• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2026 Survey »

How did this happen? (LDL lipids)

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,213
Location
Lancashire
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
When I started LCHF my LDL dropped and HDL increased, as many of us here found, and this was despite losing a lot of weight at the time. Triglycerides have always been low, and have remained around 0.6. HDL jumped to mid 2's. LDL dropped from 4 to 2.6.

Fast forward almost exactly 3 years and my LDL suddenly jumped up to 3.6. No changes to the HDL and trigs. I put this down to the information on this site that LDL can indeed increase when on low carb high fat eating plans. However, it did take 3 years for this to happen. Absolutely no change in my diet, weight, or lifestyle in this 3 year period. This all remained much the same for another 18 months.

Fast forward to this week. My eyes popped out of my head when I saw my results on-line. My LDL has dropped like a stone by a whole mmol/l , HDL and trigs just the same. No meds whatsoever for anything. No weight loss or gain. No change to anything I can think of apart from being far more generous with my butter consumption. Because of this drop, my total has also dropped a whole point from 6.6 to 5.6.

How and why has this happened? I am flummoxed. All tests have been fasting. @bulkbiker ?????
 
Last edited:
I have no idea except to say that it may be a case of LDL4/LDL5 going down? Whether those two falling can make a 1mmol difference to TC Im not sure.
 
Now @Bluetit1802 , this is the sort of question I’d be asking you! The only other person I’d ask would be @bulkbiker , so if neither of you know, does anyone?!
 
i don't understand any of that could anyone explain it to me please ?
is it good or bad ?
 
Charis1213 said:
i don't understand any of that could anyone explain it to me please ?
is it good or bad ?
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, women of a certain age benefit from slightly higher cholesterol values. The OP has asked herself these questions:

Has there been a change in diet or weight since my last Lipid panel,
Have I been ill or had surgery (even minor surgery) in the last 3-6 months,
Have I been under a lot of stress or suffered anxiety over a prolonged period during the last few months?

I would guess that the answers to these questions are no, hence the question why has my LDL number fallen having been stable for a time?
 
Boo1979 said:
Havnt followed the links so dont know if / how useful thet are - similar question on reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience/comments/3ozt4h/sudden_spike_in_ldl/
Click to expand...

Thank you for answering, but your link is talking about a spike in LDL. That happened to me 18 months ago and as I said, I put it down to the LCHF diet, albeit 3 years after I started LCHF. I was perfectly happy with this and not at all concerned. What I am now asking is why my LDL has suddenly dropped , and dropped substantially with absolutely no change in circumstances, between my test in June this year and my test in December this year, after remaining stable at the higher level for 18 months. (3 tests)

I should make it clear, I am not unhappy about the drop. I am just curious as to why it has happened.
 
Without NMR or ApoB100 tests (there may be no way of telling) but a 1mmol fall in TC may be a similar jobby to a 1mmol rise/fall in A1c in that the value is so small that it could be termed neglible. Something to watch alongside your other markers wrt the cohort tests done at review.
 
Except that it is about 10 times as big as a percentage. My theory is that the test was done at the same dodgy lab as @Bluetit1802 's HbA1c.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Except that it is about 10 times as big as a percentage. My theory is that the test was done at the same dodgy lab as @Bluetit1802 's HbA1c.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, I had the same thought but didn't want to muddy the waters.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Except that it is about 10 times as big as a percentage. My theory is that the test was done at the same dodgy lab as @Bluetit1802 's HbA1c.
Click to expand...

I know that isn't the reason. Labs analyse the HbA1c on specific machinery dedicated to the HbA1c. They don't use the same machines for other blood tests. The one at Salford (the other lab) uses a machine that can separate variances in the HbA1c. It is called an Affinity Chromatography and is used for people with strange haemoglobin variances. The machine at the normal lab (East Lancs HT) is a Liquid Chromatography machine, just a normal machine. Nothing to do with cholesterol at all. In fact, all my previous cholesterol tests were done at East Lancs, so if it is dodgy, all the others would also be dodgy! I can 100% discount that.
 

No, not similar at all. A 1mmol/l fall in LDL is considerably greater than a 1mmol/l fall in HbA1c.
 

It would be lovely to have the particle tests, but sadly not an option in the UK.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
No, not similar at all. A 1mmol/l fall in LDL is considerably greater than a 1mmol/l fall in HbA1c.
Click to expand...

It is very strange. Sorry lass I have no answers. Ivor or Dave could probably throw in a coupla ideas but one thing is sure - you are not a hyperresponder not with the stable numbers you had.
 
Guzzler said:
It is very strange. Sorry lass I have no answers. Ivor or Dave could probably throw in a coupla ideas but one thing is sure - you are not a hyperresponder not with the stable numbers you had.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input, it is appreciated. Maybe it is the increased butter consumption!!!!!!
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Thanks for your input, it is appreciated. Maybe it is the increased butter consumption!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Or the complete abstinence from hot chip butties... ya never know
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Thank you for the hug, I always appreciate a hug, but I am not concerned or unhappy about it, just confused!!
Click to expand...
Hi Daf sorry been out all day just got back in..
Looks like you're following me.. last year my LDL was 5.13 last test 4.34 no idea why.... just that cholesterol can go up and down like blood sugars do so changes in diet even over a few days can have significant effects..
Total Chol went from 7.3 to 6.3
Dave Feldman has seen many thing having an impact on his levels so I'd probably just say it one of those things.. higher fat content of diet causing ldl to drop a bit? dunno apart from that but prob keeps the quack happy? I have no idea why mine went down apart from moving to more carnivore based diet? May have had an impact.. not sure..
 
Bluetit1802 said:
No, not similar at all. A 1mmol/l fall in LDL is considerably greater than a 1mmol/l fall in HbA1c.
Click to expand...

Would be great to see what your doc has to say about why this has happened..! Or would that be a teeny bit mean...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…