cholesterol ugh ugh ugh

[Margarettt]

I'm patiently waiting for Friday's hba1c results and I have high hopes but the cholesterol scores are in and they are significantly higher. I think I'm going to have to reluctantly say yes to the statins even though I'm not keen. They already wanted me on them last time and I convinced the nurse to wait till after these results. 7.7 is high and I'm scared of heart attacks and strokes so I think I'll have to concede but I'm open to alternative views

Total Cholesterol​

Current result: 7.7 mmol/L on 15/03/2024
Previous result: 6.5 mmol/L on 08/11/2023

HDL Cholesterol
Current result: 1.80 mmol/L on 15/03/2024

LDL Cholesterol​

Current result: 5.4 mmol/L on 15/03/2024

 

[Rachox]

There are lots of arguments for and against statins, so I don’t know why you’re personally reluctant to take them. I was resistant for some years such that my notes are marked “stating intolerant”. However when my cholesterol reached a certain level I too got worried. I researched and found a drug called Ezetimibe which doesn’t appear to have the worrying side effects of statins, so I asked my GP for that and I’m fine on it while my GP is happy.

Edit for typo

 

[ianf0ster]

Congratulations on the great HDL figure! How much of the Total Cholesterol rise is due to improved HDL ?
I'm assuming you are concerned because your (calculated not measured) LDL figure has risen. Are you still losing weight - this could account for that (LDL is higher when removing body fat stores). How are your Triglycerides? They matter too!

 

[Margarettt]

There are lots of arguments for and against statins, so I don’t know why you’re personal reluctant to take them. I was resistant for some years such that my notes are marked “stating intolerant”. However when my cholesterol reached a certain level I too got worried. I researched and found a drug called Ezetimibe which doesn’t appear to have the worrying side effects of statins, so I asked my GP for that and I’m fine on it while my GP is happy.

Thanks @Rachox I'll have a look. For me its a side effect thing. I know I might be fine on them (both my parents take them) but....I have ulcerative colitis so could do without the digestive stuff. I have rheumatoid and osteoarthritis so don't need muscle pain and and my mum has and granny had dementia so I'm already paranoid about memory and fuzzy heads.

 

[Margarettt]

Congratulations on the great HDL figure! How much of the Total Cholesterol rise is due to improved HDL ?
I'm assuming you are concerned because your (calculated not measured) LDL figure has risen. Are you still losing weight - this could account for that (LDL is higher when removing body fat stores). How are your Triglycerides? They matter too!

Thanks @ianf0ster
for your perusal (and yes I'm still losing weight)

Date	HDL Cholesterol (mmol/L)
15/03/2024 10:19	1.80
08/11/2023 09:44	1.50

Date	LDL Cholesterol (mmol/L)
15/03/2024 10:19	5.4
08/11/2023 09:44	4.5

Date	Triglycerides (mmol/L)
15/03/2024 10:19	1.0
08/11/2023 09:44	1.2

 

[ianf0ster]

Several members here have reported that their LDL went up while losing weight and that once that stabilised, their LDL actually went lower than it had been before going Low Carb. These tend to be members who had quite a lot of weight to lose i.e. more typical T2 Diabetics.
In my case (a slim non-typical T2) my LDL stopped going up when my weight stabilised, but it did not drop back to where it was before Low Carb.
However, there is so much discussion about which lipids matter most and Lean Mass Hyper-responders etc. that I take the view not to concern myself over my LDL because:
1). My Diabetes (a big cardio marker - probably the biggest after smoking) is in remission.
2). My HDL is great and my Trigs are very good.
3). I've had some side- effects from statin before.
4). Even though I'm not an exercise fanatic, on bare figures alone I almost meet the Lean Mass Hyper-responders criteria, so I'm watching results from those trials with interest.

 

[KennyA]

You might also want to take a look at the HUNT2 study, link below. The TLDR is that higher cholesterol, particularly for women, is associated with lower mortality.

Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study

Many clinical guidelines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention contain risk estimation charts/calculators. These have shown a tendency to overestimate risk, which indicates that there might be theoretical flaws in the algorithms. Total cholesterol ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Statins will definitely reduce cholesterol, it's what they do. The bigger question is whether cholesterol (80% of which is produced by your own body) needs to be reduced.