High cholesterol?

[kickit]

I am 56yr old female. Surgically induced menopause Jan 2016 (although I reckon I was in it to a far or lesser degree). My cholesterol has been raised for a few years and as I suffer with health anxiety specifically heart related this has always been a concern. The doctors were never overly concerned though and considered me low risk.

I have a normal bmi despite putting on weight over the last few years it has gone up to the upper of the normal range.

However I rarely exercise or get out being agoraphobic, in fact I am averse to cardio exercise because of my heart beating fast, I am on propanolol for this as the anxiety over the years have sent it into a bit of a sensitised high rate. I also take a low dose ramipril.

My latest reading has come back as 7.6 and my GP said if it would help with the anxiety he would consider a low dose. However after reading all the posts I’m now unsure what to do?

By the way my granddaughters keep me on my toes and I don’t shy away from hard work, in fact I work 3 days a week (just take a taxi to and from) 🤦‍♀️

[sandybrown]

I am afraid you need to give full lipid numbers for members to comment.!

Total cholesterol 7.6.

[kickit in reply to sandybrown]

Hi, sorry 😐 I will endeavour to find out!

[sandybrown in reply to kickit]

You need to relax, watch out for hidden and free sugar in food and drinks.

You can ask your GP for rick analysis, QRISK or JBS 3, a good GP may be able to fully explain the findings. Regular exercise and controlled eating can help towards a healthy life.

[sandybrown]

UK, Total Cholesterol manmade formula. All units mmol/l.

The below equation has many variables!

Total cholesterol = HDL cholesterol + LDL Cholesterol + Total triglyceride / 2.19

.

The formula used is reasonably accurate providing total triglyceride levels are below 4.5 mmol/l, but unreliable when triglycerides are high due to the effects of triglyceride – remnant particles which will be included in VLDL and IDL cholesterol measures.

There is an increasing movement particularly in the USA to use the term non-HDL cholesterol to cover the harmful elements of the lipoprotein profile including triglyceride rich remnant particles derived from VLDL and IDL as well as LDL.

[Markl60]

A 2018 meta analysis reveals the lies and misinformation put out about cholesterol and statins to favour statin producers. Cholesterol does not cause heart disease

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

[Marz]

I am wondering if you have had your thyroid correctly tested - menopause can be a trying time for thyroid hormones and other hormones Raised cholesterol and the other symptoms you have mentioned could also be linked to LOW Thyroid ...

NHS Guidelines about Statins do mention the need to sort the thyroid before starting statins ...

[kickit in reply to Marz]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I did have my thyroid tested also. I haven’t seen the results just told everything was fine apart from the cholesterol, but even then the GP said on the report if symptoms persist please make an appointment!?

[Marz in reply to kickit]

We are legally entitled to have copies of all test results with ranges. I have been a member of Thyroid UK here on HU for almost 8 years. When members are told results are fine/normal/OK Docs mean the results are in range - it is WHERE you are in the range that is key to wellness.

Surgeries should now have on-line patient access to results. So worth asking - ID will be needed.

If your Thyroid is low then it is possible your B12 - Folate - Ferritin - VitD are also low which in turn can affect cholesterol. They need to be optimal ...