Blood Work - High Cholesterol - High Triglycerides - Low Testosterone

[Iron Man]

I am new to the forum and need some help here...

I am a male and turning 40 this year. I am very much into bodybuilding, exercise full body workouts 4X a week (broken up into an am/pm routine so workouts are around 25 minutes in length) and have a good diet. Food wise, we avoid GMO, processed foods and avoid the take out foods (most of the time). I drink mostly water with the occasional Coke. I very rarely drink alcohol, do not smoke and do not take any drugs of any kind (including pharmaceutical). Doctor I recently saw at my last check up asked if I were taking anabolics, to which I said NO (and I never have).

With turning 40, I requested some blood work to be done and was shocked with the results. Cutting a long story short, I have really high cholesterol, through the roof triglycerides and low testosterone. I am at a loss on what the issue is. I exercise frequently and take care of myself. Here are the results...

Chemistry (serum)

Sodium - 140 mmol/L ( Reference range - 135 - 145 )
Potassium - 4.7 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.5 - 5.5 )
Chloride - 103 mmol/L ( Reference range - 135 - 145 )
Bicarbonate - 26 mmol/L ( Reference range - 20 - 32 )
Anion Gap - 11 mmol/L ( Reference range - 5 - 15 )

Ca (corr) - 2.46 mmol/L ( Reference range - 2.10 - 2.55 )
Phosphate - 1.2 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.8 - 1.5 )

Urea - 7.2 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.0 - 8.0 )
Urate - 0.37 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.20 - 0.50 )
Creatinine - 81 umol/L ( Reference range - 60 - 110 )
eGFR - >90 ( Reference Range - >59 )

Fast Glucose - 5.2 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.6 - 6.0 )

Total Protein - 79 g/L ( Reference Range - 66 - 83 )
Albumin - 51 gL ( Reference Range - 39 - 50 )
Globulin - 28 g/L ( Reference Range - 20 - 39 )
T Bilirubin - 11 umol/L ( Reference range - 4 - 20 )
ALP - 78 U/L ( Reference Range - 35 - 110 )
AST - 33 U/L ( Reference Range - 10 - 40 )
ALT - 55 U/L ( Reference Range - 5 - 40 )
GGT - 39 U/L ( Reference Range - 5 - 40 )
LDH - 203 U/L ( Reference Range - 120 - 250 )

Cholesterol - 8.8 mmol/L ( Reference range - 3.9 - 5.5 )
Triglyceride - 7.8 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.6 - 2.0 )
HDL - 1.07 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0.90 - 1.50 )
LDL - ( Reference range - 0. 0 - 4.0 )
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio - 8.2 ( Reference range - 0. 0 - 4.5 )

Haemolysis Index - 15 ( Reference Range - 0 - 40 )

Comments on Lab - Suggested optimal treatment targets for patients are:
LDL Cholesterol - <2.0 mmol/L
HDL Cholesterol - >1.00 mmol/L
Triglycerides - <1.5 mmol/L

Triglycerides exceed 4.5 mmol/L. This prevents calculation of the LDL cholesterol level.

Measured LDL Cholesterol

Measured LDL Cholesterol - 3.6 mmol/L ( Reference range - 0 - 4.0 )

Comments on Lab - This LDL has been measured directly. A calculated LDL level using the Friedewald equation was not valid for this sample as the triglyceride level was >4.5 mmol/L

Androgens

Testosterone - 7.6 nmol/L ( Reference Range - 11.0 - 40.0 )

Anaemia Profile

Iron - 22 umol/L ( Reference Range - 5 - 30 )
TIBC - 62 umol/L ( Reference Range - 45 - 72 )
Saturation - 35% ( Reference Range - 20 - 55 )
Ferritin - 242 ug/L ( Reference Range - 25 - 220 )

Comments on Lab - Mildly elevated ferritin. This may be seen in any acute illness, early iron overload, treated haemochromatosis, chronic disease states, eclampsia and hepatic disease.
In iron overload serum iron increases and TIBC falls. Both iron and TIBC may fall in chronic diseases states.

On the lab report, there were a few results from the last two tests I had done 10 and 11 years ago;

2004 -
Cholesterol - 5.5 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 3.9 - 5.5 )
Triglyceride - 2.0 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 0.6 - 2.0 )
HDL - 1.1 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 0.9 - 1.50 )
LDL - 3.5 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 0.0 - 4.0 )
Chol / HDL Ratio - 5.0 ( Reference Range - 0.0 - 4.5 )

2005 -
Cholesterol - 5.2 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 3.9 - 5.5 )
Triglyceride - 2.3 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 0.6 - 2.0 )
HDL - 1.2 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 0.9 - 1.50 )
LDL - 2.9 mmol/L ( Reference Range - 0.0 - 4.0 )
Chol / HDL Ratio - 4.3 ( Reference Range - 0.0 - 4.5 )

During 2004/2005, I was in worse shape than what I am in now. Diet was not good, I was a little overweight and in 2004 I actually had a virus. Those results seem better than the latest and I would say that now I am watching everything I eat. What on earth is going on??

Supplements consumed daily - I take iodine (Iosol drops), selenium, D3 (5,000 IU), A (25,000 IU), K-2, Krill oil (500mg), R-Lipoic Acid (200mg), Acetyl L Carnitine (1,000mg), Curcumin, Resveratrol, Quercetin, Fibroboost, Boron, MSM powder (8g), Silica, Copper, Zinc (15mg), Chromium, Vitamin B, Vitamin C (3g), Immune Boost, Magnesium Citrate

I want to get my cholesterol and triglycerides down fast... I want to get my testosterone levels up. Doctor wants me to try some natural things first and get more tests done in 6 weeks. If there is no sign of improvement, then I think he is hinting at statins (which I do not want to do).

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[tara]

Renky

Some of us here thought we were taking good care of ourselves till we found Peat's viewpoint, which sometimes looks quite different. Hope you find sth here that helps. I'd recommend reading or listening to Peat's articles and interviews - they are complex and counter to many common health-related messages, and it take some of us a few readings to develop a picture of how he sees things, but worth the effort.

If you want ideas, maybe you could give us some more info - if you want.
Did you get any thyroid lab results along with those?
What are your resting temps and pulse like?
What are you eating?
Have you been pushing yourself very hard with your training?

My understanding from reading Peat and here and other places is that high cholesterol often occurs when the body is having trouble converting the cholesterol to all the other needed hormones (incl testosterone) for which it is a substrate. This can happen when thyroid function (base metabolism) is on the low side and/or when there are dietary deficiencies creating rate limits for the conversions, or other stresses interfering. I don't know if this applies to you, but chronic overexercise is one possible way to make this happen. I think cholesterol may rise in response to some kinds of stresses, and it can have some anti-stress effects. Others may well understand and explain this better than me.

Peat has an article on his site about resveratrol that has convinced me not to use it. viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1316
He is cautious about large synthetic vit-C supplementation, partly because of manufacturing impurities, and MSM because is not convinced it is always safe.
He says too much iodine can be a problem as well as too little, and that many people are better off not supplementing it.
He usually recommends seafood for selenium and oysters specifically for zinc and liver for vit-A and other vitamins and minerals.
Krill oil is mostly PUFA - see his Fish Oil Experiment article. http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/fishoil.shtml
He has suggested we generally get enough boron from plant food.

He has in some circumstances recommended vit-A , B-vits, D3, magnesium (but not usually citrates, I think).

Good idea to try other things before considering statins. Using statins to lower cholesterol has lots of downsides, eg lowering CoQ10. They do lower cholesterol, but it is not clear that they do anything good wrt mortality for most people. If you lower cholesterol by means other than aiding it's conversion to other hormones, you risk exacerbating hormone imbalances, amongst other things. I think if you hunt here you will find safer suggestions for lowering cholesterol.

 

[Dezz]

I've read on this forum carnitine is a strong thyroid inhibitor. That would cause problems with your metabollic rate. viewtopic.php?f=75&t=3638&hilit=carnitine

 

[Iron Man]

Hi Tara,

Thanks for the welcome and response.

With training, I am certain that I did over-exercise as I felt that I flogged my adrenals and may have gone into a more catabolic type state. I ended up taking 3 full weeks off and feel so much better for it. During the 3 weeks off, I reassessed my training and am doing it differently now to avoid burnout again.

My Thyroid levels are -
T4 - 14.9
TSH - 1.2

My dad has high cholesterol and suffered this all his life. At one stage his cholesterol got so high that the Doctor outright warned him he was amazed he was still alive. I think my dad then went on statin drugs and his levels stayed ok.

Meals -

Breakfast - 1 cup of oats, with milk + raisins + 1 grated apple + natural Greek yoghurt
Coffee
All natural whey powder

Morning tea - Cottage cheese + small handful of almonds

Lunch - Usually left over Stir fry, Curry, Meat and Vegetables, Soup, pasta or a grilled ham and cheese sandwich
All natural whey powder

Afternoon tea - Cottage cheese + small handful of almonds

Dinner - Stir fry, Curry, Meat and Vegetables, Soup, pasta ( depends on what we are eating)

With our foods, we avoid transfats, canola cooking oils, steroids in meat, GMO etc. I even try to take it easy on sugars. I limit chips and cookies as well.

I typically try and fast 12 hours then until Breakfast time.

My job is an office job.

Not sure what else to add... Thanks again.

 

[marsaday]

Did you have any more of the male signal hormones tested - FSH and LH ? LH should be higher i think if testosterone is low as this is the signal saying make more testosterone. FSH is the signal for sperm production. It would be good to get a sperm sample done if you can as this also helps identify if you have some problems.

Thyroid hormones will help increase testosterone. Your FT4 number is a little low and the TSH is in range, but wants to be around 0.5. You ideally need to get FT3 measured and the thyroid antibodies. I am a thyroid patient and when i went onto thyroid meds my testosterone came up.

Antidepressants crash testosterone, have you been on these at all ?

Cholesterol is the raw material for steroid production. It is usually higher in people with a low functioning thyroid and is a good indicator for this problem. It comes right down on thyroid treatment.

You do not mention how you feel physically ? Is everything fine apart from the bloods ?

Another good indicator of thyroid health is the waking temp. It wants to be 36.6C or higher when you wake up and 37C in the day. Under active thyroid patients have much lower body temps.

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks for your responses.

Acetyl l Carnitine is bad? I take this with R-Lipoic acid and thought it was good?

With my blood work, I think that is all that they tested for with my thyroid. I called the Doctor's office yesterday and asked for the thyroid results. That was all they gave me...

I feel mostly ok. I am in the best shape of my life if you were to look at me. Body fat is the lowest it has been in a long time and I have the most amount of muscle that I have ever had (49"-50" chest/back measurement - 18"arms etc). I am still looking to trim a bit off the mid section so that I can see my abs a little better. I wake up feeling like I could sleep a bit longer. Last night I hit the sack at 11:30pm and woke up at 6am. Kind of felt it was not enough sleep. Lately I have felt a little groggy... I have also felt a bit like my glands in my neck are sore (weirdest feeling - comes and goes and I am not totally sure it is my glands)?
About 5 or so weeks ago I was feeling pretty average. I felt worn out and sleep was poor. I had a hard time with weightlifting and was not sure that I was recovering well from the weight sessions. I suspected adrenal fatigue, so I stopped and rested for 3 weeks. I put that down to lack of sleep and way too high a volume with weight training. I am now back into the weights again, but have significantly changed how I do it.

For a while there I seemed to have trouble sleeping, but am currently trying elevated bed (where you elevate the head end of the bed 6" and this seems to have helped a lot. I still wake up once a night at about the same time to visit the bathroom (not sure if that is normal or not).

I am kind of an anxious person by nature, but I take Ashwaganda and feel this has helped me a lot with stress levels. I am also learning to manage my thoughts etc.

I used to have chronic reflux (where I was on Prilosec continuously), but have sorted that out by taking Brocomax (broccoli extract). I have not touched Prilosec in 4-5 years now. I also used to suffer bad dandruff and rosacea and feel that I fixed this when I started taking Resveratrol - Quercetin - Curcumin.

My tongue has the white stuff on it and also has ridges around the outside. I may be totally wrong, but a number of years ago, someone advised this was a sign of liver issues?

I am not sure what else to report... I am desperate to get my triglycerides and cholesterol down and testosterone up. The cholesterol and triglycerides scare me at the moment.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Iron Man]

I don't take any anti-depressants. I am generally a positive/upbeat person... I actually do not take any prescribed medication of any sort.

I was taking 5mg - 10mg of DHEA for a while there, but my sister inlaw (A Doctor) freaked out and said stop taking this, because it messes with your hormones.

I will try and take my waking temp tomorrow morning... Thanks.

 

[Iron Man]

I am starting to wonder if I have overdosed on Iosol Iodine... I was taking 9 drops a day and before that a fair bit more. Thanks.

 

[tara]

TSH 1.2 may be a little higher than optimal, but not bad compared with many of us. Peat generally favours under 1 (and pref under 0.4).

IIRC, stress and alcohol can raise cholesterol and/or triglycerides.
Overtraining might be a key contributor?
If you have been undereating to get extra lean, that could be another relevant stress.
I think biotin and vit K may be relevant supplements - I think Haidut has some related posts.

Good that you are avoiding canola oil. A lot of us here take seriously our attempts to get PUFA intake as low as practical. Coconut oil and butter are better - highly saturated - options.

Peat does not favour whey powder - to high a tryptophan ratio. You could consider switching out the whey powder for milk or milk powder. He also favours sugar as a major energy source - esp from fruit/juice and milk because they bring along helpful minerals and in the case of milk, good protein too.

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks again...

I am a teetotaler, and rarely have a drink. If I do, I may have one glass of port/wine or a light beer once every 6-12 months. I just never got into drinking, so I just don't do it.

I wonder if the over training / lack of sleep and burnout is a part of it as well?

Would overdosing on Iodine raise the thyroid levels? Would this then impact my triglyceride and cholesterol levels?

Looking at medical sites with documented research, they seem to be saying that to drop cholesterol and triglyceride levels fast, fish oil and psyllium husk powder are the most proven natural methods... I am willing to do this for the sake of getting these numbers down in a hurry in the short term.

In the long term, I need to work out what is going on with my inner mechanicals to drive these levels up and testosterone down. I just cannot work it out (not that I am a medical or science whiz or anything).

Does this all come back to liver and how it processes fats?

With the whey powder, I take an all natural whey (no added sugars, no fructose, nothing artificial). i pay more for it, but once again I prefer to stay away from junk...

 

[tara]

I've never got into drinking alcohol either, I just know it's common.

Yes, overtraining, alack of sleep and burnout sound like likely suspects. If you've been avoiding sugar, that might be in there too.

After reading Peat, I consider whey protein to be junk compared to the whole milk proteins, because it's higher in tryptophan. http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/trypt ... ging.shtml

If you've been strictly avoiding sugars, a bit of added sucrose or fructose may do you more good than harm.

Higher than optimal TSH usually means lower than optimal thyroid hormones.

Cholesterol can increase in response to stress - it can be protective. Best to lower cholesterol by improving nutrition and reducing stress.

I would not eat the fish oil - read that article. The psyllium husks probably have a mix of beneficial and not so effects. I expect it would slurp up whatever is in the gut and carry it out, which is what the raw carrot salad many here eat, or the charcoal some use occasionally, is also supposed to do - it helps prevent absorption of estrogen and endotoxin from the gut. It may also be a bit rough on the gut on the way through.

Peat's take on things often differs from both mainstream and common alternative views. It's worth reading a bit to see how he approaches things.

 

[Iron Man]

I sent my results to a Pathologist and this was their comments;

Most of all your blood tests are within normal range. The lipid profile is really elevated.

One thing I would like to clarify. Did you fast at least 12 hours prior to getting the test done. Ideally you should have your normal routine diet for a week or so and the night before the test, after dinner do not eat anything till the blood is drawn for the test. Your diet has a significant effect on lipid profile. Cholesterol and triglycerides will be high if you have been having fatty food, fried food, lots of nuts etc.

If your diet is normal, do you have a family history of high cholesterol. Familial hypercholesterolemia is a known condition.

Other reason could be that with all the exercise and body building you are having a high calorie diet, maybe more than needed and that is seen as raised cholesterol and triglycerides.

A high calorie diet or family history could explain these elevated results. If both are not there, I would say get the test repeated and if they are still raised, your doctor has to look into other diseases which may be causing this. It is highly unlikely that an error was made in testing or there was a mixup of the blood sample, but is rarely possible. A repeat test again would help.

 

[marsaday]

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/iodine12345/

Have a read about iodine. Too much and it interferes with TPO production which is an enzyme which helps make the hormones. That is why i said to get your antibodies tested as if they are raised it indicates you have hashis, which is an autoimmune thyroid issue. Too much iodine can possibly start this problem off. IF you have hashis it is a pain to treat.

Low heart rate and low body temps indicate low thyroid function. Many people have low thyroid function and don't know it. Diet can help, but after you have optimised a diet for better thyroid health you may need to use thyroid hormones. Before you can determine this, however, you need more blood testing done for the thyroid.

 

[Iron Man]

Ok... I took my resting temperature as soon as I woke up this morning (had the thermometer beside the bed for when I awoke) and the temperature came out to be 97.376 deg F ( 36.32 deg C ). I took the temp as as soon as my eyes opened basically and still lying down.

Does this mean anything? Thanks!

 

[Iron Man]

Marsaday - Thanks for that link... I believe in taking Iodine, but suspect that I have been taking too much. I take Iosol brand. I think I should only be taking about 3-4 drops daily? Up until recently I have been taking 9-14 drops daily...

 

[tara]

Ok... I took my resting temperature as soon as I woke up this morning (had the thermometer beside the bed for when I awoke) and the temperature came out to be 97.376 deg F ( 36.32 deg C ). I took the temp as as soon as my eyes opened basically and still lying down.

Does this mean anything? Thanks!

Slightly low but not by much, consistent with slightly low metaboism, but averaging several waking readings would be stronger evidence than just one. If you measure a gain and hour or so after breakfast, that can give more info.

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks Tara...

Will do... I will have another go tomorrow morning and then again after breakfast.

If is is a bit on the low side, how does this relate to testosterone, high cholesterol and mega high triglycerides?

Just wondering where this is all pointing and what I can do about it.

Thanks...

 

[Iron Man]

I took my temperature again this morning and here it is -

97.43 degF (36.35 degC)

One hour after getting out of bed and after some breakfast - 97.77degF (36.54 degC)

Before lunch - 97.66 degF (36.48 deg C)
After lunch I took three readings - 97.50 degF (36.39 degC), 98.15 degF (36.75 degC) and 97.79 degF (36.55 degC).

Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[marsaday]

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/temperature/

IT seems your waking temp is 36.3C, which is the main way to find out overall thyroid function. It is lower than you would like, but not terrible. If it was down around 36C that would be low.

However in the day your temp also fails to come up to the normal working temp. It should get to 37C by lunchtime and stay there until the early evening and then tail off to goo cooler in the evening. This is the normal curve of our bodies temperature.

Also the temps are a little unstable, indicating adrenal problems.

I have linked to a good article on temperature.

Here is a link to cholesterol as well: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/temperature/

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks Marsaday,

I will read those articles... So adrenals and thyroid is an issue for me.

I guess I am really hoping for someone to give me some options on a way forward. I kind of have a deadline ( 6 -8 weeks ) with the Doc, so I am hoping to start fixing this urgently, or at least show signs of improvement...

Thanks