cholesterol checks

[Devaprinters]

Need assistance to find home testing machine/kit for checking cholesterol.levels. I am currently on statin medication and have lot of body pain and cramps at time.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

If you have body pain side effects from statins you should discuss this with your GP who may be able to try another statin of which there are several. And if you turn out to be statin intolerant due to side effects there is other medication available for you to try. As far as home kits are concerned when you have got your lipid profile under control under one form of medication, with short term testing organised by your GP, there is no real need for anything other than an annual check which again is organised by your GP.

[Devaprinters in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

Thank you so much, really appreciate it.

[Blearyeyed]

Which Statin are you on?If you are experiencing side effects that are definitely caused by your statin you can request a change to a different statin with less side effects. It can also take 6-8 weeks for mild side effects to settle down after your body has begun to get used to a medication and you begin to get stronger.

Cholesterol home test kits aren't necessary when managing cholesterol whether you are on statins ( which are often given to people with heart issues other than just to reduce your blood cholesterol levels) or if you have a condition which means you can manage cholesterol through diet alone.

Cholesterol changes are monitored by free NHS lab testing via your GP. You can request one every three months if your cholesterol is high and you are still making changes to your diet and lifestyle ( or require medication) to correct it until it remains in normal range over two tests three months apart , then you get tested regularly annually.

All patients , not just cardiac ones can, and should, request a cholesterol test from the GP as a baseline from their 30's and you have the right to request them.

People with cardiac or cholesterol effected conditions should get a cholesterol test every 6-12 months for ongoing monitoring.

Cholesterol changes are not speedy. Diet and lifestyle changes alone ,or Changes with Statins to help, take 3 months to show significant progress in tests , and if you have health reasons that effect how well you remove cholesterol from the body, or how active you can be, it can take 6-12 months before your cholesterol stays at consistent normal levels so constant monitoring does not make any difference to what results you can achieve, only daily changes do that.

It's definitely worth going to the GP to sort these things out , take care , Bee

[Lowerfield_no_more in reply to Blearyeyed]

You are entitled to ask for free NHS cholesterol test from age 40 as part of the Health MOT programme. If you are under 40 your GP has the discretion to arrange for you to be tested if you meet one or more selection criteria including, for example, certain relevent medical conditions including high BP and diabetes, you smoke, you are overweight, or you have a likelihood of FH. So an otherwise healthy person under 40 is not automatically guaranteed a free cholesterol test, although if course if you were so minded you could buy a laboratory based test from somewhere like Boots.

[Blearyeyed in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

You can also receive this test over 30 if you have a history of any immediate family members with these health too. With a confirmed family diagnosis of Familial HyperCholesteroleimia or certain types of heart disease an informed GP is happy to start cholesterol monitoring in a person's 20's , and if your GP is not aware of this type of monitoring you can request it too.Most GPs will give an initial Cholesterol test on request to those under 40 if someone is concerned about their health , it causes them concern or anxiety, or they are trying to be proactive and request a baseline result.

[Devaprinters in reply to Blearyeyed]

Thank you very much