extended struggling with diet. Incidentally, there is increasing research that suggests statins may have other health benefits. It's like birth control pills -- while they are officially for contraception, the FDA now allows the manufacturers to list data on other health benefits they may provide. Of course, the manufacturer MUST list risks. [1] Lipids are the general category of fat and fat-like substances. Cholesterol is in the group, although from the perspective of an organic chemist, it's actually a complex alcohol. I prefer to use lipids as a more general term, so I also include such things as triglycerides. >I also know that my tissue repair has been > slow > and my injuries have been high over the past few years. > > I have read all sorts of things lately linking anxiety and depression > (hereditary and in my family) Let's look at that point. You do need cholesterol; that's why the liver synthesizes it. Cholesterol is the starting point for the body to synthesize a wide range of hormones, definitely including male and female sex hormones. Could too low a cholesterol level decrease hormones that have an effect on mental health? No one really knows. >and increased heart attack risk to low > cholesterol - the study of Japanese men that showed, as the Japanese diet > deterioirated over the past 30 years, those with the lowest cholesterol > died. High risk of heart attack with *too low* HDL. I'd have to see the detailed studies. See below... > I hate reading stuff on the internet. Everything can be worrisome. I regard it with mixed reactions and caution, unless it's from a professional medical or scientific site. Incidentally, while it is oriented to health professionals, I highly recommend www.medscape.com. It requires free registration, but, AFAIK, I've never been spammed from there. Medscape does not have versions for laymen. WebMD is probably better as a general source for such information. While it does have professional information, I don't always find as much depth as on Medscape. Even with good websites, there's a limit to how much you can infer. Very often, the web articles are summaries from more extensive articles in scientific journals. In the example you mention, I'd want to know a good deal about some other blood factors not related to cholesterol, and what the exact pathology of the heart disease was. The Japanese have been sufficiently isolated, and remain sufficiently homogeneous, that their genetics can be significantly different than other populations. I have no idea if there are differences in the Japanese population, but when assertions are made about increased heart attack risk, I'd definitely want to know about blood levels of non-lipid chemicals, especially associated with inflammation, or with other known tendencies to heart disease. These would include C-reactive protein, homocysteine, possibly troponins, and some more exotic chemicals. > Susan M > Otis and Chester [quoted text clipped - 60 lines] > > given > > that I _must_ take lipid lowering drugs due to genetics. I just can't get too choked up about bloodwork levels. I had a physical in Oct. '01 and everything was "great." Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, everything better than the "normal" range. My "bad" cholesterol was 132. Good news, right? Except by the end of November, eight WEEKS later, I end up with bypass surgery for FOUR occluded arteries. Either somebody in the lab made a dreadful mistake, or bloodwork alone isn't always a very good indicator of what's going on inside your body. Or at least with me anyway. Sherry > I just can't get too choked up about bloodwork levels. I had a physical > in Oct. '01 and everything was "great." Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Sherry A friend of ours had a clean bill of health, good bloodwork, was active (a runner) and dropped dead on his kitchen floor at 50, a week after his doctor's visit. So I tend to agree with you 100%. -L. > I just can't get too choked up about bloodwork levels. I had a physical > in Oct. '01 and everything was "great." Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > always a very good indicator of what's going on inside your body. Or at > least with me anyway. My guess would be that some predisposition might have been shown if levels of some chemicals that predispose to inflammation had been measured. Unfortunately, we don't yet exactly know how to make clear clinical decisions based on even the better known chemicals in this class, such as C-reactive protein, lp(a), and homocysteine. High levels of the last two do tend to call for "pharmacologic" (i.e., very high doses of selected vitamins), usually niacin (if tolerated) for lp(a) and folic acid for homocysteine. Folic acid is very safe and prevents several classes of birth defects. Ironically, just before the recent storms about carbs, the baking industry agreed to add folic acid to breads. I can't think of a terribly good reason why everyone shouldn't have at least 800 micrograms per day of folic acid. Many physicians are back to recommending a daily multivitamin. Genetics also can be a factor. Eventually, we will know about risk-increasing genes. I've had blood drawn as part of a long-term study at NIH to try to learn any genetic patterns associated with heart disease; nobody expects useful data any time soon, but it will eventually tell something. Meanwhile, they keep building the data base. >I just can't get too choked up about bloodwork levels. I had a physical >in Oct. '01 and everything was "great." Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >Sherry Yeah, I agree. There is _something_ clogging my vessels. I can feel it and it has been getting worse. Tomorrow I will have some questions for the doctor about it. -- CATherine > >I just can't get too choked up about bloodwork levels. I had a physical > >in Oct. '01 and everything was "great." Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > and it has been getting worse. Tomorrow I will have some questions for > the doctor about it. That must be a really scary feeling. >> >I just can't get too choked up about bloodwork levels. I had a physical >> >in Oct. '01 and everything was "great." Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >That must be a really scary feeling. Yes. Sometimes, when I expend extra effort in my job, I feel pressure in my chest. From what I have learned since then, the thyroid is not letting enough oxygen in to fuel my heart and it has enlarged, trying to do the job. I have learned that when I go to lift a patient, I position my self, breathe deeply twice and on the third breath, lift. Then it works. I will be glafd to get my medicine. Just a few hours now till i see the doc. -- CATherine "CATherine" <pepsicola5cents@drop.me.bigsandytelco.com> wrote> > > >That must be a really scary feeling. > > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Then it works. I will be glafd to get my medicine. Just a few hours > now till i see the doc. I hope you will let us know how it goes. >"CATherine" <pepsicola5cents@drop.me.bigsandytelco.com> wrote> > >> >That must be a really scary feeling. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >I hope you will let us know how it goes. AGHH!! Every time i read something and figure that is what is doing the bad things to me, the doc says, No. It turns out the thyroid isn't hypo enough to do bad things to me in a big way. Just little bits added to whatever else is wrong. So i got a minimal Rx for L-Thyroxine to put with my BP meds. And the BP is now down near normal, thank goodness! Doc took a EKG and it was fine. She wanted me to do a heart stress test but i can't afford it. I don't have insurance and everything is paid for out of my limited pockets. Anyway, I don't hink that will help. I think my lungs aren't getting enough oxygen due to smoking and globs of fat in my abdomen, sqeezing my organs together, reducing the space needed for my lungs to expand. There, I admitted it! Now I have quit denying my own weaknesses and decided the whole problem would be helped and maybe cured by the quitting smoking and eating right. Last Fall when I quit for a month, my chest seemed to shrink and didn't hurt and my back didn't hurt and i did feel so much better. Why, oh why did I ever start smoking again! Now I am worse off than I was last fall before i quit! So now I am down to 4 cigarettes a day. And I filled up on salad with fat-free dressing before I ate my lean burger. Okay, I have made a start. -- CATherine > AGHH!! Every time i read something and figure that is what is doing > the bad things to me, the doc says, No. (snippety) We're sending purrs that you find what works for you and feel marvelously better. And please, do get on your company's health insurance while it's available; DH and I are self-employed and not on any group plan, and OMG it's expensive!! ------ Krista >> AGHH!! Every time i read something and figure that is what is doing >> the bad things to me, the doc says, No. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >------ >Krista My company has open enrollment in November. That will give me time to study my options; the company has two different plans and one has two options. Kaiser and Cigna. By the time November comes around I will know what plan to choose and whether I can afford it. -- CATherine > My company has open enrollment in November. That will give me time to study > my options; the company has two different plans and one has two options. > Kaiser and Cigna. By the time November comes around I will know what plan to > choose and whether I can afford it. I hesitate to say anything, but ... It seems to me that what you can't afford is unexpected medical expenses, like what you are now experiencing. With medical insurance, you have a known monthly expense, plus you can set a bit aside for co-pays and whatever's not covered. Medical insurance can turn a $10,000 bill into $150. What would you do if you had a serious problem, not just a scare?  Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >> My company has open enrollment in November. That will give me time to study >> my options; the company has two different plans and one has two options. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >Medical insurance can turn a $10,000 bill into $150. What would you do if you >had a serious problem, not just a scare? I know; but the old dollar only goes so far. When I figure my budget, I figure minimum payments. If I have a little extra, I make a bit larger payments. Now I have more coming put. The ins. would be an extra $92 per month plus co-pays and probably a deductible. I still need to study the fine print to be sure about that. I hope work picks up. In the summer, when everyone takes vacations, I could actually get some overtime. -- CATherine >>It seems to me that what you can't afford is unexpected medical expenses, >>like what you are now experiencing. With medical insurance, you have a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > print to be sure about that. I hope work picks up. In the summer, when > everyone takes vacations, I could actually get some overtime. This just serves to remind me of how fortunate I've been. I've never gone without health insurance. I'm sure that I'd be much less gung-ho about the things I do if I knew that I'd have to pay for a broken arm (never had a break, knock on wood) or worse all by myself. That being said, DH and I would long since have drowned in serious hospital and dental bills if we didn't have insurance. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > I know; but the old dollar only goes so far. When I figure my budget, > I figure minimum payments. If I have a little extra, I make a bit [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > some overtime. > CATherine I do remember well the days when we were living on the GI bill while Jim went back to finish college. Looked at getting some health insurance because we had a 3-year-old daughter, but when we looked at the bottom line, we could squeeze out enough for the insurance, but then we wouldn't have anything for the co-pays and deductibles that would be sure to come along with a preschool child. So, we did without insurance because we were all young and healthy at the time, but it made me very nervous. I think the doctor gave us a special price when we did take our daughter in, too. Those were different times, though. Medical care is so much higher now. I would not recommend doing without medical insurance, especially if you can get it at work and you are older and may have pre-existing conditions that would make it difficult or impossible to get on the open market. You've made some difficult and excellent choices for your health. I offer heartfelt congratulations. Perhaps you can apply the money you are not spending on smoking on health insurance instead. Not only would it give you some protection, it would make it difficult for you to go back to smoking. I'll ask the kitties for some special purrs to help you through this time and to get you back on your feet. And you are in my prayers as well. Annie >AGHH!! Every time i read something and figure that is what is doing >the bad things to me, the doc says, No. It turns out the thyroid isn't >hypo enough to do bad things to me in a big way. Just little bits >added to whatever else is wrong. So i got a minimal Rx for L-Thyroxine I am not an expert in thyroid matters so please don't get scared by what I am about to opine. I am not convinced your dr is right. I would advise dropping by alt.support.thyroid & asking their advice. There are a lot of very well read folks in there - largely because those of us with thyroid/adrenal problems often end up having to do our own research, being let down by the medical establishment. Please, don't let this go, not without more investigation. Your TSH *is* out of range for normal, and way out of range for optimal. It shouts "hypothyroid". Whether you can do anything about it & whether improving it will help your other symptoms I don't know. I am still not an expert. But doing some more research can't hurt. All the best, SignatureMogget >>AGHH!! Every time i read something and figure that is what is doing >>the bad things to me, the doc says, No. It turns out the thyroid isn't [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > >All the best, Thanks. I think my first step is talk to a nurse at work with the same problem. I will be seeing her Wednesday. I talk to her about a lot of things and she is familiar with my case, having been there from the first symptom. -- CATherine > AGHH!! Every time i read something and figure that is what is doing > the bad things to me, the doc says, No. It turns out the thyroid isn't > hypo enough to do bad things to me in a big way. Just little bits > added to whatever else is wrong. So i got a minimal Rx for L-Thyroxine > to put with my BP meds. And the BP is now down near normal, thank > goodness! Yes, that is very important. That's wonderful that it is under control. Doc took a EKG and it was fine. She wanted me to do a heart > stress test but i can't afford it. I don't have insurance and > everything is paid for out of my limited pockets. This just breaks my heart. The health care system in this country needs work. It's deplorable that people like you do without insurance. > Anyway, I don't hink that will help. I think my lungs aren't getting > enough oxygen due to smoking and globs of fat in my abdomen, sqeezing > my organs together, reducing the space needed for my lungs to expand. > There, I admitted it! CATtherine, there are worse things than fat. At least you can lose the fat, as hard as that is. The first step is the smoking, just take that one now, and try exercising gently to keep the weight off. Baby steps. One foot in front of the other. You will get there, just don't take it all on at once and get overwhelmed. > Now I have quit denying my own weaknesses and decided the whole > problem would be helped and maybe cured by the quitting smoking and [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > -- You're doing great. When I quit, I got some sugar-free candy (I checked the carbs to see that they were low), like hard candy to suck on when I wanted to smoke. Also, as you have said, salad with my favorite dressing was a great snack. There are maybe 15 calories in a whole bag of prepared salad, then maybe a.s 150 calories for the dressing if it is full fat, and that is a lot of flavor for the calories! I made roasted chicken, beef, and pork and sliced it thin and snacked on that, too. (Protein fills you up better than carbs and keeps you satisfied longer. And carbs go to fat faster.) Get yourself some Stresstabs, not the brand by that name but a generic with the word "stress" in it, they are heavy on the B-complex and C, just what you need to feel calm and energetic without feeling nervous. Perfect for quitting smoking. Also remember that fiber kind of cancels carbs. So if your bread has 3 grams of fiber and 20 carbs, you subtract that 2 grams of fiber from the 20 carbs.And as boring and dull as "fiber" sounds there are delicious things that are high fiber. I love red peppers cut in strips and dipped in ranch. 15-bean soup with lean ham, yum! (Just get some beano for the office, lol!) Branola Honey Wheatberry bread, one slice toasted with whatever you like on it, very good! Also Quaker Oats makes instant oatmeal with splenda now. It's very good. Keep your chin up, dear, you can take charge of your life and do what it takes to make you feel better and live a long and happy life. >You're doing great. When I quit, I got some sugar-free candy >(I checked the carbs to see that they were low), like hard candy [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >do what it takes to make you feel better and live a long and happy >life. I have stress tabs and wheatberry bread and I have been eating 5 minute oatmeal for breakfast. This morning I tried it with dried cranberries and that is really good. As for cig. substitute, I like pretzel sticks. And more dried cranberries. :-) -- CATherine > On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 14:59:06 -0500, "Mary" <marys@catlovernospam.com> >> I have stress tabs and wheatberry bread and I have been eating 5 > minute oatmeal for breakfast. This morning I tried it with dried > cranberries and that is really good. As for cig. substitute, I like > pretzel sticks. And more dried cranberries. :-) You go, CATtherine!! You can do anything you want to do. >> On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 14:59:06 -0500, "Mary" <marys@catlovernospam.com> >>> I have stress tabs and wheatberry bread and I have been eating 5 [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > You go, CATtherine!! You can do anything you want to do. Remember the brooch! Tweed > >> On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 14:59:06 -0500, "Mary" <marys@catlovernospam.com> > >>> I have stress tabs and wheatberry bread and I have been eating 5 [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Tweed ???? The brooch? >> Remember the brooch! >> >> Tweed > > ???? The brooch? Tweed promised CATherine to send her a lovely brooch if she quit smoking for 1 year. Hugs, CatNipped > >> Remember the brooch! > >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Tweed promised CATherine to send her a lovely brooch if she quit smoking for > 1 year. Ahhhh, I see! Thanks! :) >>> On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 14:59:06 -0500, "Mary" <marys@catlovernospam.com> >>>> I have stress tabs and wheatberry bread and I have been eating 5 [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Tweed I remember. Goals are all very well; but it is nice to have a bonus! :-) -- CATherine > She's still in a good range, although it's hard to have too high an HDL or too low an LDL unless you are pregnant. Sure she is! I was just suggesting what she might do if she wanted to go for perfection! [...]> *snif* I wish I could have oatmeal. Even a small cup for breakfast > spikes my blood sugar too high. I _like_ oatmeal. I suppose if I ever > get into the habit of really hard post-breakfast workouts, I can have > it. Ironically, my lipid levels aren't terribly affected by eggs, given > that I _must_ take lipid lowering drugs due to genetics. Even just plain oatmeal with Splenda? Just the complex carbs are too high, not the added sugar? That doesn't seem fair. What do you get to eat for breakfast? Eggs? > > She's still in a good range, although it's hard to have too high an HDL > > or [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > are too high, not the added sugar? That doesn't seem fair. What do > you get to eat for breakfast? Eggs? It isn't fair! I never sweetened my oatmeal. >*snif* I wish I could have oatmeal. Even a small cup for breakfast >spikes my blood sugar too high. I _like_ oatmeal. I suppose if I ever >get into the habit of really hard post-breakfast workouts, I can have >it. Ironically, my lipid levels aren't terribly affected by eggs, given >that I _must_ take lipid lowering drugs due to genetics. Wow! I never heard of not being able to eat something as homely as oatmeal. I don't suppose you could just take some extra insulin? I know, dumb question. Now I will think of you every time I eat it. Maybe you will catch the essence of my enjoyment and toast to you in your dreams. :-) -- CATherine >Wow! I never heard of not being able to eat something as homely as >oatmeal. I don't suppose you could just take some extra insulin? Doesn't work for us T2 diabetics; we generally aren't on insulin. I am a very mild T2; I am only just on the wrong side of a diagnosis. But I can't eat oatmeal either; it spikes me real bad. SignatureMogget > >*snif* I wish I could have oatmeal. Even a small cup for breakfast > >spikes my blood sugar too high. I _like_ oatmeal. I suppose if I ever [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Maybe you will catch the essence of my enjoyment and toast to you in > your dreams. :-) I'm only on an oral sulfonylurea, glimepiride (Amaryl), not insulin. We are probably going to have to add a drug. I had perfect control when I took metformin as well -- and had weight gain from the other drgs peel away. Metformin (well, also acarbose) are the only drugs for diabetes, including insulin, that do not cause weight gain. Unfortunately, when I started taking metformin, my BUN and creatinine started inching upwards. Sound unfortunately familiar? My endocrinologist and I are talking about a new trial of metformin, starting with an EXTREMELY low dose. There are reports that people can build up tolerance to the (sometimes) renal toxicity. ><snip> >Everything looks great! Your LDL is a little high compared with your [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >cholesterol and lower your bad. Oatmeal does too. Congrats on >your good report! I do eat various beans once in awhile; in chili, baked beans, with ham hocks, k. beans on mashed taters. And I love blackeye peas! But with the unfortunate after-results, I don't like to eat them the day before going to work! ;-) Oatmeal is good for breakfast as well as in cookies! -- CATherine > I do eat various beans once in awhile; in chili, baked beans, with ham > hocks, k. beans on mashed taters. And I love blackeye peas! But with > the unfortunate after-results, I don't like to eat them the day before > going to work! ;-) Hee! Beano works and I think the more often you eat them the less, err, pooty you become! I bet you would like 15-bean soup with a nice lean piece of ham diced up in it and some carrots. Most stores sell it in bags with the instructions right on them. I like the Cajun flavored, it comes with its own seasoning pack. (Seasoning it yourself is better, though--because you then can control the salt.) >Oatmeal is good for breakfast as well as in > cookies! I love the instant kind that is made with Splenda. >My thyroid. It is a bit high. The range is .3--5.0. My thyroid is >5.57. The nurse who gave me the copy of my results told me >hyper-thyroid can cause a lot of different effects on the body. And >then i remembered my Mama and my older sister had been taking thyroid >meds for 50 years! So maybe there is a genetic predisposition. I will >find out Saturday. I can hardly wait. Your TSH is rather high. Optimal is between 1 & 2. At 5.57, you definitely look hypothyroid to me. Not hyperthyroid. Can you please get them to check your Free T4, Free T3, and Reverse T3? SignatureMogget >>My thyroid. It is a bit high. The range is .3--5.0. My thyroid is >>5.57. The nurse who gave me the copy of my results told me [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Can you please get them to check your Free T4, Free T3, and Reverse T3? Maybe the nurse said hypo instead of hyper. I was shocked at the time over my cholesterol results and wasn't taking in everything she said. But I will have questions for the doctor tomorrow. What is this T3,4, and reverse T3? I don't know much of anything about thyroid except for what little I read in my ancient medical encyclopedia. I seemed to fit the thyroid heart disease symptoms; but not the hypo-hyper--isms. -- CATherine >Maybe the nurse said hypo instead of hyper. I was shocked at the time >over my cholesterol results and wasn't taking in everything she said. >But I will have questions for the doctor tomorrow. What is this T3,4, >and reverse T3? I don't know much of anything about thyroid except for >what little I read in my ancient medical encyclopedia. I seemed to fit >the thyroid heart disease symptoms; but not the hypo-hyper--isms. Here are a couple of good places to start: Http://www.drrind.com/scorecard.asp http://thyroid.about.com/cs/basics_starthere/a/thyroid101.htm T4 & T3 are hormones that help cells respire. T3 is more active than T4. Reverse T3 is an inactive form. SignatureMogget >>Maybe the nurse said hypo instead of hyper. I was shocked at the time >>over my cholesterol results and wasn't taking in everything she said. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >T4 & T3 are hormones that help cells respire. T3 is more active than >T4. Reverse T3 is an inactive form. Thanks. I will check out these sites this afternoon. -- CATherine >The results took so long cause the lab lost one vial of blood and I >had to give more. But the results are in now. Saturday I will have a [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >In the meantime, I just had dinner: Chicken and Sausage Tuscano, >sprinkled with Parmesan and accompanied by a buttered bagel! :-) That's great, CATherine! Keep up the good work. Ginger-lyn Home Pages: http://www.spiritrealm.com/summer/ http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy) http://www.i-love-cats.com/meow/glsummer/ (The Violence Against Animals in Movies Website) > The results took so long cause the lab lost one vial of blood and I > had to give more. But the results are in now. Saturday I will have a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > In the meantime, I just had dinner: Chicken and Sausage Tuscano, > sprinkled with Parmesan and accompanied by a buttered bagel! :-) I know nothing about what these test readings mean, but I'd still suggest a low fat, low sodium diet with the occasional splurge :) I know I posted a pic of a terribly butter-laden meal the other day but I normally don't eat like that! And it did take me 3 days to eat! Jill >> The results took so long cause the lab lost one vial of blood and I >> had to give more. But the results are in now. Saturday I will have a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >Jill Even though the readings are good, something is still clogging my vessels. So I am still going to make changes to my diet. I have had enough of a scare and I know that the body parts wear out with continued abuse. And I just quit smoking again. I would feel my chest sort of "grab" every time I would light up. :-( -- CATherine > Even though the readings are good, something is still clogging my > vessels. So I am still going to make changes to my diet. I have had [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > -- You will LOVE being a nonsmoker in three months. Trust me. Just begin a safe exercise program that your doctor okays, because gaining weight is the only bad thing. I had to work hard to keep it off. I still do. >> Even though the readings are good, something is still clogging my >> vessels. So I am still going to make changes to my diet. I have had [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >because gaining weight is the only bad thing. I had to work >hard to keep it off. I still do. Since I am already "fluffy", from my love of the wrong foods plus the effect of the hypo-thyroid, I already have a problem with weight. I do have a sheet of some exercises I can do that are not strenuous to my poor, beleagured heart. I just need to make myself get with it. Walking is always good; but I do that only on my days off so I it will be daytime and warmer. When Spring finally comes, my son and I love to walk out in the fields with binocs and a bird book and a bucket with a bit of water for wild flowers and pockets for interesting rocks! We used to do that frequently; but the last few years we have gotten out of it. Well, since my DH passed away, I have to work more hours to make a living. So that doesn't leave the leisure time. So I got more "fluffy". -- CATherine I'm so glad to hear you quit smoking. We are purring and sending best wishes for you to stay smoke-free. So good to hear about the right diet too, that is also very important. We are thinking of you, SignaturePolonca & Soncek > Even though the readings are good, something is still clogging my > vessels. So I am still going to make changes to my diet. I have had [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > -- > CATherine |
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