Hi, pretty bad news about my cholesterol after my annual blood test on Tuesday which I have attached. On the plus side my HbA1c is ok and my GP is happy with it.
My cholesterol though is pretty terrible.
I don’t want to take statins, I tried them once years ago and within a couple of weeks I could barely walk and was SO depressed, besides I eat half a grapefruit every day and I don’t really want to have to stop that.
So far, I’ve bought myself some plant stanol drinks and yoghurts and have started on these already. I’ve not eaten anything sweet or the wrong kind of carbs either and I’ve walked for an hour too, I’ve ordered a book on low cholesterol and I am working through all of the posts on this site because I think I’ll probably get a lot f help on here.
I am 5-6 years in remission from Graves’ disease which is an overactive thyroid with antibodies and I’ve got high blood pressure too but take tablets for that so it’s well under control.
I know that back in the beginning (2013) when I was extremely hyper my cholesterol was the lowest it has ever been. My body now feels sluggish and I’m wondering if my thyroid is burning out and I’m becoming more hypo. I told my GP that I was sure there was a link between thyroid and cholesterol and she nodded, unfortunately I am ‘within the range’ so I think nothing is likely to be done. I’ve since done a lot more research and it seems I was correct. Ideally I’d like to start taking a little thyroxine to help my thyroid and hopefully reduce my cholesterol but to be honest I can’t see that happening.
In the meantime
a) has anyone with cholesterol as bad or even worse than mine managed to reduce it by exercise and altering their diet.
b) Should I start taking plant stanol tablets?
c) is it with taking those cholesterol busting yoghurts and yoghurt drinks and
d) has anyone had any experience with high cholesterol and low TSH?
Thank you
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Fruitandnutcase
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HbA1c was 44 which isn’t great but the comment next to it says WHO (2011) recommend 48 mol/mol as the diagnostic cut off for T2 diabetes. I became diabetic a few years ago after I was given steroids as part of treatment for inflammatory arthritis.
At least with that I feel I’ve got room for improvement but it’s not as awful as the cholesterol results so that sorting out the cholesterol should sort that out too.
I’ve had a really bad year for eating and the discipline I applied to reverse my T2 (I know I will only stay T2 free as long as I eat well) has all gone out of the window for some reason. So I’ve done it before so I’m hopeful I can do it again.
What about eggs? I’ve been starting every day for the past couple of years with a two egg omelette with either mushrooms or blueberries in it.
Could it be all the eggs that I’ve been eating that have pushed the cholesterol up or am I right in thinking it’s most likely to be all the chocolate I’ve recently taken a liking to?
It could be, estimates (see Chris Masterjohn) suggest that around 20% are hyper responders to dietary cholesterol. I know when I ate two eggs every day and liver twice for one week my LDL went from 3.1 to 4.0. What you are going to have to do is experiment. Think of it as fun a game even. You are already ahead of the crowd as you have a brain in your head and are clearly thinking about things. If your LDL used to be much lower and has now shot up then there has to be a reason and if there is a reason there is likely a solution. If you have the luxury then my approach would be to try things in isolation and then test eg cut out all cholesterol foods such as eggs, liver etc and then text after 2 weeks. The cut out all coffee and drink green tea instead and then test after 2 weeks et etc . Your HDL is good and Trig's not to badd although Londinium is right they could be better so dont forget its the ratio you need to monitor Trig/HDL ratio
Thanks for that good advice. I imagine it’s the lousy diet and overdosing on chocolate that I’ve been doing for quite some time plus lack of exercise. I used to get my 10K steps a day plus but I’ve not been doing that for quite a while and the week before I was tested was that heatwave and here in Cambridge we hit 38.7 which was highest in the country. I don’t do well with heat never mind as hot as it was so I had a week of doing the bare minimum early in the day then lying on the sofa next to a fan for most of the day, all the while worrying about the lack of exercise.
I’ve heard about niacin - I must ask my doctor about it. I’ve read that you can get a niacin flush but that slow release niacin can help reduce the flush. I wonder why it isn’t prescribed more widely - perhaps there isn’t much money to be made for big business from it. I’d prefer to get a grip of myself and get back to better eating habits and exercise if I could. I need to invite my friends Discipline and Will Power round to stay 😉
Doctors dont like to talk about Niacin because trials where it lowers LDL have shown no benefits in terms of cardio outcomes which is a bit of an embarrassment because they keep banging out the lie that cholesterol causes heart disease and if this was the case Niacin would have some demonstrable favourable effect
Hi I am statin intolerant ( I tried 4or5 ) I have been taking a drug called Ezetimibe for several years. It has not given me side effects and my total cholesterol is 4.9. I am staggered at the lack of awareness of this alternative to statins 😊
Itˋs an absorption inhibitor IIRC and some people will find their body simply compensates for the lower absorption. It will work for some and it is probably worth a try IMO.
You have given enough information for members to comment!
You can ask your GP or doctor for a risk analysis, QRISK or JBS 3. Your GP or doctor can help you to understand the results and explain on a life style change for better health.
You need a balance dit, watching out for hidden and free sugar in food and drinks and regular exercise.., This is a slow process.
Please do not worry, you can achieve in getting to the NHS cholesterol numbers!!!
Thank you. Sorry about the information overload. Think I really just need to take myself 8n hand and do more exercise - my husband changed his working hours and although I shouldn’t have let it, that combined with a couple of classes chang8ng their days affected my exercise regime. That and a piece of GF chocolate brownie on a Sunday has gradually turned into a much more regular event. My own fault I’m in this predicament. ☹️
So annoying - just typed a reply to you then lost it.
Anyway, I was saying it was Marz who pointed me to this site and I saw your name right away and figured it was you.
When I saw what causes high triglycerides I knew straight away why mine are high and what I need to do. Years ago I remember a doctor saying that the fact my triglycerides and HDL were good, balanced out my LDL cholesterol.
I know that I’ve been really hitting the sugars for quite a while now so I know what to do. I haven’t had any sugars, carbs or starchy stuff since I got my scary test results - so thankful I’m not at the T2 stage, pre D is bad enough but it’s better than being T2. I know it’s only two days but I’ve ramped up my exercise too. For some reason I’ve just fallen by the wayside over this last year, I’m still totally gluten free but junk food and chocolate have crept into my diet and the masses of exercise I used to get had dwindled.
I used to walk with various people, then we started to walk and go for a coffee afterwards, then we would skip the walk and just have the coffee and then we got to the stage where it was coffee somewhere we knew sold GF chocolate brownies and you can see where that led to.
I just wondered about the fat in eggs, I’ve been having a two egg omelette for breakfast for a long time. Poor eggs, someone is always giving reasons as to why we shouldn’t be eating too many yet they they contain so much nourishment, I’d hate to think they were contributing to my problem.
Thanks for your help.
Hi fruit and nutcase
Sorry to hear you have very high numbers
Some ways to reduce you have already mentioned
Have you considerd a vegan diet?
As you know, there is NO cholesterol in a vegan diet
So, the liver makes just what you need
I have been vegan for 30 years now (I'm 69)
And my cholesterol has always been 3 or under
NEVER Take statins as there is, as you found out, a great risk of damage to muscles
Hi, welcome to this forum. Sorry to hear about you cholesterol issues, please do not stress about it, as too much of stress can raise cholesterol. I see a lot of people have made useful comment Make sure to use that information that is helpful to you. All you can do is work hard towards improving your situation, and most of all be patient with yourself while you are doing that. I'm sure you will find ways to improve your cholesterol.
If you like coffee, then have a think about having filtered coffee as that is healthier. I have high LDL cholesterol, and today I am starting on plant sterol tablets:
I am going to take them for 3 months and then get a blood test, so I won't know what difference they make until October/November time. That's assuming I don't have any issues with them. Relax and take care of yourself.
'To date, coffee consumption has not been directly associated with cardiovascular disease, but some studies reveal that some forms of coffee may adversely affect your lipid profile.
I’ve been thinking- i think when I talk about high cholesterol’ I mean the whole thing - HDL, LDL and triglycerides plus blood sugar thrown in for good measure. So that when I say I’m bothered about my cholesterol I really mean I’m bothered about the whole lot plus body fat - unsurprisingly I’ve put on weight of late.
Yes, read it all and started on altering my diet already so I get all that. I know I need to cut out sugar, starch and carbs, step up my exercise and get back to my omelettes for breakfast. 😊
a) yours doesn't seem that bad. Mine was worse. I reduced it by exercise and diet by about 30% from base line but that was not enough to avoid drugs.
b) Take plant stanol or sterol tablets or drinks. Don't overdo them as they work in similar ways. Add in other dietary measures like about 55g of oatbran a day.
c) those cholesterol busting yoghurts and yoghurt drinks are mostly stanols or sterols.
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