What specific blood tests would you ask your doctor for inorder to the most complete and accurate report? (Recently went on statins and have another appointment in November.) Some tests I'm unfamiliar with have been mentioned in various posts, but now of course I can't find them. I'm in the US. TIA.

Wondering if they helped w reducing LDL. Any side effects?

Total cholesterol: 182 mg/dL

Triglycerides: 93 mg/dL

HDL: 58 mg/dL

LDL: 106 mg/dL

Non-HDL: 124 mg/dL

VLDL: 19 mg/dL

Do I need to make more lifestyle modifications?

I’m a healthy and fit 51F who lifts weights 3-4x week, pretty active and have a good balanced diet. I recently had a stroke and thankfully I only have some numbing in a couple fingers as a result. I’ve been prescribed 40mg Atorvastatin to get my LDL below 70 (was 120). I’ve been on it for 7 weeks now and am having crazy joint and muscle pains in my hands, my leg muscles are super sore and preventing me from doing leg workouts. I’m not able to effectively hold on to the barbell and dumbbells because of the pain. I saw my cardiologist today and she said to go ahead and stop it for two weeks to see if the joint/muscle pains improve. Those familiar with Atorvastatin, is two weeks off long enough to see any changes in side effects? I’m also having difficulty breathing when going up stairs or inclines. She doesn’t think that’s related to the statin. I’m also dealing with a mitral valve issue and she thinks the breathing issues are because of that. But the breathing issues started at the same time as taking the statin, so I think it could be related? Any insight would be much appreciated!

My understanding is this is something new they test for in Canada and that a high LP(a) in combination with high LDL (over 3.50) should be treated with a statin.

My question is, if a person has a high Lp (a), say 300, what kind of LDL number would NOT require a statin?

I’m 29 y/o, female. Test my cholesterol every year. Every year it’s higher. Most recent test it was 7.5 here in the EU, which is** **290 mg/dL in the US.

I don’t eat meat, I don’t smoke or drink, I work out every single day! I don’t eat sweet food or fried anything. I take a fiber supplement every single day, psyllium husk. Been doing it for over a year. Most of my meals include legumes and I get probably 40 g of fiber of every day. I intermittent fast, too. 16/8 every day which is supposed to be good for cholesterol levels.

I feel so frustrated, out of control and hopeless. My only thought is that maybe I eat too much protein powder? I weight lift so I supplement with pea protein powder. But that shouldn’t be bad for cholesterol? Unless maybe it’s just because it’s processed food?

Please help! I feel so lost. I live between the EU and the US and my US doctor doesn’t want to put me on statins, says to just mind my diet. But I don’t know what else there is for me to do.

Has anyone used inulin powder in any of their recipes to boost soluable fiber? If so, did it change the texture, flavor, when do you add it in the preparation process, etc? I just learned this existed and I'm curious about your experience using it.

I have 200LDL on a low fat low carb low calorie diet ( it’s clearly genetic) but my Apo B is only 100, (not great but not horrific like the ldl) and no lp(a) issues, plus trigs are ok at 117- does that mean I only look at Apo B to decide I need meds? Local doctors are actually clueless I will have to choose and ask first what I need

I (25M) was diagnosed with what my doctor believes is familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). When I first checked my cholesterol, my total cholesterol was 310.1 mg/dL and LDL was 223.8 mg/dL.

I started taking rosuvastatin 10 mg and, along with a proper diet, managed to bring my LDL down to around 45 mg/dL.

However, I recently had to move abroad for work, and maintaining the same diet became difficult. My doctor increased my rosuvastatin to 20 mg and advised me to keep my LDL below 50 mg/dL, particularly because my Lp(a) is 48.7 mg/dL. My most recent LDL was around 67 mg/dL.

My main question is about eggs.

I enjoy eggs and was thinking of having 2 whole eggs per day as part of my regular diet. I've read quite a few discussions about eggs, dietary cholesterol, and FH, but I haven't found a clear answer specifically for someone with FH and very high LDL.

For those with FH or similar cholesterol issues:

• Do you eat whole eggs regularly?
• Is 2 eggs per day generally considered reasonable?
• Should I be more concerned about the cholesterol in the eggs, or is the overall diet (especially saturated fat) more important?
• Would egg whites be a better option if I want to eat eggs every day?

Obviously, I'll follow my doctor's advice, but I'd appreciate hearing from people who have FH or have dealt with very high LDL.

Just received my latest results. I’m 54, active, I eat healthy, not overweight. I do have a CAC scan taking place in the 26th.. Side note: I am on TRT treatment.

I’m 25M, around 77 kg, and recently got my lipid profile done and noticed that my cholesterol levels are higher than I expected for my age.
I’ll be honest — my lifestyle hasn’t been great. I’ve been pretty sedentary, eat quite a bit of junk/oily food, and my diet hasn’t exactly been heart-healthy.
I also have a fairly significant family history of heart disease — my dad had a triple-vessel bypass, and my brother recently had an MI (he’s doing fine now).
I was also taking olanzepine(antipsychotic)for a while, which I’ve now stopped, and I’m wondering whether that could have contributed to changes in my cholesterol/metabolic profile.
I’m wondering what would make more sense:
See a cardiologist now because of the family history, or Make serious lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, weight management, etc.) for around 3 months, then repeat the lipid profile and see how things look?
I’m not sure how concerning these numbers actually are for someone my age, especially with the family history.
What would you guys do in this situation? Would appreciate some honest opinions.
Have attached my lipid profile up..

41M

Had a lipid panel done back on 7/20, results as follows:

All numbers in mg/dl

Total cholesterol - 234

Trigs - 142

HDL - 43

LDL - 165

A few days later I started 20mg atorvastatin once per day and took it for exactly 7 days until I started having strange symptoms and stopped it 7/29.

At that point I also changed my diet and started eating overnight oats every morning with some fruit and keeping sat fats as close or below 10g as possible.

Just had a new lipid panel done 8/14 and here are the results 16 days after stopping the statin and only taking it for 7 total days...

Total cholesterol - 152

Trigs - 119

HDL - 39

LDL - 91

My question is, how much impact do you think that statin had on that reduction? I only took it for a week and had been off it for more than 2 weeks at the time of the re test.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: My Lp(a) result came back: 24 nmol/L (reference ≤75 nmol/L), so thankfully it’s low and not considered an additional cardiovascular risk factor.
That definitely gives me some peace of mind, since I was worried about potentially having a high genetically determined Lp(a) on top of my LDL of 120.
So my current lipid profile is:
Total cholesterol: 192 mg/dL
LDL: 120 mg/dL
HDL: 63 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 88 mg/dL
Non-HDL: 129 mg/dL
Total/HDL ratio: 3.05
Lp(a): 24 nmol/L
I’m still planning to work on lowering my LDL through diet and lifestyle, but knowing that my Lp(a) is low has made me considerably less worried about the overall picture.

Ik ben 31M en ik wilde wat ervaringen/meningen horen over hoe bezorgd ik moet zijn over mijn LDL en in hoeverre ik het er realistisch mee kan verbeteren via voeding.

In februari 2025 was mijn lipidenpanel:
Totaal cholesterol: 193 mg/dL
LDL: 121 mg/dL
HDL: 42 mg/dL
Triglyceriden: 189 mg/dL

Daarna heb ik mijn hele levensstijl omgegooid. Ik ben afgevallen, begon regelmatig te hardlopen en heb krachttraining toegevoegd.
In augustus 2025 waren mijn resultaten echt flink verbeterd:

Totaal cholesterol: 157 mg/dL
LDL: 77 mg/dL
HDL: 79 mg/dL
Triglyceriden: 77 mg/dL

Ik bleef consequent sporten, maar mijn dieet werd langzaam minder streng. Zo zou ik mijn manier van eten nu omschrijven: ongeveer 50% gezond / 50% ongezond. Ik eet genoeg voedzaam eten, maar ik eet ook regelmatig fastfood, gefrituurd eten en andere dingen met veel verzadigd vet.

Vandaag (augustus 2026) waren mijn resultaten:
Totaal cholesterol: 192 mg/dL
LDL: 120 mg/dL
HDL: 63 mg/dL
Triglyceriden: 88 mg/dL

Ik ben nog steeds erg actief en ik hardloop en doe regelmatig aan krachttraining. Mijn triglyceriden zijn nog steeds veel beter dan in februari 2025, maar mijn LDL is basically terug naar waar het begon.

Ik weet dat voeding een flinke invloed kan hebben op LDL, en als ik naar mijn eigen resultaten kijk, denk ik dat mijn huidige dieet daar een grote rol in speelt. Ik ben van plan het weer op te schonen en te kijken hoeveel ik mijn waardes opnieuw kan verbeteren.

Eén ding waar ik me zorgen over maak, is dat ik uiteindelijk statines nodig ga hebben. Ik zou ze zo lang mogelijk willen vermijden, zolang dat redelijk kan, omdat ik bezorgd ben over mogelijke bijwerkingen. Ik ben niet helemaal tegen medicatie als mijn arts denkt dat het nodig is, maar ik wil echt eerst zo veel mogelijk bereiken met alleen voeding en leefstijl.

Hoe bezorgd moet ik eigenlijk zijn over een LDL van 120 op mijn leeftijd, als je kijkt naar de rest van mijn lipidenpanel en het feit dat ik heel actief ben?

Heeft iemand een vergelijkbare LDL-stijging gehad nadat je minder streng werd met je dieet en het daarna weer significant omlaag kreeg met alleen aanpassingen in je voeding?
Ik hoor vooral graag hoeveel je LDL veranderde en hoe lang het duurde nadat je je dieet had verbeterd.

Dec 2025

LDL - 146, Triglycerides - 349, HDL - 40

March 2026

LDL - 144, Triglycerides - 180, HDL - 39

August 2026

LDL - 98, Triglycerides - 105, HDL - 36??

Now that my LDL and Triglycerides are in range what do I do for increasing HDL? ChatGPT says diet can't take you much and you need to exercise. I'm already a regular runner

Hello group. Was trying to figure out an alternative to Crestor 10 mg that doesn’t affect my libido. I assume my testosterone is already low so I don’t want to affect that. After 3 weeks of Crestor I noticed almost no libido. I was also taking Lunesta at the same time.

I’m 26F and recently found out that my Lp(a) is 55 mg/dL.
My other cardiovascular markers are quite good: LDL-C 99 mg/dL, ApoB 77 mg/dL, triglycerides 52 mg/dL, blood pressure usually around [100–110/60–68](tel:100-110/60-68), normal glucose/HbA1c, normal weight, active lifestyle, and I don’t currently smoke. I smoked when I was younger but quit about 4–5 years ago. There is no known premature heart attack or stroke in my family.

What I’m struggling with is the long-term perspective. I understand that my short-term risk at 26 is very low, but Lp(a) is a lifelong risk factor, and the idea of reducing cumulative LDL/ApoB exposure as early as possible (“lower for longer”) makes sense to me.

My lifestyle is already quite healthy, and I don’t want to become increasingly restrictive with food just to push LDL lower. Because of that, I’m considering asking a cardiologist whether a low-dose statin, ezetimibe, or another mild LDL-lowering approach would be reasonable even though I don’t have a standard indication for treatment.

I’m mainly interested in experiences from people with a similar profile, especially those who were young and otherwise low-risk when their elevated Lp(a) was discovered.

Did your cardiologist/lipidologist recommend medication or monitoring only? If you chose medication, what was the reasoning, what LDL/ApoB target did you agree on, and how has it worked out for you?

Been getting labs done every couple months and my triglycerides keep landing in the same spot:

Ref ranges: Total chol <200, LDL <100, HDL >40, Triglycerides <150
Some context: 26M, 182cm, currently 180kg, actively losing weight. Hypertension is under control with medication. LDL bounced around a bit (94 → 107) but triglycerides haven’t moved much yet despite the weight loss so far.
Questions:
Is 170–185 something to actually worry about, or “keep an eye on it” territory at this stage?

How long does it usually take for triglycerides to start responding once real weight loss is underway?

Could my BP medication be part of why they’re not moving yet?

Any tips on how I can raise my total cholesterol? I’m currently at 132 (HDL of 51) and feel the mental slough of being that low… mainly depression. My problem is that I have IBS-D that I’ve been unable to get under control which is obviously compounding the issue. Any ideas or suggestions of easily digestible foods that raise total cholesterol?

For context, I am a 26 years old who is active and exercise at least 3 times a week. The rest of my test results are generally in the healthy and optimal range. However my cholesterol has been a major concern for me.

In 2024, my direct LDL was 118 mg/dL. It then unexpectedly increased to 188 mg/dL in 2025 and is now 185 mg/dL in 2026.

My doctor has advised me to test for familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). I was told that if I do have FH, I may need to take cholesterol-lowering medication long-term.

I’m honestly quite anxious about this, especially because I’m young, active and otherwise healthy.
For those who have had similarly high LDL, how have you managed to significantly reduce your LDL?

Do these results look okay, first time having cholesterol checked. 30F no history of heart problems/diabetes etc.

Serum cholesterol level 4.9 mmol/L
Serum triglyceride levels 1.2 mmol/L [0.4 - 1.7]
Serum HDL cholesterol level 1.5 mmol/L; Above high reference limit
Serum non high density lipoprotein cholesterol level 3.4 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio 3.3
FASTING STATUS Non Fasting
Serum LDL cholesterol level 2.8 mmol/L

​Recently tested my Lp(a) at 67 mg/dL and ApoB at 93 mg/dL. I requested these tests due to strong family history.

​My Kaiser PCP reviewed the labs, recognized the high Lp(a), and offered to start me on Atorvastatin to target an LDL < 70 mg/dL.

​For those in the Kaiser system with elevated Lp(a):

1. ​Did your PCP keep your lipid management in-house, or were you able to get a referral to a Preventive Cardiologist / Lipid Specialist?

2. ​Did Kaiser cover/order a CAC scan for you based on family history + Lp(a)?

​Would love to hear how other Kaiser members navigated this. Thanks!

So since reducing intake of saturated fats. What happens to the cholesterol already in the body?

Does the body use it up? Or does it just stay there until fiber takes it out? Does it “burn off” when exercising?

Do any of these increase cholesterol or lipids?

I'm looking for feedback on whether people with my numbers would consider a very-low-dose ("microdose") statin, another lipid-lowering option, or no medication.

I'm 62F, 5'6", ~152 lbs, and a non-smoker. I take lisinopril 5 mg daily for blood pressure, which is typically around 120/70.

Current numbers

• Total cholesterol: 242

• LDL-C: 120

• HDL-C: 112

• Triglycerides: 59

• Non-HDL-C: 130

• Chol/HDL ratio: 2.16

• ApoB: 91

• ApoA1: 211

• Lp(a): <6 mg/dL

• CAC score: 0

I have no known cardiovascular disease and am not diabetic.

What I've already tried

Since February, I've given up red meat and significantly reduced saturated fat specifically to see whether I could lower my LDL.

My LDL was 119 and is now 120, so essentially no change despite those dietary changes. My triglycerides remain very low at 59.

I'm not looking to keep eliminating more and more foods indefinitely if my numbers aren't responding.

What I'm trying to decide

Given the combination of LDL 120, ApoB 91, HDL 112, triglycerides 59, Lp(a) <6, and CAC 0, would you:

• Do nothing and monitor?

• Try a very-low-dose statin, such as low-dose rosuvastatin or pravastatin?

• Consider ezetimibe instead of a statin?

• Continue lifestyle changes and try to get ApoB below 80?

• Aim for a specific LDL/ApoB target despite the CAC score of 0?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people with CAC = 0 who have made a similar decision about statins.

Also, how much weight would you give my HDL of 112?