Hi. I posted on Monday how my cholesterol level was really high when taken at the GYN's office without me fasting - it was 346. So, he had me go in again today to repeat the test with 14 hour fast. My results:

Total Cholesterol: 385
HDL: 49
TC/HDL ratio: 7.9
Triglyceride: 90
LDL: 318 (!)
Glucose: 80

So, today with the fast, my cholesterol has gone up nearly 40 points in just four days. THe LDL has gone up as well. My doc wants to put me on Lipitor right away.

I am 28 years old, 5'1" and currently 99lbs - Have lost 16 pounds since I started Atkins on June 17. I don't understand how my cholesterol could be so bad. I don't think I'm eating nearly as much fat as recommended on Atkins. I stick with mostly chicken and fish, limit my butter and olive oil intake, and calories are probably right at about 1100 (if even that) a day. Every now and than I'll have a few porkrinds and some macadamia nuts, and carbolite ice cream. That's it.

My doc says it has nothing to do with the what I'm eating. He said with numbers as high as mine, it is genetic. I've read all the research and what Dr. Atkins says in his book regarding cholesterol, But I can't help but think perhaps I should get on the meds. I am going to get a second opinion from my family doctor. I really want to stay away from the meds if possible.

Dr. Atkins says it's not unusual for people to have high cholesterol at the beginning of this diet. So, I really want to continue this diet for another 4 months and get retested then. Do you think I'm putting myself at risk by not going on the meds for the next four months. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lipid profile done right before the diet, but I do have results from last year this time. My cholesterol then was 215.

Is anyone on the Atkins diet AND taking Lipitor, or some other cholesterol lowering medication? Would it be feasible to do this? I'm thinking, I might just have to scrap this way of eating afterall.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

rain

This was posted in my journal last month:

I called in and got my lab results:
.
Date ..........HDL......LDL.......TriG......Total C....weight
.
Sep/2002.....52........198.......115.......305.........254
.
Started Lipitor
.
Dec/2002.....54........164.......106........237........250
.
Stopped Lipitor in March when I started Atkins
.
Jul/2003.......47........150.......75.........212........211

I wasn't nearly as high with LDL as you are, and you might want to try the Lipitor for three months and redraw. My doc also told me my levels were genetic-and I could never change by diet alone-but the diet has all my ratios within normal limits. You may make it harder on your liver if you use both the drug and don't cut your saturated fat intake-that's why I stopped the drug when starting Atkins.

Rain, I think you and I are in the same boat. I have genetically high cholesterol, as does every female member of my family. Up to this point, diet and exercise have made no difference--and I have tried everything, except for low-carbing, before now. I finally caved in and decided to take Lipitor. The results have been remarkable--on the smallest routinely-given dose, my cholesterol is now under control, although not optimal, and my triglycerides have plunged to such a low level that my doctor was congratulating me.

I have been low carbing for about three months, and next week will find out if that has helped my numbers. If it has, I may try to get off the Lipitor--or at least ask for an even smaller dose. Then I will see what the WOE does all by itself.

Is there a strong history of heart disease/stroke/dementia in your family? At your age, I don't think you should be worried about waiting a few months to see if the WOE helps your cholesterol levels UNLESS there is a serious history of these diseases.

But you know, a rapid weight loss like yours does tend to raise LDL levels. Don't you belong on Maintenance at this point? Surely you're not trying to lose any more weight. And it seems to me that if you're exercising, and still eating in a general low-carb way, you should be able to take in more than 1100 calories daily without gaining.

So I think my advice to you would be to wait a little while, eat more calories (though not more saturated fats), curtail the weight loss, and see whether that improves your lipid panel. Give it four or six months--whatever your doctor recommends. Then get retested. If your levels look approximately the same, I'd get on Lipitor without any hesitation.

I am on Atkins and take Lipitor. I am phasing out the Lipitor as my weight goes down (5mg per day now). Another 7 pounds and the doctor says I can quit the Lipitor.

I recommend taking the Lipitor and seeing how it affects the blood chemistry. It's a reasonable safe drug (your doctor should check you liver enzymes to make sure you have no problem with it.) It should lower the LDL a lot and slightly increase the HDL.

Remember Atkins is neither low-fat diet nor low calorie. At ~1100 calories you may be having problems due to your body trying to save energy starvation mode). Try increasing the fat in your diet, it may help. I eat lots of olive oil and butter and nuts and my blood chemistry has improved greatly over my low-fat days.

Mike

I was put on 5mg Lipitor a couple of years ago and it worked well to stabilize my numbers. I have continued taking it since I started this WOE 4 weeks ago, and I will continue on it until I see my doc & get re-tested in another month or so. I have never had any problems with it, and I would rather be safe than sorry - especially as my family has a history of heart disease!

HI everyone.
I don't want to be a wet blanket on this lipitor thing, but everyone must consider the side effects of statin drugs. I happen to be one who cannot take them. My cholesterol was high several years back and the dr. put me on Zocor. I started having trouble with my feet. For 3 years I could hardly walk. I couldn't go to the grocery store, shopping or anywhere I couldn't sit down. At that time, my liver enzymes went up and I had to have a liver biopsy to see if I had liver damage. ( BOY THAT WASN'T FUN!) I went off the Zocor and my feet got better. I started exercising again and then I started Atkins about a year ago. My dr. wanted me to go back on Zocor because my cholesterol was again a little high. So I did.. I immediately started having problems with my muscles and joints. I started reading about statin drugs and found that alot of people have this problem, but they don't realize it's from the drugs. They think it's old age setting in. I got to the point I couldn't walk again and called the dr. and told her I was not taking it anymore because of this.. Since I've been off of it, I have had no muscle/ joint problems at all. I am back to walking again. I am going to the dr again next week and I am wondering how my numbers will be when I have them checked again. Hopefully down.

I just thought I would throw this out to you all for some input. Dianne

Thanks for all your replies everyone. After spending a couple of hours reading this forum and looking at the links, I've made the decision to not take the Lipitor and take the supplements found in Dr. Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solution book listed under "High Cholesterol." I realized I recently took off about 16 pounds, so I think that may have something to do with my high cholesterol number. My GYN was convinced that it is hereditary for me, but I have no history of high cholesterol in my family. He doesn't understand the weight loss - high cholesterol connection, so he just sorta cut me off when I started explaining that I've recently changed my diet. So, I told him fine, took his prescription, came home and tossed it in the trash. I will try the vita nutrient solution for three months, and then call my family practitioner to have a lipid profile done. I will give everyone an update after I get rechecked in three months.

rain

Hi - Just wanted to share my similar problem with high cholesterol, in the high 300's. I too did not want to take any type of statin drugs, so my doctor gave me a somewhat newer drug that is NOT a statin, called Zetia. In 2 months time, my total cholesterol went down 100 points! Apparently, the drug is so much safer than the statins because it does not interact with the liver, rather it supposedly catches the bad cholesterol in the digestive system...or some similar process.