Higher fasting blood sugar/cholesterol levels thru the roof...

[reznyu]

Hi There,

I quit smoking cold turkey 103 days ago and am very exited I made it so far as I was a pack/day man for almost 35 years and been trying to quit many times, had many relapses, but finally feel that this one will stick !!!

About a week ago decided to do blood work just to see what is happening with me after I quit smoking. I had the same blood work done 6 and 12 month ago, so I can compare apples to apples. When the results came back I was shocked - my fasting sugar is now 104 vs 95 in previous tests, and cholesterol went from 260ish to 335. I've had 260 for many years and I do know it is pretty high, but 330 does scare me.. Since I quit smocking I gained 9 lb, my BMI is 25.1, so even after gaining weight, I am not really overweight... 

I've tried searching internet, but can't find any meaningful information. Has anyone experienced anything like that?

Thanks a lot  

[reznyu]

OMG, sorry to hear man... Had my blood work come back with 440, I'd be probably smoking 2 packs a day trying to get back to where I was. Will redo the blood work tomorrow to rule out any mistakes and if it comes back the same, will be closely monitoring BS....  Thanks for your help!

[DavesTime]

This is not encouraging.  I've had high fasting BS for several years (~113-116), but when I went in for my annual physical the first week of September it was 123!  I immediately started radically reducing my sugars and carbs, have lost 22 pounds since then (I was never obviously majorly overweight), have joined a gym and have been working out--and I quit smoking (100 days tomorrow!).  Since September I have been taking my glucose readings several times a day.  Guess what?  My BS readings are completely inconsistent.  It seems they are even higher after I've worked out.  And now I hear that quitting smoking can screw around with glucose levels.  I'm not going back to smoking, but it seems I can't win!

[reznyu]

100 days - that's a great milestone to celebrate!!! I have my eyes on 150 days now...  

Are you taking BS reading when you wake up (before working out)? If you are - are they generally higher than 123 from September, lower or mostly the same? 

[sweetplt]

Hi And Welcome to EX...so happy to see your quit, but not happy that you are having health issues.  I would contact a Doctor and ask advice on what to do in order to get the problems resolved.  (ie., special diet, increasing exercise, etc., )

Keep the Quit and Congratulations...Colleen aka sweetp

[reznyu]

Phew, just got new blood work results back and feel much better now. Blood sugar is 100, still higher than it was before quitting, but not too bad, hoping it normalizes in a few months. Cholesterol is almost back to my normal high (260ish): not sure what was the problem - laboratory messed up or possibly I ate something high in cholesterol before doing the test, but am glad it is resolved. I read somewhere that quitting smoking frequently results in having higher "good" cholesterol - mine went up almost 10%. Planning to do another test after being 6 months smoke free.. Just a bit over 2 months to go  

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Glad you feel more comfortable with the new results.   

[elvan]

I have always had relatively high cholesterol, it runs in my family.  I have been told that if I go to a gluten free, sugar free diet that it will probably go down.  I saw a cardiologist because my primary care doc was really concerned that my last cholesterol was 260, it had previously been 220 and they didn't like that one either.  I have been quit for close to five years...I am not a fan of statins or any other medications, I have too many to take now because of my rheumatoid arthritis and my COPD.  I am thinking about it.  The cardiologist said he did not think it was diet related since I am thin...he feels it is purely genetic.  I work out regularly so that is also not a factor. 

Congratulations on your great quit!

Ellen