General Chat

Can anyone tell me if these are connected.Last week i was diagnosed with high blood pressure and today got told i have high cholesterol.My doctor is on holiday so he is going to ring me when he gets back Annie

Dont worry Anne he will give you pills for both and you will be fine

Welcome to the club

Ray x,,,,,,,grandad of 10

Don't think they are.

I have high cholesterol - not very high but above the recommended and normal blood pressure.

OH has slightly raised cholesterol (again not very high but ...) and he has low blood pressure. He's had low blood pressure for years.

Jill

I had a ECG today and that was fine so my heart is ok so i dont know why i have high blood pressure. Annie

From various web sites, it seems that as long as your heart is fine - as yours is - it would appear that they think high BP is down to any combination of diet, tobacco, binge drinking, being overweight, and lack of exercise.

If they pick up high BP, then they also look at cholesterol levels as a possible contributary factor.

When your GP gets back, ask about diet sheets. OH got his down a bit by changing what he ate. Mind you, having me on his case might have had something to do with it loll

Don't worry if they send you for type 2 diabetes tests - that seems to be a standard response test.

Don't worry about it. You'll be fine as long as you do as you're told.

:-0

Hi Annie,
i have high cholesterol and high blood pressure
and take tablets for both .
you will be fine ..and as Ray says welcome to the club ..lol
Hazelx

An ECG only really tells you what your heart is doing at that moment
in time, I have a friend who 4 years ago went for his medical
for his heavy goods license, had the ECG and passed with flying colours
the very next day he had a massive heart attack but survived it due to him being fairly fit, not overweight and in the gym 5 days a week,

Dont rely on ECG

No, i have high lood pressure but my cholesterol is 2.7.

High cholesterol on it own is not usually a big issue but both High blood pressure and high cholesterol are.
As someone said an E.C.G is not a good way to judge a healthy heart.I have borderline cholesterol which I take tablets for but my.B.P is excellent.
I am fit and don't smoke and only drink in moderation,I exercise 6 days a week and am very active,my doctor seems to think my cholesterol is genetic and If I didn't lead such a healthy life style it would rocket in time.
Also there are your good and bad cholesterol so an over all count isn't usually enough,plus triglycerides which are part of your count my triglycerides are very low which some doctors seem to think triglycerides are the most Important count.

Are you shaped like an apple rather than an hourglass?

Google "metabolic syndrome".

We apple-shaped people (relatively flat chest and bum, in women, and not much of a waistline, even when thinner - when not thin, a prominent belly) carry fat in our abdomens rather than, say, the hips and thighs as some do.

Belly fat is "bad fat". It's all very complicated, but apparently it is the kind that makes you resistant to insulin -- so in metabolic syndrome, high BP, high bad cholesterol (and often low good cholesterol), high tryglicerides, high blood sugar ... may all go together.

I tend to think of it as one of those trendy diseases/disorders, but it does seem to be real. When I switched clinics last year, I was going through family medical history with my new doc (a sweetie). I was giving the cause of death of my dad, his father (coronary artery blockages) and his younger brother (a stroke at 45), and we already knew I had high BP. I said "yeah, yeah, metabolic syndrome". And she said "I was just trying to look! -- do you have a waist??"

Nope. Not so's you'd notice. Even when I was skinny, I wore boy jeans. Girl jeans to fit my "waist" have big flapping bums and thighs on me, no matter what size I am.

So -- *if* you fit that picture, then you especially have to watch out for all the various dangers that go with it. High BP and cholesterol are two of the biggies.

In any case, there are nice drugs as well as all the "lifestyle" things you can do. Losing weight (if you need to) is always the best idea ... hahaha ...

For the drugs, you'll be monitored regularly (diuretics deplete potassium, e.g. -- eat a banana a day!). And the first main BP drug you're put on may not work out (you may get the Ramipril cough, for instance). It all works out eventually!

and remember - high cholesterol is not always down to what you eat - mine is familial. My first reading was nearly 10 - I refused medication and said I would get it down because I eat all the wrong foods. After a month of depriving myself of most of the things I really like - cake, biscuits, crisps etc. it had gone up to 11.5!!! Therefore familial. On statins now and everything is fine

Nudged back up for grannie of 10.

Dr Ray is waiting to help you Grannie of 10,, are you there !!!!!

You,ll have to be quick Grannie, my shift ends at ten, lol

Ray lol x

Annie, re your new thread (makes a lot more sense to keep the conversation in this one) --

Unless your BP and cholesterol are sky high, I can't think it will be a problem to wait a week for your appointment. (I don't know what your BP readings are, so I won't advise.)

Remember that stress and anxiety raise the BP, and the readings you're getting may be related to that. (Anxiety can also raise cholesterol levels, interestingly, so worrying about it all isn't going to help get a good picture of things!)