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Great hbac poor cholesterol is this common

shelley262

Expert
Messages
5,919
Location
Worcestershire Uk
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
hi well the results are in and my hba is down to 33! Gave up Metformin 2 months ago so thrilled with this result. Was 97 on diagnosis 2 years ago. Followed mix of intermittent fasting and lCHF way of eating and have also lost 30pounds over last three months. However my overall cholesterol has gone up from 5.5 to 8 and dn wanted me on statins. She agreed to give me three months to see how it changed but warned me that my cardiovascular risk had gone up to 18 and that this wasn’t good. My bmi is now 23 I’m fit and exercise what do others think is it temporary should I be worried? Anyone else had this issue? I feel I should be dancing with delight about hba and my weight loss and feel so fit but there’s a new worry! Do I need to give up those delicious good fats I’ve restarted eating? If go low fat won’t I get hungry I’ve loved not feeling hungry on my new way of eating.
 
Do you have a full lipid breakdown? Your overall cholesterol number is pretty meaningless (which shows you how much the nurse understands) You really want to know your HDL and triglyceride numbers.
If you have those then you can see if you are at risk but to be honest total cholesterol levels are a pretty useless way of judging cardiovascular risk.
Your Qrisk score will be mightily elevated by you being Type 2 except that according to your HbA1c level you aren't!
I bet the nurse didn't take that into account.
As for statins they are pretty well useless for women over a certain age and its up to you to take them if you want not the nurse. She can advise.. you can decide.
 
Remember that when you are actively losing weight or have lost weight recently this can send cholesterol levels a bit whacko. When your weight stabilises your cholesterol will find its own levels which imo is right for you. As BB has said, a Total Cholesterol level is pretty nigh useless as a measure of risk value.

Congratulations on your A1c, this, to me, is a far better sign of your health and risk. Keep it up, that is a smashing number!
 
Could your previous cholesterol figure have been a fasting test, and this one was a non-fasting one?
 
Thanks for reassurance good cholesterol was 1.7 but they didn’t check the triglycerides I asked her. Think you’re right re risk score and I’m pretty much in ketosis much of time so must have a fair amount of my fat in my blood! Let’s hope that delaying for three months I may get a lowering of my score as not keen to loose any more weight. It’s just not nice her saying I need to be aware that I’m significantly raising my risk of a heart attack by not rushing to the statins.
 
Thank you I’m delighted with hba very reassuring
 
shelley262 said:
It’s just not nice her saying I need to be aware that I’m significantly raising my risk of a heart attack by not rushing to the statins.
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It is also completely incorrect.

And yes great news on the HbA1c forgot to say that in the first post.
 
shelley262 said:
However my overall cholesterol has gone up from 5.5 to 8 and dn wanted me on statins.
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Well done on the weight loss. In theory GPs are meant to use QRISK (version 3 now available) in an effort to calculate your risk of a cardiovascular event. Although total cholesterol might be meaningless the ratio of total cholesterol/HDL is used in the calculation. The higher ones total cholesterol the higher ones risk.

I can't say whether this calculation of ones risk factor is good or bad, it's just the calculation that GPs are supposed to use and the higher ones total cholesterol the higher ones risk.

Low carb and high fat obviously suits a lot of people, not so good for me because my stomach doesn't tolerate the fat so well. Not only that but when my GP said I didn't eat enough on my low carb low fat diet, I increased my fat intake by increasing the amount of full fat yoghurt and cheese. Net result was gaining weight and my total cholesterol going from 4 to 5.7. Whether that's important or not still means an increase in my risk factor and that's what GPs should be looking at.

Taking statins is a very personal thing and no one can force you to take anything you don't want to take. Like blood glucose, there are other ways of lowering total cholesterol without medication.
 
You've had some great replies so far and I repeat : it is essential your triglycerides are measured (preferably fasting) and I'd refuse to act until they were. If high (a risk factor), reducing carbohydrate in your diet is the best way to reduce them.
If you haven't looked into the exaggerations about statins, and the difference in relative risk and absolute risk, this video (which I've just watched) explains it all
It's just one of many great YT videos debunking claims about statins.
Geoff
 
Dietary cholesterol accounts for just 15% of the total in your body. The other 85% is manufactured in the liver so even if you managed to erase all cholesterol from your diet there would hardly be a discernible change and the body would just make up the shortfall.
 
Brilliant thank you for the video link. Wonderful advice too on getting my triglycerides done I will check on this before I agree to the next test this seems to be quite important I’m learning but a long journey after years and years of a low fat high car low cal diet that led to a hbac1 of 97 and being 2 stone overweight!
 
Thank you I’m learning just a lot of history of low fat brainwashing to work through!
 
shelley262 said:
Thank you I’m learning just a lot of history of low fat brainwashing to work through!
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We have had about fifty years of lo fat brainwashing and we have developed a fear of fat so strong that a lot of folks just can't get past it. I try to convince them to do their own research but what really helps is that top notch scientists are now becoming less afraid to speak out against it with actual proof that the diet/heart connection re natural fats is a complete myth. In my humble opinion the cholesterol scaring tactics will go the same way.
 
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