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Cholestrol Problem/ish

Mud Island Dweller

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,161
Location
Mud island
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
An awful lot.
Just had results for first Hba1c it is 37 "normal no further action"
l want to pull it down more so will continue as l am only been ultra low carb since just after christmas.

However l have yet another shove your statins argument coming up with dr.
Couldnt get a breakdown as new receprionist and bless she struggled to find the 2 numbers she gave me but...
Cholesterol is 6.8 up from 5.6

lf l remember l expect this to go up at the start of a LCHF diet so 6 weeks in is not a surprise.
How long before folks found their numbers going down please.

Just so l have an idea of how long other folks took to get their cholesterol down as l just know the rafters will ring with his and my dulcet tones as we rip each other to shreds.
 
you need to know your breakdown, if hdl up and ldl/trigs are down that number would be very different to the other way around

i took statins, then stopped them, then took them again and since chrisitmas ive stopped them again, i just cant decide whats best, but my numbers have steadily gone down both with and without the statins so my experience is pretty much useless sorry


Gratz on the hb1
 
Congrats on the 37 and as Andy said-you need the full breakdown of your cholesterol results-you could have a high HDL level which is good and a low Trig and LDL level which is good yet your total level could 'appear' to be undesirable but the total level is not the big picture.
 
My chol went down slowly but surely after changing to limited carbs
CAROL
 
Congratulations of the results.
If I was you, I wouldn't worry about the cholesterol results.
If you LCHF, and intend to carry on, without statins, the figures will do what they're going to do anyway.
Even if you don't like them, it's only going to be drugs or diet if you want to change them.
So it doesn't really matter what you ratios are, so it's just going to add stress, which can affect your bs if you don't like them. And certainly not worth rowing over.
 
Hi. Many surgeries, like mine, have stopped doing fasting blood tests for diabetics which means you no longer have the LDL/HDL split; pretty useless really.
 
Well done on the Hba1c MID, a bit of work to do on theold cholesterol but I'm sure you'll get there
 
lf l remember l expect this to go up at the start of a LCHF diet so 6 weeks in is not a surprise.
How long before folks found their numbers going down please.
Click to expand...

I agree 6 weeks is to short to see the real impact of changing diet, as to how long it takes I've heard it could take up to thee months for the body to adapt. As it was over six months into LC before I had my bloods tested can't really say how long it it took for me personally.

The odds are you will see better ratios a rise in HDL and lower trigs, the effects on LDL are hard to predict though in my case they are now lower than when I was on a low fat diet.

Check Chris Kressers post out.
http://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-cholesterol-and-saturated-fat-are-not-the-enemy
 
Many thanks everyone. I am always fussy want the Hba1c lower but just checked out the table and so happy as a first Hba1c

Yup l agree on working harder and also knowing the breakdown, the problem was it was like pulling hens teeth. She was so confused l didn't have the heart to ask for breakdowns.
I am however seeing the other (older) Dr on the 25th so l will get breakdowns then. I figured l really was not in the mood for the younger (middle age) dr.
The one l am seeing is always grumpy but l would say more mature and his Mrs is l think a nurse at the local hospitals diabetic clinic so he may or may not be ok.

I also want to ask for a vitamin D and a calcium test. After 11 years pretty much solid nights and even since 2012 when l said no more nights l never seem to get out into sunlight much, have a chronic lack of energy and sore joints. I have since reading the post the other day a sneaking conviction that may be adding to my problems.

I will read Chris Kessler later thanks for that, l am a big sceptic anyhow on the cholesterol, l may have a stroke but l may not l may get hit by a car ditto to not. I don't think that suddenly shovelling statins in will make a difference in the time l am allowing my body to sort naturally, hence refusing them so far. If l was to have one in the next few months then having had statins l don't believe would have made a jot of difference if it was that close.

Daibell can you not ask for a split?
 
Surgery just rang to make me an appointment l made the other day however l got ful chol info

LDL 4.6 up from 2.3
HDL 1.78 up from 1.36
Trigs 0.95 unknown last time

Original test from November 6 last year.

So casting an eye over than can anyone make some useful observations please

Other than they went up (glaring at Andy)
 
I don't really know this, but I have heard that in cases like yours, when both HDL and LDL goes up while low-carbing, the LDL won´t be as evil as the numbers indicate. The particles are supposedly larger, fluffier and more like HDL instead of small and malignant. I personally would refuse statins and if it is brought up and your GP insists, ask for further testing before you try them. There are more reliable tests.
 
Sorry, I can't comment on your levels, but would point out for future reference you can ask for a computer print out of your blood test results, back as far as your computer records go. This will include all blood tests, taken for whatever reason. You may then need to Google to see what a lot of them mean! At my Hospital Trust and GP surgery the print outs show all normal results in normal font, and any abnormal results in bold, and some have a little notebook icon showing there is a note about them somewhere on the system.
 
Thanks Bluetit will bear that in mind. So far l have only had 2x chol. Only reason l didnt get them the other day was a very confused new receptionist. She was so flustered l didnt have the heart to press her

Thanks Totto will look into that more. hence my asking the whole chol. thing is a minefield. l have read loads on this site forgotton a lot just know folks out there do know what they are talking about..thats what l love about here
 
What I see from that is that your cholesterol ratio is excellent. Total cholesterol is 6.38, divide this by HDL to get 3.58. Cholesterol ratio is good if it's 4.5 or less, and 3.5 is considered optimum.

I also have high cholesterol but a low ratio, and every time my GP bemoans the fact that I can't tolerate statins I remind him that I don't need them because my ratio is excellent. Why not try the same argument?

Kate
 


LDL is high, HDL is good as is your Trigs MID, I don't know if you seen this but these are the target cholesterol levels people with diabetes should be aiming for:


  • 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.
 
im no expert on this but the ldl is bad i think ( but i have also read something along the lines of what totto said)

hdl going up is brilliant

trigs look very good too

i think its little soon to draw too many conclusions though, maybe in another 3 months
 
Many thanks for those bits of info they have boosted me. l will assume LDL is fluffy for my confidence but continue as l am doing excercise and food wise. And be optomistic it will drop over the next few months.
Happier knowing l just have one to keep an eye on.

As weight BS and blood pressure is on the way down and l passed my heart tests l feel better all round
 
yes indeed, i attach far more importance to hb1 than chol, great job
 
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