Agian
Well-known member
Aaargh. Why should availability of health care, in any country, turn into a political debate? This was my whole original point.
Staying the Course -- 08/05/2019
- Thread starter Superbob
- Start date
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He reduced his eating candy and treats at the office all day and every evening, primarily. I pack lunch and healthy snacks for the office (fruit and cold cuts in little trays) when I can and am trying to cook dinner consistently. He makes lower calorie selections when he does go out.
So an excellent reminder that it can be all reasonably simple -- not necessarily an exotic "diet" -- just using common sense and moderation, My downfall has forever been being hungry around bedtime and chowing down on whatever is around in the kitchen. Celery gets old. I need to do better at surrounding myself with healthy snacks.
AM I TRYING TO BE DISRUPTIVE?????
HELL NO.
I was trying to create a space where these divergences off target can go, rather than moving the thread into a different direction.
HELL NO.
I was trying to create a space where these divergences off target can go, rather than moving the thread into a different direction.
Fred, good luck on the checkup and stress test. Sounds like you'll ace it, but do keep us posted. Meanwhile, that's cool about joining the writing group. I'm sure you'll be a valued addition. I've enjoyed, in particular, your expression of your great sense of humor from time to time.
It shouldn't. But some people may health care as something other than a basic human right. Some may see availability of care for heart patients as something to be controlled and restricted by the Insurance companies. They see it as a matter of 'if you don't have insurance, and can't afford the deductibles for examinations and treatment on your own, then you're just out of luck.'
Even something as basic as getting medical care when it's needed has long beeb a source of disagreement in the United States.
THAT's how the availability issue can turn into a debate.
Ooooh, that provoked quite a reaction! Good to know that you’re not intentionally trying to disrupt the weekly Stay the Course thread.
I found it to even be a bit insulting to think that I was trying to disrupt anything on this site. I'm here to support it (and have donated to it), and to lend what little bit of knowledge and experience I have to, perhaps, help give personal information, ease the concerns of others, and do some overall good.
I don't see myself as a disrupter.
FWIW - I rarely visit this particular thread.
I don't see myself as a disrupter.
FWIW - I rarely visit this particular thread.
rich01
Well-known member
I'd like to join in. Hopefully I will be accepted into the TAVR trial for low risk patients in the very near future and have TAVR at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, most likely in September. At this point, it's just a matter of approval.
I've been trying to get as healthy as possible prior to the valve replacement. Weight loss has stopped and I suspected it might be related to toxins stored in fat. Just had a heavy metals test and was high for mercury, most likely from amalgams, and lead. The lead was a surprise. Doctor suspects air pollution.
I've started on a mild detox program to hopefully get rid of some of the metals and lose a little more weight. I spend a lot of time in the sun working up a good sweat. Sure does make me feel better. It seems the more time I spend in the sun working in the yard, the better I feel. After cooling down, I take a hot Epsom Salts bath followed by a slightly cold shower.
I hope to buy an infrared sauna to use this winter. It is supposed to help with heart disease as well as detox for heavy metals. Anyone using a sauna and do you find you feel better from using it?
I've been trying to get as healthy as possible prior to the valve replacement. Weight loss has stopped and I suspected it might be related to toxins stored in fat. Just had a heavy metals test and was high for mercury, most likely from amalgams, and lead. The lead was a surprise. Doctor suspects air pollution.
I've started on a mild detox program to hopefully get rid of some of the metals and lose a little more weight. I spend a lot of time in the sun working up a good sweat. Sure does make me feel better. It seems the more time I spend in the sun working in the yard, the better I feel. After cooling down, I take a hot Epsom Salts bath followed by a slightly cold shower.
I hope to buy an infrared sauna to use this winter. It is supposed to help with heart disease as well as detox for heavy metals. Anyone using a sauna and do you find you feel better from using it?
rich01, I have never had a heavy metal test that I know of, but it sounds interesting. I wonder if your feeling better when you work outside is related to increased vitamin D production? I have been tested for that, and I am chronically low.
rich01
Well-known member
I have a genetic predisposition to not make enough vitamin d, so I supplement with 15,000 IU's in the winter and 10,000 in the summer. That keeps my vitamin d in the 70's. I'm also able to reduce my BP med in the summer by about 25% because I get so much sun. "Sunlight reacts with nitric oxide stored in the skin resulting in a widening of blood vessels".
https://kresserinstitute.com/heavy-metals-and-cardiovascular-disease-risk/
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Me ? I know I haven't got weight problems (actually underweight so maybe I do ?) but I like to join in this thread from time to time as it's not just about weight.
No no,I didn't forget you! Thank goodness you have been here all along, even encouraging me to stay when I was on the verge of leaving a few times.
I’m glad I can be counted on this thread @Superbob as it seems such a very good place to discuss things generally, after all we are not just a heart problem/valve replacement LOL And now we're following you on your new heart surgery journey ! Btw, I like your new avatar with you and the dawg 
Now with @rich01 mentioning vitamin D: I’m prescribed vitamin D because when I first started supplementing with it about 10 years ago after reading about it on cardiologist Dr William Davis’s blog, I took the kind of supplement and dosage recommended, but when my GP tested my vitamin D level it was way too high at 384 nmol/L, that’s 153 ng/mL ! My GP really panicked. I was fine though, it was too short a time to do any damage, all I had to do was cut out the supplement and stay out of the sun for two months. My levels of D dropped to half (half life of vitamin D is two months). We reckon that the supplement probably contained more vitamin D than it was meant to, but just in case, since then I’ve been prescribed vitamin D at 20,000 IU per week in winter and 20,000 IU per fortnight in summer - I get tested every six months and my level of vitamin D has stayed very stable around 150 nmol/L, that’s 60 ng/mL Generally I don’t take a 20,000 IU capsule per week but prefer to have a 2,500 IU capsule every day in winter and every other day in summer.
Now with @rich01 mentioning vitamin D: I’m prescribed vitamin D because when I first started supplementing with it about 10 years ago after reading about it on cardiologist Dr William Davis’s blog, I took the kind of supplement and dosage recommended, but when my GP tested my vitamin D level it was way too high at 384 nmol/L, that’s 153 ng/mL ! My GP really panicked. I was fine though, it was too short a time to do any damage, all I had to do was cut out the supplement and stay out of the sun for two months. My levels of D dropped to half (half life of vitamin D is two months). We reckon that the supplement probably contained more vitamin D than it was meant to, but just in case, since then I’ve been prescribed vitamin D at 20,000 IU per week in winter and 20,000 IU per fortnight in summer - I get tested every six months and my level of vitamin D has stayed very stable around 150 nmol/L, that’s 60 ng/mL Generally I don’t take a 20,000 IU capsule per week but prefer to have a 2,500 IU capsule every day in winter and every other day in summer.
user 16827
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My D a few weeks ago was 82nmol/l, i do go in the sun and supplement D3 in winter with 3000iu daily.
@Duffey you probably already know that low D is not at all good for long term health,
if you can get your levels up somehow it can only be a positive so good luck
@rich01 there is a lot of good research about iodine supplementation chelating heavy metals out
of the body
@Duffey you probably already know that low D is not at all good for long term health,
if you can get your levels up somehow it can only be a positive so good luck
@rich01 there is a lot of good research about iodine supplementation chelating heavy metals out
of the body
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@leadville you give me too much credit. I plead ignorance on how to get my vitamin D level to where it needs to be and how to keep it there, without having it tested at my Primary Care doctor’s. When it was low before, he prescribed a massive daily dose for a week (I think). I am uncertain how much I need and worry that by self dosing that it might get too high as @Paleowoman relates. Can someone tell me what specific brand and dose they take? I do not get a lot of sun. I wear sunscreen and cover up when outside. I’m more concerned about the possibility of sun exposure causing melanoma than having vitamin D deficiency but hopeful that with more information I can control both.
Hi @Duffey - there is no set amount of vitamin D that a person needs to take, it's all dependent on the individual, everyone is different, and the only way to find out how much you need is by having your vitamin D levels tested after taking a dose for several months.If you know your starting level of D and then take a pretty standard highish dose of say 4,000 or 5,000 IUs D3 per day and then get tested after six months that should give an indication of your needs, whether too much or too little. Because of my too high vitamin D levels my endocrinologist says he learned a lot from me and now prescribes vitamin D to most of his patients ! If you don't want your Primary Care doctor doing the tests you could possibly have them done privately, I know that a lot of GPs refuse to do repeat testing of vitamin D so some people do a finger prick test that they send away.
A very good book to read is 'The Vitamin D Solution' by Dr Michael Holick, but he also does a brilliant lecture which is well worth an hour, and a half, to watch which explains a lot of what you ask, even your concerns about melanoma, plus he is a very good, and often amusing, speaker:
A very good book to read is 'The Vitamin D Solution' by Dr Michael Holick, but he also does a brilliant lecture which is well worth an hour, and a half, to watch which explains a lot of what you ask, even your concerns about melanoma, plus he is a very good, and often amusing, speaker:
Thank you! I will watch!
It would be great if there was some kind of home system that tests for D and many other things. Of course, even if the technology was available, it'll never be available to the public -- there would be too much concern (correctly) that people wouldn't know how to determine the results, or understand the concept of range, and some would probably react inappropriately.
BTW: my wife is convinced that if she gets too much Vitamin D, she develops little bruises on her arms. I haven't looked into any reason that this would happen, but I keep her D supplementation low, if at all.
BTW: my wife is convinced that if she gets too much Vitamin D, she develops little bruises on her arms. I haven't looked into any reason that this would happen, but I keep her D supplementation low, if at all.
The first 28 minutes of the lecture is mostly background to Dr Holick's work, after that it gets into the nitty-gritty of vitamn D that we are mostly concerned with. Not that the first 28 minutes isn't interesting...but....it's a long lecture !
