Low Alkaline Phosphatase and high-ish Triglycerides?

[Gretalyn]

I have an appointment with my doc next week for an annual physical, so obviously I intend to ask him about this then. But I just got the results of my blood test in the mail, and I was a bit surprised to see that my triglycerides are 107. I thought a LC diet was a sure way to keep them under 100? Is that high enough to be concerned? That's higher than they were before I went low-carb! Of course, that (the last time I had them checked) was also about ten years ago, so I'm guessing aging could be playing a role here. Still, I was all prepared to brag about how awesome my cholesterol profile is, and now I can't!

It also tagged my alk phos as being low. Mine is 27 and it says the normal range is 50 - 136. I have absolutely no idea what that means. From googling, I gather that could be caused by a vitamin deficiency, celiac disease, or hypothyroidism. I do have a family history of hypothyroidism, and a personal history of postpartum hypothyroidism. And even though I asked them to be sure to check my thyroid, I don't see any thyroid-related numbers on this sheet.

I just want to go into my appointment next week armed with enough knowledge to ask the right questions. Can anyone enlighten me?

Oh, and I know that triglycerides of 107 is still considered within normal range, so I'm sure my doc won't think twice about it. I just expected it to be lower considering how few carbs I eat. My total and LDL got tagged as high, but I'm not too concerned about those.

[Beezer Louisiana]

Do you know your Vitamin D level? Vitamin D is needed to absorb phosphates.

Triglycerides: It's hard to say with limited info. Can you post the rest of your cholesterol numbers?

[Gretalyn]

I don't think they tested my Vit D levels. But I take cod liver oil, so I would think they would be fine.

Cholesterol:

Total 252
HDL 75
LDL 156
Triglyceride 107

That's all that they tested. Is that enough for you to tell anything?

Thanks for your reply!!!

[Janknitz]

Your HDL is above 60, which is GREAT!

Your Triglycerides should be below 60, so you have some work to do, but since you didn't have a test right before low carbing (10 years ago doesn't count!) it may be that they are much lower than when you started.

You can get the triglycerides down further by adding fish oil to your regimen if you haven't already. Aim for 1200 mg. combined of DHA and EPA daily (don't read the mg amount on the front of the bottle, look for the amount in the nutritional label). Trader Joes has them for a good price and Consumer's Report said their fish oil is what it says it is and no mercury.

The LDL is pretty good and may come down even more as you lower the triglycerides. Don't worry about the total cholesterol, it's fine as long as your HDL's are high and your triglycerides are low.

[Beezer Louisiana]

Originally Posted by Gretalyn

I don't think they tested my Vit D levels. But I take cod liver oil, so I would think they would be fine.

Cholesterol:

Total 252
HDL 75
LDL 156
Triglyceride 107

That's all that they tested. Is that enough for you to tell anything?

Thanks for your reply!!!

Your HDL is fantastic!

I'm puzzled by the triglycerides. If you are eating low carb, they shouldn't be high. (Triglycerides are formed when you metabolize carbohydrates.) Are you eating over/more than 70 grams of carbs/day? Did the holidays bring on more than normal carbs for you? Have you entered your food into ****** or something like that lately to make sure you aren't a victim of 'carb-creep'?

If your carbs are low, then maybe it's your thyroid messing things up? Maybe somebody else will know more.


FWIW: I eat 20-30 grams of carbs/day and my triglycerides are 67. I don't know why they aren't even lower -- but maybe that's as low as my body wants to go because I've got the hypothyroid thing going on. (But my thyroid is medicated at the proper levels.) The range on my labwork for triglycerides is 0-149. So maybe your dr. won't even blink an eye at your triglycerides?

[Gretalyn]

Thank you both so much for your help!

Yes, I was happy with the HDL result, but surprised by the trigs. I've been eating very consistently low-carb since March, so I thought the numbers would have stabilized by now. I eat 40-60g per day, but honestly most days are much closer to 40 than to 60. I didn't cheat at all for the holidays either! Maybe 40g is not as low-carb as I thought??? Or maybe my thyroid is the problem. I am so frustrated that they didn't test that, especially considering that I asked them to do so TWICE. Uggh.

I do take cod liver oil, which has lots of good DHA and EPA, and probably don't want to increase the dose on that, because I don't want to risk getting too much Vit A or D. But I could definitely buy some fish oil at Trader Joe's.

Thanks again!

[watcher513]

I'd say you do need to get your thyroid labs done. Especially Free T4 and Free T3. Your thyroid being out of balance will definitely throw off your lipid numbers and make them higher.

[Gretalyn]

Thank you, Terry. I'll be seeing my doctor later this morning, and will ask him to order the thyroid tests.

[Gretalyn]

My doctor did order the thyroid test, and I think it will be about a week before I get the results.

He also said that he's not at all concerned when he sees low alkaline phosphatase - it's high numbers that they worry about. He said the fact that mine are low tells him that I don't drink much soda pop, and that's very true. I hardly ever touch the stuff. Interesting.

He wasn't much help on the triglycerides, though, because he considers my levels perfectly normal. He said vegetarians will have REALLY low numbers like in the 80's and 90's, and I told him that I had heard of low-carbers who had numbers in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. He was politely dismissive -- I think he thought I didn't know what I was talking about.

While *I* I am not worried about my total cholesterol and LDL, I thought he might be. So I was geared up to politely decline his offer for dietary advice or statin drugs. Instead, he told me to please not worry about my cholesterol even though it got tagged as high. He said that since my HDL is so high, that is really protective, and we have nothing to worry about. So that was great. All in all, he's a great doctor, even if he doesn't understand or advocate low-carb.

[brandywine12]

Hello~
I just had my thyroid levels and cholesterol #'s checked:
My TSH was .0330 (0.465-4.680) he said was to low
Ft4 was 1.35 (0.78-2.19) he said it didn't mean any thing , he wants to drop my dose down .12 again, I said hell no! I was froze for a year on the last drop . so , I am getting another test done this week ,,,to make him happy, he said my tsh meant every thing. He said my hotflashes w/ meno prolly caused that lol!

total cholesterol 270 (0-199) last july 276 Hdl/cholesterol ratio 4(1) both tests last july and now
Trig's 50 (0-149) 64
HDL 62 (>=40) 64
direct LDL 175(0-99) 193

My alkaline phosphatase 67 (38-126) I don't drink any kind of soda , at all.
But my fasting glucose was high 105(74-106) I wonder why it is high , does this mean any thing concerning my sugar levels? I was eating alot of meat since July last year, because the Dr ghad me scared on this high cholesterol stuff, mentally I think he had me scared , the reason why I upped my protein level at the time ....for 6 months ,thats until now . i had to see what my #'s were this time for my thyroid and cholesterol . He has me on statins ., since july of this past summer.

Now that I am on the subject ...this appointment made me want to smash him right in the face!!!I kid you not! He first of all didn't have my last test in front of him to compare this time , I said I have a copy, he said I don't know why I don't have it , any way he flipped over last years test results and put me on a higher statin .He kept on saying ,it never went down . I was getting pi$$ed! Then he went onto tell me that my tsh was too low and that I was going to have to be put on coumindin because of having high a fib!I said do i have a rapid pulse , no he said , I said do I have a fast heart beat? He said No, but you don't want to have heart problems and end up on theses drugs , it isn't pretty!I am like WTH! My hubby is on coumindin and I know what it is used for. He then went on tell me that the VAP don't mean any thing . So , then I asked him about the ratio , he then said , it don't mean any thing either. Now your talking about and internal med Dr here. I said my ratio is 4 isn't that good ? he said it didn't mean any thing ! getting madder here He also said I was a walking time bomb)cholesterol being high. I said looky I lost weight , he said yeh a little , then said to me ....you know people take synthroid to lose weight and of course that isn't good . Ready to explode here now ....I told him I have been on synthroid for over 20 years and I am just now losing any kind of weight that the quacks over the years helped me gain , and he say's that to me! He never once said any thing good to me this check up about my trigs or that I have lost any weight. He went on to tell me that our hospital test are not reliable and that I need to go to his office . Although the test he said was reliable was the cholesterol test lmao! I am very sorry for the rant .I was crazy after I left there this weekend .

[Gretalyn]

I will warn you that I have abnormally strong feelings on this matter, so take this with a grain of salt. But I see no reason you should be on statins. None. At all. First of all, they've never been proven to be effective for women. Secondly, the risks they carry are tremendous. And thirdly, your cholesterol levels are healthy and don't need changing!

Coumadin is a very scary drug too. I have a very dear friend who has a rare genetic blood clotting disease, and therefore she has to be on this very powerful blood thinner for awhile after she has a child (she had a life-threatening blood clot after giving birth to her first, and so has done this with her subsequent children. Apparently postpartum is a very risky time for blood clots.) But her doctor is smart enough to only keep her on it during this high-risk time, and he puts her on something much milder otherwise. And we're talking about someone with a genetic blood clotting disease and a history of blood clots. WHY does your doctor think you need to be on coumadin??? I don't understand what his reasoning was there at all.

Sounds to me like he's the kind of doc who just wants to write prescriptions rather than take the time and make the effort to educate himself. He doesn't understand the importance of cholesterol ratios, and just looks at the total number, which is basically meaningless. He doesn't understand the importance of a VAP test. Seriously? I would, personally, seek a second opinion.

[brandywine12]

Originally Posted by Gretalyn

I will warn you that I have abnormally strong feelings on this matter, so take this with a grain of salt. But I see no reason you should be on statins. None. At all. First of all, they've never been proven to be effective for women. Secondly, the risks they carry are tremendous. And thirdly, your cholesterol levels are healthy and don't need changing!

Coumadin is a very scary drug too. I have a very dear friend who has a rare genetic blood clotting disease, and therefore she has to be on this very powerful blood thinner for awhile after she has a child (she had a life-threatening blood clot after giving birth to her first, and so has done this with her subsequent children. Apparently postpartum is a very risky time for blood clots.) But her doctor is smart enough to only keep her on it during this high-risk time, and he puts her on something much milder otherwise. And we're talking about someone with a genetic blood clotting disease and a history of blood clots. WHY does your doctor think you need to be on coumadin??? I don't understand what his reasoning was there at all.

Sounds to me like he's the kind of doc who just wants to write prescriptions rather than take the time and make the effort to educate himself. He doesn't understand the importance of cholesterol ratios, and just looks at the total number, which is basically meaningless. He doesn't understand the importance of a VAP test. Seriously? I would, personally, seek a second opinion.

And we're talking about someone with a genetic blood clotting disease and a history of blood clots. WHY does your doctor think you need to be on coumadin??? I don't understand what his reasoning was there at all.

well , I don't have history of blood clots, n he was trying to scare me into getting my dose lowered for my thyroid . That is why he mentioned a pace maker and coumindin. lmao here ! not on you reply , at my dr's way of telling me my tsh is way too low . I have to have it low in order to function , he will not do a ft3 test and nor will he prescribe t3 meds. So , that is why it is low , when I have enough meds to function every day , had my dose lowered a few years ago n I about died litterly. Screw him and any thing that he stands for!

[Gretalyn]

Originally Posted by brandywine12

well , I don't have history of blood clots, n he was trying to scare me into getting my dose lowered for my thyroid . That is why he mentioned a pace maker and coumindin. lmao here ! not on you reply , at my dr's way of telling me my tsh is way too low . I have to have it low in order to function , he will not do a ft3 test and nor will he prescribe t3 meds. So , that is why it is low , when I have enough meds to function every day , had my dose lowered a few years ago n I about died litterly. Screw him and any thing that he stands for!

Time to find a new doctor?