triglycerides / fish oil / flaxseed oil

mountaintom said:

Hi just wondering if anyone has any experience or good results from taking fish oil supplements or flax seed oil to lower triglycerides? Mine are through the roof. Recently T1 diagnosed after near DKA and rapid weight loss. Prescribed 40mg of statins.

Thanks.

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No direct experience,Tom, but this article and comments suggest only fish oil will reduce trigs, though flax seed oil may boost HDL.
https://www.consumerlab.com/answers...sh-oil-flaxseed-oil-or-both/fish_or_flax_oil/
One of the easiest ways to reduce trigs is to reduce carbs. Is this not an option ?
Geoff

mountaintom said:

Thanks Geoff. I am cutting down on breads and pasta since getting out. I was a sucker for pastries and cakes too and they’re now off the menu. Trig result was 12 So was looking for extra help!

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Wow ! If you were at twelve, you'll see quite a reduction next time. Remember to have an early fasting bloods next time. Eating increases the amount of trigs circulating in your blood.
Geoff

mountaintom said:

Thanks Geoff. I am cutting down on breads and pasta since getting out. I was a sucker for pastries and cakes too and they’re now off the menu. Trig result was 12 So was looking for extra help!

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Some thinking is that industrialised vegetable oils are the baddies as far as Trigs are concerned. Oils such as corn oil etc (seed oils too). These contain lots of omega 6 and are found in processed foods such as shop bought pasties, pastries, take aways and ready meals. Oily fish is good - perhaps the real thing 3 times a week, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna. It's worth a try, but with Trigs of 12 you should be referred to a specialist lipid clinic. These are the NICE guidelines:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg...d-assessing-cardiovascular-disease-cvd-risk-2

1.3.7
Consider the possibility of familial hypercholesterolaemia and investigate as described in familial hypercholesterolaemia (NICE guideline CG71) if they have:

• a total cholesterol concentration more than 7.5 mmol/litre and
  
  
• a family history of premature coronary heart disease. [new 2014]
  

1.3.8
Arrange for specialist assessment of people with a total cholesterol concentration of more than 9.0 mmol/litre or a non‑HDL cholesterol concentration of more than 7.5 mmol/litre even in the absence of a first‑degree family history of premature coronary heart disease. [new 2014]

1.3.9
Refer for urgent specialist review if a person has a triglyceride concentration of more than 20 mmol/litre that is not a result of excess alcohol or poor glycaemic control. [new 2014]

1.3.10
In people with a triglyceride concentration between 10 and 20 mmol/litre:

• repeat the triglyceride measurement with a fasting test (after an interval of 5 days, but within 2 weeks) and
  
  
• review for potential secondary causes of hyperlipidaemia and
  
  
• seek specialist advice if the triglyceride concentration remains above 10 mmol/litre. [new 2014]
  

1.3.11
In people with a triglyceride concentration between 4.5 and 9.9 mmol/litre:

• be aware that the CVD risk may be underestimated by risk assessment tools and
  
  
• optimise the management of other CVD risk factors present and
  
  
• seek specialist advice if non‑HDL cholesterol concentration is more than 7.5 mmol/litre. [new 2014]
  

mountaintom said:

This is interesting Bluetit1802 thank you so much.
My mother died at 65 of heart disease (triple bypass at 55) and her father died in his early sixties from heart problems. So I’m genetically off to a bad start. Both of them smoked. No history of T1 that I am aware of. However, I’ve not looked after myself to the best of my abilities - a steady drinker for at least 15 years. But got sober 05/12/17. One month later and I was in hospital with near DKA and T1 diagnosis!

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If I were you I would print off the NICE guidelines and show them to your doctor. Unless that test was a one off fluke for some reason, I believe you need a referral. A second test would seem a good idea, just to confirm if the first was skewed in some way.

mountaintom said:

Thanks. Should the diabetic specialist I saw in the hospital not have referred me? I will go see my GP this week.
I’m assuming 40mg of arvotastatins is quite a bit?

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I don't know the answers to your questions, but your GP will be the best bet, but do show him the guidelines and ask for a confirmation test.

Just a point when I had high Triglycerides and struggled I stated taking Fish Oil 1000mg per capsule twice daily nothing happened My doctor was confused and then one day I read the bottle label and it said 3 a day, Eureka my triglycerides started going down also ate sensibly and Exercised

As far as I've understood it the main reason for high trigs is carbohydrate consumption coupled with om 6 and an om 3/6 inbalance . My own trigs are now only 30% of what they were on diagnosis. ( admittedly not from your sky high levels though)

Of course you should try to get specialist help , however at the same time you can try to help yourself more.
So try to get your om 3 up and 6 down at the same time by increasing fish and fish oils and removing vegetable oils and processes foods, and try limiting carbs to under 30g per day.

Hopefully that should see a great reduction in Trigs before too long.

I was thinking a bit about my diet yesterday because it was a day when I hadn't recorded anything or thought about it much just ate stuff.

Having then come to record it I realised that quite naturally it pretty much met all the criteria above because I now naturally choose the relevant things. its one of those things that seems impossibly complicated at first, but you soon get the hang of it.

Though as T1 make sure you keep a close eye on the blood sugars as you don't want a hypo from too much insulin!

A triglyceride of 12 is the equivalent of 1000mg/dl here, which is most likely caused by lipoprotein lipase deficiency, which is genetic, lacking an enzyme that breaks down triglyerides in the intestines. If that's the cause you're probably wasting your time trying to lower them with dietary changes. I'm assuming your diabetes is not running rampant, like DKA. The most dreaded complication of hypertriglyceridemia to this degree is pancreatitis, which makes you really sick. Usually people who get this have triglycerides 2-3 times higher than yours, and it's always genetic. Most doctors would treat you with a drug. Statins are not very effective with levels that high. What we use are fibric acid derivatives like gemfibrozil or fenofibrate (generic, quite safe and effective), high doses of niacin (at least 1,000mg/d in divided doses) which has a high incidence of side effects (flushing, improved by taking aspirin beforehand, or using a slow release product, or both), or Omega 3 fatty acids in pretty high prescription doses. Over the counter fish oil and flax seed supplements are probably a waste of time and money at that level. IMO a trig level that high should be treated by a doctor and followed for improvement. The risk you run trying to treat it yourself with "low carb" solutions (seems to be some people's solution to a lot of things around here right?) and over the counter "home remedies" like flax seed oil is that you could get pancreatitis, end up in the hospital, kill off your pancreas, and end up really sick for good. That's a worst case scenario but why risk that when there's safe and effective treatment for it?

mountaintom said:

Thanks Geoff. I am cutting down on breads and pasta since getting out. I was a sucker for pastries and cakes too and they’re now off the menu. Trig result was 12 So was looking for extra help!

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Some find its enough just to ditch the bad carbs and trigs reduce. I'd reduce the bad carbs and see what your 3mth results show. Have you been told what ideally type1s trigs should be?

ickihun said:

Some find its enough just to ditch the bad carbs and trigs reduce. I'd reduce the bad carbs and see what your 3mth results show. Have you been told what ideally type1s trigs should be?

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His trigs are 6 times the upper limit of normal. "Ditching the bad carbs" is really bad advice for someone with triglycerides that high (1000mg/dl, 12mm/L). Ever have pancreatitis? Doubled over with abdominal pain vomiting getting pumped full of morphine and Demerol through an IV?

mountaintom said:

They didn’t mention a number. Just to get on statins immediately. I can see their point.

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I'm no cholesterol expert. Ieeen ucky it isn't a family history problem and my diet has been careful for decades.