Help interpreting cholesterol numbers?

First question.. had you fasted for 10-14 hours before the blood was taken for the test or had you eaten/drunk anything other than water? Especially the January test.

So your triglycerides look quite high.. and your HDL a bit low. Do you follow any particular way of eating at the moment?
Are you still /have you ever taken the statins?

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/

If you want to delve a bit deeper most of the current data that I have found is on this thread.

valuator said:

Thanks, I am going to try to absorb everything in that link.

WOE - generally under 100g carb per day. I avoid rice, bread, pasta, and most fruit. I eat a lot of eggs and beef. I have a weakness for a good breakfast sandwich, so I do eat a white english muffin about once a week with processed sausage...I know this needs to stop!

I've been taking the statins until last week....I've had a lot of unexplained pain in my feet and blood glucose levels that have trended upwards, so I made a somewhat rash/uneducated decision to stop taking them. FYI my January A1C was 51, up from 37 in May 2018 and 46 in September 2018. Level at diagnosis in Jan 2018 was 83.

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Theres about a weeks worth of videos and papers so take your time!

I'm in a similar boat. I was prescribed 10mg statins a couple of months ago but haven't started taking them yet and don't really want to. My cholesterol is above normal but not that high. Because my weight is now normal and BG under control my medic says its must be genetic/predisposition rather than 'curable' by diet/exercise. If I do start them then I'll be watching my BG very closely.

valuator said:

Just digging into this, but thank you so much for putting together that thread. A lot of reading and watching to do, but I know it will be worthwhile.

In the short term, I see that I need to lower my carbs even more and also make sure to get lots of omega-3.

So my strategy is to go even lower carb, increase fibre, and increase foods with omega-3 in order to decrease triglycerides and up my HDL.

What about red meat....my doctor tells me this is not good for me....should I even be concerned about my LDL?

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Just a little FYI about O6s and O3s, it is easier to lower the O6s than to raise the O3s to the right ratio. One way to lower the O6s is to give up vegetable oils (seed oils used for cooking).

valuator said:

Thanks, I am going to try to absorb everything in that link.

WOE - generally under 100g carb per day. I avoid rice, bread, pasta, and most fruit. I eat a lot of eggs and beef. I have a weakness for a good breakfast sandwich, so I do eat a white english muffin about once a week with processed sausage...I know this needs to stop!

I've been taking the statins until last week....I've had a lot of unexplained pain in my feet and blood glucose levels that have trended upwards, so I made a somewhat rash/uneducated decision to stop taking them. FYI my January A1C was 51, up from 37 in May 2018 and 46 in September 2018. Level at diagnosis in Jan 2018 was 83.

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English muffin and processed sausage - do I detect a hint of USA?

Your cholesterol doesn't seem that high - mine runs much higher - but it is the ratios that are a bit out of balance.

Fats can raise your total cholesterol (for some people - for others it lowers) but in general it boosts the HDL which is the main aim.

If you have been advised to avoid fat and red meat then your dietary advice is contrary to much of what is offered here, although red meat isn't compulsory.

In general your diet doesn't look too bad and a breakfast sandwich once a week isn't that bad - as long as you can keep it to once a week.

You haven't mentioned weight (or lack of). One thing to be aware of is if you are losing weight (so living off your internal fat) this can skew your cholesterol results until your weight stabilises.

Personally I would avoid statins because I have had very bad side effects. You may be fine, but the recent view is that taking statins doesn't prolong your life and can cause muscle and joint problems (amongst other things).

valuator said:

I stopped the statins about 10 days ago and my feet now feel normal again, I can actually go for a long walk without pain and I am no longer relegated to the elliptical machine for exercise. Could be coincidence, or all in my head, but time will tell.

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I doubt its in your head...

Hi @valuator

Not prescribing what to do,
but by way of advice..here's how it went for me.

have the record of 5 blood tests going back to 2011
AND two of them... one early aug 2018 ...one late sept 2018..show how eating the prescribed way worked for me, before being officially declared T2D

at the first HBA1c 56..i ate as directed for 6 weeks..(a short time, admittedly)
but in the time, when i went for my 2nd HBA1c..Cholesterol, trigs, LDL and cholesterol ratio had gotten higher.
and HDL had gotten lower...and i moved up a notch to 57 HBA1c

At jan 2019 HBA1c 42...and all that had completely reversed.
my cholesterol / trigs / LDL / cholesterol ratio had all gone down, the HDL had gone up.
and EACH marker was better then the blood tests completed in 2011 when i wasn't T2D,
though i was encouraged to eat better ( Little did i know back then how wrong that would be )

So, yeah it is a concern, when placed on statins for a healthier heart
and when they tell you to eat more carefully.

hard choices indeed.

i took it all in and did a part of it.. to test the water and gradually my confidence rose
(i used a meter so i can see what eat item does to my BG levels) as the advice offered here panned out for me.
and it wasn't too long before i was opting for the LCHF way completely.

All i can say is my experience.
and for me, this WOE, with some sensible use of fats, has indeed worked..

i eat twice a day...each meal under 30g of carbs
often i only east the one meal and the other is more of a large snack,
so those days my carb intake is lower sub 50g .

The blood results show big improvements, and the scales show the weight loss required is happening on schedule.
near 17st in august..feb 27 13st 6lbs..

more then happy with progress.

Good luck choosing your way.

You can use this calculator, just put your numbers in and it will give you the ratios. The HDL to triglyceride ratio is a real important one. Along with triglyceride itself.

http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

valuator said:

Thanks, that's very helpful.

I think the key is to get my HDL increased ASAP.

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If you want to read about cholesterol or listen to his podcasts and videos and all that jazz, you can take a look at the link below. He's an expert who delves right into it. Lots of info, all relevant. He exaplains what is important and what isn't. Most doctors could learn a lot from this guy. He's a bio engineer who goes through the data and looks at the numbers, evidence etc. Unlike most doctors who look at reference ranges only.

https://www.thefatemperor.com/blog/

valuator said:

I'd go off statins again if I was confident that the LCHF diet won't inflate my cholesterol numbers?

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I suggest you go back to the thread I linked when you first posted and remind yourself about cholesterol.

Your low HDL and high trigs were likely caused by what you were eating before the blood test. Reduce carbs dramatically and you blood numbers will improve as will your HbA1c.