VERY low cholesterol

[traderrob]

About a month ago I has a partially blocked CA in which they performed an angioplasty and stent. Other than the partial blockage my arteries were fairly clear.

I was put on Lipitor, Plavix. I have put myself on a very strict diet of fruits, vegetables, legumes, wild rice and very lean meat. Absolutely NO trans fats or simple carbs.

I took my total cholesterol reading just to see how I was doing and it was 70! I know it's accurate as I took it 3 times with the same result. My HDL was 29 and triglycerides were 80. This seems too low, is it dangerous?

[micaela27]

how can you take your own cholesterol reading?  did you do a blood draw from your own arm and process the vial yourself with lab equipment you have laying around the basement?

our bodies create cholesterol naturally and continuously, so an individual with abnormally low cholesterol would likely have a problem with the cholesterol synthesis mechanism in their body.  your liver and intestines are major synthesis sites of cholesterol.

your very low fat diet is likely contributing to your low cholesterol reading, but as the regulation mechanism is completely automatic, it's unlikely you are harming your body by going low fat.  some people just naturally have low cholesterol thresholds.  you may be one of them.

a condition called hypocholesterolemia exists and can cause abnormally low blood cholesterol levels.  this is a rather rare disease, though, and isn't well understood.

your best bet is to go to a doctor, get a blood draw, and get a real lipid profile reading.  only then will you be able to tell whether your numbers are a cause for concern or not.

[traderrob]

I used a "First check" home cholesterol test and it gave me the result of 70. I couldn't believe it was that low so I decided if I was going to monitor my cholesterol for many years to come i would go ahead and invest $100 in the "CardioChek" digital cholesterol analyzer. The lowest it goes is 100. It gave me a result of <100. So two totally different test from 2 different manufacturors eleicited a very low result. My cholesterol test from the Doctor (5) weeks ago before I started my diet, excercise and Lipitor was 196. I am presently on the Ornish diet of less than 15% of calories per day derived from fat with supplements of fish oil, co-Q10, arginine, magnesium and vitamin B6.

I took my wifes last night and it was 181.3 so the test appears to be working.

[micaela27]

well i'd say consult a doctor and you'll probably end up tossing out the Lipitor!  

[traderrob]

My thoughts exactly.

[slw182]

Do you suffer from depression by any chance? I have low cholesterol too and someone told me that this study showed some people who are depressed have low cholesterol. I found this to be interesting because I have had depression for years.
It sounds stupid, but who knows.

[traderrob]

No, but I've only been aware of the low cholesterol numbers for three weeks.

[traderrob]

Update:

I had a 1 month post stent appointment with mu cardiologist and like my GP he pooh poohed the idea that my cholesterol could be that low. After some prodding I did get him to order a lipid panel for me to know for sure.

Well low and behold my home tests weren't to far off:

Tot-C 90
LDL-38
HDL-34
Triglycerides 92

The lab tech at the hospital said he had never seen levels that low.

I am on 20mg Lipitor and am trying to get them to drop me to 10mg or even less as I have read several places that exceedingly low cholesterol levels can be even more dangerous then moderately high levels.