12 years ago I had a hysterectomy and was on estrogen. 2 years ago they took me off the estrogen. About 3 months ago I found out I had osteopenia, put me on Actonel. Now I found out yesterday that my cholesterol was 257..the bad one was 178, which the doctor told me that it should be 100 or less. (I never had my cholesterol checked before so I cannot compare numbers before estrogen and after estrogen) So my question is....Does lack of estrogen have anything to do with high cholesterol? I know it does for osteopenia. I did some research and one place read that low estrogen levels does have an effect on your cholesterol. Does anyone out there know about this? I'm 56, eat healthy, and do walk 1-2 miles a day. I was in shock over this. I have to see a dietitian today, and figure out what I'm doing wrong. It has me puzzled. Thanks !!
I do know that now that I'm post-menopausal, my cholesterol numbers have changed pretty drastically. My HDL took a huge dive-- from 67 to 46. And my LDL went from 89 to 151. Needless to say, I've had to institute some pretty major lifestyle changes, as I've always had great cholesterol numbers. I believe there's a huge connection between estrogen and cholesterol. Hope this helps...
Glad to see that it's just not me who believes that estrogen plays a part in high cholesterol. My Doctor called yesterday, and said there is no connection??? I don't believe it. From what you said and from some research I did on the internet , I do believe it is related. Not that I don't believe my doctor, but I think he needs to do some research about this. I'm probably the only one that ever asked him about this. He said my diet is the reason that I have high cholesterol. Well...I saw a dietition yesterday,and there is not too much I have to change. I do eat well to begin with, and do excercise a lot. So it makes me question him. Thanks for your reply, it was what I was thinking..
I believe 100% that losing estrogen makes your cholesterol rise. Actually, losing estrogen makes everything go bonkers. Estrogen supposely stores itself in fat, what ever you have left over. Isn't is amazing that women who are in perimenopause, menopause and post menopause that their cholesterols are high? I would say there is a definite connection.
Well, all I know is that the risk of heart disease increases significantly when a woman is post-menopausal.
And I'm the poster girl for it:...officially menopausal in August of '04, angina pains beginning a week before my 54th birthday in Sep '04, and a stent placed first week of October '04.
Hi...thanks for everyone's imput on my question, it really helped. I wanted to ask you all another question. Say my lack of estrogen is causing my high cholesterol. Can eating healthier ( adding my fiber, fruit, veg's in my diet) and more exercise bring my numbers down, or will my numbers always be high do to my lack of estrogen? I don't want to go on med's, I want to "try" and control this by diet. I go for my next blood work in Nov., so I'm trying very hard on eating healthy. If my numbers do go down this new diet that I'm now on will be the diet for the rest of my life. I'm 56 and not overweight at all, and before I found out about my high cholesterol, I did eat healthy, and did walk 1-2 miles a day. Now besides all that I added riding my stationary bike for 30 minutes a day (boring). Thanks for all your help..
Lack of estrogen seemed to have the greatest effect on my HDL. The other numbers didn't change as much. I was diagnosed with diabetes at about the same time and went on a very low carb diet. That had a great effect on my triglycerides and LDL numbers. Most fruits have quite a few carbs and fruit juices are even worse. I eat berries, peaches, nectarines etc that are low in carbs. I would recommend a low carb diet to get your cholesterol down.
It is controversial to give Actonel to a patient with osteopenia. Osteopenia is not a disease, it's a precursor to osteoporosis, a disease that may or may not develop.
Do your research on Actonel, some infrequent side effects include heart disease and skin cancer. There was also a lot of media coverage a while back about jaw necrosis (jaw bone death) from this drug class. You will learn a great deal about this subject on the osteoporosis message board.
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