Newly lost faith in health care

BravoNovember

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
286
Location
Wisconsin
I just had my yearly physical and my results have me very frustrated. My lipid panel results showed LDL were “high”. No discussion was had about diet or exercise, nothing about my lifestyle or family history, just an immediate prescription for a statin.

-33yo, generally healthy (no major issues, some family history, some chronic pain etc)
-5’9” 185 lbs, <20%body fat
-moderately active throughout the winter and more into the summer and fall.

Not sure if this is a rant or asking opinions at this point. But I would like to find a doctor that is willing to talk through things, not just sign Rx and send me on my way
 
I lost faith in most Doctors a few years ago as well.

Get a blood panel done from functional health.
Eat Whole Foods.
Lift 3-4 days a week w/1-2 HIT excersises to follow or off days.
No need to go to a Dr unless something is broken or bleeding.
I did already purchase the package through function, just need to go get the blood drawn. Thanks for the recommendation!
 
I've got a couple ER horror stories so I'm in the same boat. Long story short, I stuffed an arrow through my leg, sat with the broadhead in my leg for 8 hours, loaded me up on ketamine then discharged me at 530 am and made me get an hour long uber ride back to my truck with no pants and 1 boot so I feel your pain. I agree with wnelson on the whole foods and exercise. It is amazing how much better you feel when you cut out garbage food.
 
What were your numbers?

LDL does not really mean squat, get an apoB test for about $15 if insurance will not cover it. Volume of LDL is totally meaningless other than a loose correlation to count especially if you eat healthy fats.

High trigs is a big red flag though for metabolic function, I would cut out sugar and reduce carbs to reduce those. Spend $80 to wear a CGM for a month if you think your diet already matches this and see how you are actually reacting to food.

If apob does show high in addition to exercise crank fiber way up, its the easiest way to impact that number. Adding an avocado and some collards to eggs in the morning is an easy low carb way to do it, fiber supplements can help too. The "dont eat red meat" advice is generally bad though reducing saturated fat is not the worst idea, grass fed beef and cutting out saturated fat from desert items is a good step though.

This is all IF you buy the LDL/apob causation of heart disease, I think the science on that is loose.

No matter what deal with those trigs though, if nothing else its a sign of diabetes looming.
 
Just like in other areas of life, there are good communicators, those that do it poorly, and a whole bunch in between. Doctors are no different. Indicting thousands of people in a particular occupation based your experience is I think unfair though it sounds like your experience was less than ideal.

I pride myself on clear communication with my patients and prioritize giving them a voice in their care. In your case without really knowing all the specifics, I would have approached it as follows. We could start you the medication, hold off and recheck your labs in a few months after making some lifestyle medications, or do both. Then I would explain the pros and cons associated with each and ask what direction you wanted to go with the goal of putting together a plan that works best for you.

Communicate clearly with the doctor about your concerns or get a new one where you feel comfortable doing so. A lack of trust in your doctor will end up hurting you in the long run.
 
My doctor is happy I’ve got high ldl. As someone else mentioned, find a functional health cash pay doctor. Do a deep dive on your blood panel with them. Eat clean, take vitamins, lift often, and mix in cardio.

I spend more time with my doctor once annually actually discussing diet, exercise, sleep, environment, supplementation and my blood panel than all my other primary care visits in my life combined. I’m much better off than I was in the traditional pill mill system.


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What were your numbers?

LDL does not really mean squat, get an apoB test for about $15 if insurance will not cover it. Volume of LDL is totally meaningless other than a loose correlation to count especially if you eat healthy fats.

High trigs is a big red flag though for metabolic function, I would cut out sugar and reduce carbs to reduce those. Spend $80 to wear a CGM for a month if you think your diet already matches this and see how you are actually reacting to food.

If apob does show high in addition to exercise crank fiber way up, its the easiest way to impact that number. Adding an avocado and some collards to eggs in the morning is an easy low carb way to do it, fiber supplements can help too. The "dont eat red meat" advice is generally bad though reducing saturated fat is not the worst idea, grass fed beef and cutting out saturated fat from desert items is a good step though.

This is all IF you buy the LDL/apob causation of heart disease, I think the science on that is loose.

No matter what deal with those trigs though, if nothing else its a sign of diabetes looming.

What were your numbers?

LDL does not really mean squat, get an apoB test for about $15 if insurance will not cover it. Volume of LDL is totally meaningless other than a loose correlation to count especially if you eat healthy fats.

High trigs is a big red flag though for metabolic function, I would cut out sugar and reduce carbs to reduce those. Spend $80 to wear a CGM for a month if you think your diet already matches this and see how you are actually reacting to food.

If apob does show high in addition to exercise crank fiber way up, its the easiest way to impact that number. Adding an avocado and some collards to eggs in the morning is an easy low carb way to do it, fiber supplements can help too. The "dont eat red meat" advice is generally bad though reducing saturated fat is not the worst idea, grass fed beef and cutting out saturated fat from desert items is a good step though.

This is all IF you buy the LDL/apob causation of heart disease, I think the science on that is loose.

No matter what deal with those trigs though, if nothing else its a sign of diabetes looming.
I edited my post, triglycerides were not high. Just LDL cholesterol. IMG_6748.jpeg
 
I just had my yearly physical and my results have me very frustrated. My lipid panel results showed LDL were “high”. No discussion was had about diet or exercise, nothing about my lifestyle or family history, just an immediate prescription for a statin.

-33yo, generally healthy (no major issues, some family history, some chronic pain etc)
-5’9” 185 lbs, <20%body fat
-moderately active throughout the winter and more into the summer and fall.

Not sure if this is a rant or asking opinions at this point. But I would like to find a doctor that is willing to talk through things, not just sign Rx and send me on my way

I'm not saying the system is perfect or awful but working within an imperfect system you have to act as a selective consumer and work to find healthcare at the level you want. Find a new doctor.
 
Just like in other areas of life, there are good communicators, those that do it poorly, and a whole bunch in between. Doctors are no different. Indicting thousands of people in a particular occupation based your experience is I think unfair though it sounds like your experience was less than ideal.

I pride myself on clear communication with my patients and prioritize giving them a voice in their care. In your case without really knowing all the specifics, I would have approached it as follows. We could start you the medication, hold off and recheck your labs in a few months after making some lifestyle medications, or do both. Then I would explain the pros and cons associated with each and ask what direction you wanted to go with the goal of putting together a plan that works best for you.

Communicate clearly with the doctor about your concerns or get a new one where you feel comfortable doing so. A lack of trust in your doctor will end up hurting you in the long run.
I did not mean to stereotype all doctors into a negative category. Sorry if it came off that way. I think I’m more frustrated with the health care system as a whole.

If my doctor would have presented it the way you described it would not have been an issue for me. Not to mention non of this was verbal and all done my MyChart
 
I just had my yearly physical and my results have me very frustrated. My lipid panel results showed LDL were “high”. No discussion was had about diet or exercise, nothing about my lifestyle or family history, just an immediate prescription for a statin.

-33yo, generally healthy (no major issues, some family history, some chronic pain etc)
-5’9” 185 lbs, <20%body fat
-moderately active throughout the winter and more into the summer and fall.

Not sure if this is a rant or asking opinions at this point. But I would like to find a doctor that is willing to talk through things, not just sign Rx and send me on my way
The Dr.'s have a computer that tells them what to prescribe or they might lose license or insurance not pay them.

There are diff doctors, often not covered by insurance who talk about diet & exercise, etc. Big pharma doesn't support these doctors.

I'm 5-10 and 275#. They always tell me to lose weight. LoL! Anyway - you can say NO.

I'm gonna ask you if the cholesterol thing is hereditary - it often is. If so, you'll end up on meds. If not - change your diet and see what happens. Go on a whole food diet til your next blood work. If it doesn't make a diff, there is something else going on in your body.

Good luck.
 
The Dr.'s have a computer that tells them what to prescribe or they might lose license or insurance not pay them.
False. I’ve made zero dollars from the thousands of prescriptions written and have never once spoken to a pharmaceutical representative. I know what to prescribe from exhaustive training few can complete. A computer doesn’t tell me what to prescribe.
 
This is how I've been measuring my health for years now. I'm 36 and lost faith after I saw my mom pass away and taking my health seriously as a result. I've been to at least 6 doctors that openly googled questions in front of me. Same experience, they want to prescribe a medicine that's bad for me and get me on my way without discussing any alternatives. You should have absolutely zero trust in our Healthcare system.

 
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