I have a follow up telephone appointment next week to discuss recent blood test results as requested by GP due to abnormal lipid (triglycerides ) and ferritin levels which have been elevated on a few occasions prior too. Just wondered if any one can interpret them and advise what I might expect in advance, such as medication and possibility of being offered a statin ?
Apart from hypothyroidism of which I am on levothyroxine, menopausal , slightly high blood pressure (on ramipril) I am in my opinion fairly healthy , adopt a good diet , do not drink or smoke, lost some weight ( just over 1 stone ) and active for my age (56)
In my untrained view, excepting the high triglycerides, you are borderline on being offered statins, unless you have a had a known heart event, in which case you will be offered them as secondary prevention. As far as diet is concerned although you say you have a good diet check it against the BHF recommendations on their webpages and see if there is any room for improvement. And you might find below useful for triglyceride management.
Otherwise if you are offered statins my advice is to take them on trial and see how it goes, side effects only affect less than 10% of users and other statins are available should one statin cause problems.
If you are eating a good diet and feel generally healthy it does look like you may require a Statin.Have you been trying a low cholesterol diet or do you eat plant sterols foods daily?
If the answer is yes then you are more likely to require a Statin to help reduce the cholesterol.
If it is offered , ask if you can try Rosuvastatin instead of the usual first offer of Atorvastatin, as that has less side effects and people usually cope on it.
If you have more than one high Ferritin result , does the GP remember that , it might be worth asking ?
If you get high Ferritin results you may have too much Iron in your diet or from supplements, but there could be other health reasons which can also affect your lipid results .
Your should ask your GP whether you should be referred for further tests to rule out causes for your high iron results . If you have a thyroid specialist or Endocrinologist you should tell them about your results and query with them whether you need investigation done into the cause of your high Ferritin results by them or Haematology.
Do you get regular Liver and Kidney Function tests ?
If I were you I'd post these blood results on the Thyroid UK forum asap as well.
There are many very knowledgeable & helpful women, plus a couple of men who honestly do know so much more than most Gp's with regards to cholesterol, thyroid & ferritin etc.
My daughter's hypo & takes levothyroxine & I have hashimoto's so I do know that high cholesterol is quite common amongst those who are hypothyroid.
Sometimes with hypothyroidism not enough t4 is converted to t3 to break down the so called bad cholesterol. Levothyroxine is T4 that has to be converted to t3.
Years ago those with high cholesterol were often tested for hypothyroidism.
I started taking statins in my late 50s and, with a break at the beginning of last year, I have taken them ever since (I am 75 this year) without side effects. I was originally on Simvastatin but changed to Atorvastatin because my GP thought it would control my Tryglycerides better. A consultant I saw over my hypertension medication wasn't too bothered about the Tryglycerides but medicine might have moved on since then. On Atorvastatin my results were between 3 and 4 but when I experimented without it, I had a result of 6.60 . When I went back on it, the figure went down to 3.56. I took a break from the statin to see what would happen and now I know. Also there is virtually no research on statins and elderly people - that will change when two large scale studies, one in Australia and one in the US, report but that won't be for sometime. In my case, I have never had a heart attack nor stroke. Equally, statins don't give me the kind of problems that some people experience but when my result went up to 6.60 that was a little bit of a wake up call because I understand that the risk of acute pancreatitis (a very painful condition) increases progressively above 5.6. You could give statins a try and see what happens. Equally I think that you might defer a decision for a while but in any event I do agree you might post on a thyroid forum. By the way, I understand that Triglyceride figures are very sensitive to alcohol consumption but you don't drink so not a factor in your case.
Your cholesterol levels are not so high for you to start taking statins. With diet control, fruits and vegetables everything should return to normal. These medications come with worrying side effects and should be avoided at all cost.
Further to what Butterfly65 has said, it would be a good idea to make sure your levothyroxine dosage is optimal, as hypothyroidism can cause increased cholesterol.
I have hypothyroidism, and when I was first diagnosed, my cholesterol was high, and my GP wanted me to take statins, but I refused. Six months later (with Levothyroxine treatment) my cholesterol returned to normal.
if it helps this is what AI says, maybe use it as discussion points when you have your doctors appointment.
Lipid Panel (Cholesterol & Triglycerides)
1. Total Cholesterol (5.0 mmol/L) – Within the general target range but could be lower, especially for someone at higher cardiovascular risk.
2. HDL (“Good” Cholesterol) (1.27 mmol/L) – This is a reasonable level, but higher is generally better for cardiovascular protection.
3. Non-HDL Cholesterol (3.7 mmol/L) – This is the total cholesterol minus HDL and represents the more harmful cholesterol types. Ideally, it should be below 3.4 mmol/L, so it’s slightly elevated.
4. Cholesterol/HDL Ratio (3.9) – Generally considered low risk if under 4.0, so this is acceptable.
5. LDL (“Bad” Cholesterol) (2.5 mmol/L) – This is within most standard target ranges (ideally <3.0 mmol/L for general population and <1.8 mmol/L for high-risk individuals).
6. Triglycerides (3.3 mmol/L, Reference: 0.5 - 2.3) – This is elevated, which is a concern as high triglycerides increase cardiovascular risk and can be associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, or excessive carbohydrate intake.
Ferritin (Iron Storage)
• Ferritin (234 µg/L, Reference: 13 - 150) – This is above the reference range, which can indicate iron overload (possible early hemochromatosis), inflammation, liver issues, or even metabolic syndrome. If they have no history of iron supplementation, it might be worth further testing, such as checking transferrin saturation and liver function.
Potential Concerns & Next Steps
• Triglycerides – Could be due to diet (high refined carbs/sugars), alcohol intake, or an underlying condition like insulin resistance. A low-carb Mediterranean-style diet and exercise could help.
• Ferritin – If persistently high, further iron studies (transferrin saturation, serum iron, TIBC) should be done to rule out hemochromatosis or inflammation-related issues.
• Lipid Profile – While cholesterol isn’t severely abnormal, the slight elevation in non-HDL and triglycerides could signal a need for lifestyle modifications.
• Reduce intake of sugar, refined carbs, and alcohol to lower triglycerides.
• Increase omega-3 fatty acids (fatty fish, walnuts) to help lipid profile.
• If overweight, weight loss can help normalize triglycerides and ferritin.
• Consider checking fasting glucose or HbA1c to assess for metabolic syndrome or early insulin resistance.
• If ferritin remains high, consult a doctor to rule out iron overload or liver-related issues.
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