My husband's was around 220, and the doctor wanted to put him on meds. He asked if he could try to reduce it on his own, and the doctor was ok with that. He started exercising and watching what he ate a bit more (we're already vegetarians, but he does eat a lot of cheese), and it came down to well below 200 in about 3-6 months.

My highest cholesterol reading was when I was a vegetarian, too. Actually, I have a family history of very high triglycerides and that pushes the total number up. Once I eliminated sweets and hydrogenated oils (ie: cookies) from my diet, the numbers got much better.

Right now I have a total high number but my ratios are good. My family doctor wants to put me on cholesterol lowering medications but I refused. I'm not completely bought into the whole high cholesterol leads to heart disease / clogged arteries theory.

You see, I have a chronic inflammatory disease. It creates systematic inflammation included an inflamed liver, kidneys and even blood vessels. Cholesterol is created in the liver in response to increased fats - and other causes (like in pregnancy where cholesterol is needed by the baby to build new tissue and grow). Anti-cholesterol medications put a lot of stress on the liver and, frankly, my liver is stressed enough with all the other medications I have to take. I told my doctor that I'd rather save my liver because if my liver goes there are tons of medications I won't be able to take which would put me in a very bad spot. She eventually agreed.

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I saw the doctor. My tri's were 454. my ldl (bad) was normal and my hdl (good) was low. she said based on my #'s and breakdown it was clearly genetic. I was started on Tricor daily and will be rechecked in 3 months. I have a healthy diet baseline and she felt dietary changes would not really matter in this case. (obviously I should still eat healthily.

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