My doctor didn't like my recent cholesterol numbers, even though my Framington result was excellent - very low risk of heart attack. I told them I would rather take a very low risk of heart attack than take statins! LOL

I fasted for 12 hours, I eat less than 15 total carbs/day, and about 80% fat. I have been low carb since Jan/12 and down to VLC since Feb/14.
I never drink, have never smoked, and I take 2 fish oil capsules each day.

Here are my numbers (Canadian):
Cholesterol - 7.16 (n - 5.19)
Triglycerides - 1.18 (n - 1.69)
HDL cholesterol - 1.42 (n - 1.3 - 99999)
LDL cholesterol calc. - 5.20
Non-HDL Cholesterol calc - 5.74 (n - 4.29)
TC/HDL-c ratio - 5.0


If I figured this right - this is the US equivalent:
Cholesterol - 276
Triglycerides - 45
HDL cholesterol - 55
LDL cholesterol calc. - 201
Non-HDL Cholesterol calc - 222

Good for you for sticking to your guns!

Nice triglycerides!

You can always ask "What are the studies done on women which show a benefit with statins?"

It's a trick question. There aren't any.

Catherine, I tried to send you a private message, but I wasn't able to. Evidently, I'm to "new" of a member.

My most recent lipid panel from July 23 is similar to yours. Except that I wasn't fasting because my lipid or other blood panels have always been in great/perfect range.

I don't drink or smoke, I exercise everyday, low blood pressure, I weigh #112 and I am 5'2. Basically, I am very healthy. I just chose this lifestyle because my grandmothers were diabetic, my mom is diabetic and I want to be healthier. I don't think eating grains and sugar is healthy.

Ours doctors must be related. lol Seriously, I couldn't believe how out of touch my new doctor is.

July 23, 2014
Not Fasting
Total Cholesterol – 291
Triglycerides – 86
LDL – 133
HDL- 141

July 14, 2011
Not Fasting
Total Cholesterol 163
Triglycerides - 78
LDL - 73
HDL - 74

I am copy and pasting my info from another thread in case you didn't see it there.

I went for my follow up today. I walked in and the doctor asked me why I was there? I explained that he wanted me to come back because of my lab results. Soon as he got my labs pulled up, he said we need to get you on cholesterol medicine. Whoa!!!!! Didn’t even talk with me about my diet or ask any questions, suggestions to try and lower it with diet. Mind you, he doesn’t know me, unlike my former doctor of 24 years who moved.

Didn’t make any reference that my ratios were great though despite my other lab values. Wants me to stop this “unhealthy diet” and come back in 8 weeks for repeat lab work. He asked me what type of diet I was on and I told him, “low carb-high fat”. He said, I kid you not, “I’ve never heard of it before”. I was told to go back to doing what I was doing before this diet.

I am in utter disbelief. After he asked me what I ate.

I was told to stop all coconut oil and no nuts after the age of 50 (I will be 46 next month) because of diverticulosis. This diet will lead to diabetes versus doing what I was doing before.

I had to go for more heart tests today, because my EKG from a physical came back abnormal. They still didn't find anything with the echo or stress test today, but still getting abnormal readings.

I normally have low blood pressure, but I laughed when it went even lower during the stress test - but I have been reading about that since I got home, and it's not so funny now.

Anyhow, the doctor was freaked out of course about my cholesterol numbers and said that people don't get such high numbers as mine unless they are eating 10 bowls of ice cream a day. I told him about my diet, and he seemed to agree I was doing all the right things.

I tried the "women over 40 studies" on him, but he felt that in my case it was warranted. I said I still wouldn't take them.

He tried to tell me I was born with high cholesterol, and I said no, most of my life I have been so low I was off the chart. That this was abnormal for me.

Now I have to go for more testing on my heart. They kept asking about chest pains, palpitations, shortness of breath, racing heartbeats, but I have been fine, no problems at all. I think they will find nothing, but of course they have me a bit worried now...

I'm sorry you are having to go through all these tests. Tests are no fun! At times I've had to go through barrages of tests and they are all so stressful and emotionally disheartening.

But I do want to add that *of course* people can get such high cholesterol numbers without eating 10 bowls of ice cream a day! I did. In fact my cholesterol might have been *lower* if I'd been eating ice cream. But in fact I was eating very strict and stringent low carb - and my cholesterol - which had poked along for years at a "borderline" (roughly 200 in US terms) but acceptable to my doctor number started to go through the roof! I had numbers (US) like:
Total: 296
Tri: 98
HDL: 52
LDL: 218

She sent me to an endocrinologist (who was a DO and not an MD, *HUH* about DOs being more attuned to our WOE than MDs) who was RABID RABID RABID to put me on statins.

But I had done my research and suggested my thyroid might be out of whack. They ran tests and my TSH was way high above range (I know this isn't the best number but it did give them an idea) and I tested positive for Hashimoto's antibodies.

Of course the endo then insisted I go on synthroid. I asked about Armour thyroid but she screamed that it was a dangerous drug and she would never prescribe anything dangerous - synthroid and statins were my only option.

Anyway - story is getting too long. But it's so frustrating to *know* in your heart what will help you, but having doctors as the only gatekeepers who refuse to let you try what you want. Eighteen months on synthroid (and no statins which I refused, we fought over every time, and doctor insisting I was about to keel over dead) and cholesterol just got worse.

Finally found a holistic nurse-practitioner willing to prescribe Armour thyroid, and in *six weeks* my total cholesterol dropped from 296 to 191, and my LDL went from 218 to 110 (minor changes in tri and HDL). So *take that* stupid endo who said Armour was dangerous and useless and would have no affect on my cholesterol.

Anyway, so I submit that a malfunctioning thyroid is another classic cause of high cholesterol. But then again, getting the right diagnosis and then the right treatment for that can be next to impossible too.

What an ordeal, Debbie! Thank goodness you stuck to your convictions.

We should also remember that by eating low carb we are no longer average. They call these numbers "normal" but what they are is an average of a bunch of people who were likely eating high carb!

This leads to doctors not necessarily seeing what they expect to see sometimes.

I just did a flotilla of tests to figure out my debilitating symptoms... with no luck. On paper, I'm so very NORMAL. In person, I was running out of steam by 10:30 AM, suffering terrible insomnia, and so weak I had trouble opening my car door!

I've improved a lot in just one month by following Dr. Jack Kruse's Epi-Paleo system. There isn't a test for that. It's not a formally recognized "treatment." He's not even "treating" me as medicine understands it because I'm just reading what to do on his site on the Internet!

But thank goodness he has figured this out and given it away, because it is working. I'm so grateful.

The fancy endocrinologist (my darling GP has been great throughout) decided I should be referred to a therapist. You should have seen his face when I informed him I had been seeing one, she had been helpful with stress handling strategies, but she doesn't think my symptoms are psychological at all!

Almost worth being so sick to put that zinger on him.

My thyroid tests have always been perfect in the past, but of course that could always change. That's my next step, when I go back to see my family doctor, to get him to check my thyroid.

Merpig, I know all insurance companies and plans are different, but did yours pay for you to see a holistic nurse practioner?

That right there is pretty hilarious!

No, I had to pay out of my own pocket. But it was well worth every penny to get the treatment I needed! My current doctor doesn't take my insurance either - but she is also accepting of LC WOE, Armour thyroid, anti-statin. Any doctor who is in my plan (and I tried a couple of them when I first moved) would just toe the party line and make me depressed.

Do you mind giving me an idea about what it would cost to see a holistic nurse practioner? I'm sure different regions of the country will factor in, as would a big city doctor versus a small town doctor.

I saw an ND here in CA and he charged something like $60 an hour. Then I had another one that was closer to $100 a visit.

She was $180 for an initial visit - later visits were about half that. This was back when I lived in NJ - greater NY metropolitan area - so other areas of the country might be less.

I have been vindicated! When I refused the statins, I told the doctors - for me - those results were an anomaly, usually my cholesterol is below normal.

So I went back for more tests this week, and my levels have dropped.
Here is last May's results (Canadian):

Cholesterol - 7.16 (normal - 5.19)
Triglycerides - 1.18 (n - 1.69)
HDL cholesterol - 1.42 (n - 1.3 - 99999)
LDL cholesterol calc. - 5.20
Non-HDL Cholesterol calc - 5.74 (n - 4.29)
TC/HDL-c ratio - 5.0

Here is this week's results!

Cholesterol - 5.84 (normal - 5.19)
Triglycerides - 1.12 (n - 1.69)
HDL cholesterol - 1.44 (n - 1.3 - 99999)
LDL cholesterol calc. - 3.89
Non-HDL Cholesterol calc - 4.40 (n - 4.29)
TC/HDL-c ratio - 4.1