Risk of triglyceride deficiency?

(Joey) #1

Another year of diligent carb-avoidance along with another round of annual bloodwork for upcoming wellness visit with doc (NMR lipids, CBC, CMP, insulin, VitD, blah, blah…).

This year we ordered our LabCorp tests through Own Your Labs - an awesome way to support Feldman/Huggins efforts while also saving $$$. HIGHLY recommended!

However, I was rather surprised to see that my HDL rose to 123 (from 116 mg/dl) while my Trigs fell to 40 (from 50 mg/dl).

So at this point the resulting Trig/HDL ratio clocks in at a meager 0.33x.

Apparently, keto is putting this aging body of mine at risk for TDS - triglyceride deficiency syndrome.

Not covered by medicare, but fortunately there are over-the-counter cures for this condition… Domino’s pizza, McDonalds Big Macs, and Budweiser.

Affordable and effective. :roll_eyes:

(Bob M) #2

I’ll send you some of mine! :grinning:

I still have a trig/HDL ratio near or above 1, mainly because my HDL is “low” (high 40s-mid 50s). Better than <40 as it was though.

(KCKO, KCFO) #3

Mine bounce around from as low as 30 to 60ish. HDL is usually in the 70s range these days. I don’t think TDS is something I need to worry about.

Interesting the main cause mentioned from Googling too low, is a low fat diet.

(Geoffrey) #4

What a wonderful dilemma. :wink:

(Bob) #5

Triglyceride Deficiency Syndrome - I need to remember this come April 1st, lol :smiley:

(Edith) #6

Last time I had a physical which was about two years ago, my triglycerides were 25 mg/dl. Since I don’t feel like having another physical at the moment, I think I will try going the LabCorp route you mentioned above. You’ve got me curious to see if anything has changed. I’m in menopause now and I wasn’t when I had that last blood test. I’m also more sedentary and spend more time indoors because I went back to work full-time a few years ago, too.

(Bob M) #7

You know, sometimes it’s really a challenge to figure out what’s happening. In October of last year, I got the following results, and the results from 7 months previous are listed:

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Trigs went up, HDL down, but LDL went up, small LDL-P (small LDL particles) doubled… but LDL size got bigger?

(As for HDL-P, HDL particle count, I think I have something genetic happening there, as my HDL particle count and size is waaaaaaaaay on the low end of the scale - stuck permanently at the low end of the scale, which makes for a bad LPIR score, and it always has been like this.)

I don’t think I changed my diet between those two points.

By the way, this test was bought by myself from Own Your Labs. https://ownyourlabs.com/about-us/

(Bob M) #8

Don’t mean to derail this thread, but I have had very low ferritin levels, way too low really. I made an effort to get them higher by not giving blood and taking methylated B vitamins. This is what happened:

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My ferritin went from 35 to over 100, which is where it should be for me supposedly.

Both of these (observational, correlative) studies indicate that lipid/cholesterol values go up with increasing ferritin:

Did my increase in ferritin cause a corresponding increase in TC and LDL (and maybe trigs)?

Ugh, the body is too darn complex.

(Jane) #9

My TG isn’t as low as yours, but my ratio is 0.46 due to high HDL… which if you do a search will find articles cautioning against too high numbers (which I don’t believe).

Labs last year were TG 68, HDL 148.

Due for more labs soon - just haven’t gotten around to scheduling my annual physical.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #10

It is so strange to see LDL of 137 shown as “high.” In 2018, the upper limit was 150.

I suppose we should be rejoicing, however, that the authorities are paying attention to the research, in particular all the studies that show a very strong positive correlation between the number of people taking a statin or a PCSK9 inhibitor and the size of the annual bonuses paid to the top executives of pharmaceutical companies.

As Richard says, “Follow the money.”

(Central Florida Bob ) #11

I first got suspicious when I saw someone talking about putting statins in the water supply. I was on a statin at the time, and I asked my new GP (not the one who put me on the statin) “if my problem is low HDL, why am I taking a drug that lowers them?” He replied, “good question. Do you want to try going without them?”

He asks me to get them rechecked every six months, which I still do. I don’t really care about the lab results, but I pay the doctor visit as a way of thanking him for getting me off statins.

My trigs at last check were 81, but my HDL is still low, just better than it was at 45 instead of low 30s on the Crestor. Not quite TDS, but a Trig/HDL of 1.8 is still a bit of a concern. I’ve been increasing my bike miles per week and taking Omega 3 supplements, both of which are supposed to help. I’ll get those retaken soon for my six month visit.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

And 81 / 45 = 1.8, which is a good indicator that your cardiovascular risk is minimal. Yes, if it dropped to 1.0 or less, it would be better, but you are doing well, nevertheless.

As long as you keep eating a proper human diet (otherwise known as low-carbohydrate, high-fat), you should be and remain in good health.

(Central Florida Bob ) #13

Since you’re an admin here, can you drop me an email?

Not related to this topic.

Bob

(Joey) #14

@CFLBob Might be faster to use the direct Message feature. Click on upper righthand icon (your avatar) and select messages function - looks like an envelope. :+1: