Cholesterol loosing the battle.

Your HDL is fine (target - above 1.2) as are your trigs (target - below 1.7), but as you know, your LDL is too high (target - below 3) but is pretty consistent.

Have you asked for your total:HDL ratio? that is pretty important and should be below 5:1 and preferably around 3:1.

How low-carb are you eating? and how long have you been doing it? Low carb should bring your LDL down.

You could always ask for a low dose of a statin for a trial period (isn't Xyzzy doing that?) to see how you get on with them and to see how it affects your lipid profile. You can always come off them again once things have improved and see if you go up again.

In your place I would not want to go straight on to a high dose, but rather try a low dose and see what happens.

My last LDL was 3.85, which is over target but not by very much. I am very anti-statin but might consider them again if it started climbing too fast, but only for a short period. I wouldn't take SImvastatin again, but many people have no problems with it.

I'm not qualified but my GP knows what I'm doing and is satisfied with my results. It would really be best to discuss your results with your GP, if s/he will listen to you seriously.

Not much help, I'm afraid!

Viv 8)

simply_h said:

I am not taking satins at the moment, as have read so many bad things about them.

Do I need to start taking them?

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I wouldn't be swayed by other people's bad experiences of statins as many people tolerate them rather well, your LDL is very high and the recommended target for people with diabetes is below 2mmol/l, if I were you I would certainly discuss statins with your gp and perhaps mention starting on a low-dose as Viv suggests, there are a number of statins available so if you did experience side-effects your gp could try you on another if this was the case.

viviennem wrote
Have you asked for your total:HDL ratio? that is pretty important and should be below 5:1 and preferably around 3:1

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Total of 7.7
HDL of 1.46
Ratio of 5.3

Ideally below 5 for a non-diabetic, and below 4 for a diabetic.

The puzzle is why the HDL isn't rising with a low-carb diet, which was recently acknowledged as the best for raising HDL, and lowering triglycerides :

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.asp ... id=1199154

serum HDL cholesterol ... triglycerides ... were most favorable with the very low-carbohydrate diet and least favorable with the low-fat diet.

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Perhaps something genetic, or an accompanying disorder is causing the problem.

By the way, your triglycerides / HDL ratio is excellent :thumbup:

Geoff

I am on Simvastatins and i dont have any ill effects, most of the stories you hear are sensationalism. You have to weigh it up, do you want to develop heart problems or not...the choice is yours, i made my choice and am happy with it.

jgibson1962 said:

I am on Simvastatins and i dont have any ill effects, most of the stories you hear are sensationalism. You have to weigh it up, do you want to develop heart problems or not...the choice is yours, i made my choice and am happy with it.

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With respect, jgibson1962, some stories may be sensationalism but mine was not. The most commonly reported side effects with Simvastatin are muscle/joint pains (legs and/or upper arms/shoulders) and 'brain fog', where the sufferers have periods of blankness and 'lose' whole periods of time. Most people do not have these, but some people do.

Over a period of time I developed pains in my legs, muscles and joints, which started to improve immediately I stopped taking the Simvastatin. I was on 10mg per day, which is not as high as the dose usually prescribed for diabetics - whatever their cholesterol levels to begin with. I prefer not to medicate unnecessarily. Metformin gives some protection against CVD and stroke, so I stick with that instead.

Of course, my evidence is purely anecdotal. :wink:

Viv 8)

Some people just run high naturally, they say the majority of the readings are genetic with only a 20% influence from diet. OH's Dad's was 8 but he is a very healthy individual.

Ali

I would never ever go back on Statins.

My GP put me on Statins over 6 months ago, some months later I started having memory loss, forgetting the names of objects and not being able to reply to a person I was having a conversation with as I would completely forget what I was supposed to be saying and stop mid sentence.
I never associated this with taking Statins it was my DIL who sent me something to read on Statins, when the family realised I was having problems.
I made an appointment with my GP who immediately took me off Statins. He said unfortunately reasont trials have shown that there is a problem with short term memory loss in some patients.
I was given some tests to do and I have to go back for more tests next month and a blood test.
It was totally frightening I thought I had the early stages of Dementia. I said to the doctor I would rather die of a heart attack than loose my mind.
I have high bood pressure, high cholestral, pre diabetes and a leaking heart valve have a BMI of 23 I am not overweight go to the gym and have lead an active life and since I have tweaked my diet to try and reduce the cholestral I have started loosing weight. The GP is arranging an appointment with a dietician and hopefully get my diet sorted out so I don't become a T2.