I saw a consultant recently who wanted me to take Ezetimibe and Rosuvastatin (I had a heart attack 4 yrs ago and two stents inserted in one artery). I refused. I stopped taking Atorvastatin about a year ago and the powers that be don't like it!
Instead, I'm taking 7000mg of Beetroot extract and 500mg of Niacin, daily. The consultant doesn't know I'm taking these as I started after I'd seen him. Nevertheless, he says, "Continue with your medication and lifestyle as discussed."
Just got the results of a blood test for my cholesterol levels and as you can see, they're just fine!!! Before, my total level was just over 7 with about the same level of HDL, so it's mostly the so-called good lipid that I've lowered.
Cholesterol
HDL: 1.55
LDL: 3.84
TOTAL: 5.8
And whilst I was at St. Thomas' I asked them to do a thyroid test as well as there is a connection between the thyroid and cholesterol. The head honcho says, "Thyroid results very good - well controlled."
TSH: 2.37 (Previous 2.32)
Free Thyroxine 17.5
Free Tri-iodothyronine Level 3.4
Elsewise, I feel fine. I'm almost 71, go to gym three times a week inc. Taichi. I'm 5' 10" and a shade over 63 kilos. I eat well, don't really drink much and packed up smoking 7 yrs ago. Not much else I can do really. But I've proved you don't need those evil drugs!
Thanks. But I was really surprised by how much my rejecting their 'advice' upset them! It's been going on for months now, with multiple visits to see various specialists. The last one told me that she relied on the pharma companies for info on statins, telling me that it wasn't true that they were only interested in making money and not my health!
Goodness. I think that doctor might have just shot herself in the foot. That's tantamount to admitting that she isn't prepared to do her own research or listen to her patients.
Actually a 'specialist nurse' in lipids. Even NICE relies on the pharma companies for info on drugs, it doesn't do its own testing. As I told her, 'you don't really think the manufacturer is going to give over info that might negatively impact on sales!' There's none so deaf as those that don't want to hear.
Hi, your cholesterol is fine however your thyroid levels look out, but without you adding in the range and unit of measure the lab has used its difficult to say, but if they are off IE too low due to the low body temp and by the TSH being over 1 you could have candida, so the only Statin you might need is nystatin a drug for candida, after all that's how all Statin drugs work to kill candida. As for cholesterol the body makes your/our cholesterol in the liver, and the candida that should be in our intestines migrate to the liver via the portal vein and can raise cholesterol, what is your MCV Level and range? Hope that helps you
Hi roadrunnergreg - do tell me more about a statin working on candida - you have raised my interest to know more. Sounds more than likely but my knowledge is obviously lacking
Hi Marz, a post by a Dr stated that statins work by killing candida and lowering inflammation, plants do the same thing with their oils IE olive, coconut, black seed/cumin oil, that's why they are good for us and better not used in cooking as the heat denatures some of its benefits. I would copy and paste the whole post but this site doesn't let you do that...
Thanks. I have read that the new generation of statins will contain VitD - again for its anti-inflammatory properties ! Dr Myhill suggested in her last book that the positive side of a statin was its VitD like action !
I live in an olive grove in Crete so know all about olive oil
I didn't get the ranges or whether it's pmol or what-what...
As to the thyroid, well I feel fine except my nails have gotten a bit brittle. The problem is, as the 'consultant' said it's fine there's not much I can do. I can tell my last lot of readings tho, taken I think in October.
You've got brittle nails, maybe their slightly yellow? Furthest away from the heart, low temp allows for candida overgrowth if your TSH above one is indicative of low stomach acid, which is needed for the control of gut bacteria, absorption of nutrients like B12 etc that's why I threw it into the mix, just like the MCV it relates to the size of your blood cells, blood inflammation their interlinked knowing these things helps to tell a more complete story of how things are, just trying to help but if you don't want it just say so...
Roadrunnergreg, nystatin was discovered/developed in 1950. Statins weren't developed until the 1970s and weren't dished out to the public until the 1980s as far as I can tell.
Nystatin is never used as a cholesterol-lowering medication it is an anti-fungal treatment. It is not a statin. Statins have no affect that I am aware of on fungal infections.
I think the connection you are seeing is due to the name that was given to nystatin, but that is an accident of history.
If you have any links to suggest otherwise could you post them please.
Even without the range I can see your FT3 is very LOW. Could be the cause of your heart issues - check out the book on Amazon - Thyroid and Heart Failure. T3 or Liothyronine features in much of the research there. ( I have the book )
Well, I think you need an increase because your TSH is much too high for someone on thyroid hormone replacement. It should be one or lower.
Always always ask for the ranges, because the results aren't much use without the ranges. But, even so, your FT3 looks very low - which is probably why your cholesterol was high. (You didn't need statins, you needed a decent dose of thyroid hormone!) And it's low in comparison to your FT4, so I Don't think you're converting very well.
If you still have symptoms, then it might be time for you to consider buying some T3 for yourself and adding it to your Levo (T4). Your dose of levo isn't very high, so a little bit of T3 could make a world of difference.
As you aren't converting well, it might be a good idea to get your vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin tested, because they are probably rather low. Optimising them could also make a huge difference to your well-being.
'Normal' is the most over-used and meaningless word in the dictionary. When a doctor says 'normal', what he means is 'in-range'. But 'in-range' isn't the same as 'optimal'. If I were you, I'd check out what is 'optimal' and see how your results compare.
I Don't really understand your remark 'Who to believe?' Did I say something unbelievable? Or even controversial???
I have to persuade my gp. I'm still not clear what readings I should have or even what needs to get evaluated! Free T3, T3, Free T4, T4, etc? There's simply no agreement anywhere! I've looked on this site for the basic list of what needs to be tested and there is nothing here. Hence the confusion.
I was diagnosed (by accident) 8 years ago and for the first three yrs on thyroxine my life was a nightmare. Unable to think straight, panic attacks, a bad time, fuzzy brain. Clearly, my body didn't like the thyroxine. Then one morning I woke up and it was as if a veil had been lifted! Acclimated to it? Who knows? Try explaining THAT to your gp?
Short of going private (which I can't afford, I think it costs a couple of hundred quid), I'm stuck with what I can get on the NHS. In fact, this was the first time I'd had my tri-iodothyronine levels checked, so I've no idea what the number means to me.
It's infuriating! Everybody appears to measure different substances!
18 July 2012
Free T4: 14.6 (10.00-23.00 pmol/L)
TSH: 24.61 mU/L (0.40 - 5.00)
3 Jan 2013
Serum free T4: 16.1 pmol/L (10.00-23.00 pmol/L)
Serum TSH (RJM): 10.93 miU/L (0.27 - 4.20 mlU/L) And labelled ABNORMAL but, No action!
15 March 2013
Serum TSH : 0.52 mlU/L (0.27 - 4.20 mlU/L)
15 Jan 2014
Serum TSH 0.20 mlU/L (0.27 - 4.20 mlU/L)
March 2016
Serum TSH: 2.37
Free Thyroxine Level: 17.5 (T3? T4? Who knows).
Tri-iodothyronine: 3.4
I just found a printout of nearly all my TSH (only) levels from March 2010 - August 2014
The tests of March 2016 show the FT4 - that is what thyroxine is. Tri-iodothyronine is the T3.
So your FT3 is on the floor - based on lots of different ranges I have seen on this forum. T3 is the most ACTIVE hormone and is needed in every cell of your body - cells of the brain - heart - gut - liver and so on. Sadly you do not have enough to go around
Your FT4 could do with a slight improvement - but it does seem you have a conversion issue going on.
How are your levels of Ferritin - Folate - B12 - VitD ? They all need to be GOOD for the Levo to work well and for the T4 to convert into T3.
Have you had your thyroid anti-bodies tested ? - Anti-TPO - Anti-Tg. Often people with Hashimotos have difficulty converting. It could explain why your TSH goes up and down.
Based on those levels, your B12 is low should be about 800 top end of the range. Folate is low, if you've got a printout of your blood results I'd say your neutraphil count is very low even below range...
As I suggested in my earlier post - your TSH could be up and down due to the antibodies - Anti-TPO and Anti-Tg. Which need testing to confirm Hashimotos. Your Doc will probably say not to bother as the treatment is the same. NOT true. There is so much we can do to help ourselves. Perhaps read my Profile - click onto my name and have a read.
Most people feel better when their TSH is 1 or under when on medication
But given as how my TSH leaps around so much, surely it makes sense to find out what is making it happen. I booked an appointment for the beginning of June, so I'll raise it with her. She seems open to suggestion, if I know what I'm talking about.
As of Aug 2014, my THS was below 1.0, 0.44, 0.2, 0.52 all the way back to March 2013. Currently it's 2.37, so this up and down thing looks pretty constant.
As I said in the post above and my earlier post to you - when you have Hashimotos the TSH can vary as the anti-bodies attack the thyroid. So the first step would be to get those anti-bodies tested. Why wait until June ?
Ok here's a simple example of why your levels and the ranges matter take your TSH over 2, the FT4 is about right, yet your FT3 is rock bottom. Here's a possible reading of this. The TSH is a pituitary hormone telling the thyroid to produce more T4-3, based on the FT4-3 circling around to use. So now we know what the TSH is and your results say that your FT4 is ok, yet your FT3 is low is screaming to your pituitary to tell the thyroid to produce more. The possible reason your FT3 is low is its not getting into the cells, because of low iron or zinc, even an adrenal issue. A high RT3 (reverse t3 ) would reveal that so I'd look into the area just mentioned but you need testing for these...
Hmmm... ok thanks for this. I've gotta try and digest all the info on this as you seem to be suggesting something else again! I have to run all this stuff past my gp and see how she responds. Frankly, I'm mostly concerned about my thyroid and my elevated cholesterol (I can live with brittle nails, for now), as by rights, unless it's a 'natural' state, my cholesterol should be quite low, as eat healthy, exercise, don't smoke/drink.
I had what they say was a heart attack recently (no pain) and I was told that the hospital would like to prescribe statins, I said no, I had a really bad experience with statins a few years back and I would not take them under any circumstances. The nurses told me that there was no way I could be forced to take anything so you can refuse to take meds.
OK, saw the doc yesterday and I'm getting the thyroid antibodies tested, so we'll see. She also told me that the TSH levels here in the UK should be 2.55 or 2.35 or less. However, in the US it's 1 or less. Looking over the results of TSH levels over the past few years it's clear that since 18 March 2013, my TSH levels have been low although with variations, which is to be expected. I'm getting them tested again this week.
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