Hi -

I just go my latest test results as follows:

Total cholesterol = 299
HDL 59 (59 in 3/07, 59 in 10/06, 50 in 5/06)
triglycerides = 78 (55 in 3/07, 74 in 10/06, 64 in 5/06)
LDL = 224.4 (155 in 3/07, 157 in 10/06, 133 in 5/06)

This test was not fasting and I ate a bunch of walnuts and pistachios about 1-2 hours before the test. The 3/07 test was fasting, the 10/06 test was not fasting and had a pear 1-2 hours before test. The 5/06 was fasting. I'm shocked that my numbers have gone up so incredibly high since March. I'm 47years old and in perimenopause. I was diagnosed with Impaired Glucose Tolerance in June of 2006. My A1c was 5.4 last June; March of 2007 A1c was 5.7; this test just done my A1c was 5.4 again. I totally modified my diet. Took out all the bad carbs like bread, pasta, muffins, etc., for the most part. I did increase my egg consumption but cut back again this past March after 5.7 A1c. I've been on an exercise program and I'm not overweight. The doctor feels it must be heridetary. The doc. wants to put me on Vytorin. I asked if he would do a LipoProfile to see if they are the small or large particles and he hasn't responded back to the fax I sent to him requesting this yesterday. I don't want to go on statins - they frighten me. I'd like to try niacin, Omega 3 and Cod Liver Oil. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't understand how my LDL went up almost 100 pts in 14 months. How is this possible?????

Thanks.
Karen

Have a retest with a fully fasted sample before you make a judgement about going on statins. Comparing fasted samples with unfasted ones is like comparing apples and oranges.

I agree with Lenin. You need a 14 hour fast (not just 12 hours but 14 hours) to get an accurate reading of your lipids.

If you have insurance, I'd ask your Doctor to give you a script for Niaspan. It's extended release niacin, but pricey.

I went from Tot-C of 328 in 17 months. Never for that kind of response from statins. You need to tri Niaspan to see if you tollerate it. Some folks don't.

I agree with Lenin. You need a 14 hour fast (not just 12 hours but 14 hours) to get an accurate reading of your lipids.

If you have insurance, I'd ask your Doctor to give you a script for Niaspan. It's extended release niacin, but pricey.

I went from Tot-C of 328 in 17 months. Never for that kind of response from statins. You need to tri Niaspan to see if you tollerate it. Some folks don't.

14 hours???? I've always been told 12 hours by my Dr. Can 2 more hours make that much difference? If so, maybe my LDL is not as high as I was told after my last bloodwork:D

Lenin & Venture Man,

Thanks for your responses.

Lenin - I saw my gp today and she told me if it wasn't a fasting test then it's not worth discussing. Although, she does feel that my numbers still will be high but perhaps not as high. I told her I was eating a lot of eggs and she said my numbers could have jumped this high because of eating eggs which I started eating a lot of 6 months ago as I was diagnosed with IGT and thought that eggs would be okay - there was a lot of issues with cholesterol not being affected by eggs but perhaps in my case it is. I will have a fasting done in 3 months as insurance company will probably not allow me to do another test in a week. We will take it from there.

Karen

14 hours???? I've always been told 12 hours by my Dr. Can 2 more hours make that much difference? If so, maybe my LDL is not as high as I was told after my last bloodwork:D


Nope... it's 14 hours now... want to make sure the food has moved through. Not everyone is able to eat and crap it out in 12 hours... :D

Lenin & Venture Man,

Thanks for your responses.

I told her I was eating a lot of eggs and she said my numbers could have jumped this high because of eating eggs which I started eating a lot of 6 months ago as I was diagnosed with IGT and thought that eggs would be okay - there was a lot of issues with cholesterol not being affected by eggs but perhaps in my case it is.



I think it's a bunch of crap to lump everyone who eats eggs and animal fat into the category that it raises cholesterol. I have never seen any impact for myself, eating food high in cholesterol. Zero cholesterol diets have made my cholesterol shoot through the roof.

Just eat as you have been for the last 6 months. Do not change anything about your diet because you will be getting a blood test... you will just be falseifying your results. You want to be honest and get a blood reading of your currenbt lifestyle before deciding to change your eating habbits and lifestyle.

Too short a fasting maybe the cause of your changes but understand perimenopause may play hell with your TC and LDL. Also, you may get broad swings if you are any hormones.

VentureMan - The only thing I'm going to change really is I'm taking away the eggs and cheeses. I never ate much of either until I was diagnosed with IGT. Perhaps in my case it does have a bad effect on my numbers. I will have it rechecked in 3 monhts and we'll see what happens. I certainly appreciate your comments. Thanks you.


mmvic - Thanks for reading and responding. I do believe that perimenopause is playing a big role in all of this for sure. I'm not on any hormones. I can't believe the changes women go through during this time in our lives - it a difficult time for some of us.

Have a great day to both of you

from kar: there was a lot of issues with cholesterol not being affected by eggs but perhaps in my case it is.

Eggs and cheese:
There was ORIGINALLY this huge scare about dietary cholesterol causing all cholesterol problems. What was shown by Framingham and many others was that saturated fats played a role and perhaps an even larger role than dietary cholesterol in worsening our blood lipid picture. Though egg manufactureres used this info incorrectly to give eggs a perfectly clean bill of health it is nevertheless completely true that a diet high in eggs WILL raise cholesterol.

Even the hallowed "EGG BOARD" admits this...though not too loudly.

Perhaps 4 eggs a week should still be considered a sensible max for anyone with cholestterol issues.

The cheese, being a high saturated fat source is wisely used sparingly...I should talk, cheese is my downfall.:(

Lenin,

I frequent another website and some believe that eggs don't raise cholesterol. I've been kind of following this particular Dr.'s diet but I see it's not working for me regarding eating eggs and saturated fats. I'm going back to the way I used to eat and remove the pasta and "bad" carb foods. I'll have to get creative to make everything taste good.

Thanks

Eggs are all too often mistakenly blamed for causing choelesterol to increase because people change more than one thing at the same time. Like if you start going to the gym and stop eating eggs, sure your lipid profile will improve. But whether any of this improvement is due to abstaining from eggs is very questionable.

I increased my egg consumption form 2-3 a week to 21+ a week, which is a huge increase. And there was no change in cholesterol. A few years later, LDL started going up, and everyone told me it was because of the eggs. I found it difficult to disagree because what was happening was what I had been warned against when I started the low-carb way of eating.

Anyway, I eventually realised that there was another reason for the increase in cholesterol - stress. I am dealing with it and LDL is coming down without my having changed my eating habits at all. So all the eggs and the copious amounts of cheese I eat clearly have little to do with it. We need to remember that cholesterol is produced for a a whole range of reasons. And all I can say is don't jump to conclusions. ;)

Mark

ALL studies have shown that eating more than an egg a day raises LDL cholesterol. Eggs are BIG business in the United States so there is a lot of OOMPH to mitigating the effect of that fact on sales.
Thus you have some researchers find that it's not the WORST LDL that is raised, or that consuming LESS than an egg a day (who does) doesn;t cause harm.

But a big Japanese study compared thaose who ate MORE than an egg a day died youngert than those who ate less.

You can find people who believe and print ANYTHING on the net...but the fact is that eggs raise LDL; how much and how severely and what kind is up for grabs...but the fact remains true and proven over and over again. THat's why the AHA warning to restrict dietary cholestterol to 300 mg./day remains...and an egg has 220 of them.

I have eliminated all eggs for now as well as cheese. I am using olive oil and balsamic vinegar for my salad dressing. Between this and the Impaired Glucose Tolerance it's a real adventure.