**AmyG**
Can you talk to me about breastfeeding and cholesterol levels?
I went in for my annual physical with my internist (now former, for several reasons arising out of that visit) in March, when DS was 2.5 months old. He was very concerned about the increase in my cholesterol over the previous year and had me all freaked out.
When I got home and calmed down from the many things that upset me about that visit (the man knows nothing about "normal" postpartum), I remembered my OB (prior to switching to a midwife) talking about cholesterol necessarily rising during pregnancy. A little research on my part showed that this to be true, and that in the postpartum period cholesterol remains elevated for a period, particularly if breastfeeding. My cholesterol level from March was perfectly within what is considered "normal/acceptable" for pregnancy and postpartum/breastfeeding.
I got a call the other day from the doctor's office because he had wanted me to come back in 6 months to have my cholesterol rechecked. I won't be going back to see him, so I am ignoring that. However, next week I will be going to see a new internist, and I am going to be asking him to run bloodwork for several reasons (including some questions about my thyroid). DS is now 9 months old and I am still nursing. He is eating solids, but we are taking those slowly. No formula or anything like that. I'm curious about how long cholesterol typically remains elevated while nursing and/or how long it takes postpartum or after weaning for cholesterol levels to return to normal so that I know whether I should tell the new doctor to "skip" screening my cholesterol right now (or at least "skip" talking to me about it if it's elevated but still normal for a nursing woman), since it has become incredibly obvious that the average doctor knows nothing about the effects of pregnancy and nursing on these things.
Thanks!
Re: **AmyG**
Thanks for your input.
My reading in March wasn't extremely high - like I said, it was well within the "normal" range for pg/bfing that I found in my research, and the good/bad ratio was just fine. I'm 30, no other risk factors - unless the doctor puts up a real fight, I think I'll skip it.