First post: everything improved except my cholesterol

2026-09-17 08:38

Hi, I'm Terri — 34, I do patient intake over the phone for a telehealth company, so I hear about other people's labs all day and still managed to get caught off guard by my own. April is when the tracking got serious — food, sleep, steps, labs, all of it — after my doctor kept using the word "borderline" about my A1c.

Slow and steady since, nothing dramatic.

The confusing part is my cholesterol went up while everything else went down, and my NP basically shrugged and said it happens sometimes. Is that actually a real thing, or should I be pushing back on it? Been lurking about a month, figured it was finally time to say hi.

2026-09-17 09:36

LDL jump after weight loss isn't rare. Mine went 105→138 while trigs dropped 160→90. ApoB was the number that actually helped me track the trend.

2026-09-18 03:58

Same here, but mine settled by week 20. Did you lose fast? Rapid fat loss can temporarily raise LDL in some people.

2026-09-18 04:51

No apoB yet, just standard panel. I'm asking because my LDL did the opposite—dropped with more fiber and less cheese.

2026-09-18 07:05

I had nearly identical numbers at my 12-week mark: A1c 5.8 to 5.4, trigs down, LDL up about 30%. My doctor wasn't worried, but I wanted data.

I tracked food for two weeks and saw saturated fat crept up from 12g to 28g/day, mostly cheese and coconut oil. Cut back, LDL came down 22 points in six weeks.

Not saying that's your case—just one variable.

My trig/HDL ratio improving lined up with my other numbers, but I don't know if that means much. What's your waist trend?

2026-09-18 09:34

My trig/HDL ratio improved before LDL moved. Took about 5 months for LDL to follow.

2026-09-18 14:21

Are you eating more fat overall? I've read weight loss can mobilize stored fat and skew lipids short-term.

2026-09-21 18:15

Following. Nine weeks of tracking logs here and the same weirdness keeps showing up.

2026-09-22 17:24

The fasting glucose stuck around 100 for me too. Sleep and late dinners mattered more than I expected. What's your bedtime look like?

2026-09-24 05:26

I'd kill for your trigs. Mine are still 130. Did you cut alcohol or just carbs?

2026-09-24 15:21

Cut alcohol first, then refined acrbs. Trigs went 170→88 in ten weeks. LDL stayed flat until I added more olive oil and nuts. I know some people see LDL rise on low-carb, but mine didn't. The confusing part is how much individual response varies. Have you tried a CGM?

It won't explain LDL, but it helped me see my fasting number was mostly dawn effect.

2026-09-24 16:21

Dawn effect is real. My fasting is 15 points higher at 7am than 10am.