Definity Enhanced Echo? And Cholesterol...

[Susan BAV]

The echo technician wanted to use an IV medication to enhance the imaging in my annual echo and cardio check today, something called Definity. All is well with my new valve. My veins have developed a strong aversion to needles, however, and it took four inserts until the nurse had a good IV that didn't fail !!! Afterward, my forearm and the back of my hand were just gauze and tape and now they're just evil looking bruises . OUCH!

But I'm probably like you in that, combined, we've probably had about a zillion echos in our lifetimes; but I've never had a contrasting agent administered before, this Definity medication. Have you? I kind of felt like I had an ache in my back shortly afterward and I felt a little shakey for about an hour but I'm not even sure if that was really related.

But also, since May and through diet alone, I brought my LDL cholesterol down by 44 points!!! I am so excited about that! My HDL came down by eight points. The LDL still needs to come down more and I wasn't expecting a cholesterol test today so I'd just chowed down on a cheeseburger and fries in the hospital cafeteria for lunch but I was so excited to see how much my cholesterol has come down... and without the help of any medications!!!

I typed out the dietary changes that I made but it seemed just too boring so I scratched it but if anyone is interested, I can post it. Or I may just delete this thread if it's just way too boring .

 

[Ross]

Please post it. I'm doing everything I possibly can to knock mine down before next month. I want no part of Statin drugs.

I've never heard of a contrast during an echo. Something new?

 

[Susan BAV]

Thanks for asking!

Thanks for asking!

I'm so excited with the results!

This was my plan, as copied and pasted from another thread in April: "Anyway, to appease my well-meaning doctor, I'm going to try to reduce mine by my six week recheck, but by eating raw almonds and flax meal and garlic and more whole grains and more raw vegetables and more beans and more low fat milk products and by cutting back on all that fried stuff that I like to eat. (edit - I'm also going to drink some green tea every day.) If my test comes out dramatically better, I'll post the results."

I didn't do all of that though. I cut out bacon and cut back on butter and began eating a breakfast toast that is made from several sprouted grains called Ezekiel-something. (It's pretty good but also pretty dry without butter so I put a blob of raspberry jam on the toast.) I had tried several other "health" breads first but the one I settled on made me feel good after I ate it; it felt substantial and says on the package it's nearly a whole protein or something aruther. I cut way back on fried foods and ate more raw carrots and ate cottage cheese and ate yogurt with healthy grain cereals stirred in and I took a couple of Kyolic garlic capsules everyday with lecithin in them and drank a lot more green tea. I ate lots of almonds in every form, about 30 raw almonds each day or snacked on them in another form, and drank lots of water. I cut back on sweet things also but put raw sugar in my green tea. Right away, within several weeks, I dropped nearly 10 pounds so that was a happy bonus! And I felt better within days of beginning the changes!

Sorry - that's probably way too much detail - but some thing or some things in that paragraph really helped me.

 

[Ross]

That is precisely what I'm doing, except flax seed, plus more fish and anything healthy that I can stand. You gotta realize your talking to Mr.Beef man. It's hard for me to give up what I love so much.

 

[Karlynn]

Wish I liked fish. I do like fresh sea fish, but living "in land" there isn't much I've had here that I like. I keep a glass canister of raw almonds on my kitchen counter and snack on them too.

Unfortunately, genetically I'm all-done-for in the cholesterol department, so drugs are about the only way for me to be able to keep them controlled. I do try to keep a handle on the foods that make it go higher, as well as exercise, so that my statin dose stays low. I just switched from Lipitor to Provachol because Lipitor was giving me terrible hand and foot cramps. My HDL is great, my LDL is about 20 points too high.

 

[Bina]

That's very exciting about the cholesterol drop!!
What we eat is so important, alot of people just don't get it.
Food is fuel.....would you pump crap into your car's gas tank? No.

 

[briansmom]

I googled Definity and here is what I got:

Activated DEFINITY® (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) Injectable Suspension is indicated for use in patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to opacify the left ventricular chamber and to improve the delineation of the left ventricular endocardial border.

I have no idea what that means and if it is new. I have never heard of it before.

 

[Harrybaby666]

I just had one of these done Ross....

I just had one of these done Ross....

Please post it. I'm doing everything I possibly can to knock mine down before next month. I want no part of Statin drugs.

I've never heard of a contrast during an echo. Something new?

When I made my first trip down to Boston, they did an echo, and then a stress echo and they ended up putting in some contrast...it's to help them see the heart better during the echo....one step before doing a cardiac MRI. Harrybaby

 

[Ross]

When I made my first trip down to Boston, they did an echo, and then a stress echo and they ended up putting in some contrast...it's to help them see the heart better during the echo....one step before doing a cardiac MRI. Harrybaby

Where do they get such marvelous toys?

 

[Harrybaby666]

Uh....Ross....Um...It's a chemical that they inject into

Uh....Ross....Um...It's a chemical that they inject into

Where do they get such marvelous toys?

our arms....it makes look PURRRRRRDDDDY for the camera now...LOL LOL Harrybaby

P.S. Say CHEEEEEESSSSSEEEE Now...LOL

 

[Susan BAV]

I googled Definity and here is what I got:

Activated DEFINITY® (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) Injectable Suspension is indicated for use in patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to opacify the left ventricular chamber and to improve the delineation of the left ventricular endocardial border.

I have no idea what that means and if it is new. I have never heard of it before.

I'd never heard of it before either. I've had echos for about the past 35 years and never had to have an IV before. I did have an MRI w/contrast before my valve replacement though and I don't recall what that contrasting agent was but I could feel the warmth of it in my body but I couldn't feel any sensation with the Definity. The tech and the administering nurse said it was a real fast-acting and quickly-disappearing agent.

My cardio seemed surprised that the tech used the Definity. The cardio only found out because he said he wanted to check my cholesterol and then I started whining about all the failed IV attempts and getting stuck again .

Oh, and Ross, I love beef steaks and hamburgers too. Also, I didn't end up using the flax seed afterall.

 

[Susan BAV]

I need to add one more thing here. I think I've posted before that I thought my cardio didn't seem too interested in or worried about my cholesterol; but that was evidently incorrect.

I don't know how I developed that impression because he very strongly and very clearly stated during my annual exam that I should keep the cholesterol down for the optimum/optimal lifespan of the valve.

There's also a simultaneous thread here about dental health before valve replacement surgery. My cardio also strongly stresses keeping the teeth and gums in good shape for the optimum/optimal lifespan of the valve.

 

[Ross]

Susan have you ever heard of eating 10 garbonzo beans a day to lower the cholesterol? I know I didn't, but a friend swears it works. At this point, I'll try everything that I know can't hurt. I guess we'll see come next month with the next lipid profile.

 

[Susan BAV]

Susan have you ever heard of eating 10 garbonzo beans a day to lower the cholesterol? I know I didn't, but a friend swears it works. At this point, I'll try everything that I know can't hurt. I guess we'll see come next month with the next lipid profile.

Ross, I've specifically read that eating that many raw almonds each day will reduce your cholesterol... And beans, in I think nearly every form, are supposed to be really good for cholesterol too--I just haven't heard that specific thing about the garbanzo bean. I love garbanzo beans though! I even put them in tuna salad with slivered almonds. Yum.

Another thing I kept coming across when I was researching how to lower cholesterol was about cutting back sugar consumption. I really think much that is related to cholesterol levels must be genetic though. My husband and I eat nearly the same things but he eats twice as much as I do and his cholesterol is perfect. Also, a sluggish thyroid contributes to higher cholesterol and mine is hypo or sluggish.

 

[WayneGM]

I've read eating pistachios can lower LDL cholestrol as well as reduce the body's response to stress and lower blood pressure.

 

[Susan BAV]

You might find this interesting too...

You might find this interesting too...

Several years ago I read some articles in Parade magazine about an author and her book Stop Aging Now!. She had so many interesting things to say about what we should eat to improve our lives and it made an amazing amount of sense to me. A lot of what she wrote about was cholesterol.

Anyway, I just now quickly searched the web about the book and I found there's an entire website about her book and supplements. (A disclaimer: I personally think excessive supplement use can be very dangerous.)

But, I'm going to post the link--I hope that's okay--and the page I'm linking to, if you scroll down a little ways past the supplement advertisements, has a lot of articles regarding the current thinking about cholesterol and how to reduce it, etc.

http://www.stopagingnow.com/search?...rm_search=cholesterol&Submit.x=33&Submit.y=16