Well, don't be totally anti medication.My husband has terrible genetics but is a superfit person, eats pretty well, too. By the time I forced him to get a physical his cholesterol was sky high and he had high BP, too. A year later he had 2 80% blocked arteries. He had started on the medication a year before that. After he had the arteries taken care of, his doctor switched him to 2 different cholesterol lowering meds.
I am all for alternative health methods, and have had some weird drug reactions, but ladies, do fool around with this, especially if you are nearing menopause. Flax seed would not have helped my husband.
I have eaten well for years and I still have a fairly high total cholesterol level (218). But my HDL and triglycerides are really good, so they say I don't need any meds. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get the total lower.
And by the way, it's generally accepted now that eggs don't make your levels go up that much, it's fatty foods (saturated) that do.