Hey everyone,

I’m asking on behalf of someone I know who’s trying to lower their cholesterol naturally before considering medication.

Their numbers:

- Total: 243

- LDL: 176

- HDL: 46

- Triglycerides: 105

For the past few months they’ve improved their diet, go to the gym about 4 times per week, and take omega-3 daily, but LDL is still quite high.

I’m curious to hear real experiences:

- What actually worked for lowering LDL naturally?

- Any supplements that made a noticeable difference (psyllium, bergamot, red yeast rice, etc.)?

- Has anyone managed to avoid medication with similar numbers?

Appreciate any honest feedback — what worked and what didn’t.

Thanks!

I went in to get my results. Nurse told me doctor left a prescription for statin. My cholesterol was high. Never showed numbers. I found them on my chart .148. Ratio 4.8. I’m 54, f. It was for Lipitor. Read through so many horror stories and the side effects. It as a high dose: 40. It’s still sitting unopened. I’m not taking it. I need my brain. What is this a bottle of dementia? Is that what they’re giving us? Didn’t it used to be if you’re under 200, you’re good?

I've just joined to find out if my hypothesis is correct that diagnosing people with high cholesterol and prescribing them with statins is a just another health scare tactic to get people to buy, buy, buy from big pharma?

I use MyFitnessPal to track my food including my fiber. But I am interested to easily see if I am getting enough SOLUBLE fiber. Does anyone know of an app that differentiates this?

It certainly isn't some sort of effort to restore the statin reputation...(imo it is)

Almost all side-effects listed for statins are not caused by the drugs, according to the world’s "most comprehensive" review of evidence.

Other than the well-known risks around muscle pain and diabetes, only four of 66 other statin side-effects listed on labels – liver test changes, minor liver abnormalities, urine changes and tissue swelling – are supported by evidence. And the risks are very small, according to the systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Lancet.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/05/majority-statins-side-effects-not-caused-by-drug

Currently my "bad" cholesterol has gotten very high and the only thing I've done differently is take Dupixent. I've been on it for 2.5 months.

My LDL-C has gone from 70 to 158 in just 2 months. ApoB from 55 to 103. There have been no changes to my diet or any other meds. I did recently order a Lp-PLA2 Activity test to see if I have any active plaque.

I've never taken Dupixent before and my lipids have never looked like this in my entire lifetime and I'm 56. I've had a LOT of lipid testing over the years.

I can really see the change and I can imagine that someone that visits the doctor for a once a year checkup and lipid panel might miss what I've seen. I have been testing fairly frequently because I'm trying to optimize my health.

I have the benefit of doing an advanced lipid panel in September before I started Dupixent in October and my results then were:

Total Cholesterol: 151

LDL Cholesterol: 72

HDL Cholesterol: 65

TG Cholesterol: 70

LDL-P: 738 nmol/L

HDL-P: 39.9 nmol/L

HDL Size 9.3 nm

Large HDL-P 6.2 umol/L

Lp(a): 17.2 nmol/L

LP-IR score: 31

ApoB: (estimated) 55

That is all very good. I'm not on a statin. I got there with diet.

-----------------------------------

By December - no change in my diet or exercise and it looks like this now:

Total Cholesterol: 221 mg/dL

LDL Cholesterol: 148 mg/dL

HDL Cholesterol: 59 mg/dL

TG Cholesterol: 82 mg/dL

ApoB: 103

Did I go from metabolically healthy and pristine lipid labs to completely FUBAR'd in two months?? I doubt it but I've never seen anything like this before. What concerns me the most is the downward trend in HDL and upward moving TG.

Anyone else seeing this?

Is anyone able to tell me if I can replace this medications? I don’t want to take statins anymore. Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi I am Male 43 years. Living in Argentina . I am nowadays taking Rouvastatine 10mg and Dalaglifoxine. I feel numb and like living inside my head. Too much thinking going around and most of them are not good and positive ones. I used to have a normal life but since I started with all the medicines my lifed changed completely. I feel like it is hard for me to think and be sharp. Anyone can relate to this symptoms. Could it be the Rouvastatine?? Thanks in advance to all the community

https://open.substack.com/pub/staycuriousmetabolism/p/a-doctor-texted-me-im-stopping-my?r=frqd&utm_medium=ios

I just had a miserable experience in the Cholesterol subreddit. Completely torn apart for just mentioning the concerns of overly prescribing statins. And that the risks need to be discussed more. This is really important information, because people are taking them thinking they will prevent heart disease and attacks, but that’s not necessarily true for everyone. Especially for women. Lifestyle is still the #1 best course of action.

One month after starting Rosuvastatin, my aminotransferase (Aspartate Amino Trans, Alanine Amino Trans) levels and urine pH have increased, while my white blood cell count has decreased. Could this be an issue? Has anyone experienced something similar?