I've read anywhere from 15-25% of people will get worse serum cholesterol test results from LCing (if indeed high cholesterol is 'worse,' which is still a hotly debated claim, not "fact")
Mine went down 50 points (and triglycercides plummeted)--i
think from LCing. Though I simultaneously switched from Coke and Diet Coke to weak black tea (lowers cholesterol, allegedly), took more vitamin pills, and exercised more (lowers cholesterol, allegedly), and, as in any epidemeological evidence, causation between any of these factors and my blood work is impossible to determine. Correlation never equals causation, and the sample of your two friends plus me plus everybody who replied here is not a meaningful sample.
For women over 65, higher cholesterol is correlated with LOWER heart attack risk, not higher, btw...this also says nothing about causal mechanisms, but I always think it's an interesting, apparently often-suppressed fact.
All anyone can do is compare test results over the long LC haul--and if the HDL:triglyceride ratio (the only meaningful number, say many experts) worsens, perhaps it's time to change the WOE. Until each of us has those results, though, there's no reason to worry yet.