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What Does A High Cholesterol Of 209 And LDL Of 140 Indicate?
Question: Hi,
I just found out this morning that I have high cholesterol (209) and LDL is 140. I am baffled by this. I follow a very healthy diet plan (designed by several RD's) as well as a very structured fitness plan. I exercise approx.10-12 hrs/week, mainly weight lifting. In addition to this I quit drinking beer/wine 2 mos ago, I don't smoke and I'm not obese. However, over the last 1 1/2 yr I've gone from 150 to 178 and I have no clue how. I was so embarrassed I never saw a doctor about it until last week. My new PCM (recently moved) did a CMP, cbc w/diff, ua,estrogen, lipid and TSH. Estrogen hasn't come back yet, but most was normal other than the cholesterol and BUN, and BUN/creatine were elevated and anion gap was low. In addition to this, I've had a relatively small paraovarian cyst for about a year (getting a repeat US on 9/24) and it causes me pain intermittently. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking Im having appendicitis as its in the RLQ. This pain is about a 9/10 and last several hours. My period has also been unpredicatable which is abnormal for me. I also reviewed my VS over last year and all my BP's are high. Highest being 160/100, yet most around 145/95. I also feel my moods have gotten worse, I get upset quickly for no reason, anger/saddness which I usually bottle up and I have experience increase acne-which is usually very minimal. (I take 300mg Wellbutrin)
My medical conditions include: anxiety/depression, Degenerative joint disease, sacral stenosis, herniated L4-L5, L5-S1.
I'm 34 yrs old, caucasian. I've had 5 pregnancies, 3 live births.NKA.
I would appreciate any advise in order to help advocate for myself. I don't feel like my doctor listened to anything I did get to say, which wasn't much. He was in and out in 11 min. I counted. I'm a nurse myself and I just have a gut instinct that there is a reason for all of this.Thanks!
I just found out this morning that I have high cholesterol (209) and LDL is 140. I am baffled by this. I follow a very healthy diet plan (designed by several RD's) as well as a very structured fitness plan. I exercise approx.10-12 hrs/week, mainly weight lifting. In addition to this I quit drinking beer/wine 2 mos ago, I don't smoke and I'm not obese. However, over the last 1 1/2 yr I've gone from 150 to 178 and I have no clue how. I was so embarrassed I never saw a doctor about it until last week. My new PCM (recently moved) did a CMP, cbc w/diff, ua,estrogen, lipid and TSH. Estrogen hasn't come back yet, but most was normal other than the cholesterol and BUN, and BUN/creatine were elevated and anion gap was low. In addition to this, I've had a relatively small paraovarian cyst for about a year (getting a repeat US on 9/24) and it causes me pain intermittently. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking Im having appendicitis as its in the RLQ. This pain is about a 9/10 and last several hours. My period has also been unpredicatable which is abnormal for me. I also reviewed my VS over last year and all my BP's are high. Highest being 160/100, yet most around 145/95. I also feel my moods have gotten worse, I get upset quickly for no reason, anger/saddness which I usually bottle up and I have experience increase acne-which is usually very minimal. (I take 300mg Wellbutrin)
My medical conditions include: anxiety/depression, Degenerative joint disease, sacral stenosis, herniated L4-L5, L5-S1.
I'm 34 yrs old, caucasian. I've had 5 pregnancies, 3 live births.NKA.
I would appreciate any advise in order to help advocate for myself. I don't feel like my doctor listened to anything I did get to say, which wasn't much. He was in and out in 11 min. I counted. I'm a nurse myself and I just have a gut instinct that there is a reason for all of this.Thanks!
Brief Answer:
not much to do with these values
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
it seems that your body produces more cholesterol than normal and although your lipids are not that bad, they're not great either... Your LDL in particular - ideally - should have been lower. Keep in mind that cholesterol levels depend a lot on genes and you can't do anything about them. Some individuals have high cholesterol levels and they do much to lower them enough. Since you've adopted a healthy lifestyle (with physical activities and healthy diet and no smoking - very important), this is all you can do about your cholesterol.
Unless you already have atherosclerosis (for example carotid stenosis) or other signs of cardiovascular damage to 'target organs' (the heart, the big blood vessels, the kidneys, the brain) or a very unfavorable family history of early onset coronary heart disease, you shouldn't worry too much about your lipids. If you do have any of the above then treating the lipids might be a good idea. In most cases this is not necessary as your cardiovascular risk can't be that high.
Your blood pressure requires monitoring. Measuring it every morning and evening for a couple of weeks and recording the lowest value out of 2-3 technically correct measurements will help. If most measurements are below 140/90mmHg then you're perfectly OK! Otherwise treatment options might have to be considered. Please keep in mind that you should only measure your blood pressure when you're calm and relaxed. Never measure your blood pressure when you're in a hurry or feel pain or in any kind of stress.
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!
not much to do with these values
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
it seems that your body produces more cholesterol than normal and although your lipids are not that bad, they're not great either... Your LDL in particular - ideally - should have been lower. Keep in mind that cholesterol levels depend a lot on genes and you can't do anything about them. Some individuals have high cholesterol levels and they do much to lower them enough. Since you've adopted a healthy lifestyle (with physical activities and healthy diet and no smoking - very important), this is all you can do about your cholesterol.
Unless you already have atherosclerosis (for example carotid stenosis) or other signs of cardiovascular damage to 'target organs' (the heart, the big blood vessels, the kidneys, the brain) or a very unfavorable family history of early onset coronary heart disease, you shouldn't worry too much about your lipids. If you do have any of the above then treating the lipids might be a good idea. In most cases this is not necessary as your cardiovascular risk can't be that high.
Your blood pressure requires monitoring. Measuring it every morning and evening for a couple of weeks and recording the lowest value out of 2-3 technically correct measurements will help. If most measurements are below 140/90mmHg then you're perfectly OK! Otherwise treatment options might have to be considered. Please keep in mind that you should only measure your blood pressure when you're calm and relaxed. Never measure your blood pressure when you're in a hurry or feel pain or in any kind of stress.
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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