Cholesterol and Menopause or is it Menopause and Cholesterol?

So, like, did ya know, like, the two are totally, like, related? They are!

That’s my Valley Girl creeping out.

So, in my family it has been said that high cholesterol runs on the women’s side of my family. Sadly, there is not a lot to go on from the past. All the women from my great grandmother to me, not my sister yet, have had hysterectomies before they were 50. My mom was about 36, my grandma younger, great grandma is unknown. My hysterectomy did NOT send me into menopause, that came almost 10 years later at age 51. 

My mother claims her mother was miserable during menopause and she also claims she doesn’t remember menopause, so I have nothing. 

But all of us have ended up on cholesterol medication, including my sister.  

I spent two years doing all sorts of stuff to lower my cholesterol; hence it is quite ironic that my LDL went up when I stopped drinking red wine. Ugh. Like…UGH. So, I ended up on a statin. 10 mg. 

Now cholesterol meds can give you muscle cramps and such so, unbeknownst to my doctor, I went off my meds to see if there was a correlation. I was off the statin for almost 6 months and the cramps continued so I now blame menopause for those. Please read my article on Voodoo Pains. That is what they are. BUT my doctor was kind of pissed and put me on 40mg because I let my numbers go up. 

While I am in no way an average person, I am average in when I went into menopause (51) so I am hoping to be average as to the length of my menopause (7 years is the average).  

Now it is claimed that our cholesterol “peaks” between 55 and 65 and if menopause plays a role in that, you should get your cholesterol levels checked. As much as I abhor being on medication for the rest of my life, it is keeping this life alive.