Against Medical Advice

Since I began this journey a little less than 2 years ago I began going to the doctor for regular tests and exams. He started with a lipid panel that showed I had high LDL or bad cholesterol. I kept exercising and went back 6 months later to find that my LDL number had fallen to within the guidelines.

I was told to come back in a year for my physical and did. To my dismay he switched to a new test - an advanced lipid panel - that is supposed to be a better test. It said I once again had higher bad cholesterol than I should. I hadn't been exercising much because of a foot injury that I was told to rest and I had put almost 20 pounds on so I wasn't totally surprised by the results.

I got my foot right and got back to work and got back in today for my exam and now he says that while the LDL number is close to right some particulate count isn't. COME ON MAN! you can't just keep moving the goal posts on me!

He wants me to take statins which I am not willing to take. I tried the niacin last time and it made my heart rate jump by 20 beats per minute when I exercised so I quit it. I told him that I have no issues when I exercise so he hit me with the Jim Fixx argument. I told him that I wasn't aware of what Fixx' diet was and we agreed to disagree.

So I left without a prescription for anything. I know I may seem crazy about this, but I look at this as a slippery slope issue. You take a statin that gives you muscle pain and weakness as a side effect but you can't remember why because it also gives you memory loss. They give you a prescription for the muscle pain and another for the weakness and a third for the memory loss. The associated side effects of those drugs require a couple of more and so on.

So here I am - against medical advice - continuing MY health care program of eating a diet of nearly 100% organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes. We rarely eat any meat and when we do it is either wild fish or organic chicken or turkey.

If this isn't good enough I will likely not live to be 80, but the reality is that I have already outlived most expectations based on how I lived when I was young.

More soon....