Cholesterol: how bad is yours?

Are you concerned and what are you doing about it?

I’ve had a blood test and seen my results.

Cholesterol = 5.52 (“acceptable” range is 2.00 – 5.19) and

LDL Cholesterol = 3.63 (“acceptable” range is 1.5 – 3.4)

HDL Cholesterol is not flagged so I assume it’s ok.

This is a follow up test and I’ve cut down dramatically the amount of red meat I consume, now do some veggie meals and more fish, though I have always tended towards poultry rather than red meat anyway.

I suspect I’ve not cut my consumption of biscuits enough 🙁

So I’ve got a GP appointment tomorrow to discuss results but what can I expect now?

But I have been on Statins for three months (TIA, not actually high cholesterol)

Prob statins for you. From what I gather, you can try cutting down on bad stuff, but it’s an age thing – your body isn’t working as well as it used to. No Biggie. Only negative being if you do go onto them, you will be one of many who have to join the queues at chemists. And if you have kids, they lose even more respect for you.

I took part in the My Future Health survey a while ago. I was expecting my cholesterol to be high as my diet is pretty poor but all good.I do about 3000 miles a year on bike and they reckon that this keeps it lower as it helps push the fat molecules round in the blood stream, no idea if this is right and it sounds a bit simplistic Cholesterol was just over 4. LDL and HDL were in middle of acceptable range.Blood pressure was a bit high and is still a bit on the high side but doc says I have no other mitigating circumstances( I don’t drink or smoke and weight is good) so he’s left it for time being. Its about 175/85 I’m 58y.o

Yeah, some of the side effects of Statins don’t sound appealing so I’d rather work on improving my diet if I can…but I’m not sure whether I’m “beyond hope” stage yet…

Mines horrific, I think it was close to 6 last time it was tested, however my BP is below average and my resting heart rate is in the low 40’s, I exercise pretty much daily and my diet whilst not perfect is mostly free of UPF with plenty of veggies and I only eat meat 2-3 times a week, any way my GP wasn’t all that concerned, just said that we’ll keep monitoring it.

Mine was tested recently and is very similar to the OP’s (High ‘good’ cholesterol).  I was offered statins, but I’ve elected to try and cut down on the butter and crisps (I’m hooked!) and have another test in 12 months or so.  I’m 69 and (I guess) pretty fit for my age.

@Bazz – that sounds positive. My resting HR is 46 and my blood pressure is borderline clinically low (not taking any meds for it) and I also exercise almost every day. According to Garmin my BMI is 23.7 so no excess weight or (much) body fat…

Age 61 FWIW

Cut ultra processed food, seed oils and carbs (sugar) out of your diet as much as you can. If you can get below 20 grams of carbs per day you’ll be entering the amazing world of ketosis with all the health benefits that come with it.

Don’t sweat it over cholesterol and keep away from Statins. Statins= a man made sticking plaster for a man made problem.

5.9.  I’ve been to exercise more, cut carbs and eat fibre

Aside from my previous post, I was flagged as high a few years ago – sorted it to the point where my GP was seriously impressed within 6 weeks on diet alone.

Cut out prawns, dairy, processed meat and probably chips

I got a high reading for Triglycerides, but everything else within the normal range (just for Serum cholesterol) … Blood pressure is fine, fairly fit, 53, BMI says just overweight but I’ve no belly/moobs just muffin tops 😀

I think I am proof that you can’t out-exercise a poor diet. Work provides free ‘healthy’ snacks and I was getting through 3 packets of baked crisps a day, and various 80-100kcal snack bars, and eating way too much cheese at home. Also red wine. Nothing crazy but enough to not lose weight despite cycling 9-12 hours a week…

Am a few weeks into cutting all of the above right down, reducing red meat, increasing fish intake and skipping booze during the week, have so far not fallen off the wagon.

I was tested as an age-related routine thing a few years ago, mine was borderline so I was prescribed statins  – along with a supplement to control age-related macular degeneration, vitamin D, Naproxen, Omeprazol and Co-codamol when needed, I’m glad I don’t have to pay for prescription meds.

Had some bloods done last week (PSA thread….) and my cholesterol is a touch high for ldl and hdl. Been told to follow a Mediterranean diet and come back in the new year to retest. I guess that’s not cote du rhone and brie.

(PSA results pending)

This falls in the “do I really want to know” category for me 🙂

Probably higher then it should be.

@vlad do you know your A1C level?

Also forget BMI results as they aren’t accurate at all. Better off with working out your height to waist  size ratio.

lambchop

Free Member

@vlad do you know your A1C level?

No, I don’t believe the blood was tested for this (at least I can’t see anything on the results). Why do you ask? I’ll ask my quack if relevant…

Mine was 7.3 at the last test 6 months ago

I knew it was high but I wasn’t expecting to be the highest on here!?

I’m due a retest after supposedly making some changes to my diet, rather than go on statins. Unfortunately after a few months of good intentions I fully admit I have relapsed and back to scoffing all the biscuits in the house…

Mine was over 8! I had side effects from statins too which stopped me exercising at all. I’ve cut upf, alcohol, sugar etc but it’s still nearly 7.

Just looked again at the numbers, and my total cholesterol was 5.9, and LDL 3.9, so those two over the recommended range. Recommendation to retest in a couple of years after Mediterranean dirt.
Sound like your numbers are similar Vlad, so if you don’t fancy statins tell em you’re gonna go full Mediterranean perhaps. I’m 59, and my BMI is in the orange zone.

A1c is blood glucose. High levels suggest pre diabetes could be on the cards.

Was 8. Told to change diet then it dropped to 6. That diet was a bit unsustainable for many reasons. Not had a retest for a while now so suspect it’s now somewhere between the 2. I am expecting to be on statins at some point as everyone on my Dad’s side of the family is on statins from 50ish and/or already had heart attacks.

What I do know is that all of them went through several different statins before they got to one with no side effects. Some being unbearable side effects. So I will collate this info from family members and see if I can short cut the rounds of trying them all and go straight to the good one, if possible.

7.8 about 5 years ago. Diet and genetics. Sorted the diet out but still high.

Been on “sticking plaster for manmade problem” or Statins as most people call them ever since. Now runs around 4.3. Not exercising as much as I need to but will sort that out with retirement in March.

Have been having a read online and an important metric is the ratio total cholesterol to HDL. So if you have the HDL number you can calculate that. My test result gives me that ratio as part of the report. A lower ratio is better apparently and better predictor of reduced cardiac risk.

My cholesterol was 6.7 in July but since then I have started biking 3 or 4 times a week, using an indoor trainer and been on a diet.

I have lost 3.5 stone and my cholesterol has come down to 5.5 and I am hopeful it will be in the normal range next time its tested in January. Apparently it takes quite a while to reduce cholesterol.

My blood sugar is now normal.

If I were you I would carry on doing what you are doing and see how much it reduces next time before you consider medication – I am not a medical professional

Cholesterol has been as high as 8.5 , now down to 4.2

HDL cholesterol ranges from 1.1 to 1.5

Non- HDL has been as high as 7, now down to 3.

My gamma GT is the corker, should be below 50, has been as high as over 700, now down to 300.

Currently struggling with a new statin……………………

Have been having a read online and an important metric is the ratio total cholesterol to HDL.

This is what I was always told when I had regular checkups at work and it’s reflected in the QRisk2 and QRisk3 calculators. On the Information tab of the QRisk3 calculator it states “It is the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol that is the best predictor of risk, better than either total cholesterol or HDL cholesterol alone”.

I was called in for my Age 70 MoT last year and my total is 5.8, LDL 2.9 giving a ratio of 2.23. So although total is high, the ratio is low. QRisk3 gives a risk score of 14.3% compared to 17.8% for “a healthy person with the same age, sex, and ethnicity”. I’ve had further tests during the year with similar results and I’m being steered towards statins which I’m resisting on the basis that if statins reduce my total cholesterol to say 4.0 the improvement in risk score is about 2%. The only way to get below 10% (which is the current trigger level for recommending statins) is to suddenly get 6 years younger.

Started on statins in my 30s, 61 now and currently not taking them. Was tested young due to family history, dad died at 44 of a heart attack and was found to have furred up arteries. Despite being a keen fit sportsman he had lived on a very lard based diet since childhood.

My own levels have always been around 8 despite the fact that I was living on a pescatarian mediteranian type diet for years prior to first testing. Statins did very little to the levels and I struggled to find one that I could get along with, all of the ones I tried seemed to cause problems one way or another.

Ten years or so ago I was found to have high CK levels and was advised to stop statins in case they were the cause. It turned out they weren’t but I never got around to trying statins again but this year while having a routine examination I asked the Doc about a strange patch of skin on my lower eyelid and Doc said it looked like a cholesterol pouch and I should be on statins.

I figured that if it was starting to collect in my skin then it was probably also collecting in my arteries so recently asked my GP to start me again. Statins duly arrived and thinking they looked familiar I checked my records to find they were one of the ones that didn’t agree with me in the past so I’ll have to ask for something different.

Really not keen to start them again and still in two minds whether to take them or not. My high levels are obviously genetic and on the one hand I have Dad dying at 44 with obviously diet based causes and on the other I have a Mother with simillar high cholesterol levels still alive at 91 and only recently had a heart attack and then an uncle with high levels who lived to 95.

Mines good and stable, i cook pretty much everything and make cake with pretty much no sugar and half butter. I could get cholesterol lower but its a trade off, my doc says take cholesterol reading with bp, height, weight and lifestyle, ie, not in isolation. Look at trends too, aim for stability.

I’m 53, my Q-Risk score was 6.8, Doc recommended statins, I’ve opted to improve my diet instead and retest again. I had booked myself in early in January but plan on moving that further way from Xmas…

I probably didn’t help my scores by almost being late for the test so having to run, not reading the instructions so had eaten breakfast first and had been on lots of camping, snowboarding, holidays, ect, in the build up, so way too much booze.

Obviously it could just be genetic too but having read up on it since, that Q-Risk score seems too low to start on Statins.

These days my breakfasts are almost always overnight oats, lunch is now salad and fish instead of a sandwich, any bread is homemade sourdough and snacks are nuts or fruit. Booze wise I have 3 to 4 days off and exercise restraint when I drink.

I have read that the only foods that are actually proven to improve cholesterol are tomatoes, almonds and flaxseed so plenty of those in my diet. Anybody found anything else?

I also did a bit of fasting a couple of days a week this year and my weight has dropped from 80kg to 75kg. I’m on Naproxen at the moment for a long term shoulder problem so need breakfast to go with the tablet, age’s a bitch innit!

Mine reached 8 at one point when I lived abroad. I was at the time regularly playing rugby and cycling home most nights in any weather. I was lucky I worked for a pharma company that tested employees each year for all sorts of health issues.
Mine was pure hereditary – so I was told. Under control now with statins. But no amount of positive lifestyle changes would have moved the dial – so I was told.

I’ve just had mine done, the company I work for funded it. Now with my results I need to see my Doctor.

TC 6.14 – should be bellow 5, HDL 0.78 – should be plus 1, non-HDL 5.36 – should be bellow 4, TC:HDL ratio 7.87 – should be bellow 5.

This is an improvement over the last time I was tested, but nowhere near where I should be. Yes I’m am little over weight (at the top end of my height range), but I can’t seem to lose the weight. I’m now 57 and I’m leaning towards it’s my age. I exercise a bit, ride twice a week, go to the gym once a week and do some yoga and I generally eat healthily. I’m a vegetarian and mostly eat home cooked meals from fresh ingredients. But I also have a stressful job, which I’m told doesn’t help with cortisol levels so I’m considering statins

I have just been listening to one of the ZOE pod casts with Dr. Sarah Berry, which was quite interesting. It was suggested that diet change could bring cholesterol levels back into a healthy range. If you interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euSd9bsFwxc&t=3026s

Based on that pod cast, I’m going to give diet another chance. Firstly I need to up my HDL levels to balance the ratio out, so I’ve started snacking on nuts during the day.

It was north of 7. Tried the diet thing to no avail. Went on statins years ago and now sub 5. No side effects no drama. 53yo

yeah I think people are worrying too much about taking statins. If you get side effects, just stop the statins and they’ll go away.

You can take statins AND do the lifestyle changes after all.

Mines way high was 9 at one point.

I genuinely don’t care much about it from what I’ve been told by the GP you’re pretty much stuck with it and only a  15% attributed to diet.

In other metrics I’m really good so I’m not worried. And personally I’m not fussed about taking statins.

Recently it just came down to about 6 combined. Which I thought was great. No real changes in my lifestyle.

I don’t eat sugar about 99% of the time.

Dad has got high numbers too.

I feel cholesterol info appears a bit up in the air, and confusing as to what causes what.

and confusing as to what causes what.

I thought it was clear that high levels of cholesterol cause coronary heart disease and strokes.

‘I feel cholesterol info appears a bit up in the air, and confusing as to what causes what’

I read that as to what causes cholesterol to improve or get worse, such as eggs for example, as opposed to whether Statins work or not but I could be wrong.

On that note though, I was once listening to a discussion between a GP and a chap who wrote a book called The Great Statin Swindle (or something like that). He kept badgering her with the question, ‘do statins give you on average and extra week of life or not?’. Eventually she rather testily admitted, yes (it might have been more than a week, its a long time ago).

What they didn’t discuss though was what the last years of that life might be like though. If the statins prevented a stroke years befor you die, your life would be very different.

Mine was tested earlier this year , around the same as it’s been forever . But ” It’s a bit higher than we’d like ” I was 68 all my mates had been prescribed Statins I was the last one , only one had an adverse reaction so just to keep the quack happy I went on them , no side effects, level has come down slightly, quacks happy, carry on . I reckon they’re on commission from the sweetie makers to get as many popping them as possible ?

Had follow up call with my GP yesterday and she’s “happy” with my results and just suggested diet improvements and to get my blood pressure tested and let her know results ?

To be followed up with an in person appointment (rather than phone consult I’ve had the last few times) sometime in January.

Statin bullet dodged for now…

Had mine tested in late June and it was total 6.5 non hdl 4.7 hdl 1.77 ratio 3.7 Doctor wanted me to go on statins and not keen on diet change but i wanted to at least have a go .
As i felt my diet was pretty good mainly veg not much processed food or drink i thought I’d try those cholesterol lowering yoghurts and changed to cholesterol lowering spread as well. Also started eating oats every day mixed with the yought above with some berries frozen or fresh. Retested in October and total 4.8
Non hdl 3.3 hdl 1.53 ratio 3 1
So it seemed to have worked quite well I think but will need to keep an eye on it.