I knew it was coming, but hearing my doctor say, “At 33, you already have high cholesterol,” hit harder than I expected. Over the past few years, my sedentary lifestyle has left me anticipating bad news. Five years ago, before the pandemic, my waist measured 32 inches. Yesterday, I discovered it had ballooned to 41 inches—so much so that squeezing into my old jeans felt impossible. Working from home meant I’d stopped buying jeans altogether, opting instead for breathable cargo or jogging pants.
Last week, my right leg started hurting. My calf looked puffy, and my foot ached. My joints felt weak, but I could handle pain pretty well, so I tried to ignore it. But when the pain made it hard to walk, I knew I had to see a doctor.
At first, I decided to book an appointment with the Rehab doctor within our area, since it might be because of the joints, etc most likely I will be getting some physical therapies to alleviate the pain. Unfortunately, my schedule was in the afternoon and I cannot go. So I decided to cancel and look for another provider that is available in the morning.
Since google is the best friend of all if you feel that something is going on. I decided to search what could be my case given the symptoms that I am experiencing. According to what I have searched, it might be gout and because of that, I decided to look for a doctor that may be able to help. Luckily, April's doctor is an internist and her schedule is morning thus I decided to book an appointment and schedule a visit. I was the first one to arrive in the clinic at around seven in the morning and the doctor arrived at around 11. It is a first come first serve basis thus being early is important.
During my first visit, she prescribed painkillers and steroids but emphasized that further treatment hinged on blood tests. After fasting for 10 hours, I completed the tests and received shocking results the next day.
The Breakdown:
Total Cholesterol: 308.9 (Optimal: <239)
LDL (“Bad Cholesterol”): 217.55 (Optimal: <130)
Triglycerides: 196.36 (Optimal: <150)
HDL (“Good Cholesterol”): 52.08 (Optimal: ≥60)
In short with the numbers given, I am already at risk of either getting heart attacks or blood clots due to excessive fats stored in my bloodstream.
I was advised by my doctor that since I am still young a change of lifestyle is a must if I want to spend more time and avoid further complications that may arise in the future.
So what is the main perpetrator of such? Aside from not being active anymore one of the contributors is my food intake. Fatty, processed meals are always prepared at home. I lived on the tagline of Zark's burger the greasier the better and almost all of my homecooked meals are fried. Stress is also a factor and me working in the nightshift has taken a toll in my body function.
I was given statins for my cholesterol management and some medicine for my liver as I am suspected to have fatty liver as well due to the build-up of cholesterol.
I am now planning to clean my fridge and remove some of the fatty foods around and replace them with a healthier alternative. I eat vegetables btw but in very few servings only.
Overall it is a huge wake up call for me to take care of myself seriously to avoid further problems in the future.