• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Good news/not so good news....

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
N

Newtothis

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I went for the result of my 2nd HbA1c today and have gone from 7.2 - 6. However, my cholesterol has gone up from 4.8 - 5.1 (give with one hand;take with another).

Nurse advised to go away for 3 months and do cholesterol check again in March although I could have a low dose statin there and then. I spoke to the GP who advised me to go away for 3 months and modify diet and we'll try it again 3 months...not overly concerned because increase is only small.... (going to cut down on eggs...)

My liver function; kidney function are all fine, as is blood pressure.

My question is 'what do I do'....... :(
I know its my choice but can lowering cholesterol be done and if I've cut out all saturated fats why has it gone up...could it be too many eggs/nuts?? so many questions....:confused:
 
Hurrah!!! Well done on an excellent HbA1c! 🙂 Told you so!!!! 😉

Great that all the other tests went well too! As for cholesterol, it is a variable thing and one thing you do need to bear in mind is that dietary cholesterol only plays a small part in influencing the levels since the majority (about 85% I think) is manufactured directly by the liver. I've read that if dietary cholesterol is higher then the liver compensates by producing less and vice-versa, so just keep eating healthily and you are doing all you can in that area. Secondly, did they tell you what your HDL cholesterol was? If this is good, then there is less of a worry about your total cholesterol level. For example, my total cholesterol was 4.4 yesterday, which is above the guideline for a person with diabetes (4.0 or less), but my HDL was extremely good at 1.3 (between 0.9 and 1.6 is good), so my consultant wasn't concerned. If you weren't told then ask as it may make you feel better.

One of the best ways to improve cholesterol and particularly HDL is exercise. I know you are already doing well in this department, so keep that up. In another 3 months it's quite possible that you will have made further improvements - remember it is still relatively early days for you despite all your accomplishments, and these things can take time 🙂

Well done!!!!! Be VERY proud of yourself! :D
 
Firstly MASSIVE congratulations Amanda, a drop from 7.2 to 6% is a brilliant improvement.

As to your very slight chol rise... the total number is nothing like as important as the splits. Do you know if they did a 'full lipid panel' or just returned total?

Not sure whether your test was specified as fasting or not - but I think (not sure) this can make a difference depending on the chemistry involved in the test.

I would suggest carrying on as you are and reviewing in 6 months (with a breakdown of HDL, LDL and Trigs if possible).
 
Ohter results good.

I think it also depends on things with animal fats in them like eggs cheese milk butter and lard.
 
Yes that's an excellent HbA1c 🙂

If they didn't separate that into it's constituent parts - that would be a shame. My total cholesterol is good, but my naughty cholesterol (LDL) is actually slightly raised still.

I've cut some of the cheese I was eating out of my diet but the other thing I've been thinking about is taking Omega-3. However, we already eat fish three times per week so I'm not convinced taking Omega 3 on top of that would be any good.
 
Last edited:
Great result , ive always been told to watch how many eggs i eat 😉
 
Well done Amanda 🙂 admire all the hard work you have done to achieve a HbA result like this.
 
Jennywren said:
Great result , ive always been told to watch how many eggs i eat 😉
Click to expand...

I eat 6-10 eggs a week and my cholesterol is fine. I think eggs got a very misleading reputation back in the Edwina days, unfortunately :(
 
Thanks guys; I thought I'd be more happy then I am - was aiming for a 7 but to get to a 6 I'm really pleased and losing 3 stone is a bonus...

My main concern now is the cholesterol and I don't know whether I'm better off going straight on to a statin then worry myself silly for the next 3 months; I've cut out saturated fats so don't know what else to do although we did discuss the amount of eggs I eat and was told to reduce....

DN was her same old happy self with 'now don't go worrying or you'll give yourself a stroke'.....blah blah blah

Doctor was nice; as I had a diagnosis of fatty liver in July he showed me the letter from the hospital which didn't raise any concerns - liver function; shape and size is fine and no lesions (cancerous cells etc....). Said to give it 3months and not to worry about it - 5.1 was not dangerously high...hope he realised I have diabetes😱

My mother was diagnosed cholesteral tablets earlier this week so I'm guessing its going to be another family trait I'm going to inherit - why couldn't it be a porsche or millions....

Is 5.1 too high and am I putting myself at risk... or should I just do the inevitable...????
 
I believe a non-diabetic is told to aim for cholesterol of 5.0, so you are only ever so slightly above that - not high at all. Given that you have made so many excellent changes to your weight, diet and activity levels then I would have though that you are considered low risk for any nasties. 6 months ago mine was 4.8 and the consultant wasn't worried and didn't press me to take statins.

They probably do have your HDL level too, so ask at your next appointment it might make you feel better about things. You don't need a fasting reading for it - I didn't and was given mine. I think that the 'full lipid' test shows LDL and triglycerides, but if you have a good ratio of Total:HDL then that is considered sufficient info.

Don't just look at your cholesterol in isolation - you have done a terrific job of reducing your risks all around with your superb progress!
 
cherrypie said:
Hi Amada,

Well done on the HBA1c. Your effort really paid off.🙂

A couple of links here that might help you with the explanation of cholesterol and foods that will help lower it. Obviously some of them may not suit your blood sugars.

Cholesterol made simple.
http://www.heartuk.org.uk/index.php?/healthy_living/cholesterol_made_simple/

High cholesterol.
http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/conditions/high-cholesterol.aspx
Click to expand...

Hi Amanda,

I used to worry myself silly as my cholesterol was high. Went on statins for a short while but the quality of my life was affected badly by them.
If you read the links I posted previously you will see there are plenty of foods that will help. Mine are now fine eating the right things. After the menopause women's overall cholesterol readings are higher than men.
 
I gave up trying to do anything with my cholesterol. It can only be partially controlled by diet. One thing which I did manage to sort out is the triglycerides and this is now well within the required value.

As to whether you go down the statin route for your cholesterol is between you and your GP depending on your sensibilities (personally, I'm quite happy where my cholesterol was which isn't too different from yours as it happens).

Anyway, well done on the HbA1c! Well below the suggested 6.5% level. I told you that you didn't need to worry!! (as did several others).

Andy 🙂
 
Amanda well done a terrific result, i was also told to limit my egg intake to 3 a week 😱
 
Great results Amanda, fabulous HbA1c, you should be very happy.

My Cholesterol was better than expected, started at 6.7😱 ended about 5 this time I think, and that was with eggs too, so think they are ok.

I wouldn't worry, as said above, its the liver that does most of the cholesterol, our diet accounts for little more than 20% I think.

So have a treat for all your hard work and dont worry🙂
 
Way to go, Amanda:D Fab results and you shoud be very proud!! As others have mentioned here, the split of the results is more important than the result itself. Why don't you try phoning the surgery and ask for a telephone appt with the Nurse who will talk you through them? As others have also said, genetics does play a part in it, so sometimes diet does very little. Just keep doing what you are doing, cos your doing just great and as Alan says, the exercise will help too! Well done you! I'm so proud of you!!!🙂Katiexx
 
Wow well done, great result.

I'm sorry I don't know much about cholesterol, don't even know what mine is/was but I think due to my age it was fine or they'd have mentioned it too!
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top