I'm only 16 and I just found out I'm going to have to go on medication because my choloesterol is in the 280's. Other than that, I'm in perfect health, 5' 11+1/2", 155lbs. I'm very active, I run track and field and Cross Country.
What I wanted to know is how hard it is to rememebr to take the medication every day.

Well I am in perfect health very fortunate. But I am sure you will be fit as a fiddle if you keep the meds up.

And I really don't know if the Cheerios work for that stuff but it couldn't hurt!

Good luck and stay well.

Yes, I take cholesterol medication. However, it is not a RX. My doctor suggested a natural product called CholestSafe. You might talk to you doctor about it instead of taking a RX that has the possibility of unwanted side effects. Especially having to take it at such an early age. It is hard for me to remember to take my dosage daily. I am my doctor's worst patient when it comes to taking medication. I find that setting an alarm at a late morning hour or at noon helps to remind me. Perhaps you could associate taking the med with eating lunch. Once the association is engrained in your habits, it will come naturally. BTW, garlic tablets and fish oil capsules help with cholesterol level control as well. You might add those to your regimen. And if you find yourself eating at fast-food places too often, cut back on this. Diet control is a major deterent to high cholesterol. Good luck!

This is not bad to take it as a caution as me. Doctors suggested to take it even I have not bad chlostrol. I have some pain in my left arms and all diagrams shows no problem. But he want the balace to be better to avoid any operation in the arterary.

There is one type of chlostrol is depending on genetic factor, you can not change it much.

Cholostrol comes from your body and the food you eat.Your liver and others make 75% of the blood chlostrol.

HDL is the good Chrostrol.

LDL is the bad chrostrol which danger the blood circulation and can blog blood in arteries and increase the risk of heart attack. It is produced by your body or from food[containing saturated fat]. But as I said there is genetic factor can affect the amount produced.

So I think your case has relation with your family.

HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, the total Cholostrol, the ratio HDL/LDL [done by fasting blood test] with your age , and other risk factor is what determine your need to treatment.

Once you doctor suggest you to take it, do it.

About taking medication. Arrange it to be before going to bed. If you forget one day don't panic.

I dunno. I'm really weary of cholesterol meds because they can destroy your liver. You say you're in perfect health, but at that age, just because you're thin and work out doesn't mean you're healthy. If you eat a lot of junk food, you might not get fat, but it's still terrible for your body and cholesterol. If your cholesterol is high that means there's something wrong. You have to take good care of your body, eat less junk food, hydrogenated fats, and sugars, and your cholesterol should return to a normal level. Second, in the 280s isn't that high. Your body needs some cholesterol and, while that's a little high, your cholesterol doesn't have to be 100 or something. I think with some positive lifestyle changes you could keep your cholesterol lower and not have to ruin your body with medications.

As for how it is to remember, well, for me I don't really have a problem remembering this kind of thing once I'm in a routine, but you might want to set an alarm or something. Still, I recommend you try other things then getting on statins (cholesterol drugs).

I know it's not all that high under normal conditions, but it's pretty high for such a young age, and I need to be really careful because, as someone mentioned earlier, it's in my genetics. My uncle had a heart attack at around age 33 and my father had one at 29 and like 34. My father's cholestorol get's as high as 500( it's a medical miracle that he hasn't died) when he doesn't take his medication and doesn't watch his diet.

I've already started to lower my cholestorol, but I've never really had that much in my diet as it is. SO far, I've switched to whole grain cereals, I don't add salt on my food anymore(only every once in a while), and I don't refuse salads anymore like I used to.

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that I do also have Acute Asthma. I only need to take my inhaler before races or running workouts, but even then I only rememebr about 2/3 of the time. That's why I'm concerned that I may forget too much. Obviously once every now and then isn't so bad, but if I forget too often it could get ugly. The high cholesterol combined with stress and my being high strung put me at a possible risk to have a heart attack within the next five or so years.

Whoa dude how old are you?? Man if you have heart problems already its gonna be a tough life in front of you. Well they probably make blood flow faster so that you don't get anything stuck in your arteries but don't quote me on that since I ain't no doc. But good luck brother since this is a breaking news for you probably.

Hi,
I take Fluvastatin (1 a day) and that seems to keep my cholesterol at bay quite well.
(I was put on all sorts of medication after a heart attack 6 years ago).
However, there is good and bad cholesterol, check with your doctor regularly what you have especially and also watch your food if the bad cholesterol has the upper hand.
Do avoid eggs as much as you can (The white is OK, but the yolks are full of cholesterol).
Another good one is eating a lot of garlic (I know, it stinks, and I can't stand the smell myself, but it is nevertheless lovely in many foods and I love eating it).
Another benefit of garlic is that it keeps your blood pressure low.
Another thing against cholesterol: you use up the bad cholesterol in your body with 1 hour of intense physical activity, so, if you could do some sports for one hour at a time regularly, you would achieve a lot for your own well being.
Take all this advice on board and have yourself checked over regularly and you should be able to lead a normal life.
Also try to watch your weight.
If you need further advice, please post back here.
Best of luck,
Mr. Dee.