Report Builder Changing Variable Type

I am using the report builder and writing my own SQL queries. I have added my own column in the query, and under "Format Results" -> "Format", it lists the variable types and defaults it to a string. I click into the options, and choose Integer (The column/variable I added in the query uses a CASE/WHEN to check a condition on another variable, and set it to an integer of 0..5). After I change the variable type to an integer and save the report, it changes it back to a string.

I need to get the variable as an integer, as I want to make a graph, and graph the column by sum (The variable needs to show up in the graph editor under the "Add lines or bar segments from numeric measures" section).

Thanks!