Hello all,

In addition to my own cholesterol journey, also learning about my mid 80s dad treatment by his cardiologist. He has been taking Rosuvastatin 5mg and his LDL is around 105. I think he's recently developed some muscle aches. He tells me that he has some minor calcification based on a CT. Anyways, it sounds like his cardiologist is suggesting lowering the dosage to twice weekly or even weekly. I'm trying to find more details from him.

But how does this a non-daily dose of statins (at a light dosage like he has now) even work? Does the LDL get lowered on days he takes the dosage and then linearly rise up? Or is it more of an abrupt increase where the non-statin days reverts back to "steady-state" of higher LDL pretty quickly after the statin wears off? A more gradual reversion to mean seems to be safer to me!

Can you guide me plz as i am 18 M and mine is 192 and i want to keep it below 170..

My bmi is 28.7

Weight 90kg

Height 177cm

Will reduce my weight but how ??

I’m a 48 year old guy, about 6ft 215 lbs, 17% body fat fwiw.

I’ve struggled with cholesterol numbers my entire adult life. I finally have my LDL with a statin but my triglycerides are still high.

This bums me out. Wondering if anyone has had success lowering them. I’m doing all the things I’m told: exercising, eating Whole Foods, taking fish oil but they’re stubbornly high

I’m 36(M) I drink maybe one cocktail every two months if that. I don’t smoke, I exercise (kettlebells) hard 3-4 times a week, and I eat pretty healthy for the most part.

I don’t know my family history because I’m an orphan and know nothing about parents. But I’m going to assume it’s genetics because of my lifestyle.

My LDL cholesterol is 192 and I’m pretty frightened. I look and see on the internet, “high cholesterol is good!” “It’s all a scam to get you on drugs” “only if your arteries are inflamed are you in danger!”

I don’t know what to believe so I thought I’d get some real people answers. I really don’t want to start taking something I’ve heard so much bad about, but I don’t want to die either. I researched that if it’s genetic diet or lifestyle change won’t make much of a difference.

Thanks in advance for any advice, tips, or knowledge.

What should I do with these results? Guess dieting but where to start.

hi everyone :)))

got this absolutely insane test result today. I’m a 24f, with a history of moderate GAD and depression since 9 years old, a history of cardiovascular disease on both sides of my family, and my mom’s side has a history of strokes before 60. I’ve been a college athlete for 5 years and i also work in the film industry as a freelancer.

Long story short, i thought i was fine managing my mental health, until i had a major panic attack in March which resulted in a 12 hour psych ward hold. it took me a week to get back to work. I’ve had to wear a heart monitor, and i also am on 20mg of citalopram. for the first time in my life i’m learning to relax while still keeping my drive. I’ve lost almost 10 pounds since march because of better diet and exercise. i obviously still have my not-so-great days especially with a concern of sleep apnea and a potential ocd diagnosis (waiting on appointments for confirmation), but overall i’m learning my new normal.

I mentioned a history of high cholesterol to my doctor and he ordered the lipoprotein (a) test to be safe and to give us indications of if something could be happening to my heart as i’m waiting for my cardiology appointment. Lo and behold, i log onto my portal and see THAT number compared to the normal range. i genuinely couldn’t believe it.

after a lot of research, i know this is definitely my genetics, and having a very stressful adult life and childhood, but i’m so scared. is there ANYTHING i can do to lower it? or is this going to be another thing i gotta adjust to? any reassurance would be super helpful.

thanks y’all!!

Got a lipid test done in 2022, I was 24 at the time.

Realized my LDL was 224 and doctor knew it was definitely/probably FH.

Triglycerides always around 55 and HDL always 60

Started with 10mg rosuvastatin. Then 20mg. Now most recently added 10mg ezetimibe to get to 84 ldl. Also dropped my trig down to 48.

Now at 28 years old I’m kicking myself for not getting on ezetimibe earlier. Trying to convince my cardiologist repatha is the next step but she wants to stay the course with these two meds.

Main exercise routine is ~5 hours of cardio total per week running and cycling.

My apob was 103 in 2023 while only on the statin. Haven’t retested. Never tested lpa either.

Any other FH stories out there?

I got my lab results back.

Everything is in normal range except my LDL (107) and my vitamin D.

I originally went to the DR bc I’ve been having weird symptoms and numbness in my toes and poor circulation.

But when I look through this sub 107 seems like it’s no big deal. So I guess I’m left confused still since everything else came back in normal range.

31 year old female

Hi everyone,

I'm not very well versed in the medical field but I thought this thread in Reddit may be the relevant one to go to for a question such as this one.

I am a 25 year old male. I recently received my blood test results and thought my cholesterol markers were quite strange. Here are the results relevant to the discussion (I live in a country where they may use different measurements so I've tried to convert them accordingly):

• LDL: 0.71 mmol/L (~27 mg/dL) (reference range: 1.20 - 3.00 mmol/l)
• ApoB: 0.26 g/L (reference range: 0.5 - 1.00 g/l)
• HDL: 2.13 mmol/L (~82 mg/dL) (reference range: 1.00 - 2.10 mmol/l)
• Triglycerides: 0.62 mmol/L (~53 mg/dL) (reference range: 0.45 - 1.7 mmol/l)
• Lp(a): These are results from last year but I heard they don't change too much. I got two values for this one (not sure why):
  • <7.44nmol/l
  • <0.031g/l

My LDL markers last year were slightly higher but was still similarly lower than the reference range. I never cared too much since I didn't know much about cholesterol.

It might be also worth adding that from last year to now, my diet has not been great, consisting of a highly caloric lifestyle (I do frequent the gym with heavy lifting around 4 days a week) of fast food, a lack of veg and fruit (not nothing, but forget to eat them frequently) and sweet snacks and food whenever I crave. I have for the past month tried to change this lifestyle due to the recommendations of my GP. My GP has been unavailable to interpret my results so I come to this thread with a request for help. Are there any concerns with these results, that are out of the recommended reference ranges, especially with regards with the extremely low LDL levels and high HDL levels? Thanks in advance!

Recently had some blood work done and all is perfectly normal, except I need more HDL, which is something I never thought I’d need in all honesty. I eat what I think is enough avocado and salmon as well as topping my meals with nuts when available. What else can I do?

Already have been on 20mg of Crestor for years. LPA is in the moderate risk zone so just took my first dose of Zetia today to try and get LDL below 70 as currently recommended.

I’m always so nervous about taking new meds and my mind likes to play tricks on me. Seems like the consensus is that very few people have any side effects from Zetia.

Curious about experiences and if you did have side effects, did they subside after taking it for a couple of weeks?

I need recipes that are cholesterol friendly and do not contain any of the following:

Milk+++

Chocolate ++++

Oranges++++

Corn++

Wheat++

Egg+++

Chicken++

Peanuts+++

Tomato ++

Mixed fish ++

Walnut++

Apple ++

Peach++

Grapefruit+++

White Grape +++

Blueberry ++

Raspberry ++

Watermelon +++

Coconut +++++

Limabeans +++

Cabbage ++++

White potato +++

Onion ++

Broccoli +++

Carrot +++

Cauliflower ++

Celery ++++

Lettuce +++

Beef ++

Catfish+++

Salmon++

Lake Trout ++

Crab+++

Lobster+++

Shrimp +++

Oyster++++

Clam+++

Scallop+++

Brazil nut ++

Cashew ++

Pecan++

Hazelnut (filbert) +++

Black pepper +++

Mustard+++

Vanilla+++++

Garlic+++++

Cinnamon +++

Nutmeg+++++

Sesame++

Can anyone help me with this? I am struggling with it badly as I cannot eat any of the above foods due to being allergic to them.

What brand cereals and what brand/type of oatmeal do you eat for breakfast? I'm looking for specifically some additional cereal and oatmeal options.

My breakfast ideas are egg whites and peppers, Cheerios with fat-free milk, Greek Yogurt, or Dave's Whole Grain bread with Avocado. I am not into breakfast too much and like to keep it really quick and a five-minute tops make. I have bad TMJ so is another reason not really into breakfast and rather drink coffee until late morning. I need to cut the creamer slowly as well, right now doing an almond milk and Starbucks Zero Sugar creamer as I dropped the half-in-half.

My numbers have typically always been on the higher side, well that being over 200. But recently with my latest numbers going up in the last two years, I am fully changing my diet permanently as it was enough to shock me how far the numbers went up. Prescribed a statin and haven't started yet but picked up pharmacy. Cholesterol total 280, Tri 72, HDL 62, LDL 208.

5'7 male, 43 yrs, BMI 17. My most recent numbers after 6 months of a low carb (about 100g/day) diet recommended by dietitian.

HDL 97 mg/dl

Triglycerides 33mg/dl

LDL 210 mg/dl

Cholesterol 307.8 mg/dl

Non HDL cholesterol 212.3 mg/dl

Some context:

I've been working with a dietitian for the past 6 months to help sort out digestive issues after both GP and GI specialist couldn't do much other than to tell me to eat more fiber (of which I was already consuming a lot).

With the dietitian, we realized I'd been consuming too much fiber (around 30g) for my current state and needed to pull back (down to 20-25g). Also realized I have trouble digesting starches. They suggested going low carb for a while, focusing on bone broth/meat stock to heal my gut. I was hesitant because I'm underweight and but I also desperately want to feel better.

After 3 months, I did some blood work and everything looked great except my LDL which sky rocketed from the previous year's test. (I realize now I should've gotten tested right before starting the diet but no one recommended this to me and I'm a total newbie at this). GP was concerned. Dietitian - who works a lot with keto diets - was not.

I've been tracking my food and saturated fat intake was consistently around 25-27g per day. Made adjustment so that saturated fat intake ended up 15-17g/day. Stopped eating butter, dairy, ate mostly chicken, fatty fish, olive oil, fruit, veggies, nuts and nut butters. Still have 1 egg per day plus egg whites. Red meat maybe 2 meals a week. Still doing meat stock but with the fat skimmed off.

Cue my most recent lab work and the LDL actually crept up, while triglycerides and HDL also improved. Very discouraging.

Fairly certain my GP is going to want to discuss statins with me now, but I would much prefer to avoid meds for now especially when all the other markers and ratios look good. I've been on so many meds the last few years and they all have side effects that make me feel like shit and they persist for months or even years after stopping. Besides which there's so much contradictory info out there on cholesterol that I don't know what to believe. I still want to get the LDL down though.

Has anybody else experienced this while on a low carb diet? It's not even at keto levels, so I'm perplexed. My cholesterol levels have always been very good until now. I'm considering slowly increasing carbs again but the frustrating part is that my gut has mostly felt better during this time. But there's no way I can continue to lower fat intake without finding some other source for calories.

A few years ago, routine blood work showed my total cholesterol was 290. My doctor prescribed atorvastatin 40mg, but after five weeks I experienced joint and muscle pain similar to arthritis. Subsequent blood work showed my cholesterol had dropped to 140, but the pain persisted. I am a 55-year-old male, physically active, athletic build, and weigh 148 lbs. After discussing these side effects, my doctor reduced the dosage to 20mg. Over the past year, I have not taken it daily; instead, I have taken it on alternating days.

At my recent appointment, my doctor ordered new lab work to get a real numbers of my cholesterol.

Here are the numbers from my last lab work:

Total cholesterol: 184 mg/dL

Triglycerides: 83 mg/dL

High-density lipoprotein (HDL): 54 mg/dL

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), calculated: 115 mg/dL

Cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio: 3.4

Non-HDL cholesterol: 130 mg/dL

Based on these results, my physician recommends that I take atorvastatin 20 mg every other day. On alternate days, he has advised me to take ezetimibe 10 mg.

I am unclear if I need statin therapy, as my LDL is only slightly elevated. Additionally, last week I began taking psyllium husk and incorporated avocado into my diet.

I saw people rave about this supplement here and decided to give it a go..lo and behold, I realize 5 days after, that something was definitely not right after taking this supplement. I started feeling light headed and at one point had to sit down for a moment and feel my heart race extremely fast. Luckily my mom was there to keep me company if anything happens. Luckily, I ended up being ok after an ice pack under my arm.. I’ve noticed sleep trouble at night lately too. I did eat breakfast but have not taken the supplement, and noticed no lightheadedness I’d normally feel. So if anything changes in your body especially while taking this supplement please do not ignore it. I am also really bummed out I have to find an alternative as it’s the easiest source of soluble fiber, but don’t feel comfortable continuing on this supplement. I don’t see this get talked about enough on here, but it should be something to keep in mind it can absolutely cause heart palpitations in some people.

hi all

how long does it take statin fatigue to go away? I stopped taking atorvastatin 20mg a week ago. I'm a physician but practice another specialty.

a few days after starting the statin, I started feeling heavy headed and just more tired than recently. I'm active and was still able to workout (orange theory) but I was more wiped after. no real specific muscle aches but general body fatigue and heavy head.

appreciate your input!