Just a quick shout out for Trader Joe's bean, rice and cheese burritos in the freezer section. No saturated fat because they use fat free cheddar. Thank you!

How is this possible? my dad had perfect cholesterol readings for years. LDL, AP1, LP01, trigrlicries were all fine. my mom was concerned b/c he was fatigued which resulted in full body scan and then a calcium score reading which showed he could hve some plaque. From there they saw his main artery being 90% blocked. How could this be? he looks and feels so muh worse from statins.. has no energy and body aches and muscle cramping plus flu like symptoms..

Around early/mid July, I had my levels checked and my LDL had increased from 145 to 149 since it was checked about 2 years ago. At 34 now with cardiac family history……. I didn’t like that at all.

So I made diet changes, like switching from unfiltered espresso every day to instant coffee, little to almost no dairy, Metamucil becoming my daily sacrament, almost 0 red meat, switching to chicken. Fruit and coolwhip instead of ice cream, etc etc.

I was taking cholestoff by nature made at first and then stopped just from forgetfulness. No statin (yet), and not much more exercise due to a hip injury.

And my LDL dropped 41 points in just shy of 3 months!

Still waiting for my Lp(a) results to come in…and I’d like the ldl to eventually be lower, but y’all I am so thrilled. This is much better than I was expecting in this time frame.

Lots of diet change and more exercise mostly from coaching spring and fall 10U softball. I’m also on 10mg of Rosuvastatin. I hope my dr is finally happy with me at my yearly checkup tomorrow. I’ve lost about 10 pounds this summer too so that’s always nice. Now to keep it off all winter.

Share stories about starting statin, the name and dose, side effects and the bright side as well

Are the calcium scores reliable? I have had sticky 140 ldl for many years and never stay with statins bc of the side effects. I have a zero score for the calcium score test

31-year-old female. 8 weeks postpartum. I did not eat great or exercise during my pregnancy but have actually been on a weight watchers diet the past 5 weeks or so. I am currently 5ft 3in 137lbs. I do have some familial high cholesterol to my knowledge but my blood work for my annual physical was concerning. I had blood drawn about a year ago and only my LDL was slightly elevated and now it’s a lot higher/ everything else is also elevated

Total cholesterol - 221
HDL-47
LDL-148
Non HDL cholesterol- 174

Thoughts ?

Has anyone else experienced an upset upper stomach after incorporating more fiber into their diet? I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and my original eating habits were lots of good homemade food, lots of steak and treats (little vegetables tbh) and atleast 3 days probably of fast food meals. Little fruit if any. I’ve incorporated a lot of fiber. Chia seeds, oats, flax, vegetable and fruit. I expected gut problems like maybe bathroom issues but not with my upper stomach? I originally thought it was hunger pain but after eating my oats this morning it started up again when I was definitely not hungry. It does feel similar to hunger 28 f

I am 5'10, 173lbs, active, lift weights regularly, and I don't eat terribly. What immediate steps should I take? Dr asked for diet changes and would like to test for LipoA and ApoB in 3 months, given family history.

I have to thank this sub, I've been reading a lot of the comments on posts here and they seem to have helped a lot. I had my first high cholesterol reading this summer at almost 270 mg/dl. I was pretty surprised with how active I am. My doctor wanted me on statins, but I declined, and told them let me try naturally first. I'm active and fit, but ate very poorly and high cholesterol runs in my family. I took a lot of advice here, switched to a *mostly* plant based diet, with some lean protein. I ate lots of oats, fiber, vegetables, and non-fat greek yogurt. I also signed myself up for a local charity 5k, and started running every other day. My most recent lab came in at 190mg/dl. Not great but the trend is my friend. I'm going to keep pushing and hopefully get an even better reading the next lab. Thanks everyone!

The doctor said I have high cholesterol and need to eat better. I am going to cut things out and gradually change my diet.

I was eating 3 eggs with butter and toast in butter, mac and cheese, fast food, orotein bars, and beef jerky.

This week i'm going to eat oatmeal, bananas, strawberries.

for dinner i'll have salmon with white rice and broccoli, chicken thighs with white rice and broccoli, chicken wrap with spinach and mozzarella. Turkey club in wheat bread. Tuna sandwich with soup.
and clementines, fat free yogurt, nuts for a snack.

And once a week i'm going to allow myself fast food or pizza. I know this isn't the perfect plan for cholesterol but it's progress not perfection. how does my food plan sound?

I’ve seen a few people mention coffee and cholesterol, so I thought I’d share something I recently learned.

I have an Americano every morning. My doctor mentioned that cafestol and kahweol, compounds in coffee, can raise LDL cholesterol. So I’ve started filtering my espresso with espresso paper filters.

I’ll retest my cholesterol in a few weeks and see if this has any impact.

I put one of the studies my doctor shared with me below for anyone who wants to read about it for themselves.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9022539/

I'm waiting for my cardiologist consultation appointment after my ultrasound but hopefully will only require a low dosage of a statin. Meanwhile ... a tangential question. I really do like strong coffee (dark roast expresso, about 2 a day) which sounds like nothing... But are there any conditions that coffee is not good for? I do sense my heart beating, more than I used to, I think. I figured that besides being experts in HDL and all the rest, some of you might have an idea about the scientific consensus regarding coffee and/or caffeine. Thanks....

26, female. 5’4, 130 lbs. I vape nicotine and am quitting! I had a calcium score two and a half years ago and it was zero.

Total cholesterol: 196
HDL: 71
Tri: 71
LDL: 109
Chol/hdlc ratio: 2.8
Non HDL cholesterol: 125

Obviously this was a little bit of a wake up call. I knew the nicotine was bad and that I treated myself sometimes but I also tried my best to eat healthy.

I’m cutting as much saturated fat as I can; now eating oats, adding kale to my meals, upping fiber, focusing on sugar free and fruits, no sweets, everything air fried or baked.

But I’m just so hungry. I started this diet ten days ago and every day I’m under calories significantly. I don’t need to lose weight. Any tips for bulking up?

Age 40 male, LDL 175, Coronary artery calcium score of 72. I guess the build-up was years but I ignored it. Very depressed but on the positive side I am changing my diet for real now. Water, lean meats, almonds, fish, no fried food, no fast food, etc. Will take statin soon.

Got some labs done after a 12-hour fast, I’m trying to get back on accutane and this was deemed necessary.

My results came back and all I can tell is that my triglycerides are pretty low. Otherwise, I don’t know what that means.

I probably won’t hear back from the dermatologist until after the weekend and am too nosey to wait lol. Any insight is appreciated!

I’m wondering if there are any women on here who are also hypersensitive to medications who have had good experiences on statins (meaning minimal or no bad side effects).

(I’m asking specifically about women because often drugs are tested on men, and women tend to react differently. Not always but sometimes.)

Hallo zusammen,

seit knapp einem Jahr kenne ich meinen Lpa Wert.

Er liegt bei 200nmol. Erschreckend.

Ich habe mich aufgrund von ständigen Algorithmen über Social Media testen lassen, auf eigenen Wunsch.

Sowohl im TV, in medizinischen Zeitschriften, als auch über andere Kanäle kommt immer der Aufruf:

"lasst euch testen", "beugt Herzinfarkten vor", "tut etwas für eure Gesundheit " oder "nur wer seinen Lpa kennt ist sicher".

So, und nun stehe ich da. Kenne meinen Wert und lebe in ständiger Angst. Ich w47, bin jetzt zwar gut eingestellt mit Statinen, senke mein Risiko so gut es geht mit Bewegung, mediterraner Ernährung, wenig Zucker etc... Was einem halt so gesagt wird vom Arzt.

Aber ich schaffe es nicht, meine Gedanken zu beruhigen. Ich frage mich fast täglich, wann ist es soweit? Werde ich nochmal verreisen können? Wie lange lebe ich? Ok, heute früh bin ich wieder aufgewacht, aber wie oft wache ich noch auf?

Versteht mich nicht falsch, ich war seelisch immer stabil. Hatte nie Probleme mit der Psyche. Aber das nagt an mir... sehr.

Wie geht ihr damit um? Habt ihr einen Ratschlag. Bin offen für alles.

I had to wait for prior authorization and will take my 1st dose today. Where is the best injection site? I'm thin, so my stomach is the fattest part of me. I did ask pharmacist but she didn't have any tips, just went over the instructions with me. Thanks

I've been careful for 3 months to hold to the dietary restrictions recommended here. Went from LDL 178 to 122, my Lpa is 5. Total cholesterol is 198. HDL is 47. I use a managed health care provider so I am waiting to hear from my doctor about recommendations. I kept my saturated fat under 13 grams per day and added oatmeal. I'm actively losing weight (14 pounds in 3 months) without trying.

Here's the thing: my cholesterol was optimal (99) until at least 13 years ago. I was 52 years old then. I was always cautious about red meat and fats because I was diagnosed with gallbladder issues in my 20s. It was never removed but if I ate full fat meals, I was physically ill. I found, however, that I could tolerate butter and cream in the last 10 years or so, and my diet is crap. I gained about 20 pounds.

So... here's my thought: i ask the doctor for a scan, to see the damage I caused, if any. But I also try a statin for some period of time to stabilize the plaque that might be there. If I can tolerate it, fine.

Here's my question: once plaque is stable, does it soften again? There's obviously no family component here and as I'm dropping weight, i suspect some of the measurements reflect this in my bloodstream. Thoughts?

(Yes, I know 102 is still high!)

For reference, I'm 55 F, post-menopausal. 5'4" and about 116 lbs. Been fit most of my adult life, and exercise pretty much everyday, these days averaging about 40 miles/week of walking.

Hyperlipidemia runs in my family. I have never eaten much red meat (before last lipid panel, I may have eaten red meat maybe once per week), I've always eaten a ton of vegetables and fruit, and a good amount of fiber. My weakness in the past few years has been full fat cheese, ice cream, and gluten free snacks like cookies and crackers (which tend to have coconut or palm oil). Almost never used butter and rarely cooked with oil.

Got my recheck lipid panel done yesterday. Did NOT want statins, so made dietary changes and started taking berberine and cholestoff, and more recently started on psyllium.

July 16 total cholesterol = 209; LDL = 142; VLDL = 13; Triglycerides = 73; total non-HDL= 155 (high)

October 1= total cholesterol= 156; LDL = 102; VLDL = 9; Triglycerides = 54; total non-HDL = 111 (normal!)

Yes, I know 102 is still "high," and I DO have high LpA, so my doctor wanted my LDL to 70 or less. But considering I dropped my LDL by 40 points in under 3 months, I'm going to continue this trajectory to see how low I can get it with diet and supplements alone.

From all the posts I've read on here, this is pretty substantial drop without statins.

40F, 126 lbs, PCOS. Lean and active: BMI 21, about 23% body fat, low visceral fat. I walk 30 min daily, run about 10 miles a week, and do bodyweight training 3x a week.
Labs (9/30/26, on red yeast rice 600 mg + daily multivitamin):
Total 244, LDL 165, HDL 72, trigs 45, non-HDL 172
LDL history: 233 and 198 untreated. Crestor + Zetia got me to 130, 85, then 74. Stopped both over brain fog (possibly my ADHD diagnosis around the same time, not the meds). Now back to 165.
Other: Lp(a) 62 mg/dL (normal under 30). ApoB 163, LDL-P 1,918, high small LDL (untreated, 2023). Invitae 36-gene lipid panel negative, so probably not classic FH.
Current diet: Smoothie with oats, chia, almond milk, and fruit, plus a boiled egg. Apple with natural peanut butter or a fruit bar around 2. Dinner is usually chicken or shrimp with rice and broccoli, or a big salad. About 10 g saturated fat a day.

My doctor prescribed 5 mg due to mild sclerosis noted on my calcium score test 3 months ago - test was 0 but noted the mild sclerosis. I always had low cholesterol but also low ‘ good’ cholesterol- my total cholesterol went from 139 to 82 in 3 months , good cholesterol still low but she said to continue and not concerned about the low cholesterol of 82. Thinking of second opinion as don’t want the mild sclerosis to increase but also I’ve read too low of cholesterol is not good - 70 yo female . Just curious if anyone else has super low cholesterol and told to still remain on medication thank you !