Labwork shows borderline cholesterol

Enjcg5

My total cholesterol was 208. LDL was 120. HDL 144. Doctor doesn't seemed concerned. He just said repeat labwork in 6 months. Has anyone here had any look lowering cholesterol without medication? I'm 38 so I'd like to get a handle on this before it gets worse.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Getting active is one of the best ways.

Beta glucan has shown some effect which you can find in oat bran.

DebLaBounty

Mine is lowering a little with more exercise. I also have nearly eliminated butter and cheese from my diet, and eat eggs maybe twice a week. Switched to chicken and fish (mostly salmon) to decrease the number of times I have red meat for dinner.

psuLemon

Your numbers don't seem too bad. Unfortunately, you are only showing a part of the equation... and not the best part. You have a very high HDL and your TC to HDL ratio is 1.4 which is great; both of which are great indicators of a low risk of heart issues. Did you get your A1C tested?


In a general sense, weight loss and increasing activity will improve your cholesterol numbers (within genetic limitations). But increasing fibrous fruits/veggies, oats and USFA and reducing added sugars and SFA/TFA will help improve numbers.

Your LDL is a little high, but genetics can cause that. What is more important but rarely test is LDL-P.

rsclause

I switched to oatmeal in the morning, lots of exercise including running, quit fast fried food and lost 50 pounds. That dropped the bad 50 points and raised the good. So yeah its worth a shot. I will do anything to stay off medication.

peckchris3267

Consuming cholesterol does not increase your cholesterol. That used to be the thought but current research shows otherwise.

"High levels of “bad” cholesterol in the blood, which have been linked to heart disease, are still a health concern. What's changed is that many researchers and physicians now believe that eating cholesterol-rich foods such as eggs may not affect the cholesterol that is in your blood." Feb 19, 2015

brandyjones1991

I know you don't want to take medicine, but a fish or krill oil supplement is recommended to help with cholesterol.

L1zardQueen

I lowered my borderline readings by losing 20 pounds. I still exercise, no more than before but it was the extra fat I was carrying.

Enjcg5

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

I lowered my borderline readings by losing 20 pounds. I still exercise, no more than before but it was the extra fat I was carrying.

Thanks! More motivation to get this weight off!

Enjcg5

brandyjones1991 wrote: »

I know you don't want to take medicine, but a fish or krill oil supplement is recommended to help with cholesterol.

I already take a fish oil.

Enjcg5

psuLemon wrote: »

Your numbers don't seem too bad. Unfortunately, you are only showing a part of the equation... and not the best part. You have a very high HDL and your TC to HDL ratio is 1.4 which is great; both of which are great indicators of a low risk of heart issues. Did you get your A1C tested?


In a general sense, weight loss and increasing activity will improve your cholesterol numbers (within genetic limitations). But increasing fibrous fruits/veggies, oats and USFA and reducing added sugars and SFA/TFA will help improve numbers.

Your LDL is a little high, but genetics can cause that. What is more important but rarely test is LDL-P.

He said everything else was in the normal range. I was more concerned with the sugar because of family history of T2D. I was so happy I didn't ask. Maybe I should call back and ask for that exact #.

Enjcg5

I called back. They didn't do an A1C. My fasting gluclose was an 80.

psuLemon

Enjcg5 wrote: »

I called back. They didn't do an A1C. My fasting gluclose was an 80.

Typically, if you have diabetes in the family, they'd run A1C. But from a BG level, you are in a good range as well.

So at this point, exercise, eat whole foods, and maybe lose a little weight.

candylilacs

Get active. Red meat once a week. I know my college roommate, her cholesterol was 240 (i know, 5'4", 126 lbs.) She was walking once a day and lost about five pounds in three months, and her cholesterol was 200. She was a little high French sauces (butter!) and dialed it back to normal.

jolly_67

Hi, had the same issue, started drinking Beetroot+carrot+cucumber juice every day in the mornig for last 6 months , cut cheese, fatty meet. Some scientists say that colesterol from food doesn't really affect the cholesterol in your blood. Beetroot cleans the body and works like detox. It worked for me so maybe worth of trying.

lynn_glenmont

Enjcg5 wrote: »

My total cholesterol was 208. LDL was 120. HDL 144. Doctor doesn't seemed concerned. He just said repeat labwork in 6 months. Has anyone here had any look lowering cholesterol without medication? I'm 38 so I'd like to get a handle on this before it gets worse.

There's something wrong with these figures. Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + [at least some portion of triglycerides]

Your LDL and HDL add up to 264, but you say your total cholesterol is only 208. There's been some miscommunication between you and your doctor, or you're not remembering what you were told correctly. Or I suppose it could be a screw up in the lab work, but I would really think that would have been caught -- those kinds of reports are generally computer-generated, and you would think they would include automatic checks for such obviously faulty data.

ETA: I'm not pointing this out to be nit-picking, but because it's absurd to make a judgment about how good or bad your situation is when the numbers we're talking about are clearly incorrect. My first reaction on seeing your numbers, before I noticed the discrepancy, was that, as @psuLemon pointed out, your total cholesterol:HDL ration is incredibly good.

Enjcg5

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Enjcg5 wrote: »

My total cholesterol was 208. LDL was 120. HDL 144. Doctor doesn't seemed concerned. He just said repeat labwork in 6 months. Has anyone here had any look lowering cholesterol without medication? I'm 38 so I'd like to get a handle on this before it gets worse.

There's something wrong with these figures. Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + [at least some portion of triglycerides]

Your LDL and HDL add up to 264, but you say your total cholesterol is only 208. There's been some miscommunication between you and your doctor, or you're not remembering what you were told correctly. Or I suppose it could be a screw up in the lab work, but I would really think that would have been caught -- those kinds of reports are generally computer-generated, and you would think they would include automatic checks for such obviously faulty data.

ETA: I'm not pointing this out to be nit-picking, but because it's absurd to make a judgment about how good or bad your situation is when the numbers we're talking about are clearly incorrect. My first reaction on seeing your numbers, before I noticed the discrepancy, was that, as @psuLemon pointed out, your total cholesterol:HDL ration is incredibly good.

I called back for the glucose number and the nurse repeated those same cholesterol numbers. Looks like I will try to lose weight and exercise and see where that gets me.

Tabbycat00

So, my cholesterol is 228. My HDL is higher than my LDL as well. It's down from 325. I'm 40. Workout regularly and (here's the real kicker) I'm 5'2 and weigh 97 pounds. 97. Granted that's up from the 94 I was before my baby was born. Crazy, right? Evidently it's genetic. I'm not on meds. One of the things which helped me lower it almost 100 points was adding some boot camp/ p90x type workouts into my routine. I don't know if that is something you could try, but it seemed to work for me.

lynn_glenmont

Enjcg5 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Enjcg5 wrote: »

My total cholesterol was 208. LDL was 120. HDL 144. Doctor doesn't seemed concerned. He just said repeat labwork in 6 months. Has anyone here had any look lowering cholesterol without medication? I'm 38 so I'd like to get a handle on this before it gets worse.

There's something wrong with these figures. Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + [at least some portion of triglycerides]

Your LDL and HDL add up to 264, but you say your total cholesterol is only 208. There's been some miscommunication between you and your doctor, or you're not remembering what you were told correctly. Or I suppose it could be a screw up in the lab work, but I would really think that would have been caught -- those kinds of reports are generally computer-generated, and you would think they would include automatic checks for such obviously faulty data.

ETA: I'm not pointing this out to be nit-picking, but because it's absurd to make a judgment about how good or bad your situation is when the numbers we're talking about are clearly incorrect. My first reaction on seeing your numbers, before I noticed the discrepancy, was that, as @psuLemon pointed out, your total cholesterol:HDL ration is incredibly good.

I called back for the glucose number and the nurse repeated those same cholesterol numbers. Looks like I will try to lose weight and exercise and see where that gets me.

OK, but if it were me I would call back and point out that the numbers they are giving you are on their face incorrect, nonsensical, impossible. You cannot have LDL and HDL numbers that add up to a number that is larger than your total cholesterol. They are clearly giving you wrong numbers, and they are basing medical advice on obviously wrong numbers that they should have caught. (Actually, I'd think about changing doctors, because I would have a hard time trusting advice from somebody who's not catching such a basic discrepancy.) Also, if the lab is reporting numbers that you know are incorrect for cholesterol (because they cannot possibly be correct), why would you assume the glucose numbers are correct?

ETA: And while losing weight and exercise are good ideas, and you hopefully will know where have gotten to the next time you have blood work done (assuming that the blood work is done more accurately next time), you won't have a trustworthy baseline to compare the new numbers to.

psuLemon

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Enjcg5 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Enjcg5 wrote: »

My total cholesterol was 208. LDL was 120. HDL 144. Doctor doesn't seemed concerned. He just said repeat labwork in 6 months. Has anyone here had any look lowering cholesterol without medication? I'm 38 so I'd like to get a handle on this before it gets worse.

There's something wrong with these figures. Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + [at least some portion of triglycerides]

Your LDL and HDL add up to 264, but you say your total cholesterol is only 208. There's been some miscommunication between you and your doctor, or you're not remembering what you were told correctly. Or I suppose it could be a screw up in the lab work, but I would really think that would have been caught -- those kinds of reports are generally computer-generated, and you would think they would include automatic checks for such obviously faulty data.

ETA: I'm not pointing this out to be nit-picking, but because it's absurd to make a judgment about how good or bad your situation is when the numbers we're talking about are clearly incorrect. My first reaction on seeing your numbers, before I noticed the discrepancy, was that, as @psuLemon pointed out, your total cholesterol:HDL ration is incredibly good.

I called back for the glucose number and the nurse repeated those same cholesterol numbers. Looks like I will try to lose weight and exercise and see where that gets me.

OK, but if it were me I would call back and point out that the numbers they are giving you are on their face incorrect, nonsensical, impossible. You cannot have LDL and HDL numbers that add up to a number that is larger than your total cholesterol. They are clearly giving you wrong numbers, and they are basing medical advice on obviously wrong numbers that they should have caught. (Actually, I'd think about changing doctors, because I would have a hard time trusting advice from somebody who's not catching such a basic discrepancy.) Also, if the lab is reporting numbers that you know are incorrect for cholesterol (because they cannot possibly be correct), why would you assume the glucose numbers are correct?

ETA: And while losing weight and exercise are good ideas, and you hopefully will know where have gotten to the next time you have blood work done (assuming that the blood work is done more accurately next time), you won't have a trustworthy baseline to compare the new numbers to.

There has to be some error. Because total cholesterol is HDL + LDL + (triglycerides × 20%).

lynn_glenmont

The lab work should be repeated at no charge, or at least they shouldn't charge for the one they already did. Why should you (or your insurance company) pay for lab work that is obviously incorrect?