Interaction with other meds

[Chic27]

Anyone take statins with Thyroxine? Just been prescribed Atorvastatin 10mg daily two weeks ago and had a terrible nose bleed last night. When I look at side effects chart it is a common side effect but pharmacist says no. Doctor said it was ok to take with Thyroxine - any advice?

[shaws Administrator]

I would say No. Don't take statins. High cholesterol is a clinical symptom of hypothyroidism and it reduces itself when on an optimum dose of levothyroxine. Levo makes our metabolism rise (hypo means slow, so it slows everything down).

A link plus the comments on cholesterol whilst hypo.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

[shaws Administrator]

Another link:

saga.co.uk/health/medicines...

[Heloise]

Do you feel you need a statin drug which has so many downsides? It lowers your level of co-q-10 which is important for the heart. Some have other muscle issues from it. My nephew was put on it and immediately suffered pancreatitis. If it is because of very, very high cholesterol and you have heart disease, it may be necessary but if it is only because you are hypothyroid, you should address your thyroid levels instead. In the U.S. it is called Lipitor and recently found to cause diabetes in some patients. Think about it.

[Chic27]

Thank you for the info, I am going to stop the statins. My cholesterol was 6.1 and I am 67 and slim but my mother died from a heart attack at 60, however she was overweight and smoked. I have an excellent diet so will continue with what I am doing but probably eat a bit more oily fish.

[shaws Administrator]

You shouldn't take any medication or supplements with thyroxine. Except if you take it with Vitamin C it helps with the conversation of T4 to T3.

Any other medications/supplements should be taken 4 hours apart.

When you have your next blood test for thyroid hormones, don't take medication before it, take it afterwards. Have test as early as possible and get a print-out of the results with the ranges for your own records and so that you can post if you have a query.

[Chic27]

I now think I would like to try natural thyroid after being on Thyroxine for 25 years and never feeling great so please how do I go about this. Incidentally in all that time I have never been referred to an Endo.

[Chic27]

Oh dear, I always take Thyroxine as soon as I wake up and then Amlodipine 5mg about 2 hours later. It's amazing how little info we get from GPs.

[galathea]

Statins are contra indicated with thyroid meds as there is an increased risk of muscle problems...... Which don't go away once the statins are stopped. Here is the link. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

And also a link showing statins linked to thyroid cancer. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

G xx

[shaws Administrator in reply to galathea]

Thanks for your post. I didn't know those facts.

[humanbean]

Another comment about statins...

Have a read of this article from Dr Malcolm Kendrick :

drmalcolmkendrick.org/2012/...

Pay particular attention to the graphs. Also, have a browse around his blog.

I would thoroughly recommend Dr Kendrick's book "The Great Cholesterol Con". Reviews here :

amazon.co.uk/product-review...

[shaws Administrator in reply to humanbean]

I agree wholeheartedly about Dr Kendrick and his book. He is up against the whole medical profession, it would seem to me and he not afraid to state his studies into it. He was at the Thyroiduk Conference in October and it was a pleasure to listen to him.

[Glynisrose]

People who are hypothyroid should NOT take statins, they are contra - indicated and your doctor should know better!!

[Jackie]

HI I take my meds in the day time but statin must be at night. Best to start on half dose and go up slowly because of statin side affects.

Jackie

[Joyia]

Paid out to see a private adrenal specialist in London last week, I would not take Statins but he mentioned what a dreadful drug they are, I said my cholesterol was 6.5, the specialist said that's not too high! We need cholesterol for our brains to function properly, it has been proven that people with low cholesterol are more likely to die earlier. Please do not take them.

[Angel_of_the_North]

There is no evidence that statins prevent first heart attacks in men or women. Stopping a second heart attack works for about 1-4% of men, but less for women. They are implicated in causing heart attacks, muscle weakness, dementia and lot s of other nasties. If they were a herbal supplement, they'd be banned. I wouldn't take them, and I thought the PIL said they were contraindicated for people with thyroid problems (but could easily be wrong). Cholesterol is an essential hormone and the lower the levels in older people, the more likely they are to die early.