Results and normal ranges

[cally]

Hello

Just had a print out of blood test results and I am now totally confused :?
I should say that Dr is quite happy with results but it worries me that HDL at 2.4, LDL at 1.6 and triglycerides at 0.32 are all showing up as outside normal ranges!!

I didn't actually see the doctor today, but nurse said that there was no problem and that Dr had seen results and thought all was fine.

I guess this is all about whether I really need to be taking simvastatin? My total cholesterol was 4.1 today but has never been high even before I started taking simvastatin.

I am tempted to stop taking it.

 

[phoenix]

Maybe the HDL was above and the other 2 were below the labs normal ranges.
As it is you have very low trigs and very high HDL which is presumably why your doctor thinks things are fine. I certainly would want to dicuss dropping statins

 

[cally]

Thank you for your reply
What concerns me is that the doctor wasn't concerned even though the lab printout had underlined the results outside normal range.
I presume that means they are abnormal and why would that be a good thing?

I think I need to do some research and discuss with doctor, but in the meantime am going to halve my dose of simvastatin to 20mgs

 

[viviennem]

'Outside the normal range' can just as easily be on the 'good' side as on the bad.

'Normal range' means sort-of average for the general population, and nothing to be worried about.

The targets I work to - I think they were NICE guidelines dating to about 2005 - are:

Total cholesterol below 5.18 mmol/l
HDL - above 1.04 mmol/l and the higher the better (= above the 'normal range' is good)
Triglycerides - below 1.70mmol/l and the lower the better ( in this case, below the normal range = good)

LDL is calculated from the other figures. It should be low, and I believe yours is very good. Mine at present is 3.6 mmol/l , which is perfectly acceptable, but needs to be lower.

For comparison, my last lipid profile was:

Total - 5.5 mmol/l
HDL - 1.30 mmol/l
Trigs - 1.30mmol/l
LDL - 3.60 mmol/l

So - my 'total' might be considered a bit too high, but all the rest are okay, though HDL could be higher and the other two could be lower.

I also have a Total:HDL ratio, which is at 4.1. This is also at the high end of the 'okay' range, but is perfectly acceptable. It's the main thing my GP looks at.

I'm not worried about my 'total' level (IMO, for me personally), but I'm working on getting my HDL higher and my trig/LDL lower.

Do read round about statins, and make your own decision. I have had muscle problems with them, and don't take them any more. They didn't make that much difference to my levels, but I was only on a low dose (10mg simvastatin).

Hope this hasn't confused you more!

Viv 8)

 

[Dougie22]

I don't think I understand the point here.

In my simple mind, if you are taking statins and your readings are good or close to good, isn't that a sign that they are doing what they are supposed to do?

Surely if you or your Dr suspected that your "natural level" was getting better, you'd have to agree to reduce them to a new level, or stop them altogether, and see what results that generated. ONly in that way could you see what was going on?

Have I got this wrong?

Note that I am a statin refuser so have no recent experience with them. Even so, I'm in favour of clear thinking and more understanding.

 

[viviennem]

I think Cally is just concerned about taking medications that may be unnecessary, or taking unnecessary quantities. There was also some doubt about the correct interpretation of her lipid profile, which seems to be fine to me, from what I know. I'm not an HCP.

The best thing would be to discuss with your doctor before lowering the statins to see if things get worse. Having said that - I stopped mine altogether without discussing it. When I told him I had done, my doctor was not surprised, and certainly didn't get upset about it. But as I said, I was only on a low dose.

Viv 8)

 

[spendercat]

I have read that very low cholesterol levels are not good for people - they are associated with dementia, and even death. It depends on your age. I would be worried about levels off the lower end of the scale, too. Particularly if I were over 70.

 

[cugila]

Hello

Just had a print out of blood test results and I am now totally confused :?
I should say that Dr is quite happy with results but it worries me that HDL at 2.4, LDL at 1.6 and triglycerides at 0.32 are all showing up as outside normal ranges!!

I didn't actually see the doctor today, but nurse said that there was no problem and that Dr had seen results and thought all was fine.

I guess this is all about whether I really need to be taking simvastatin? My total cholesterol was 4.1 today but has never been high even before I started taking simvastatin.

I am tempted to stop taking it.

I agree with Phoenix. Discuss the results with your GP and see what he/she has to say about those levels........in person.

They are marked as being outside target levels for a reason. You need to know if the GP actually said they are fine, it may be that they don't need treatment at present but there may be other measures you could take to improve them and get within the target levels next time.........if you don't ask for an explanation you won't know.

I certainly wouldn't advise anybody to stop taking prescribed meds without discussing it first.......

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Just had a print out of blood test results and I am now totally confused :?
I should say that Dr is quite happy with results but it worries me that HDL at 2.4, LDL at 1.6 and triglycerides at 0.32 are all showing up as outside normal ranges!!

According to the print out I had in Feb 2010 the range for Trigs, HDL and LDL are as follow:

Trigs...........Between 0 to 2.3 Your Trigs appear well within range
HDL............Greater than 0.9 Your HDL is higher than 0.9
LDL.............Between 0 to 4.0 Your LDL appears within range

All your readings appear well within range according to 2010 figures, dont know if there have been any changes since then though