my cholesterol has come back high ?

hi karoline164, did your levels come down by doing no chocolate or dairy ? 

Frustratingly no jemcamm. I wasn't overweight when I was told 12 months and had another test back in October when it was exactly the same!!! My bmi was around 21 which is good but have since lost around 10lbs and can't afford to loose anymore! Spoke to my doctor about it again yesterday but I'm not a high risk as there has been no history of stroke or heart attacks with my parents who are in their late 80's  . My mother has been on statins for years so the high cholesterol may be inherrited from her but up to now it hasn't affected her. My hdl is only 1.8 and they like it to be above 2.0 so she said to cut down on animal fats. I have a heart murmur so am paranoid that the high cholesterol isn't helping that but there are so many conflicting reports on what levels it should or shouldn't be. 

my aunt has high cholesterol and she start eating oats which is meant to be very good and hers came down but then found out she had intolerance to oats Maybe have a try eating oats and see I have a consultation with my doctors on friday so i would lke to see what they say as like you say there are many conflicting reports and it does worry me 

You may find this link useful that I got from anoter posting on what the recommended levels should be. I've worked out mine and it's not too bad when I divide my good cholesterol into my total one to get an average. That's if I done it right though!  

https://patient.info/health/cholesterol

Karoline, have you been tests and found any cause for your heart murmur?  Mine was found to be caused by a slightly leaking heart valve: the mitral valve.

Had a heart scan 18 months ago but nothing showed up. Seeing the cardiac doctor in the next 3 weeks and possibly having a 24 heart monitor as I have been suffering with so much anxiety over the last few months My heart was racing one evening so was told to go to A and E and now taking 1 x40mgs propanolol daily. Have you had the valve repaired? 

No, at the last check some few years ago now it was found not to have worsened so I'm hoping it just remains stable.  I have heard that the mitral valve is not as easy to repair as the aortic valve. 

Hi MrsO my levels are 5.5 which again like you say this is not that far from 5?? Last year my levels were 7 and got told to eat healthier cut this out cut that out which when i said i dont eat any of those they didnt say anything, ok i do have a binge here and there and i am over weight , I find it very frustrating as im not sure what else i am meant to do to help this 

jemcamm, there are experts out there who would say that 5.5 is nothing to be concerned about, especially if you are female.  They would only be concerned if you were someone who had a family history of heart attacks/strokes in early age or suffered a previous stroke or heart attack yourself, as those people need to keep their cholesterol levels very low.  You've done so well to reduce your cholesterol from 7 to 5.5 (what's the secret?) - now it's just a case of keeping it from going up again, and if I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't have a cholesterol problem myself!

ha i know it is very frustrating, my first test was 7 last 

September which came back on blood test they just said to stop drinking alcohol and eat healthly which i did anyway and i havnt changed a thing from then to be honest i forgot about it until more blood tests and showed 5.5 so cant understand it,  but i have just spoke to my mum and hers were 5 and they put her on statins because of other illnesses, think it just worries me as i am 44 and age is creeping up lol  even though i still think im 24 my aunt also said that she ate oats and hers lowered alot but then found out she had an intolerance to oats so had to stop eating them, im not sure if you tried oats ??

Thanks jemcamm.  Yes I often eat porridge oats for breakfast and I never drink alcohol.  Amazing that your have reduced from 7 to 5.5 without altering anything.  Were your bloods done at the same place each time?  They seem to place great importance on the LDL and HDL readings rather than the total cholesterol.  My HDL is 2.56 and LDL 4.19, so it is the latter that I need to get down.