Has anyone experienced an increase in their cholesterol levels? Before surgery, mine sat around 5 regardless of my weight (healthy, overweight or obese). In the first 3 years post surgery it was about 4. Then it went to 5 again. Okay I thought just where my body wants to be. But it’s 5.7 now. Like what??

My surgery follow up doctor suggested I speak to my GP about a coronary artery calcium store test. My dad had a higher cholesterol level but not enough for meds. One brother’s is about what mine is now but he follows one of those fat is good diet (I swear he slathers his toast with butter like an inch thick). My mum, other brother, aunts, uncles, grandparents levels are/were ok.

Rest of my blood work was great.

mine dropped super low after my surgery (to around 130) and nine years out is back up to what it was prior to surgery, around 180-190, which is still fine. I'm not sure if the surgery caused the rebound or if it's just my body settling back in to its norm. In any event, in my case the increase wasn't anything to worry about, since it's still within range. I wonder if yours could be partially age-related and not necessarily surgery-related? Not sure. (I just noticed your numbers - the ones I noted on mine are total cholesterol. Are your numbers (4, 5, etc) just reflecting one part of that? Or maybe they use a different scale in Australia..)

On 5/19/2024 at 11:35 PM, Arabesque said:

One brother’s is about what mine is now but he follows one of those fat is good diet (I swear he slathers his toast with butter like an inch thick)

Am I your brother? joking

My levels have remained the same (low-normal but I don’t have a lot of fat in my daily diet except 1-2 weeks per year)

I not sure of the metrics used to measure in Australia? Is 5.7 very elevated? What would be optimal?

It’s how we measure total cholesterol & is measured in millimoles per litre.

Healthy is considered 3.9 - 5.5. 5.5 - 6.5 is considered borderline. So I’m in the lower end of the borderline range now @GreenTealael.

When it first went back to 5 I thought the same thing @catwoman7, my body just settling back into its norm. But now… Thinking it maybe the dairy I eat now which is way more than I had before surgery (before 3 or 4 serves a week now 2 or 3 a day a day). Meat is a little less. Butter is less. Cook more in air fryer or bake in the oven. May be I’m missing something,

Or it could be the creons I take to aid my absorption of protein. They maybe changing my fat absorption??? Or it could be not having a gall bladder??? I seem to have more questions now.

On 5/22/2024 at 12:04 AM, Arabesque said:

It’s how we measure total cholesterol & is measured in millimoles per litre.

Healthy is considered 3.9 - 5.5. 5.5 - 6.5 is considered borderline. So I’m in the lower end of the borderline range now @GreenTealael.

When it first went back to 5 I thought the same thing @catwoman7, my body just settling back into its norm. But now… Thinking it maybe the dairy I eat now which is way more than I had before surgery (before 3 or 4 serves a week now 2 or 3 a day a day). meat is a little less. Butter is less. Cook more in air fryer or bake in the oven. May be I’m missing something,

Or it could be the creons I take to aid my absorption of Protein. They maybe changing my fat absorption??? Or it could be not having a gall bladder??? I seem to have more questions now.

Is it the fat in the dairy that makes us go up? If so, maybe try skim or 2% dairy for a while and see if it goes back down?? I tried fat free cheese a long time ago and it was so gross I just assumed it all was awful but the reduced fat stuff isn’t bad at all. I get the block cheese and shred it myself and it’s really good and the skim ricotta was good. Not sure about cottage cheese because I don’t like it. Ooh and the baby bell light is delicious. One of my favorite post surgery snacks. I’m actually quite curious because mine was starting to go up and they always said when I lose weight it will go down but if it doesn’t I don’t know what I eat that’s so bad either I eat all lean cuts of meat and no real butter at all. I think my issue is honestly just dairy like you so keep us posted if you work it out please

.

A few things to think about here:

1. It's not all fats that raise cholesterol, it's primarily saturated fats and trans fats. While people often think about the saturated fats found in meat and dairy, they aren't the only sources. Also, trans fats are found in lots of processed foods, so these can sneak in to your diet from things like store-bought baked goods.
2. Stress can raise both LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, so actively working on stress reduction can have a positive impact on total cholesterol.
3. Moderate to high-intensity aerobic exercise can lower cholesterol levels quite a bit
4. Some research also indicates that low- to moderate-intensity resistance training can help reduce total cholesterol, but the link here is not as strong as it is for aerobic exercise

Edited September 22, 20241 yr by SpartanMaker

The more I think about it the more I think the creons I take are a contributing factor. They slow your digestion down as it passes through the intestines so you can absorb more nutrients. It’s used for malabsorption of protein, carbs and fats. Adds to my occasional issues with constipation. Fun!

I’ve always eaten lean meats and while I eat more dairy now it’s still only about two serves of the recommended three serves a day. Can’t do the low fat or skim milk as I drink lactose free milk and reducing the fat makes it taste incredibly sweet & I can’t tolerate it. And the high protein yoghurt I eat (isn’t sweet) isn’t available in low fat.

PS - The coronary artery calcium test gave me a score of zero the best you can get. At least I have a base score now for future comparison.

@Arabesque was that test invasive. I’m curious to know if my NP thinks I should get a baseline too. It was at first just my triglycerides that were up a bit but during my last pre op labs the other cholesterol numbers and my sugar were elevated a bit too. She said it was my weight starting to catch up with me and it should go back down post surgery but you know how they tend to assume EVERYTHING is because of weight. I get that it does cause a lot of issues but my Mom has high cholesterol too and I’m getting older so it’s possible it also just genetic and my age catching up to me.

Just a CT scan @ShoppGirl so super easy. A couple of minutes of lying down in a hospital given while the machine takes the images. It doesn’t completely rule out any issues but it gives them a good idea of what might be happening. And yes, as with mine, it’s a good base line to have for the future.