Yes Kim it is confusing. The old way of thinking was that "total" cholesterol levels should be lower than 200. They pounded that in us for years. Of course you know the basics of good and bad cholesterol but it's confusing to people what the role of each cholesterol is. HDL (good) and LDL (bad). LDL delivers cholesterol all throughout your body, but when there is some excess it circulates through our body on and on. Over time, LDL changes chemically through oxidation. Oxidation makes the LDL more dense and smaller. Our blood vessels aren't smooth, there's small crevices in them. The oxidized LDL is now small enough to get in to those crevices. Plaque then forms and irritation begins at the site where the plaque has formed. The plaques in addition to irritation which causes swelling, can obstruct blood flow. After time, the plaque can be knocked loose and it could travel to a vital blood vessel that supplies the heart, brain or lungs. Now HDL is a scavenger lipid that eats up the excess cholesterol from the LDLs. As you can see, the more HDL you have in your blood the better. Even if your LDL is within normal range, your low HDL could still cause problems. People with a low HDL are at increased risk of stroke and heart disese. Your low or normal LDL isn't really a factor. Certain cholesterol meds state that they increase HDL and lower LDL as well. Smoking decreases HDL more than anything. Not sure why? I haven't researched it to that level. Exercise is good at lowering cholesterol because it gets your blood pumping and the increased blood flow to the liver helps to get the excess cholesterol out. In theory, someone's LDL could be crazy high but the number would be irrelevant in the case of someone who had extremely high HDL too. It's not about numbers anymore, it's about RATIO more than anything. 

Hi Kim! It was my pleasure to try and help out with my input. I am a Dialysis nurse for a medical company but I'm also a Vascular Nurse for a couple of Vascular Surgeons at a local hospital. And it's so true what you said about some Doctors. They really should be more forth-coming, but some aren't for reasons unknown. The symptoms that you mentioned are pointing towards TIAs. Shortness of breath and light-headedness are symptoms of Anemia but your blood work would've caught it. Since the Doctor didn't mention Anemia showing in your blood work, I'm afraid you're having TIAs. Most people that I speak with who have TIAs say that they have ringing in the ears (as you mentioned), and some say they hear pulsating in their ear (their heartbeat). TIAs cause a "disconnected" feeling in people. Again, another symptom you described. You really are a text-book case of a clogging Carotid artery. When I said it was a ticking time-bomb, I hope I didn't scare you. This bomb could tick another 10 or 20 years before you need possible surgical intervention. In the meanwhile, you will continue to deal with TIAs. TIAs on their own are really harmless but they will get worse and they are frustrating to deal with. It really does suck that you don't have health insurance so you can have this looked into further. I'm so sorry. Hopefully sometime soon our Government will do something about America's Health Care system. Atleast have insurance companies lower their rates where it is affordable. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask. My e-mail is kristian0073@yahoo.com.