Blood results

[Seacrow]

Just had the whole lot of results in the letter to my GP (copied to me by my consultant). He seems worried about my cholesterol. In the appointment he kept asking about which statins I had tried, and now wants me to try a new drug, ezetimibe. The thing is, I'm looking at the results and I can't see why he's so insistent.

HDL 0.8
Trig 1.0
Cholesterol 4.6
HbA1c 82 - and yes, I do see why he's unhappy with this.
Also, parathyroid hormone 17.1 (normal range 1.6 - 6.9) and referral to endocrine, again.

Can anyone explain what is so bad with these results?

 

[DCUKMod]

Just had the whole lot of results in the letter to my GP (copied to me by my consultant). He seems worried about my cholesterol. In the appointment he kept asking about which statins I had tried, and now wants me to try a new drug, ezetimibe. The thing is, I'm looking at the results and I can't see why he's so insistent.

HDL 0.8
Trig 1.0
Cholesterol 4.6
HbA1c 82 - and yes, I do see why he's unhappy with this.
Also, parathyroid hormone 17.1 (normal range 1.6 - 6.9) and referral to endocrine, again.

Can anyone explain what is so bad with these results?

Do you have a result for a calcium test done at the same time as the parathyroid? Do you also have your LDL score from your lipid panel?

As well as the parathyroid, did you have your thyroid tested?

 

[Seacrow]

Do you have a result for a calcium test done at the same time as the parathyroid? Do you also have your LDL score from your lipid panel?

As well as the parathyroid, did you have your thyroid tested?

Calcium 'normal', whatever that is, as well as TSH and T4. Don't have the LDL, but I can email the consultant and ask if it's important (he's being sent back to the covid wards, poor guy).

The PTH is another trip on the merry-go-round that is my endocrine system. Last time I had high pth and normal Ca, they re-tested, high pth, low Ca, re-test low pth normal Ca, re-test everything normal. Endocrine discharged me, quite reasonably, since with no abnormal results there was nothing to find. By this point the entire endocrine department knew who I was and waited with interest for the next results.

 

[DCUKMod]

Calcium 'normal', whatever that is, as well as TSH and T4. Don't have the LDL, but I can email the consultant and ask if it's important (he's being sent back to the covid wards, poor guy).

The PTH is another trip on the merry-go-round that is my endocrine system. Last time I had high pth and normal Ca, they re-tested, high pth, low Ca, re-test low pth normal Ca, re-test everything normal. Endocrine discharged me, quite reasonably, since with no abnormal results there was nothing to find. By this point the entire endocrine department knew who I was and waited with interest for the next results.

Elevated parathyroid hormone is often associated with high calcium. Have you ever or recently had a DEXA scan to have a peep at your bones?

Were all those blood draws done at the same time of day?

The thing with hormones is they can be so dynamic/variable.

 

[Seacrow]

Elevated parathyroid hormone is often associated with high calcium. Have you ever or recently had a DEXA scan to have a peep at your bones?

Were all those blood draws done at the same time of day?

The thing with hormones is they can be so dynamic/variable.

Either high (primary) or low (secondary) but usually not normal range. The endocrinologists love my results. I had a DEXA scan a couple of years back when the pth first went overboard, apparently all my values are so normal and middle of the range that I could be the textbook image.

The blood draws will all have been done between about 2pm to 4pm, over about a six month period. With other 24hr sample tests along the way. There have been meetings with diabetes and endocrine and medicine consultants with random other doctors pulled in just because they can't figure out what my parathyroid is doing and why. And why my test results keep changing.

But the cholesterol... I'm still not seeing whatever it was that panicked the doc. Anyone?

 

[oldgreymare]

Diabetes, especially poorly controlled, is considered a high risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This may be additive to the cardiovascular risk related to poor cholesterol levels, but I think the evidence re cholesterol is now considered more controversial. I suggest you ask what are the target levels that your endo is looking for you to achieve with medication. Your Trigs are low which is great (best controlled by low starch/sugar consumption), statins only influence LDL. So if you are taking statins you definitely should monitor your LDL.

Unfortunately, I believe the dispensing advice is to offer statins to anyone over a certain age and to even younger individuals with conditions such as diabetes. I consistently refuse, as there is very little evidence that they have much preventive effect on mortality in older women.

Pragmatically, it looks like your/your team's focus should be more on helping you to sort out your BG/PTH levels.