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LDL Cholesterol

K

Kimi_Iceman

Member
Messages
5
Hi All,
About 5 mos. back, I was diagnoses with T2. My weight then was around 255 lbs and LDL was 138 mg/dl wc was boarderline high. I was given statin, 10mg daily. A month later, blood test result to low LDL, which was at 86 mg/dl. Statin med was reduced from daily to 4x a week. Just today (about 4 mos later) lab test show my LDL jumped back to 139 mg/dl. I've lost about 55 lbs since, my weight now is 196lbs. The thing that I don't get is, my LDL is higher now even with med and more healthy diet than I was before. Tryglicerides is normal 66mg/dl. Any thoughts on this? A bit frustrating, because all the while I thought my diet is doing good. Hba1c is now at 5.2 which is within normal range.
 
LDL often rises as you lose weight. (Lipids leaving your body so to speak) Once stable it may well com back down. Also the way you choose to change diet can have different effects on levels too.

Statins can raise blood glucose levels. There’s a lot of controversy about cholesterol, how to assess levels and ratios and overall relevance and importance.

Also have a read of this thread

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/
 
Its a bit confusing to those of us in the UK because we have different measurement units for cholesterol and lipids, so I won't comment.

What are your blood sugars like? They are more important than slightly raised cholesterol.
 
Kimi_Iceman said:
Thank you for the replies. My hba1c if i convert it is 33 mmol/mol and my LDL is around 3.6 mmol/l.
Click to expand...
From all that I have read, it seems that the HDL/triglycerides ratio (the lower the trigs the better) is a far better predictor of heart disease than the ldl especially in the context of reducing your blood sugars and losing weight. Plenty of people having a heart attack are found to have normal/low ldl levels for example.
There is no drug to raise your HDL however eating less carbohydrates will reduce your triglycerides and keep your insulin and consequently insulin resistance levels down.
Statins are often prescribed to diabetics because it is known that having abnormal blood sugars damages the arteries as does excess insulin or smoking. The controversy is around whether the cholesterol that the body sends to repair those arterial walls causes heart disease ('band aid' plaques breaking away to cause a blockage) or is merely a marker of metabolic problems as if it is the fireman starting the fire (inflammatory damage in your body) rather than trying to put it out.
 
Kimi_Iceman said:
Hi All,
About 5 mos. back, I was diagnoses with T2. My weight then was around 255 lbs and LDL was 138 mg/dl wc was boarderline high. I was given statin, 10mg daily. A month later, blood test result to low LDL, which was at 86 mg/dl. Statin med was reduced from daily to 4x a week. Just today (about 4 mos later) lab test show my LDL jumped back to 139 mg/dl. I've lost about 55 lbs since, my weight now is 196lbs. The thing that I don't get is, my LDL is higher now even with med and more healthy diet than I was before. Tryglicerides is normal 66mg/dl. Any thoughts on this? A bit frustrating, because all the while I thought my diet is doing good. Hba1c is now at 5.2 which is within normal range.
Click to expand...

Watch this and see if your perspective on cholesterol is challenged.
 
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