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Cholesterol at 23.9

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swiftone2020

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Hi everyone, I'm new here. a few months back I was recently sent for blood tests as I was feeling tired all of the time. My GP thought that I may have been anaemic. The next day after my blood test I was called in urgently to see my doctor for him to tell me that my cholesterol was 23.9, YES 23.9 and my triglycerides was 28.2. He told me that he had never seen levels this high in his whole career. I was put on beta blockers and atorvastatin 80mg straight away. I was referred up to London to different blood tests and to have my arteries scanned, no reason found as to why my cholesterol was so high. I'm awaiting more tests. I just don't get it. I'm only 25, healthy weight, always on my feet and exercising everyday. No history of heart problems in the family. I'm worrying like mad and just don't get it. Has anyone else been through similar issues.

Thanks
 
To be honest, it sounds like a lab **** up to me. Your trigs are part of your cholesterol so can't be higher than the total. Did you fast before the test?
 
Were you fasting for the blood tests? If not, triglycerides can be badly influenced by your last meal. Coffee can also cause massive spikes for some people. I'd be getting more tests and making sure I was fasted for at least 12 hours beforehand.
 
If accurate then surely a genuine case of FH (familial hypercholesterolemia)?
 
The trigs vs. cholesterol thing is odd: I had a similar experience- I was older than you- 35, but still in the 'youngish' bracket. I got tested and had total cholesterol 15.8 and triglycerides 32.2. The doctor got really agitated about it and put me on rosuvastatin. To be fair, there was something to it, because I had painful neuropathy caused, apparently, by hyperlipidemia in my blood. I went ultra low-carb and low cal, and stopped the heavy drinking I'd been doing, and within a couple of months those numbers had dropped enough the dr took me off statins. I think alcohol in my liver messed with the initial results.
 
Hello all,

As to the question, whether trigs can be higher than total cholesterol -- this is quite possible, as only about half of the trigs are considered when calculating total cholesterol. The formula (Friedewald equation in mmol), which is used to calculate LDL (as LDL is rarely measured directly) is

Total cholesterol = HDL + LDL + trigs/2.2.

In other words, the total can not be higher than as only about 0.455*trigs go into the calculation.

Edited for clarity, changes highlighted in green.
 
Last edited:
ziggy_w said:
Hello all,

As to the question, whether trigs can be higher than total cholesterol -- this is quite possible, as only about half of the trigs are considered when calculating total cholesterol. The formula (Friedewald equation in mmol), which is used to calculate LDL (as LDL is rarely measured directly) is

Total cholesterol = HDL + LDL + trigs/2.2.

In other words, the total can not be higher than about 0.455*trigs.
Click to expand...

Yes. In the UK only 46% of the trigs count towards the total cholesterol. In the case of @swiftone2020 , only 12.97 would be counted, which leaves around 11 for the HDL + LDL between them.

Total of 23.9 = HDL + LDL + 12.97 Trigs
 
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