I've been doing Atkins for a little over 1yr.
When I went to the doc today,she told
me that I have both high blood pressure
and high colestoral. Now,for the first time,I have to take medication for both.
What gives?
Its the oppisite of all that I read here.
Now I'm very unhappy.My doc wants me to go low fat..no butter,bacon,cheese,etc
Any ideas?????????

Have you been following Atkins to a T? No high carb cheats here and there? If there haven't been any cheats, then I am also really puzzled because your experience is SO contrary to what I've been seeing here on this forum too. Haven't had my bloodwork done yet (after nine months LCing). I did have my blood pressure taken five months into LCing and it was low to normal.

One set of tests is not enough to justify a lifestyle change like that.

Some obvious questions:

1. What was your HDL/LDL? What was it a year ago? If your LDL has gone up, that is a good thing, especially if it is a larger % increase than the HDL.

2. What were your triglycerides then? Now?

3. Your weight loss should have significantly lowered your blood pressure - what was it then? What is it now?

I'd say add more calcium to your diet (yogurt, broccoli, cheeses) - helps with both weight loss and high blood pressure, and get more details about your numbers - hard to know what to recommend without more data. Also, get a blood pressure testing machine - learn how to use it correctly.

Did you know that TALKING while having your pressure taken can boost the results? Lots of things can boost blood pressure short-term - take many readings over a long period of time to get a better picture of what is going on.

I would strongly urge you to purchase a good digital blood pressure unit ($60-70) and start charting your blood pressure for a couple of weeks.

Take it first thing upon rising, then after breakfast, then after an exercise period, then in mid afternoon, then after supper, then before retiring for the night.

See what the pattern is and then you will begin to understand whether you truly have a blood pressure problem, or if this might simply be a low fat bias on the part of the doc.

Did you get blood pressure and blood fats readings before or shortly after going on Atkins??

If not, you really have no baseline to work from, and that makes things much more difficult.

Please read the recent article about several blood pressure medicines being related to an increased chance for heart attack.

Good luck.

If you hold your breath, your blood pressure will go up. So it is important to breath normally.

I would go back in for additional blood tests. Also, you can still get good fats and cut out bad fats. You can do this by eating avacados, olives, olive oil, and nuts (and nut spreads.) So, if you work daily to cut out some of your meat fats and add more vegetable fats you may be able to lower your cholesterol.

Get the bloodwork numbers and figure out the ratio. The total cholesterol number can go up if your HDL # goes up which is a good thing! Here's a thread on Interpreting Results.

Even doctors don't understand the importance of the ratio and look only at the total.

Karen

I would HIGHLY recommend 1000mg of high quality fish oil (pills) per day. There are truly dramatic studies regarding protection from heart disease and the lowering of LDL cholesterol. Dr. Atkins recommends, too.

Sorry for the turmoil you're experiencing. Hopefully everything will get ironed out shortly.

I have never heard of a doctor who prescribes blood pressure medication based upon one reading. Blood pressure readings can vary widely at different times in the same person. An occasional high reading is not dangerous; it is the sustained high readings that are dangerous. Most doctors ask you to get a blood pressure cuff and monitor your pressure at home for several weeks -- taking it at different times of the day -- before considering prescribing medication. If I were you, I would monitor your blood pressure yourself for a while before agreeing to medication.

If you buy your own digital blood pressure monitor -- which I recommend -- the ones that fit the upper arm are somewhat more accurate than the ones that fit the wrist. It's a good idea to calibrate it with the doctor's monitor to make sure it is working correctly -- take it into the doctor's office and have them measure your pressure with their cuff and then measure it with your cuff.

Everyone has made very good points. I just think that Gotbeer speaks the loudest and should be a lesson to any LC newbies. Do your bloodwork from the beginning of Atkins. ALso have work done throughout the year that you are on this diet so that you have a record of what is going on inside your new body.

I have heard of some cholesterol levels that went up, but it rarely happens. I think that there are underlying circumstances that causes this.

Black57

speaking of a bad doc visit...i've been low carbing since jan/03...satisfied with my weight loss...hasn't been the quickest, but i'll take it. no problems with adapting to this WOE. i dont know what my previous blood work numbers are before starting, but the current numbers raised a flag of concern in terms of my hdl/cholesterol ratios...my blood pressure was good, though i don't recall the numbers...i'm going back next week for a consult to see what he feels about my blood results. hopefully the next test will determine things are improving from even worse results BEFORE i started low carbing. makes me wish i had the blood work done before!




random blood sugar: 5.8 mmol/L
serum cholesterol: 5.06 mmol/L
ldl 2.61 mmol/L
hdl .97 mmol/L
triglyceride 2.86 mmol/L
total cholesterol \ hdl 5.03
hemoglobin 163 g/l

Well, I've just passed the 3 months timeline, here and my blood pressure is still a problem, I replaced my water pills with L-taurine, and really can not honestly say it's done anything to lower the B.P., I 'm contenplating going back on the water pills, to see if I get get it down, before my next visit, as if it's not down, he'll want me on something stronger. ( I know they will stall me, but, I'm more concerned about the B.P. right now)
I've tryed the cutting out of eggs and red meat............... no difference. However I just read that taking 1/2 of an aspirin daily, may help the effects of ( sorry for got the term for it) where red meat and eggs can effect Blood pressure.

So yes, not everyone's B.P. benefits by this woe. But I also agree, it needs to be tracked for a while before he writes a precription. Maybe you have" White Coat syndrome" ( walk into a doctors office......see the white coat............ up goes the B.P.)

Good Luck, Kathy

Forget my mentioning cheats. Everyone else here has very valid advice. I like the idea of monitoring your own blood pressure, at different times of the day, for an extended period of time. Also, if you did not get bloodwork prior to the start of LCing, did you get some bloodwork done sometime before that (at least so you have some sort of comparison). I never thought of the possible low-fat bias on the part of the doctor. What is he/she basing the "high" cholesterol judgement on? The total cholesterol number? Is he/she even considering the HDL and LDL components?

Another question I'd ask is - are you exercising regularly?

The more athletic you are, the lower your BP. As a rule.

Hi Everyone. Thanks for your replys.
I had blood work about 6 months before I starts doing Atkins. Now I can check my own BP.