I don't remember my previous numbers exactly, but this is what I recall:

(These taken this past March, when I had been on lc for 3 1/2 years.)

Total Cholesterol was around 250
Triglycerides were over 275
HDL was 60
I've forgotten what the LDL was

I wasn't bothered about the total cholesterol, and I knew the HDL was good, but the high triglycerides really worried me. I didn't want to take statins, which was what my doctor recommended, so I opted for Niaspan, which is an extended-release form of Niacin.

My latest results, as of Oct. 15th, are:
Total Cholesterol 193
Triglycerides 120
HDL 72
LDL 97

I'm quite pleased with that.

My liver function test showed that everything is humming along just fine.

Wow, it really raised your HDL, I didn't know it would do that.

Are you losing a lot of weight? That could explain some of the high trigs. Usually folks drop under 100 when low carbing.

No, When that previous blood test was done in March, I was in a stall. I hadn't lost any weight since the end of January. I didn't start to lose again until I switched to Atkins '72 at the end of June.

I'd love to have those numbers. Congratulations!

Kisal, do you take fish oil? I think that's what they're using for lowering triglycerides on Heartscan blog. He says to take a minimum of 1,000 combined epa+dha. So look at your pills and add together the values for EPA and DHA, take enough pills that you're getting at least 1,000 mg of those. He thinks probably some people need more.

For me that would be a minimum of 4 fish oil pills.

I like oily fish, such as mackerel, tuna, herring and salmon and eat these fish at least 2-3 times a week. Do you know where I could find out if I'm getting my "RDA" (according to Heartscan advice) in the form of real fish? I hate the idea of fish burps.

Many thanks in advance for any useful links!

amanda

His current recommendation is 1000 mg of a combination of DHA and EFA oils. How that translates into how much fish to eat, I have no idea. I think it'd be a lot though.

I barely notice fishy burps.

Niaspan is mainly prescribed to increase HDL while decreasing TG.

Kisal,

That's fantastic results, especially the tris - I think you are on the verge of a breakthrough set point and once you break through it, stuff will get a lot easier. Aren't high tris caused by high blood sugar? Maybe now that they are down, you'll become less insulin resistant. I would be SO happy with those numbers!

Janine

That's a great change. Good to know the Niaspan is an option.