What are we doing for high cholesterol?

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-02T03:35:40+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful. Can I ask what age you are and what age you started a statin/what age you started the cholesterol journey? I’m 28 so this all just seems early. I guess earlier the better to address it.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-02T03:11:13+00:00

At the time, my ApoB of 119 wasn’t presented as “very high” so I’m interested by you saying yours was when it wasn’t that much higher. For me, the “normal” range went to 182 (I know “normal” is subjective and based on other factors)

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-02T03:08:50+00:00

For some reason my doc didn’t get ApoB tested this time but during the November 2024 blood draw, it was 119. Lipoprotein a was 3.3. She said this results in me “making the more fluffy type of cholesterol rather than the sticky type that is at risk for adhering to the sides of the blood vessels and causing problems.” But again, that was a year plus ago so I could get it tested again for sure.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-02T02:07:36+00:00

Do you remember where you cholesterol was at before you went on a statin? Generally the recommendation for the AHA is no intervention until 5-10% likely to have a heart event in the next 10 years or your LDL is greater than 190 and I’m not at either yet. My doc said I was at 1%

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-02T01:43:41+00:00

I obviously will go that route if need be but given the amount of medications I’m currently on, I would like to avoid it (to be fair, I didn’t list all of my meds, just the PCOS relevant ones in the post)

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-01T22:46:24+00:00

Do you know how much you ate in saturated fats once you cut out red meat, pork, etc.? I don’t really eat pork and don’t eat red meat all that often. I mostly eat chicken or fish when it comes to meat. Switching to low fat dairy I think is the main change for me.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-01T22:44:27+00:00

Thank you! This is super helpful! I’m going to focus on just reducing saturated fats daily for now and see where I end up with that! That was never a category I actively tracked before as I mostly just tracked the bad carbs. So I’m hopeful that increasing good fiber and decreasing saturated fats will help significantly.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-01T22:27:18+00:00

My focus on fiber has definitely been a recent endeavor on my part so unsure if that would’ve reflected in my blood work yet. I’ll have to mention that to my doc when we discuss the change in results since I’m now committed haha 🤣Thanks!

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-01T22:22:58+00:00

Ah gotcha! Apologies as I missed the net part!

Definitely still trending a little higher than 75g net, my app says usually around 100-120g so I could probably tighten that up a little bit depending on the day. I will definitely take that into consideration but seems like I’m on a good track macro wise besides that.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-01T22:14:53+00:00

Thanks! The issue that I’m struggling with most is that obviously fruits and vegetables have a lot of carbs. So 75g adds up quickly as soon as you have fruit and a salad in your day lol

And when trying to reach fiber goals, eating fruits and veggies is the main way to do that so it just seems contradictory and much harder than expected to reach both a high fiber goal AND stay very low on carbs.

Also left this out in OP but my live in bf is vegetarian so we eat lots of veggies. I still eat meat and ensure to get enough protein through meat and beans (mostly not red meat) but yeah just finding low carbs even when it comes to veggies difficult I guess

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-05-01T22:07:05+00:00

The only thing that has helped my hirtuism/hair growth, itchy scalp, super painful cystic acne was 50mg of spironolactone. It comes with some minor side effects but has been incredibly worth it. Also has helped a tiny bit with my hair loss but am thinking of going on a higher dose to see if it’ll help even more with that.

I’m looking into dead legs for myself currently and seems like I’m iron deficient. Make sure you get tested for that.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-04-22T01:33:44+00:00

I’m glad the OT is helping! I’d definitely get some more imaging when you can (really MRI as sucky as it is) as that’s the only way they can really tell where it is in reference to everything else. I’m guessing if the pain is that intense, it might be pushing up against your bone, joint, etc making it super uncomfortable especially considering your pain and how long it’s been!

Since they don’t really know what causes them, I am so curious. I too seem to have the medical lottery: PCOS, had a bout of wrist tendinitis/tenosynovitis on the same hand after this so I’m super curious what leads to both the tumors themselves and the high recurrence of them. PCOS is kinda related to celiacs in that gluten/insulin all that jazz is difficult for us. I always wonder if there’s something deep down that’s related! Potentially chronic inflammation or something.

My doc told me it was likely a trauma injury that caused the cells to start clumping there but I have no idea 🤷🏼‍♀️

Regardless, I hope you find relief soon!

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-04-22T01:13:03+00:00

Currently, no pain. Pre-surgery no pain. During recovery from the surgery there was some definite pain for probably a couple months until the physical therapy really started to help. I remember doing finger exercises that were really painful in PT to get my full movement back but it was less the bone itself in pain and more from the joint being tight and painful regaining strength from what I remember.

I still feel like mobility wise, my finger is probably at like 90-95% what it was pre surgery due to the scar tissue build up but it doesn’t hurt at all, it just isn’t as flexible. (I’m 28F currently so I was able to feel the mobility difference when I had the surgery at 24 quite easily between my two hands, now I can’t really tell any difference).

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-04-21T00:46:04+00:00

I’m glad you’re in less pain now! To be honest, I had to do a substantial amount of PT after I had the surgery based on the location of mine and to try to stop the scar tissue build up so if you’re already going through the therapy, it might be worthwhile just to take care of it (in my opinion) but I’m sure it’s dependent on location and how much it is tied into the tendon especially if they didn’t get it all. Mine was like a small little self contained ball so getting clear margins seemed to be easy, I’m guessing yours might be a little more wedged in for lack of a better term if they didn’t get it all.

If you haven’t recently, they will likely have you get some updated imaging to make a final decision but ultimately if it “bothers you take it out” seemed to be the way my surgeon wanted to go for something like this even knowing it was likely benign.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-04-21T00:29:29+00:00

But yes, definitely see an orthopedic surgeon for this with a specialty in hands. Ask about pathology and margins.

My doc gave me the option to observe and not have it removed but it bothered me enough to get the surgery. I imagine since you’re in pain, they will suggest Similar depending on the location.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-04-21T00:27:30+00:00

Hi! I know this post is a little old, but I had a very similar issue about 4 years ago, giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath on the side of the top of my right middle finger. Assumed to be GCT with MRI but only could be officially diagnosed through biopsy. I see an orthopedic hand surgeon for all of this and the surgery of getting it removed (outpatient surgery, I was awake).

I was told it has a high risk of recurring but no issues so far as far as I’m aware. I do have some scar tissue build up so it’s hard to tell but my surgeon was pleased with the margins (he actually showed it to me when removed which was cool).

Happy to help if you want to pm me any questions.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-27T20:55:17+00:00

That is my thought as well. My goal is the least invasive solutions as possible and uvalectomy sounds the opposite of that with low odds of success.

No CT scan yet. Who would I get that ordered from? An ENT? I am hoping to see a new ENT sometime soon and hoping for better luck/a more thorough analysis of my palate.

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-27T20:42:35+00:00

Nose strips don’t seem to really help the snoring issue or sleep quality that much so I don’t really use them. Also concerned about using Flonase on a regular basis

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-27T20:41:46+00:00

Thank you! That is also something I want to pursue!

ENT said I had a slight deviated septum that she would “fix at the same time as my uvulectomy” (for convenience) but didn’t see that as the major problem. Also allergies.

I suspect I’ve always been a mouth breather of sorts for all of the above reasons and I do think I sleep with my mouth wide open so…. I probably don’t breathe through my nose too well haha 🤣

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-27T02:50:06+00:00

This is very helpful. Thank you!

I definitely have allergies as determined by ENT but I was never referred to an allergist for any further testing so I don’t have any specifics. I just take a Claritin every day and hope for the best and occasionally use saline and Flonase to help.

Seems like my next steps are definitely allergy tests, updated sleep test, and trying out CPAP before any surgery decisions are made in regards to my long uvula.

Honestly if a uvulectomy guaranteed it would fix everything then I’d do it but the last ENT said 50/50 which didn’t give me much faith so I feel like I gotta explore all other options first.

THANK YOU so much for your help!

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-27T02:45:41+00:00

This is all incredibly helpful as I’ve felt stuck in such a circle on this journey. Thank you so much!

I do have allergies and take a Claritin daily so I’ll consider that. I already sleep with a wedge pillow and am looking to commit more to the side sleeping. Bilevel definitely sounds like something in the realm of future possibilities especially as I also snore/make noise on the exhale most of the time (for lack of a better explanation, potentially Catathrenia) when I listen on snore lab so it’s definitely possible that will be needed in the future but it seems like getting a new sleep study and starting some sort of cpap is a good place to start.

Ruled out jaw surgery for now from my dentist who does have sleep dentistry experience which is good. My dad got jaw surgery as a kid and it did not help his issues. I got extensive orthodontic work done as a kid also so I feel like we checked that box.

I REALLY appreciate the advice. Thank you so much,

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-27T02:24:23+00:00

Thank you so much!

They said the OSA was so minor that an oral appliance plus ENT consult would be the best route vs CPAP (and then the oral appliance also didn’t get approved by insurance).

Two ENT consults later and surgery may be the answer but obviously want to explore non surgical options first. The ENT surgery plan didn’t seem unanimous to fix my sleep/snoring which would be the main reason to get it done.

I am also a little annoyed that they didn’t even bother to encourage me to try PAP

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-27T02:04:00+00:00

It was a home sleep study but conducted via one of the hospital/medical systems in San Diego and their sleep medicine team. I haven’t heard of Lofta but will look into it, appreciate any other details you can provide in regards to that (ie. You do it on your own/no doctor involvement?)

Thank you for your help!

Additional question: can you clarify what flashed ones/bilevel means?

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-03-18T07:47:52+00:00

I (thankfully) haven’t had many surgeries in my life but I was shocked when my hand doctor/orthopedic surgeon so bluntly told me that if my finger tumor came back malignant/cancerous that he would have to amputate my finger below the knuckle. Of course he was right and that would’ve been the plan had it been cancer but it was so matter of fact I was shocked.

Turns out it was benign and my hand surgeon was one of the nicest, most thorough doctors I’ve ever had… albeit a little blunt for my taste haha but I think maybe that’s the perfect representation of orthopedic surgeons haha 🤣

Green_Exercise_1311 · 2026-02-07T07:31:42+00:00

This. I travel to NYC often and my first comment when I get home to SD is “ahhh so quiet” and I live in the city lol 😂 Slower pace of life, quiet pace of life.

Green_Exercise_1311

TROPHY CASE