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FWIW, I am on statins and my cholesterol is 131 (down from a high of 260). But all they did was lower my LDL a lot. They do nothing to increase HDL or lower triglycerides. My HDL is very low. My Triglycerides are quite high.

I started on the statins, along with beta blockers and Plavix, because I had a clogged artery and a heart attack. I had emergency angioplasty and stent placement.

I am male, was a smoker (I quit in the hospital ICU ward and never lit one since my release).

I do get blood tests regularly now, my liver numbers are high because of all the medication. It is a concern for me but not my cardiologist. Without boring you with too many other details, I think the cliche “diet and exercise” is right. My diet is good, but I don’t exercise hardly at all. I spend 8 hours a week in the car driving to and from work, and work 10 hours a day, I just don’t squeeze in time on the bicycle which I should do. 30 minutes 3-4 days a week raising my heart rate on an exercise bike would probably fix the remaining issues for me, and everyone, by raising my LDL They might even allow me to get off the statins.

I guess it will be my new years resolution. Come back to me in June and I’ll let you know if I did it and if it worked :-)

My doctor didn’t even address the exercise route. I did try walking during the two months between my first and second blood tests, but not very regularly.

During that time my HDL went up, my TG dropped 20 points and my LDL went up. Doesn’t make sense.

Anyway, I bought a planner and am now tracking what I do, when, and how much. At least I’ll be able to ward off any serious objections on his part when I can show him that I AM taking this seriously. It’s not that I’m just refusing to take the medication.

My diet is not great, but that’s nothing I can do anything about right now. If he rags on me about it, I’ll challenge him to do more in finding out what I’m reacting to and see if there’s something that can be done about it.