I am 6 months post radiation and doing great. I even survived the spicy food on our recent trip to Senegal! However, I had my yearly physical on Monday and found out my cholesterol was 273. I am still only 95 pounds and have low blood pressure (I run 4-5 times per week). My diet has been interesting since losing my taste. I have always been a healthy eater, but post radiation have just tried to eat whatever went down well (like ice cream and pudding) to things I can begin to taste (like blue cheese and fresh berries). My doctor plans to recheck it in 3 months since I've never had this before, but I wondered if anyone else has had a sudden spike in cholesterol during their recovery? Thanks!

I found mine went up cos I had no taste except for sweet stuff and got a bit carried away with the eating! I still can't taste a lot but I have curbed the sweet eating and exercise 5 times a week. I'm two years out and it's back to normal....recovery is very up and down but you get there!

Jayne

Hi Teach Karen,

I had just the opposite happen! I have cardio vascular disease and had high cholesterol and triglycerides since I can remember. Losing 65lbs from last Fall when all this started had one major benefit. My levels are completely normal and I'm even off my BP meds! While I have to be prudent concerning what I eat, I've been enjoying ice cream and things like bacon and sausage since I ended treatment with no effects on my blood work.

Definitely keep an eye on that! You don;t want to beat this beast and end up with heart issues.

Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"

Karen, I ate anything in sight for the first year and my cholesterol spiked too. I had four cheese lasagna with sausage even. Then I went to work for a sausage company. It took years to get it back down. The LDL should be below 100 because of the damage to the carotids and potential problems from plaque there.

My HDL went up to 202, which is not bad I guess, but was usually low at 150. My LDL is low at 28, and ratio is high at 8.1. Triglycerides are 251. I probably didn't fast for my blood test, as usual lol. I'm not worried, compared to everything else going on, and I don't know about all the cholesterol hype, which sounds like fuzzy math.

My cholesterol was ok after all 3 rounds of OC.

This is one of those examples where everyone is different. Does a diet high in dairy have anything to do with the high cholesterol?

total cholesterol is not a terribly good measure of health as it is made up of HDL and LDL. HDL is good and LDL is bad.

If your total cholesterol has gone up because your HDL has gone up, this is not a problem and may even be a good thing if your LDL is still within range. The problem is if your LDL has also gone up. A more accurate measure is your ratio where a high HDL will offset increases in LDL. Ask your doctor what the individual measures are and if he or she thinks you have an issue. Triglygerides should also be measured and high readings are not good. However, a non-fasting reading is not terribly reliable and should only be cause for a re-test not concern.

Even so, this is something to keep in the back of your mind for when you are in a position to do something about it. The most important thing right now is to normalise your weight ensure you are getting adequate nutrition. You can worry about the balance later.

Thanks everyone for your input. I will be retested in 3 months and in the mean time, I am making sure I eat well, not just what I can taste!