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Good and bad results

M

mrsmusic

Active Member
Messages
30
Location
Brisbane Australia
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, I was diagnosed in January with bg level of 19.4. Big shock, especially as I felt pretty fine. Since then I've lost 13 kg and am now a size 12 ( which for me is weird), and have just got my HBa1c results 5 months later of 6.0. I should be delighted and have worked sooo hard to get to where I am now. However, my cholesterol is 6.2 which is only 1.0 lower than when I was diagnosed, in spite of a great diet, exercise and weight loss. Very demoralised. There...whinge over...hello cholesterol lowering medication
 
First of all, very well done! I have been on statins for the last 20 months and haven't noticed any negative symptoms that I can pinpoint to statins as of yet. Although there is a lot of negative information out there in the media.
 
Well done on that HbA1c. Superb drop. :)

Your total cholesterol is fairly meaningless. Do you know what the breakdown was (HDL/LDL/Triglycerides? They are the important numbers. We can't really comment on it unless we know this information.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Well done on that HbA1c. Superb drop. :)

Your total cholesterol is fairly meaningless. Do you know what the breakdown was (HDL/LDL/Triglycerides? They are the important numbers. We can't really comment on it unless we know this information.
Click to expand...
Hi, yep my triglicerides was 0.6, LDL 4.1 and HDL 1.8. What do you think??
Bluetit1802 said:
Well done on that HbA1c. Superb drop. :)
Click to expand...
 
Your triglycerides are superb.
Your HDL is within the normal range
Your LDL is high, but because your trigs are so low most of these LDL particles may be the light fluffy ones that are good ones.
Your total/HDL ratio is 3.4, which is good.

Do have a good browse round all the various threads on the forum about cholesterol and statins. There are a lot of them, with loads of information and videos.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Your triglycerides are superb.
Your HDL is within the normal range
Your LDL is high, but because your trigs are so low most of these LDL particles may be the light fluffy ones that are good ones.
Your total/HDL ratio is 3.4, which is good.

Do have a good browse round all the various threads on the forum about cholesterol and statins. There are a lot of them, with loads of information and videos.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your observations. I really want to give myself a chance to get my cholesterol down before I give in to medication. I have no idea how long you can expect it to take? Do you know? (My cholesterol was 7.2 in early Jan and now 6.2, with a previous 5.8 in March I think. Bewildered how it went back up a bit with my weight loss, exercise, good diet etc.
 
Please try to ignore your total cholesterol levels. Concentrate on the breakdown figures, especially the ratios and triglycerides, and learn as much as you can about cholesterol and statins, then you can make an informed decision on how to proceed. .


This is what the NHS says about normal levels for healthy adults..

Total cholesterol should be 5.0 millimoles per litre (mmol/L) or lower. The average in the UK is actually around 5.5 mmol/l for men and 5.6 mmol/l for women.

LDL cholesterol should be 3mmol/L or lower

HDL level above 1 mmol/L

Triglyceride level under 1.7 mmol/L

People with higher risks, such as heart disease or high blood pressure will be set lower targets:

Total cholesterol of 4mmol/L or lower

LDL of 2mmol/L or lower

The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL - total cholesterol divided by HDL - should be below 4.
 
mrsmusic said:
Hi, yep my triglicerides was 0.6, LDL 4.1 and HDL 1.8. What do you think??
Click to expand...

Excellent spectrum of results


I'd be very surprised if the LDL are anything other than large particles.

The only way to be certain is to ask the Dr for a Sub Fraction Profile, but might not be straightforward to get that in the NHS yet. This test will literally cont the particles and assign values of either Small Dense, which you don't want and/or Large "Fluffy". In reality the size difference is very tiny, just a matter of a few nanometers, but the difference is important.

If your adjusted diet includes more fat of any kind, this in some case raises the LDL, but subject to my comments about differentiating between the sizes, you are very unlikely to have anything to worry about. :)


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Bluetit1802 said:
Please try to ignore your total cholesterol levels. Concentrate on the breakdown figures, especially the ratios and triglycerides, and learn as much as you can about cholesterol and statins, then you can make an informed decision on how to proceed. .


This is what the NHS says about normal levels for healthy adults..

Total cholesterol should be 5.0 millimoles per litre (mmol/L) or lower. The average in the UK is actually around 5.5 mmol/l for men and 5.6 mmol/l for women.

LDL cholesterol should be 3mmol/L or lower

HDL level above 1 mmol/L

Triglyceride level under 1.7 mmol/L

People with higher risks, such as heart disease or high blood pressure will be set lower targets:

Total cholesterol of 4mmol/L or lower

LDL of 2mmol/L or lower

The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL - total cholesterol divided by HDL - should be below 4.
Click to expand...
Thank you. My doctor didn't really talk about the breakdown too much. I guess she was trying to deal with my massive disappointment of not having lowered my total cholesterol since last test. She just wants my total to below 4.0.
 
KevinPotts said:
Excellent spectrum of results


I'd be very surprised if the LDL are anything other than large particles.

The only way to be certain is to ask the Dr for a Sub Fraction Profile, but might not be straightforward to get that in the NHS yet. This test will literally cont the particles and assign values of either Small Dense, which you don't want and/or Large "Fluffy". In reality the size difference is very tiny, just a matter of a few nanometers, but the difference is important.

If your adjusted diet includes more fat of any kind, this in some case raises the LDL, but subject to my comments about differentiating between the sizes, you are very unlikely to have anything to worry about. :)


Sent from my iPhone using DCUK Forum mobile app
Click to expand...
Thank you, that's very heartening. I was so upset and couldn't believe the lack of progress when I'm doing everything I should (with the occasional blip of course!). Yes my adjusted diet includes almonds, pepitas, avocado, sunflower seeds, flax seeds etc.
Not sure what the NHS is up to these days...we've lived in Australia for the past 13 years.!
 
@mrsmusic I had a discussion with both my Diabetes Specialist and my GP as my cholesterol readings were higher than standardized. I used the information that is so freely given on here to provide a rational discussion with both as to why a statin was not needed and they agreed.
I suggest you do the same!
 
13 years outside the NHS is a long time, but as somebody who has travelled all over the world....I am still immensely comforted by having the catch net of this amazing organisation. :)


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KevinPotts said:
13 years outside the NHS is a long time, but as somebody who has travelled all over the world....I am still immensely comforted by having the catch net of this amazing organisation. :)


Sent from my iPhone using DCUK Forum mobile app
Click to expand...
Yes I agree. You really have to dip into your pocket over here.
 
mrsmusic said:
Yes I agree. You really have to dip into your pocket over here.
Click to expand...

But it's more affordable than the US system?


Diagnosed 13 April 16: T2, no meds, HbA1c 53, FBG 12.6, Trigs 3.6, HDL .75, LDL 4.0, BP 169/95, weight 13st 8lbs, waist 34" (2012 - 17st 7lbs, waist 42").

2 June 16: FBG AV 4.6, Trigs 1.5, HDL 2.0, LDL 3.0, BP 120/72, weight 11st 11lbs, (2012 - 17st 7lbs, waist 42") waist 30".

Never give in, never give in, never never never given in...Winston Churchill.

Sent from my iPhone3 June16:

Sent from my iPhone
 
@mrsmusic

Has anyone mentioned that cholesterol often rises during weight loss? It is because the fat is released from fat cells and travels round the body to be burned as fuel. So it kind of stands to reason.

Sometimes it takes a few months after the weight loss ends before your cholesterol settles down.

No one ever seems to factor in this in, they just do this knee jerk 'high cholesterol - you must get it down!' reaction without thinking about why. I mean, the fat has to travel, doesn't it? Or you couldn't make use of it and actually reduce the poundage.

Hope that helps.
 
Ah... the dreaded cholesterol Brunneria:)

My wife, Yvonne, had a standard set of bloods, (glucose and lipid panel) last week.

She got a call from the surgery a few days ago, asking that she sees the Practice Nurse as a matter of urgency...so the panic set in with Yvonne... Until I heard about the call and thought "ah that will be the cholesterol calamity"

Was I right....I was.

Yvonne's BS was great....and she pointed this out to the nurse to be told "I'm not interested in your sugars....it's your fat....your fat that I am bothered about".

She then proceeded to say Yvonne's LDL WAS 3.6, but her trigs, HDL, BP were all excellent - note not adequate or OK...but excellent. Yvonne was then told to stop eating cheese, butter, eggs, avocados....the list goes on.

So Yvonne returned home wound up and angry , firstly by the attitude and secondly by the nonsense.

This nurse new nothing about cholesterol particle size or any of the science behind it:)

Anyway...having being suitably calmed....Yvonne has decided to ignore all the instructions and carry on with her brilliant diet, lifestyle, exercise and intermittent fasting :)


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Brunneria said:
@mrsmusic

Has anyone mentioned that cholesterol often rises during weight loss? It is because the fat is released from fat cells and travels round the body to be burned as fuel. So it kind of stands to reason.

Sometimes it takes a few months after the weight loss ends before your cholesterol settles down.

No one ever seems to factor in this in, they just do this knee jerk 'high cholesterol - you must get it down!' reaction without thinking about why. I mean, the fat has to travel, doesn't it? Or you couldn't make use of it and actually reduce the poundage.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
That's interesting thanks. I've decided that I'm pretty much going to insist on giving it several more months before starting medication as my overall health is really good now.
 
KevinPotts said:
But it's more affordable than the US system?


Diagnosed 13 April 16: T2, no meds, HbA1c 53, FBG 12.6, Trigs 3.6, HDL .75, LDL 4.0, BP 169/95, weight 13st 8lbs, waist 34" (2012 - 17st 7lbs, waist 42").

2 June 16: FBG AV 4.6, Trigs 1.5, HDL 2.0, LDL 3.0, BP 120/72, weight 11st 11lbs, (2012 - 17st 7lbs, waist 42") waist 30".

Never give in, never give in, never never never given in...Winston Churchill.

Sent from my iPhone3 June16:

Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...
Hi kevin. Yes, nothing like the US thank goodness. We have Medicare, which is the public system. It's like the NHS but you often have to pay a contribution on top of what the Government chips in towards x rays, seeing docs etc. Not too bad I suppose and you never really have to wait to see a doctor over here.
 
mrsmusic said:
Hi kevin. Yes, nothing like the US thank goodness. We have Medicare, which is the public system. It's like the NHS but you often have to pay a contribution on top of what the Government chips in towards x rays, seeing docs etc. Not too bad I suppose and you never really have to wait to see a doctor over here.
Click to expand...

My son and daughter-in-law were seconded by her legal company to Sydney for two years and they said the Australian system was good. They are bs k in the UK now and trying to adjust positively to the absence of cost, but the patience required for the more specialised appointments. :)!


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