Concerned... My first blood panel after eating Keto for almost a year

(Sheri Knauer) #21

Here is a list of low carb doctors that is on Jimmy Moores site. From what I understand, he is working on making it better and more comprehensive. Also, PAs tend to be more open with dietary lifestyles that are not the SAD diet, however, not that all are but more so than traditionally trained MDs, especially the older generation of MDs. http://lowcarbdoctors.blogspot.com

Scroll down the page some and you will see a list of doctors by state, not just the ones in the middle with the included pictures. Hopefully there will be one on there that is somewhat local for you.

(Deb N.) #22

Awesome! Thanks much. :slight_smile:

#23

Alan-
Do you use coconut oil? I ask because of my experience (which Iā€™ve since seen happening to others).

I am hypothyroid, and when I was initially diagnosed, my LDL was high, and so my endo has monitored it to see if it adjusted as I began taking Rx supplemental thyroid hormones.  I get labs every 4 months.  My LDL was going down nicely UNTIL I began using coconut oil.  By coincidence, I began right after one check up, and 4 months later, my LDL had gone up 40 points.  My endo knew it had been steadily going down (to within normal range), so he asked about any 'dietary changes' I'd made recently, and the only one was the CO.  He advised me to stop using it, and I went back to my EVOO and butter for fats.  Four months later, my LDL was back down those same 40 points, so it definitely was the CO.

I had a VAP test, and my LDL was 100% Pattern A (the large, fluffy kind), but my cardiologist seconded my endo's advice to avoid CO because he said that Pattern A is 'better,' but elevated LDL isn't good no matter what the particle size.

As others have said, the key is the ratio rather than the pure numbers, but I wanted to mention the CO issue in case you are like meā€“someone who has a problem with CO.

(Dave) #24

As I am so stressed about my numbers I have thrown money at the problem now and have just received back a Cardio IQ Lipoprotein Fractionation Testā€¦ The results are not good and have me really confused as I am following a Keto diet, dont smoke or drink and do about 3-4 hrs of cardio in the gym every week. My numbers are not going the right way at all, any thoughts, ideas or anything that you can offer to stop me stressing out? My detailed results are attached.

Thanks again for everyoneā€™s help, you are really helping me to try and understand how I move forwardā€¦Cardio IQ Lipoprotein Fractionation - Dec 2017.pdf (190.2 KB)

Cardio IQ Lipoprotein Fractionation - Dec 2017
Cardio IQ Lipoprotein Fractionation - Dec 2017.jpg5962Ɨ3354 2.24 MB

#25

I canā€™t help with interpreting your numbers on that, but I will say that the documentary film The Cereal Killers offers a ton of helpful encouragement & education - and I highly recommend it.

It accompanies a 40 something atheltic guy (Donal Oā€™Neil, who is also the director) as he transitions to keto and participates in a medical lab that is studying cholesterol and several other factors. Being that his dad had died from heart disease in his 50s despite being a champion athlete, Donalā€™s early lab results that are ā€œnot goodā€ worry him - and confuse him, being combined with his other ā€œgoodā€ results on things. He works with specialist observation as he continues his keto journey - and it is confirmed that his high cholesterol is not the bad kind, etc.

The film interweaves interviews with Stephen Phinney MD in California and Tim Noakes MD in South Africa - as well as a New Zealand athletic coach and soccer players.

Itā€™s a really well-done film, with great cinematography and interesting locations (including a grassfed beef farm in Ireland) and people.

(Maya) #26

Richard, thank you so very much for your response. I too fall into the hyper responder category of ketonians. I am a 53 year old female, keto since Feb2016, when I was diagnosed with diabetes (HaA1C of 6.2 and Hashimotoā€™s). This way of eating has changed my life and I lost 40lb. To put my mind at ease I had a coronary calcium score test - it came back at zero, HbA1C is now 5.6, LP-IR is 25< and CRP test came back at 0.6 and ā€¦YAY! However, my lipid panel has gone up significantly and as of this week looks like this:
Total cholesterol is 313
LDL - 207
LDL-P is 1916
small LDL-P is <90
LDL-C is 207
LDL size is 21.9
HDL is 93
HDL -C is 93
HDL-P is 45
Triglycerides are 63
With so many pieces to this (and two marked as HIGH by the lab on NMR ranges)it was really good to read your response to Alenā€™s post. If I understand correctly all you saidā€¦no worries for me even though some of these numbers are high?

(Richard Morris) #27

I think those are pretty good.

Your LDL is at least 96% pattern A, benign.

A doctor who didnā€™t appreciate the nuance of lipoprotein subfractions might likely want you on a statin above 200 mg/dl.

Mine was 208 when my doctor put me on a statin.

And the rest is a long horrible story.

(Maya) #28

Thank you once more, Richard.
I appreciate you looking at my ### and giving me your feedback. I value it very much!
I did not know how to asses the information I was given and you shed light on the %%% for me.
I have read your story before, and I am not one not to freak outā€¦but it is so nice to hear a reassurance that it looks good in the scope of the Big Picture. All women in my family have high cholesterol ( I was the lone hold out) and so I was not really surprised to see mine creep up there as well. My mom and sister (9 years younger) have been on statins for many years. However, I have no plan on ever going on them after reading through the many studies and side affects! I wish I could convince them too, I keep tryingā€¦ : )
Keto on!

(David Barnes) #29

LDL is not measured, it is a calculation that is total chol-HDL-trig/5.

(allie elwell) #30

I am writing this because your post helped me so much. I am 80 and have been taking statins for 10 years. I stopped. I started Keto. I went to my regular doctor to get a blood test after one month. She freaked out. She used every scare tactic she could think of. Namely I was killing myself and it would not be a pretty death. Someone would have to feed me and wipe the drool off my chin. I decided to get my own blood test two months after that office visit. I just received the results and at first I was freaking out.
It was not just a simple type A or type B. My LDL-P was 3000. It said that
was small LDL. My triglycerides were 69 and my HDL was 62. My overall cholesterol was 348. It said the particle size of my LDL was 21.1 and that it should be greater than 20.5 which it is. I had to go searching for LDL size and
this is what I found 21.2 to 23 is large and 18 to 21.2 is small. I also found that you should forget about your LDLā€¦ my triglycerides to HDL ratio is 1.3
which is more important. I hope you are still alive as I hope that I am not risking my life as my report really said high risk for heart disease. When
I was 48 my first cholesterol test was just the same as the current one. I
was very healthy and after many tests they concluded that it was my choice
about statins. I choose not to take them but became fearful at age 70. And
now I am not.

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #31

Bravo!!!

(Sheri Knauer) #32

Bravo! Glad that post helped you. I am still alive and healthy, lol! If you are interested in some further reading regarding cholesterol, check out Dave Feldmans site and some of his videos on YouTube (Just look up cholesterol code) http://cholesterolcode.com

(Madge Boldt) #33

I agree, @Sheri_Knauer! Statins are bad news. For years there have been reports of statins being correlated with diabetes diagnoses. In other words, take the statin to lower your supposed cardiac risk marker, and increase your chance of getting T2D.
Here is a 10-year study of n=3000+ participants who are already at risk for T2D:
ā€œ In this population at high risk for diabetes, we observed significantly higher rates of diabetes with statin therapy in all three treatment groups. ā€
Statin use and risk of developing diabetes: results from the Diabetes Prevention Program

Interesting note: The reason they studied patients already at risk was because previous studies showed the same increased risk of T2D in participants using statins who did not have a risk of T2D.

Even the Mayo Clinic knows this!
Statin side effects: Weigh the benefits and risk

Apologies for going off on a statins tangentā€¦ the hyper-prescribing of this particular drug makes my blood boil.

(Stephen Price (Lythix)) #34

Since going Keto my cholesterol blood tests have been going up and up with each one.
it was 6.9 a year ago and is now 11.7.
LDL went from 6.4 to 9.5. sorry not sure how to convert to US measurements.
Trigliceride went from 1.7 down to 1.6.

Have been following Dave Feldmanā€™s blog etc and if I was the only one whoā€™s cholesterol went up with LCHF iā€™d be worried but it seems to happen to some people. I believe if you put the right chemicals in, the human body will function normally.

First doctor wanted me on Statins. So found a new doctor. I wonā€™t name him but he is pro LCFH. I recently had another blood test (mostly out of curiosity from some fasting Iā€™ve been doing this year). It went up again.
Having had done some reading I knew the LDL test does not show the size usually, so I also got an LDL Subfraction test done.
Honestly, I donā€™t think my doctor knew how to read the results. He told me I would not like the results and he suggested I considered statins. I suggested I would rather treat myself through diet (which I already consider myself doing through Keto and intermittent fasting).
So I took my LDL subfraction test results and did some research. Bloody hard to find anything useful, but eventually I worked out that LDL-1 is the largest, and LDL-7 is the smallest. My results showed the majority of my LDL are 1 and 2, the largest in size. a smaller percentage is 3 and 4 (with 4 being half that of 3). No 5, 6 or 7 detected.
Now if I have read the tests correctly, and assuming 1 is the largest (ie the large fluffy LDL caused by saturated fats, not carbs) then Iā€™m bloody happy with the results.

Some other interesting research I uncovered, is that in Japan a study was done which showed that elderly with high LDL have lower rates of mortality. If your LDL is higher then you live longer. Also, high LDL helps keep a healthy brain. Of course, if you look hard enough you can find evidence to support whatever you want to believe, but it makes sense. Also these ā€œnormal rangesā€ which they have all over their blood test results, makes me wonder if those are ā€œnormalā€ for all the sick carb burners. Perhaps eating healthy fats and keeping carbs low is allowing my cholesterol to return to a healthy level. Perhaps my LDL is high now because itā€™s not being consumed fighting inflammation fires all through my body anymore.

So yeah, Iā€™m only going to do blood tests once a year now (out of curiosity) as well as for collecting data for people in the future. Right or wrong, someone in the future can look at my blood tests and say oh look, he lived to 110. Or not. It feels right, and it makes sense.

Enough rambling, just wanted to share.
Keep calm and keto on. #ketobitches

#35

Hi, Iā€™m new here, but Iā€™ve read these posts and I think Iā€™m ok. My doctor is pro keto and hasnā€™t contacted me about the results yet so I think Iā€™m fine. Iā€™m a little concerned because my total cholesterol is increasing.
41 year old, hypothyroid, vit D deficient, been doing keto for 5 months, only lost 23 pounds in the first two months but I feel great! Current weight 166 and 5ā€™1.
Cholesterol= 220
Triglycerides 108
HDL 58, was 61
LDL 140, was 132
HGBA1C 4.9 was prediabetic (but I donā€™t have the #)
glucose 77
Do I need to be concerned about any of these? Does it matter if the numbers go up? Can they fluctuate periodically? Am I now not prediabetic or is that a status that I will always hold? THANKS!

(Wendy) #36

Have you listened to 2 keto Dudes podcast on cholesterol? I believe itā€™s #8. Lots of good info there. There are also links there that can be reassuring.
I donā€™t worry about my cholesterol at all. I havenā€™t even tested it. I can see no benefit in a low number and am convinced itā€™s just drug companies way to make A LOT of money, not a measurement of health. 40% of heart attacks have a number below 200. Stroke risk goes way up with lower LDL numbers and dementia seems to be connected to lower chlosterol as well.
Just my personal choice in the matter.

(allie elwell) #37

I am writing to you because of the study in Japan. I donā€™t know how to convert the particle numbers either but I did do
what you did. I went looking for information on particle size which was really
hard to come by. I got the LDL particle test and it was really bad news. I
understand why your doctor could not read the test. My LDL particle number
was 3000. That is way beyond very high. My particle size was 21.1 which the
report said was small. But this is my research. 21.2 to 23 is large. 18 to 21.2
is small. So I am on the borderline. This is my history I am almost 81. I am
5 ft. 6 inches, I weigh 129. At 26 after giving birth to three children I weighed
123. I did not go on Keto to lose weight. I wanted to improve my cholesterol
readings. I take no medication, not even aspirin, my blood pressure is 120/70
All of my passwords are in my head. I am very healthy and from my very first
test 35 years ago my cholesterol has been out of sight. When my mother was
80 she came to live with me. She had dementia. That Japan study was a relief. I need to get something from that sky high LDL. I hope it is brain health.

(Stephen Price (Lythix)) #38

Thanks for the reply.
I went to KetoFest 2018 and listened to lots more talks on Cholesterol. From my test that I had earlier in the year, plus these talks, Iā€™m pretty much not worrying about Cholesterol anymore.
Plenty of people have heart disease with ā€œnormalā€ cholesterol. Plenty of people live long healthy lives with high cholesterol. I look at it that it has a job to repair damage caused by Inflammation but given the Keto way of eating reduces inflammation, the cholesterol wonā€™t have much repair to do, if any. High LDL (the large fluffy ones) also seems to have good brain health benefit. Great to hear you take no drugs and have good memory. Thanks for sharing! Keep calm and Keto on! :slight_smile:

(allie elwell) #39

This is twice that you have referred to cholesterol and repairing inflammation.
I am going to have to research that. I seem to have no inflammation and that
is the reason I have not worried about the high LDL. That is the reason I told
you I take no drugs. But it is not my understanding that it repairs artery walls.
My husband had bypass surgery at 40 and again at 50 and dead at 54. That
was 31 years ago. He had normal cholesterol. His first heart attack was at 36.
My son had his first heart attack at 26 and my other son at 39. No cholesterol
problem either. Go figure. I really think good health is the luck of the gene
pool.

(Fred Terling) #40

I noticed a slight bump to my cholesterol, but my triglycerides where at their lowest ever and my A1C (diabetes - which led me to Keto in the first place) has been cut nearly in half). Out family has a long history of heart disease on my fatherā€™s side and my triglycerides have always been 600+ which in the risky range. After 4 months, itā€™s halved. Everyoneā€™s body is different, so if you feel like youā€™re getting benefit, stick to it. I also deal with bipolar disorder and have been able to dump one of my ā€œsleepy timeā€ meds as it is a weight gainer. Not sure if any of this helps with your dilemna, but wanted to pass on that, for me anyway, Keto has SIGNIFICANTLY reversed the health concerns my doctor had. I was one appointment away from insulin and now I am back to normal range. Keep the faith and good luck.