Today’s appointments

[Troubled1]

I had my quarterly appointment with my Dr today and went over my blood work. He was quite happy with my fasting bg and my Hba1c. However when he got to the lipid results he immediately recommended a statin which I refused.
My fasting bg-6.8
Hba1c-5.8
Hdl-1.78
Triglycerides-1.47
LDL-5.06
I have been low carb and intermittent fasting for months now and I figured my lipids would be better, not worse.

After my Dr appointment I went to my dietician appointment. I had my blood work results with me and she was very impressed with my reduction in my Hba1c and my fasting bg. She said to keep doing what I’m doing as it seems to be working.

She asked about my diet and I told her I have eliminated processed carbs and have increased my vegetable intake considerably. I also let her know that I only use butter, full fat cream, eggs and quite a bit of meat.

After some chit chat she asked for my meter readings and commented on the amount of testing I do but in a positive way. She said it’s good to see someone that takes charge of their health and will spend time and energy on improving their results without relying on medications. She then gave me some paperwork to bring to my Dr to see if he would sign me up for a freestyle libre.

I mentioned that I have Jason Fung’s audiobook “The Obesity Code” and she was interested enough to write the title down and said she would look into reading it. She did recommend that to improve my lipids I should try adding more omega3 oils whether through diet or supplements and more olive oil and avocado.

I see this as a big step as in the past she always referred to the gov’t recommended guidelines. I hope that showing her that by not following those guidelines and eating real foods and avoiding the grains, sugar and processed foods, I can get my numbers down well into the normal levels.

How much, if at all should I worry about my cholesterol levels?

 

[L1ncslass]

Wow, there are enlightened medical people out there!!

I feel I face a brick wall at my surgery [not seen a Dr yet] however after the last 'stonewall' appointment. I wrote to my GP been invited to come for an appointment to discuss my BG results [self testing] as I want to make lifestyle changes not take pills too.

Re Cholesterol another good sauce of Omega 3 are golden linsseds I grind these down and replace some of the ground almonds in various recipes, and as they are lower in carbs it lowers the carb content. You could also google Dr Malcolm Kendrick on his views of Cholesterol.

Well done on your excellent results tho.

 

[ziggy_w]

Hi @Troubled1,

Congrats on your results. Really well done. Also delighted to read you have such an enlightened dietician.

Have you been losing weight recently? This could explain your higher LDL levels. By the way, your HDL and trigs are good and so are your ratios.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Well done on your excellent results. I agree you have a great dietician helping you.

As regards cholesterol, the ratio that seems to matter the most is the Trigs/HDL. It should ideally be under 0.87 (UK measurements). Yours is 0.83. So that is good.

All Omega 3 foods are a good choice. It is Omega 6 foods that need to be limited (found in seed oils among other foods). So more oily fish, flaxseed etc.

 

[Troubled1]

Hi @Troubled1,

Congrats on your results. Really well done. Also delighted to read you have such an enlightened dietician.

Have you been losing weight recently? This could explain your higher LDL levels. By the way, your HDL and trigs are good and so are your ratios.

Unfortunately weight loss for some reason has been eluding me. I’ve been on a constant 24hr fasting cycle for quite some time now but very little weight loss (less than 2lb).

With the holidays now done with, I’m going to try changing my meal timing to a 24hr cycle but have my meal at lunch instead of dinner. Hopefully it will help with improving my bg’s and maybe spur some weight loss.

 

[ziggy_w]

Unfortunately weight loss for some reason has been eluding me. I’ve been on a constant 24hr fasting cycle for quite some time now but very little weight loss (less than 2lb).

With the holidays now done with, I’m going to try changing my meal timing to a 24hr cycle but have my meal at lunch instead of dinner. Hopefully it will help with improving my bg’s and maybe spur some weight loss.

Hi @Troubled1,

Have read that some people were successful in lowering their LDL by substituting some of their dairy fats with olive oil and avocados. So, maybe this will work for you too.

Wish you much success with restarting your weight loss.

Really great results on your blood sugars.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Unfortunately weight loss for some reason has been eluding me. I’ve been on a constant 24hr fasting cycle for quite some time now but very little weight loss (less than 2lb).

With the holidays now done with, I’m going to try changing my meal timing to a 24hr cycle but have my meal at lunch instead of dinner. Hopefully it will help with improving my bg’s and maybe spur some weight loss.

Were you on this fasting cycle at the time you had your blood tests?
Fasting for more than around 10 hours may well have increased the LDL element of your cholesterol. How long had you been fasting when you had the test?

 

[Troubled1]

Were you on this fasting cycle at the time you had your blood tests?
Fasting for more than around 10 hours may well have increased the LDL element of your cholesterol. How long had you been fasting when you had the test?

I had been fasting for just over 12 hours. The Dr noticed my Hdl had also gone down from my previous test in September.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I had been fasting for just over 12 hours. The Dr noticed my Hdl had also gone down from my previous test in September.

I doubt 12 hours will have made any significant difference. Have you got the figures from your previous test in September? If not, you can still ask for a print out. It is advisable to have all test results in front of us in black and white so we can compare with previous tests, look for trends, look for improvements/deteriorations, and generally keep an eye on things because we can't always trust our doctors to do this for us. It isn't just glucose that is important, it is all cholesterol, lipids, kidney and liver functions too.

 

[Tabbyjoolz]

@Troubled1 - excellent results and hallelujah!, a dietician who appreciates your efforts and gives you encouragement. You're right to be up front about what you are doing. The more we do this, the better.

As to the statins, good on you for refusing. They have to push them as per guidelines. Don't let them bully you on this, as my surgery does. My doctor was sympathetic, but the surgery itself likes to do things by the book. I have had quite a few run-ins with bossy nurses, reception staff and the practice manager and every time have told them to back off.

 

[Troubled1]

I doubt 12 hours will have made any significant difference. Have you got the figures from your previous test in September? If not, you can still ask for a print out. It is advisable to have all test results in front of us in black and white so we can compare with previous tests, look for trends, look for improvements/deteriorations, and generally keep an eye on things because we can't always trust our doctors to do this for us. It isn't just glucose that is important, it is all cholesterol, lipids, kidney and liver functions too.

I have online access to my blood work for several visits. I’ll try get the numbers up later.

 

[Troubled1]

Ok. I have dug up some numbers going back to November 2015.
I’ll go chronologically from my recent tests back.

Dec 22/17
Fbg-6.6
Hba1c-5.8
Hdl-1.76
Trigs-1.47
LDL-5.06

Sept 12/17
Fbg-7.3
Hba1c-6.1
Hdl-2.01
Trigs-1.23
LDL-4.35

Apr 6/17
Fbg-7.4
Hba1c-6.3
Hdl-1.65
Trigs-1.27
LDL-4.86

Oct 4/16
Fbg-7.4
Hba1c-5.9
Hdl-1.46
Trigs-1.5
LDL-3.46

Apr 11/16
Fbg-5.9
Hba1c-5.8
Hdl-1.73
Trigs-.78
LDL-3.23

Nov 23/17
Fbg-6.9
Hba1c-5.7

Actually when I put them all down they aren’t terrible but I know I can improve them. My Dr. is only concerned with my LDL going up. Unfortunately there were no lipid tests done in November 2015.
Any ideas how I should go about raising my HDL while lowering my LDL?