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Cholesterol up :(

seanj67

Well-Known Member
Messages
283
Location
Lincoln
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Good evening all,

I'm after some input about cholesterol please. I've just had a 6 month review with a new DN and both A1C ( up from 7.6 to 8.4) & cholesterol are way up. The BG isn't an issue as my meter reports show it's falling well since the bloods were done a month ago (although she did mention Insulin being the next step - which is odd because my last DN said there were "several other options before that"), but the cholesterol was up and has been rising steadily for 3 years - which coincides with when I stopped taking Statins.

Now, I've been doing LCHF for some time and I don't eat a lot of dairy, but nor do I select low fat meats, quite the opposite really. The easy solution would be to take the meds, but that foes against what I'm trying to achieve. So my question is really, has anyone managed to lower theirs and if so what approach did you take? I need to think again about how I eat. I'm just worried that if I start being restrictive with fat then the whole LCHF plan becomes painful and I will fall over.

Luckily my weight had stayed the same and my BP was good. so some good news. I am however feeling a bit flat.

S
 
That's the problem, she said the result only showed one figure ( apparently it does that if there are other high readings)- I'm sure it was 5.9 but I forgot to make a note. I've already called the surgery to get the A1c result I can't call again!
 
seanj67 said:
That's the problem, she said the result only showed one figure ( apparently it does that if there are other high readings)- I'm sure it was 5.9 but I forgot to make a note. I've already called the surgery to get the A1c result I can't call again!
Click to expand...

Yes, you can call again, and you can ask for a print out of your results so you know exactly where you are. That 5.9 (if that is the figure) could be any of the levels, and if you were properly tested there will be other figures and a ratio. You can also ask if your surgery puts test results on-line as asked by NHS England from April 2016, and ask how to register for this. You really need to know these levels.
 
Was the HBA1C 8.4 as you stated or 9.4 in your signature?

I know you said that your numbers are now coming down but is there any reason they were up?

My cholesterol and HBA1C seem to go up and down at the same time as if they are linked.
 
I'll give them a call tomorrow.
Alison Campbell said:
Was the HBA1C 8.4 as you stated or 9.4 in your signature?

I know you said that your numbers are now coming down but is there any reason they were up?

My cholesterol and HBA1C seem to go up and down at the same time as if they are linked.
Click to expand...

Sorry, that all got confused - I checked the figures again. The surgery said Hb1Ac was 59. I tried a couple of converter apps and got different numbers. So, it looks like I'm actually at 7.5 - which is odd as that's lower than last time yet the DN said it was higher.

I think they went up due to me not focusing enough on what I ate - I lost my way with LCHF for a bit for different reasons. I'm back on track but now I'm asking if it's the right way for me if indeed my cholesterol is rising. I'm going to call this morning to ask the figures....
 
Ok, I've called the surgery and the reception read out the list - she wasn't able to explain it as she's only allowed to read it out, so the cholesterol figures are: HDL 0.9, Serum Non HDL 5.3, Serum HDL 6.9, Serum Cholesterol 6.2 - which all means not a lot to me!

S
 
Not all surgeries will give print outs and they are not obliged to. Not all surgeries have results online mine doesn't it is up to the individual surgery how much information they put online for patients we have to phone for blood results we can only can make appointments and ask for repeat prescriptions online
 

Have you made a typo with the serum HDL?
You have 2 levels - 0.9 and 6.9.
Should one of these have been serum LDL or the triglycerides?

Those figures don't make a lot of sense to me, either!

Serum cholesterol is the Total cholesterol. This is made up of HDL + LDL + 46% of the triglycerides.
Non HDL is LDL + Triglycerides.

This is what the UK standards are:
Triglycerides under 1.7
HDL 1.2 to 3.5
LDL under 3 (under 2 for diabetics)
Non HDL under 3.4
 

Well, I did wonder, but that's how she read them out as I wrote them down. I think the 6.9 is the total as I remember on screen seeing 6.3 for last year. HDL was definitely 0.9, and Serum Non HDL 5.3. Either way the numbers don't look great! I'm going to worry less about the current figures and work on bringing it down. It's odd I got a 6 month review too as normally they give me 3 months when things look grim.
 

There's been some confusion there @seanj67

These are the target cholesterol levels that were set by NICE for people with diabetes:

Blood fats (lipids)
Lipids are the cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood. Cholesterol is a type of fat found in all of us. You may be familiar with the term blood cholesterol, but what you may not know is that not all cholesterol is bad. Some of it, HDL (high density lipoprotein), can actually protect against heart disease. Low levels of this protective HDL cholesterol increase your risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol is the bad form of cholesterol in the blood. Triglycerides are another type of fat in the blood. If you have raised cholesterol and raised triglycerides you have an increased risk of CVD.

  • Your total cholesterol level should be below 4.0mmol/l.
  • LDL levels should be less than 2.0mmol/l.
  • HDL levels should be 1.0mmol/l or above in men and 1.2mmol/l or above in women.
  • Triglyceride levels should be 1.7mmol/l or less.
 

Thanks for that, I'm just going to work on it - the DN said it was up considerably on last year so I can take that and change my diet/routine.
 
seanj67 said:
Thanks for that, I'm just going to work on it - the DN said it was up considerably on last year so I can take that and change my diet/routine.
Click to expand...

Look for foods containing Beta-Glucan which is known to help lower cholesterol, put also regular exercising will help too so do try and stay active @seanj67.

As a side-note, my brother had extremely high cholesterol (he is not diabetic) and took a statin to lower it, after lowering it he asked his Dr if he could stop the drug and try and maintain his levels by diet and exercise, to date he's managed to do this but again he isn't diabetic so it's somewhat different for him.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for that. I do go to the gym and I'm about to start running again. Yes, being diabetic doesn't help with the cholesterol thing at all.

watch this space....

S
 

Some of the more unpleasant side effects materialise after years of taking statins. They do not always appear immediately.

Are you concerned about your total cholesterol level of 3? That is low, and teetering on the edge of abnormally low. Of course, much more depends on what your lipids and ratios are, particularly your HDL.
 
Well at the time I had been on them for some years and I was getting various pains and a general "foggyness" which I was sure were coming from one of my meds, so I ditched my BP meds (and told my GP)- BP remained fine but the pains remained, so I cut the statins and the pain went. Now that could be pure coincidence but I was also getting depressed by the amount of tablets I was taking daily and I felt like I was failing somehow. My plan is to reduce my meds completely and at my last revue that was looking like an option, but now it's moved further away again. I may make an appt with the GP and talk about going back on them even if it's for a while whilst I attack the issue from the other end.
 
I must say, I'm seeing a lot of people posting what appear high levels of cholesterol across other communities.

Can we be absolutely sure we aren't storing up problems for the future?
 

Thanks for that - I've already made an appointment with my GP just to talk it over. It just means I have to re think my diet too. LCHF is good in many ways but it's not the only option. No point having great sugar control if my cholesterol is of the scale. I'll look at the low carb side and cut back on the fat side a bit....
 
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