So, yours truly hasn't been to a doc in at least 5 years. No good reason; I have great medical coverage and it's not like I don't have the time to make an appointment. I just have always been in good shape. Other than the wheelchair and 10 pounds I could stand to get rid of, I've been fine.

So today we have a health screening at work as part of insurance enrollment.

Blood pressure; perfect
Blood sugar: perfect
Cholesterol: 300

I about shit myself when I saw her write that down. My God, I'm more than 100 points high and am officially "at risk" for shit I have no ability to think about right now.

Guess who's making a doctor's appointment and going to the store after work to start a diet of whole-grain everything.

Shit's got to change 'round here.

I never go to the doctor either. I'll probably die of an unexpected massive heart attack at age 30.

I just had a similar experience. Got my cholestoral checked last month for the first time in 12 years and was blown away that it was 250.

I decided to start exercising and taking supplements rather than drastically change my diet. 6 months from now I'm gonna go back and if it hasn't gone down I'll make those changes and go on medication as well.

Shit sucks though.

Mine was super hight too, and the doctor put me on Lipitor, and its now at 103.... it truly is a miracle drug... i hear there is even a better version available now.

funny you should post this, Chad. I just went to the doc this past Monday to get my cholesterol checked. We'll see how it turns out. Interesting note though: the doc told me to not eat or drink anything (aside from water) for 12 hours prior to the blood draw. I'm wondering if your work health screening takes this into consideration, or did they tell you to fast as well?

same thing happened to me 3 years ago....
i've always been in good shape, so didn't really go in for any checkups throughout my 20's. some 30 year old MLB pitcher dropped dead and for some reason i freaked out a little and signed up for a physical. my cholesterol was 309. i changed my diet, quit smoking, started running and after a year i had dropped 15 pounds and my cholesterol only dropped to ~240. so i've now been taking mevacor daily and my cholesterol is below 200 finally.
scary stuff, but it's better you find out now so you can do something about it.

this is true...you must fast for at least 8 hours to get a true cholesterol reading.

You and me both, Holmes.
BP last 3 days:
171/80
166/88
183/72

Guess I should get my cholesterol checked, too.

everybody fasts. I did it too.

i thought this was going to be about the similarly-titled discovery channel show, but i guess not.

i was having some serious chest pains earlier this year and finally went to the doctor about it. (new town, new doctor.) they did some regular tests and said my heart was fine. then she asked if there was any family history to indicate there might be a problem. i said that my grandfather died of a heart attack at the same age that i am now. i went in for a stress echo the next week and they said i was perfectly healthy. so, why the fuck am i still having incredible chest pains?! and it's not just my heart area, it's pretty much all over the top half of my chest.

i am actually a little afraid of knowing my cholesterol. my mother's been harping on me to get it checked, but i think i have too many other conscious concerns right now.

Sounds like possible Acid Reflux. It's a bitch and mimics heart attack.

I went through the same thing last year and made josh take me to the ER one night cause of it. Next day I saw my doc and took the heart test and that came up fine. Turns out it's nasty acid reflux. That combined with stress will make it seem ten times worse.

James, your pains could be stress-related, but I'd still get it checked out.

They might've said something about fasting, but I missed it and so I didn't.
Since I plan on leaving here in the spring I've been completely lax about the new medical insurance thing, so when I had to sign up for a screening I just got the time and date and that was it.
Because I had eaten today (35 mins before the test, in fact) they couldn't give me a breakdown of good vs. bad.

Even if the eating skewed things, this is a wakeup call. I do have to eat better - being single and busy makes it too easy to slip - and get in better shape. No more "I'm young and invincible" thinking.

Scary thing is at least two other reporters here - both who are at about ideal weight - had counts higher than I did. Maybe we should go buy oatmeal in bulk.

i never go to the doc either.

but i went this summer ... and surprisingly enough....
my cholesterol was good.

i was shocked.

however, my blood pressure (which had always been normal) is now borderline..... so now i take blood pressure meds.

i think it's my job. too stressful.

dude - get your cholestoral rechecked after you've fasted for 12 hours. That 300 number is absolutely no good.

get on statins

Start drinking black coffee, worked wonders for me.

thank you, drs. jen and tania. my doctor initially did say it could've been stress-related, but that wasn't brought up when i asked for possible reasons after the stress echo. i was out of a job for awhile, but now i have one, so you'd think it'd calm down. and i suppose it has a little bit, but it's still pretty persistent. i will bring this up with my doctor the next time.

I'd eviscerate a wino (or two) for numbers that low.

106/66, bitches.
Sorry. I've got to have something to brag about today.

You change to a diet like that your shit will change...real quick.

meh, you're young and invincible.

Between 17 and 27 I didn't go to the doctor once.

I'm beginning to wonder about you people; 'cholesterol', 'am I overweight', 'what vitamins do you take' I mean seriously!

You know the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles lived to be 90 years old and I bet he didn't even know blood had a sugar level.

my co-worker lowered his cholesterol with oatmeal and red wine. not at the same time though.

I had my cholesterol checked over the summer and the doctor said that mine was 227. I was ready to shit myself too but the doc thought it was a mistake and when they checked it again last month it was 198. An improvement, but I suppose I should bring that down a bit more.