High cholesterol, beta blockers

Just got updated blood triglycerides were 247 HDL 34 LDL115 total cholesterol 198. Could these numbers be elevated due to beta blockers?? I take metroprol and flecinaide for my afibb 7+ years now on meds.

40 yr old male 6'3 218lbs

Before I stop taking or change beta blockers I'm planning on losing 18lbs and removing all bad fats from my diet and re test blood in 6months.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

No, it's not the beta blockers. Metoprolol can slightly elevate triglycerides and decrease HDL, but the key word there is "slightly."

I'd seriously consider a statin if I were you. I'd be surprised if your doctor never mentioned that.

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Driver
Just got updated blood triglycerides were 247 HDL 34 LDL115 total cholesterol 198.
Any other ideas or suggestions?

In my world, high Tg & low HDL is typically a processed carb issue. High intake of sat fats can increase LDL, in some individuals. However mono fats don't usually do this. Reducing carbs typically will dramatically lower Tg's and increase HDL. My friend who wrote the first post in this thread is a GP in an English speaking country, not the USA. If you read her first post and then the follow up, two weeks later, you can see the dramatic results.

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GeorgeN

Just got updated blood triglycerides were 247 HDL 34 LDL115 total cholesterol 198.
Any other ideas or suggestions?

In my world, high Tg & low HDL is typically a processed carb issue. High intake of sat fats can increase LDL, in some individuals. However mono fats don't usually do this. Reducing carbs typically will dramatically lower Tg's and increase HDL. My friend who wrote the first post in this thread is a GP in an English speaking country, not the USA. If you read her first post and then the follow up, two weeks later, you can see the dramatic results.

I have a guilty pleasure of eating salami, prosciutto, pepperoni etc on a daily basis. I have as of this week eliminated the cured meats in my diet. I will be doing a strict lean meat and fruits and veg diet. I'm increasing my activity and will be losing 18lbs to get my BMI in the correct level( 6'3 199lbs). I will retest lipids in 3months or so. No more pasta no more high carb foods.

George the # reduction in your friends patient are astounding.

Can you recommend anything else??



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/29/2020 12:31AM by Driver.

The staggering stat of Cholesterol. Who says 200 is the level we need? Fact is, just as many die with low as high levels. Both my parents were artificially lowered with statins before they passed. I dont know what the connection if any can be proven to Afib is. I would be looking into Homosysteine levels and CRP number for inflammation issues.

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Carey
No, it's not the beta blockers. Metoprolol can slightly elevate triglycerides and decrease HDL, but the key word there is "slightly."

I'd seriously consider a statin if I were you. I'd be surprised if your doctor never mentioned that.

I am assuming that you do not buy the statin controversy. I want go into details because I am assuming you know about it. We have individuals on this forum who will not take a statin.
What is your take on statins and the Heart?

I'm also interested to learn of personal statin experiences.
Potavostatin is said to reduce inflammation, decrease insulin resistance (others increase it?)

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smackman
I am assuming that you do not buy the statin controversy. I want go into details because I am assuming you know about it. We have individuals on this forum who will not take a statin.
What is your take on statins and the Heart?

Personally, I lucked out with the cholesterol genes (unlike the afib genes). I've always had low totals and great HDL/LDL ratios despite eating a less than stellar diet, so statins aren't a question I've ever had to consider. But from what I understand of the current state of the science, I think you'd be foolish not to consider them if your cholesterol numbers are out of whack and can't be corrected with diet, weight loss, etc. The data is pretty convincing that they really do save lives.

I also think the "controversy" is kind of a false one. In the early days some of the statins weren't the best and they were used in higher than needed dosages, but as usual medicine has learned, lowered doses, and found new statins with fewer side effects. All in all, they're pretty benign drugs with solid benefits for the people who got the wrong genes.

Naturally, if you suffer side effects from them as you can from any drug, then you need to reconsider. But there's nothing inherently bad or dangerous about them and they do offer big benefits for some people.

Statins deplete CoQ10 and interfere with vitamin K2 production. Which in turn may lead to Vascular calcifications.
The best cholesterol test is the triglycerides HDL ratio see this link [www.thebloodcode.com]

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Carey



I also think the "controversy" is kind of a false one. In the early days some of the statins weren't the best and they were used in higher than needed dosages, but as usual medicine has learned, lowered doses, and found new statins with fewer side effects. All in all, they're pretty benign drugs with solid benefits for the people who got the wrong genes.

Naturally, if you suffer side effects from them as you can from any drug, then you need to reconsider. But there's nothing inherently bad or dangerous about them and they do offer big benefits for some people.

I dont believe anyone is saying high cholesterol is healthy. But some as myself do question what the one size fits all "High" is. For me it is 250. I have clinically proven this with a catheter scope with stents ready to install, but arteries were clear with some rust. I believe and studies continue to show that lowering your cholesterol artificially to unnatural levels can absolutely be dangerous for some. It was for my Mother who died of a stroke after bragging that statins lowered hers to 145. Fact is and I can verify but too lazy now to search, Stat is the same for high and low cholesterol and mortality rates. "1994 in the British Medical Journal, in an article titled, "Assessing possible hazards of reducing serum cholesterol," researchers found "The only cause of death attributable to low serum cholesterol concentration was haemorrhagic stroke." M R Law, S G Thompson, N J Wald. Assessing possible hazards of reducing serum cholesterol. BMJ. 1994 Feb 5;308(6925):373-9. PMID: 8124144