Discouraged.... opinions please

[imstarryeyed]

I've been doing low carb vegetarian for 8.5 months now. I've lost about 70 lbs. My blood pressure has dropped to a good level (114/70). I feel great. I walk everyday. I still have weight to lose and it's coming off slowly.

I just got my first labs back. My total cholesterol has jumped over 100 points to 304. I don't have the numbers in front of me right now, I've kind of been in shock all day, but my LDL isn't good either. HDL is okay. Doctor wants to put me on statins, of course. I will not go that route. I know there's a lot of controversy about cholesterol but I still didn't expect my levels to change so drastically. Before I started low carb I didn't eat meat, just flour and sugar containing products and high carb vegetables.

Any thoughts, opinions or advice? Thanks.

[MargD]

I am sorry to hear about this and I wish I knew more about the topic. I suggest you cross-post to the Main Lobby.

You'll almost certainly recieve more help there.

Good luck.

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks, Marg. I did that. Hope I get more responses over there.

[LauraAnn]

Hi starry. Just wanted to let you know that sometimes with a lot of weight loss, especially fast, cholesterol can jump up. Mine did but then normalized six months or so into stable wt. google and you can read all about it.

[imstarryeyed]

Thank you, LauraAnn. I will do that. I am trying to educate myself about cholesterol and I am learning a lot.

[Madge17]

Doctor wants to put me on statins, of course. I will not go that route. I know there's a lot of controversy about cholesterol but I still didn't expect my levels to change so drastically. Before I started low carb I didn't eat meat, just flour and sugar containing products and high carb vegetables.

I'm on a statin combo, but I no longer take it nightly as I had been doing for years (even though I am still supposed to). I take it once or twice a week because I've been afraid of the latest controversy too. I should probably be taking it even moreso now that I'm eating all these eggs and butter and cheese. My recent labs didn't include a cholesterol panel, but the one this summer did. The only thing that went down (more than half!) after starting LC was my triglycerides, which were quite high with my HC diet. Like you, I was a non-meat eating, flour, sugar and high carb person. My bad cholesterol reading was higher, and my good cholesterol was lower, neither being good. I'm a bit concerned about what my cholesterol panel will be the next time my Dr orders it. I would hope my blood tests results would be better, not worse, but I dont' see how, except for the triglycerides, which are directly linked to a high "simple carb" intake.

Does heart disease run in your family? It does in mine and I'm the last one standing. I'm no spring chick any more either, so I probably shouldn't fool around with not taking the nightly statins like I'm supposed to.

Your 70 lb loss is awesome though and should have brought some of your readings down - if they were high to start with. Is your Dr. willing to wait for one more blood workup to see if your numbers normalize? That's what I'm waiting for. If the next lab work comes out poorly I may have to rethink the butter, egg yolks and full-fat cheeses. I think the olive oils, avocado's, nuts and nut butters fats are okay re cholesterol, so you (and I) should still be able to indulge in the amount of fats we need to make LC work.

Hang in there - 70 lbs in such a short time span could be quite the shock to the body - it may be trying to adjust and balance itself. You and I started about the same time and I've only dropped between 15-20 lbs, and have gained back 5 in the last month (my diet has changed). I think the older we get, the less drastic we can be to our bodies without them "acting up". Mine's been a real *&#@h lately, enough to have me change my LC diet. I'm going to go whine about that problem now in another thread!!! Don't panic yet, but be watchful. Lots of hugs!

[imstarryeyed]

Thanks Madge! I was really panicked about my cholesterol numbers, so much so that I decided to do a lot of reading. A lot of people on here (in the other thread I posted in the main lobby) reassured me that my numbers weren't really bad. It's more about the ratios. All of my ratios are in the ideal range so I feel much better.

I downloaded the book, The Great Cholesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won't Prevent Heart Disease and the Statin-Free Plan that Will. Believe me, if you read that book you will never take statins again. Basically, statins are not beneficial to any women and only a select group of men. Having high cholesterol in itself is not a bad thing. There are 2 kinds of LDL (the bad) cholesterol but type A LDL isn't bad at all. Most doctors don't even test you for this.

When I saw my doctor she said, "Wow, your LDL is really high! We need to talk about medication." I said I did not want to go on statins. I told her I was not worried about my cholesterol, that my ratios were good, I ate a vegetarian, low carb diet. She said, "It sounds like you know more about this than I do!" She didn't say another word.

The cholesterol book recommends 1)Eliminate sugar and processed food. Eat more salmon, nuts, beans, veggies, olive oil, berries 2)Supplements including CoQ10, magnesium, niacin, omega 3. 3) Reduce stress- play, meditate, breathe deeply.

Good luck to you and keep it up! Any weight loss is good for your heart and doing it slowly is better for keeping it off. I still have another 50 or so to go but I will make it, I know. Don't stop believing!

[MargD]

Starry - I'm so glad to hear you are feeling better about your cholesterol.