re: Should I be worried about my cholesterol?

muscle aches for sure

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What’s the sub categories of your LDL look like? LDL-pattern A (big fluffy, low risk) and pattern B (small dense, atherogenic). Doctors like to lump these two together without seeing the whole picture. If you’re eating a lot of meat then your LDL-A is probably higher. If you’re eating a lot of processed foods and sugar, LDL-B is probably higher

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This.

Particle size & number is a more accurate predictor. To get that, request a NMR lipid panel.
You want large, 'fluffy' particles of cholesterol.
You don't want small, dense particles. Its those small dense particles that bore into the inner layer of the arteries that cause build up of pimple-like lesions which erupt like a volcano that has the potential to cause blockage.

To take it even further, get the Cleerly heart scan. Its a fairly new test for heart disease and is starting to catch on.

The standard lipid panel test are outdated and not as accurate.

There are good carbs and there are bad carbs
There are good fats and there are bad fats.
There is good 'clean' protein and bad 'dirty' protein.

Cut the sugar, and its in a lot of processed foods, colas, sodas, sports drinks. Big food hides it under many different names.
Why?
Because they know that sugar is highly addictive and makes our bodies want more, more of their junk.

Cut crappy fat, trans fats and refines vegetable/seed oils are garbage.
Get good healthy fats from fish(not fried), avocados, nuts, seeds...

Statins? Beware. A cardiologist put me on the them(10mg Lipitor) and I felt like I was with a truck. Muscle soreness and joint aches.
The side effects out weigh the benefits, if there are any.
Do your own research on statins and their side effects.

Peter Attia has a ton on this and what can be done with and without pharmaceuticals. It’s one of his “four Horsemen” and the take-home message is it’s one of the easiest ones to completely eliminate.

He’s a big fan of testing apoB but once you know if your apoB and cholesterol are concordant, all the same rules apply.

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To take it even further, get the Cleerly heart scan.

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This. It takes almost all of the guesswork out of it. Cleerly + Apo-B will give you way more info than guessing at the relevance of cholesterol numbers. I predict Cleerly will be dominant in less than 5 years - and will make CAC obsolete.

Repeat: if statin, start at no higher than 5mg. Also, if you want to invest in a genetic + epigenetic test, that can help your doc dial in which from the buffet of statins would be most appropriate for you specifically. Doc might also have you take ezemetibe as well.

If you're going to go the statin route, and your doctor prescribes 20mg, ask to drop that down to 5mg and have your blood work done a month or so down the road. Doctors tend to be heavy handed on the statin dosages.

I went from 240 to 160 on a 20mg dose then went down to 5mg and I'm consistently at 180.

what was your creatinine level - NOT CREATINE.....