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Cholesterol again!

S

SJS5

Active Member
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Had annual bloods.
Cholesterol has gone up again to 7.1mmols
HDL OK at 2.8mmols
Trigs 0.7mmols
LDL 4.1mmols

Now had the chat about statins.

Really disappointed with results.
I eat low carb
Don't eat processed foods.
Wondering what can I do to lower chol and also concerned that if I don't take statins I'm risking my health.

I will add I'm post menopausal and I know this can effect chol levels.
My liver ALT was also slightly raised
And thyroid hormone mildly raised .

Really struggling to know what to do for the best.

There is such conflicting advice re statins and the way the work.
I have read so much research on them .
Anyone got any pearls of wisdom.

Is it safer to take statins or should I look at diet.
Should I add more fibre etc???
 
Your HDL/trig ratio is great and your LDL is not that high.

Remember, there’s no such thing as a statin deficiency.

"There's a hundred percent cure for high cholesterol, which is never to do the test again." Dr. Tom Cowan

Read anything from Dr. Malhotra. There’s a documentary named “First do no Pharm”. There are many books about this subject as well, “The Clot thickens” comes to mind.
Dr. Anthony Chaffee has some videos on YouTube.

How do you feel? Why did you go low carb in the first place?
 

How "slightly raised" was your thyroid result?

The diagnostic thresholds for diagnosing thyroid disorders in UK are out of line with many other countries. Our thyroids are at the heart of our metabolic health, so if it's off-kilter it can impact quite a few areas.
 
Hi @SJSS Are you a normal weight? Or are you overweight/obese?
The reason I ask is that for most (T2 Diabetics) a low carb way of eating raises HDL, Lowers Triglycerides and either has no effect on LDL or actually lowers it a bit.
However, for relatively slim T2D on a low Carb way of eating (like me) the HDL and Trigs change as expected, but the LDL goes up quite a bit.
So does this matter? - Am I raising my overall risk of CVD even though I'm lowering that same risk by no longer being diabetic and improving my both my HDL and Trig readings?
I don't understand why the same diet should raise LDL for slim people while not doing that for those with more weight, but it seems that this is the case for many of us. This anomaly made me look for more information and thus I discovered Dave Feldman who raised funds to do his Lean Mass Hyper-Responder study:
47 people like me were compared with matched individuals from the NHANES study an over several years their CVD health was compared via scans.
Strangely (but fortunately it seems) the LMHR people had either no or less arterial plaque than those from the NHANES study even though they had much higher LDL.

Your LDL is about the same as mine and your HDL and Trigs are appreciably better, so I suggest that you have a look at the information about Arterial Plaque, LDL and Statins. Perhaps read out 'Cholesterol and Statins thread ( https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/)
 
@SJS5 I have low triglycerides, reasonable HDL but my LDL’s were high raising my total cholesterol. I tried to get them at least in range, but I was not successful. I’m post menopausal. I am eating very little fat right now as I have some issue. I’m waiting for an appointment to see my gastroenterologist. All that to say eating fat has nothing to do with raised LDL.
I ended up agreeing with my Dr to at least try statins. I am very pleased with the result. I’m on a low dose and it’s just edged my total cholesterol and LDL’s into the normal range. I have had no side effects from taking them.
Edited to add I am lean and very fit.
 
Forgot to mention. What was your thyroid level? I imagine it was a TSH test only? The reason I ask is because hypothyroidism is linked to high cholesterol. I have Hashimoto’s, the moment I got it under control, my cholesterol came down.
 
Elmas said:
Forgot to mention. What was your thyroid level? I imagine it was a TSH test only? The reason I ask is because hypothyroidism is linked to high cholesterol. I have Hashimoto’s, the moment I got it under control, my cholesterol came down.
Click to expand...
Hi TSH was 5.05.
Free T4 was normal
I have had antibody test last year as it went up then as well.
That was normal.
The TSH then went back to normal on a rpt test last year
 
Hi I have Type 1 diabetes and I'm slim build.
 
My TSH was 5.05.
Free T4 normal
Thyroid antibodies normal
 
I went low carb about 4 years ago to help control blood sugars which it has done.
I lost 2 stone in weight and have maintained it.
I feel OK other than stressed with work on occasion

I do feel though recently I've felt more cold ..?the thyroid issue. GP wasn't concerned
 
I was told about 8 months ago that I needed to double my statin dose from 20 mg which I've been on for 20 - 30 years to 40 mg as because of my type 1 and my age I am at high risk of heart attack / stroke so I did , within days / weeks I was suffering from diarrhoea back pains and general lethargy so I stopped them completely and my gp said to give them a break for 3 mths and see how I got on ,my cholesterol has gone up to 6.6 which is obviously not good but I have noticed lots of pluses since stopping , my bowel movements which have always been loose and I just thought that's me are now solid , mouth ulcers which I always suffered are non existent , fungal nail infection which I've had for as long as I can remember with several treatments have disappeared , a couple of moles on my body which were raised and giving me some concern have subsided and hardly noticeable now , and can't help noticing things like my facial hair and finger / toe nails need trimming more often , it just seems like my general health has improved since stopping the statins . I did actually see a program on tv this week where they said that statins only worked on 7% of patients , I really don't know what to do for the best . Just another thing I noticed this morning whilst cleaning my teeth is I quite regularly used to spit blood which is something else that has now disappeared .
 
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SJS5 said:
My TSH was 5.05.
Free T4 normal
Thyroid antibodies normal
Click to expand...
Most other western countries diagnose hypothyroidism from a TSH of 5. In UK it’s 10.

Euthyroid is considered c2 and under, so looks like your pituitary is signalling hard to your thyroid. Best to keep a bit of an eye on that. Nothing to panic over but just monitor it - ideally a bit more than annually.
 
SJS5 said:
Hi I have Type 1 diabetes and I'm
Click to expand...

SJS5 said:
Hi TSH was 5.05.
Free T4 was normal
I have had antibody test last year as it went up then as well.
That was normal.
The TSH then went back to normal on a rpt test last year
Click to expand...
TSH is a bit above normal. Though remember, normal is not optimal. Here in the us normal is 0.4 - 4.0, that’s a 10 fold difference! Go look it up but optimal levels are way lower than 4. You mentioned you’re slim. Have you heard of Dave Feldman’s hyperresponders? They are slim athletic types with high LDL, and I mean high, not like yours. Also check out Nick Norwitz video about cholesterol and Oreo cookies.

I can’t post links yet or else I would link them for you.
 
That's interesting that your body seems to be healing certain things after stopping statins.

There is so much debate out there and as you say you don't know what to do for the best.

I don't like the sound of something that blocks a substance that is natural to your body.

However there us also that niggle around what if I should take them ,can everyone else in medical field be wrong? And am I risking my health more by not taking them??
I also think why measure cholesterol if it's not that important to lower ?
Why are there lowering your cholesterol naturally if we don't need to worry too much about it other than if your trigs are high.
Is LDL really not that important
And then in all this the poor patient/public has this worry about doing the right thing.

(Mod edit to delete unsubstantiated or referenced claims)
 
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Thankyou

My whole female side of the family has hypothyroid.
As you say they won't treat unless 10 and above.
But I do wonder if this and menopause are causing the rise in cholesterol
 
SJS5 said:
Thankyou

My whole female side of the family has hypothyroid.
As you say they won't treat unless 10 and above.
But I do wonder if this and menopause are causing the rise in cholesterol
Click to expand...
GPs are able to offer a trial of Levothyroxin (T4) where TSH is over 5 and there are significant symptoms. At 5.05, I think your symptoms would have to be extreme.

I was started on T4 when my TSH was 5.8, but I was always cold, to the extent of wearing sweaters in tropical temperatures (in the Tropics), and hot water bottles being my friend in UK.

Your menopause may well be impacting your lipids, but to be honest, I doubt your GP will be engaged by that (unless you are looking for, or are already on HRT), and more likely just interested in your lipid profile.

Have you been losing weight since your last lipids? That can definitely impact, until the loss settles down.

Were it me, in your shoes, if the GP/Nurse is only interested in statins, I'd be asking for a retest of all those things in, maybe 3 months time, to see if those elevations are sustained, or dues to something not entirely obvious right now.

(Where was the ALT and what was the range your lab quoted?)
 



Yes it is a worry it does seem like a lottery wether to take them or not , a few weeks ago a 60 year old friend a non smoker non drinker tennis player with his last cholesterol reading being 3.9 had a stroke and was told it was because of his cholesterol .

(mod edit of quoted post to align with previous edit)
 
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I was paranoid about taking statins but as I fall into the 'at risk' category I decided to bite the bullet and take them, tbh I don't know what all the hype was about, have had minimal side effects that could be related to either being menopausal, t1d or just getting older, i.e. aching joints and fatigue, but levels are now within range so happy with the outcome.
 
I think it is just a case of suck it and see , I was on statins for I think 20-30 years and didn't really notice any changes at the time and just carried on with my life , it wasn't until recently I stopped them and realised how much better I feel .
 
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