Cholesterol and type 1

hya and welcome,
i think it does go hand in hand, what problems are u having with getting your bloods down? can we help?
a few mnths after i became type 1 my cholestrol was 6.3 so ive been on meds since, has your dr given u meds?

hya,
yes it can be because of your sugars, also if statins dont agree with you ask for something different, i was awfull on statins and was given ezetimibe which seems to have done the trick and no side effects

Welcome from me too, latecomer.

Do you have any more information about your cholesterol? The reason I ask is that the total cholesterol value doesn't mean very much. What is more important are the levels of HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and in particular your triglyceride levels.

If HDL is high and LDL and trigs are low, you will have low risk of heart disease, but if HDL is low and LDL and trigs are high, your risk is much greater. The total cholesterol might be exactly the same in each case, but the CHD risk quite diferent.

In any event, insulin is a significant influence on these numbers. Typically, the more insulin, the higher the trigs and the lower the HDL. As insulin levels fall, HDL rises.

Ask your doctor for these numbers, because it will give you a much clearer picture of where the problems might be.

All the best,

fergus

Hi latecomer
Fergus has explained the HDL LDL thing with his usual clarity.
What are your BG numbers and last HbA1c?
If the doctors say you are Ok, your levels might still be too high and if your diet is good, It might be conformoing the the usual recommended high carb stuff, which we know can lead to trouble.
T
he ideal is to keep BG to non-diabetic (around 5 at all times, leading to HbA1c of below 6%)
The Ideal diet of "eat plenty of complex carbs with every meal" is an invitation to commit suicide.
A reduced carb diet usually brings LDL cholesterol down.
Stains, with all their faults, are protective of the ciculatory system. So If you can do so, stick with it.

hya latecomer,
the ezetimibe i take is not a statin, that may be worth asking about

What Fergus says! Unfortunately many authorities now only do TChol rather than the much more useful Full Lipid Panel as it's cheaper.

The characteristic "diabetic dyslipidemia" is usually seen in Type 2s - low HDL, high LDL and sky high trigs - but can be induced through high BG and too many carbs covered by too much insulin leading to insulin resistance even without the genetic predisposition.

Greatly reducing carb input (CAREFULLY against the insulin!) generally drops the trigs hugely and increases the HDL. It may increase LDL but without the dangerous VLDL this is not harmful

Niacin may also be something to research - but beware of flushing

latecomer said:

I have more information on blood test
total cholesterol is 7.3
HDL 2.1
LDL 4.6
RATIO 3.5
Triglyderides 1.4
One thing I remember when my blood test was done was that I was about to have a hypo can that effect anything. :roll:

Click to expand...

Well the good news is that your insulin resistance is low, and this is related to cardiovascular risk

trigs/HDL is 0.67 and in UK numbers should be under 1.3 so you're doing great there!

However both HDL (good) and LDL (not so good) are high, while the trigs are only a bit high: a statin would certainly knock down the LDL but I'd try to get several opinions as to whether that is worth doing in view of the brilliant HDL.

It would be interesting to see the result of dropping your carb input, and adjusting your insulin down to compensate, that might drop them back into line

Hi Latecomer,

Your cholesterol should be under 5mmol to prevent any long term damage. HDL is the 'good' cholesterol which actually clears the LDL 'bad' cholesterol from your arteries and breaks it down in your liver. Diet and genes play a part on overall cholesterol.
A high ratio of HDL to LDL is obviously a good thing! Reducing LDL inducing foods (e.g. saturated fats) will help as will increasing some unsaturated fats. Actually eggs are high in the good cholesterol (I think).

As for meds, I was never prescribed statins as I was considered 'pre-pregnancy' (I think the doctor just assumed a woman in her 20's would be). I have been on Ezetrol for about 4 years now and have no side affects and only positive results. My cholesterol is down from 4.8mmol to 2.5mmol then back up to 3.2mmol. I do have a healthy diet and always have. My raised 4.8mmol was assumably down to a raised hbalc of 8 for several years. Now down to 7% (and even lower now I hope!).

Hope this helps,
tasha

If you go to the Diabetes Soapbox - Have your say - there is a thread there titled, "WHY I REFUSE TO TAKE STATINS. You will see that some people take them with no ill effect and some have very bad side effects.
Catherine.