I have high cholesterol

"Manwich - now Keto-Friendly" (manwich)
12/20/2019 at 19:07 • Filed to: None

I did a search for High Cholesterol Truck, and I found this:

And this:

So... I’ve been doing the Keto diet since last April.

Yesterday I had a followup visit with my doctor.

The good news... I’m not pre-diabetic anymore, blood pressure is normal and my liver went from moderately fatty to mildly fatty. Also my B12 deficiency is gone... so I can stop taking B12 every day.

I went from ~200lbs and am currently hovering around 179lbs... 4 pounds short of my 175lb target.

The bad news, my LDL “bad” cholesterol only went from 262 down to 261... it should be at or below 160.

And that means I have to take things to the next level... upping the exercise and I have to stop eating the oh-so-delicious fatty parts of meat and skin.

And I’ve started taking cholesterol pills and have a followup visit in 3 months.

I’m determined to get my bad cholesterol numbers down to a normal/safe level.

Nothing says “getting old” like worrying about your cholesterol and taking pills for it.

DISCUSSION (8)

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/20/2019 at 19:41

Im about to be in that boat (when I see my doctor in the spring). Getting older sucks, don't it?

jimz > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/20/2019 at 20:12

what’s your HDL and triglycerides? the medical sector has been slowly moving away from total cholesterol as a thing to be “managed.” high cholesterol in and of itself isn’t necessarily a danger; my Dr. says they look at the “big picture,”e.g. lipids, BP, glucose/A1C, etc to determine total risk instead of just throwing statins at anyone who comes in with a total number over 200.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/20/2019 at 20:14

Same boat. I went low carb Mediterranean and that fixed the pre-diabetes. Weight went to 145 from 175 - way skinnier than I’d like but oh well.

LDL’s super high like yours though. Bad myopathy side effect from statins. Going to see the lipid clinic specialists to see if they have any better ideas.

I do g otta up the exercise. Thanks for reminding me.

jimz > Snuze: Needs another Swede
12/20/2019 at 20:15

it’s not even just age, I’ve had a total number in the mid 200s since my 20s. My mother has always been in the 240-270 range, yet when she went to see someone for another issue they said there was no problem at all with her cardiac blood vessels.

cholesterol by itself doesn’t form plaques on artery walls. it takes a combination of inflammation, macrophages collecting at the site of inflammation and cholesterol building up on that.

Jessica McAndrew > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/20/2019 at 20:15

I’ve thrived pretty well on a LCHF (what the rest of the world calls keto) diet for almost 9 years now and my labs are perfect. No meds! high cholesterol can be genetic - I have a friend whose LDL is almost 300 but it’s NORMAL for him - same for his mother, his grandfather, his great grandfather...

Snuze: Needs another Swede > jimz
12/20/2019 at 22:14

Interesting, and good to know. I was probably at peak health in 2004-5, early in my Navy career. My fitness stayed up but my diet was terrible. In the last few years my fitness has been bad but Ive probably never eaten healthier. And now the doc is on me about cholesterol. That said, Im barely over 200.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > jimz
12/21/2019 at 12:29

So I looked at my lab numbers again and I’m not sure which unit of measure my doctor was using as the lab numbers were in mmol.

Regardless of that, this is the story:

Triglycerides at 0.49 mmol/L or 43.4 mg/dl
HDL Cholesterol - 0.99 mmol /L or 38.28 mg/dl
Non HDL Cholesterol - 3.83 mmol/l or 148.1 mg/dl
LDL Cholesterol - 3.61 mmol/l or 139.6 mg/dl

So my triglycerides are good.

My HDL is a bit low.

And the LDL needs to get reduced by 40-50%

My doctor told me that genetics does play a role, but it doesn’t change the fact that my numbers put me at might higher risk of heart attack or stroke.

So I’m going to do what I have to do to get those numbers down.

CalzoneGolem > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/23/2019 at 12:32

I’m right there with you man. Been watching what I eat and doing intermittent fasting. So far I’ve lost 30 lbs. Don’t find out what my numbers are until Feb. Hopefully it will have made a difference and I can stay off cholesterol meds. I’m also hoping to get of BP meds but these 30 lbs don’t seem to be making a difference in my bp.