- Messages
- 574
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Snide people
I recently reported the shock news that my total cholesterol (TC) had shot up from 5.8 to 10.6 in the 4 months since I stopped taking statins. I retested and came up with the same score a week later.
My research showed that a small percentage of T2Ds on LCHF diets develop high cholesterol.
I therefore undertook a trial (n=1) by taking 10mg of atorvastatin daily and having a CT Scan on my heart.
The results of the 2-month trial are in - I have a coronary calcium score of 3, which is very low, but I also have non-stenotic (not narrowing) cholesterol plaques on my main heart arteries.
In the meantime, my TC has plummeted to 4.8! (non-HDL 3.3).
So, what to do? The heart guy wants me to increase my statins to 20mg daily to achieve a non-HDL of 2.5. However I have decided to continue with the 10mg dose to see if there are any further reductions in the pipeline before taking that step. I will have another blood test in a couple of months.
I am not looking for advice, I will continue with my n=1 trials, but I though some of you may be interested in the fact that cholesterol can get really high on a LCHF diet, and that statins are very effective in reducing cholesterol, for all their bad press.
As my heart guy says, there is no evidence of what happens when LCHFers have very high cholesterol in their arteries for an extended period, but he suspects it will not be good.
Meanwhile, my diabetes remains under control on diet only, with a HBA1c of 33.
My research showed that a small percentage of T2Ds on LCHF diets develop high cholesterol.
I therefore undertook a trial (n=1) by taking 10mg of atorvastatin daily and having a CT Scan on my heart.
The results of the 2-month trial are in - I have a coronary calcium score of 3, which is very low, but I also have non-stenotic (not narrowing) cholesterol plaques on my main heart arteries.
In the meantime, my TC has plummeted to 4.8! (non-HDL 3.3).
So, what to do? The heart guy wants me to increase my statins to 20mg daily to achieve a non-HDL of 2.5. However I have decided to continue with the 10mg dose to see if there are any further reductions in the pipeline before taking that step. I will have another blood test in a couple of months.
I am not looking for advice, I will continue with my n=1 trials, but I though some of you may be interested in the fact that cholesterol can get really high on a LCHF diet, and that statins are very effective in reducing cholesterol, for all their bad press.
As my heart guy says, there is no evidence of what happens when LCHFers have very high cholesterol in their arteries for an extended period, but he suspects it will not be good.
Meanwhile, my diabetes remains under control on diet only, with a HBA1c of 33.