Cholesterol

 My cholesterol is too high.

This has been an ongoing problem for some time.  High cholesterol runs in my family, and since I have diabetes, this is a problem for me.  Doctors have mentioned it from time to time, but it was always kind of ignored because I'm not that old.  But I met with my doctor this week, and he brought it up again.  This time though, he told me he wants me to try to lower it in the next six months, otherwise he wants me on cholesterol medication.

Cholesterol meds have always scared me.  I've heard that the side effects are muscle aches, pains, and weakness.  I do not want to be dealing with muscle problems, especially right now when I am younger and mobile.

I did end up talking to a pharmacist about them though, and he explained that if I do end up taking these meds, we can try to find the right dose that will work for me without causing any side effects. So that made me feel better!

After that doctor's appointment, I went home and pulled up all the bloodwork reports I could online (I am so glad I can access them now through Lifelabs!)  I was able to find 9 reports with cholesterol values from the last six years.  While my LDL values have never been under 2.00 (the pharmacist I talked to thought that was the level doctors want cholesterol to be under for people with diabetes), they were down to 2.50 a few years ago.  Since then, my LDL has slowly risen, up to its most recent high of 3.67.

I originally thought the rise coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, which makes sense because I've been exercising less (I've been staying home more often because I haven't been able to go skiing and snowshoeing with friends, or swimming at the pool).  But it looks like it started a little before that.  It just kept rising to that aforementioned high, rather than starting to fall again.

But looking at the numbers, my previous high was 3.34 a few years ago, and I ended up bringing it down to that low of 2.50 after that.  So that brings me hope that I can lower it again!

I contacted my dietitian, asking for help with diet.  But the pharmacist I talked to mentioned he's never seen cholesterol brought down solely though diet - you need to be really active, too.  So I'm going to have to ramp up my physical activity as well!

On the plus side, whether I succeed in lowering my cholesterol or not, this has given me more motivation to eat healthier and lose some weight.  Whatever happens, I will strive to be the healthiest I can be!