I just got back from my doctor's office

[Kangan (imported)]

Today I went in to find out the results of the blood work that I had done a couple of days ago. Good news - everything is fine except my Cholesterol went up to 246 from 230. [sigh]

But now the fun part.... My doctor is a really great fellow - very intelligent and caring. He is originally from India, but looks oriental. Anyhow, this time he had his nurse come into the exam room with us. "Uh oh," I thought, "she's curious about my orchiectomy!" I think my doc was just tweaking me, because I didn't have to drop my pants or anything. But the discussion did get a bit personal about various details of the surgery and the aftermath. Oh well, it was no big deal but both of them did seem to think it was a bit strange for me to have an elective operation of that type. My doctor has been and still is supportive, but he now is of the opinion that I am an "eccentric" person. lol :-\:D

Perhaps my tales of a recent trip to Japan and my plans for another one in March had something to do with it. That plus my talking wristwatch that gives the time in Japanese....

I told him about the EA. Perhaps he will log on.

Oh yeah, I forgot one detail - my doctor is middle aged but drives a brand new bright orange Mustang convertible. I guess he knows another "eccentric" when he sees one!

[crankshaft (imported)]

interesting, my regular doc, is a indian too,since my other one retired, but you would have sworn he was born here, manners , comments ect, he does my blood work ect now,

and since he knows my uro who did my surgery, Im kind of a person of interest for him and passes info on to the uro on how Im doing, since Im not the normal patient per say,just a couple rocks shy of a full load

I must say, he is a very supportive type doc, wish there were more like him out there,

[Hash (imported)]

What are you doing for the high cholesterol? I took "red yeast rice" capsules for many years and they worked great. Red yeast rice is a natural over the counter "statin" that you can purchase at almost any drug store. Wal Mart carries it, it's a cheap way to lower your cholesterol if you don't have insurance. After about 7 years, the Red Yeast Rice stopped working for me, so now I'm taking "simvastatin" (zocur generic). Sometimes this happens. After taking a drug for a prolonged period of time, it just stops working. I also take a fish oil/flax capsule, an 81mg aspirin, vitamin E, and niacin. You've got to take a bunch of "niacin" for it to work and I've read that the "no flush" is not as effective as the niacin that makes you flush. No not the toilet, red in the face and a sense of crawling skin, if that makes sense. All in all, be diligent and research things. Statins have some drawbacks, but have some great benefits too.

[paulault (imported)]

My cardiologist had me start to take niacin the slow release kind over a year ago and said for a few weeks take it just before bed, that way if you get flushed you will be asleep and not notice it.

Paula.

[ramses (imported)]

Niacin works good but the side effects can really suck. It is best to start at a lower dose and work up. The flushing a prickly skin feeling is REALLY Bothersme. I take generic provastatin for $10/3 months and it has lowered my levels dramatically.

Keep in mind that just because something is NATURAL, doesn't mean it doesn't work OR is safer. Some of the most toxic substances o nthe planet are ALL NATURAL!

[mrt (imported)]

Plutonium is "natural" and so is Radium! Ha!

I used to take otc niacin and it was so bad it woke me up. I thought I was about to burst into flames. My Doctor tried a prescription version called Niaspan which has had less of that. I don't know that its a lot different but... For what its worth.

My Cholesterol has always been a mess and I needed to go on Statins. I've heard that CoQ10 is a good OTC to go with any of these cholesterol lowering meds because they damp down your CoQ10 which you don't want to do?

Not sure... Anyway, my doctor said "good thing to include." I must admit I'm happy that my GP has not been overly curious about my Orchiectomy even tho I went though her to find the surgeon. In no way would I be happy with a "Hey nurse come in here and look at this!" type of thing. I dunno... In reality lets face it. The type of surgery we have is NOT different then a women who has had her ovaries removed and thats still (Sadly) very common. I think its just unusual that men have ANY contact with a doctor thats odd!

[augman7518 (imported)]

Putting my two cents worth in.For high colosteral I was given niacin and I also was takeing hydrochorczde too.for high blood pressure.In 10 to 20 percent of people this will cause gout.If you want something that hurts this is it.I go to the VA for my healt problems and they are the people who gave it to me.One of their doctors who was from Iceland said he could not figure out why American MD,s did that.To give an idea of what an attack is like one day four of us vets were waiting and a woman vet came in.We were talking about gout and she commented that it was the only thing that hurt more than having a baby.

[bfleish (imported)]

Before my orchiectomy my cholesterol hovered around 220. I was prescribed Simvistatin which brought it down to the 170's.

Post orchiectomy my cholesterol has now dipped to the 120's. It is actually too low.

For me when my T levels were very low my cholesterol soared. After I went on hormone replacement (Androgel) my cholesterol has dropped quite a bit.

I didn't know it but you can have problems with too LOW cholesterol also.

[Kangan (imported)]

That's interesting info re cholesterol. Perhaps the orchiectomy has caused my level to rise? Alsom the winter weather has kept me mostly inside so I'm not getting much exercise either.

My doctor told me to drink wine and to exercise more.