My cholesterol (madubois63)

[madubois63]

I've had my blood work done on a weekly basis for the past several years now, and I didn't know what my cholesterol level was. So I asked my leukemia onc to add that to my CBC a few weeks ago. I finally asked for a copy of my blood work and my cholesterol level is 300 even. I nearly hit the floor. My mom has high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but I take after my dad and have always been under 180. This was a big shock. After a little research, I discovered that steroids raise your cholesterol level. At the time the test was taken I was taking about about 80 mg of prednisone a day (I am down to 30 mg a day now). I have an appointment with a new PCP doc next month, but I think I'll ask my onc to do the cholesterol one more time.

Anyway, my reason for posting this is so that if your freaking out over a test result, check to see if one of your medications might actually be the culprit. Many onc's give steroids as a pre-medication for chemo or Herceptin. Don't forget to list that as a medication that you are taking...