I have been suffering for a couple of years with painful legs all the time especially at night. I had an adverse reaction to a quinolone antibiotic and it weakened my Achilles’ tendon, I had to have physio.
I have now been put on Ezetrol as my cholesterol is LDL is high and Hdl. I’ve lost weight and now I’m nearly underweight and so tired, I get very little sleep. I m given Vitamin every 3 months but I have no
Et up from pain. I cannot take anti-inflammatoires as I have diverticulitis .
I have appt with Rhumatologist next week and saw dermatologist last week as every few weeks a rash occurs on my neck.
An auto immune problem was mentioned but I need some kind of relief from this constant pain.
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Sandrafrance
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Are you still only taking 25 mcg levo? If so, you are going to be terribly under-medicated. And that would explain your high cholesterol. You don't want any sort of medication for your cholesterol, you want a decent dose of thyroid hormone.
Cholesterol levels have nothing to do with your diet. High cholesterol is caused by low FT3 levels. Do you have a copy of your latest blood test results? Because I am ready to bet that your doctor is 100% wrong.
No, I meant your thyroid labs. Cholesterol labs are of no interest to anyone, because cholesterol is not a problem. High cholesterol levels do not cause heart attacks or strokes. However, prescribing statins generates income for the practice, whereas levo brings them nothing. That's why your doctor is more interested in your cholesterol than your thyroid.
It is highly unlikely that 25 mcg levo is enough for you. Your cholesterol tells you it's not enough for you. Your doctor knows nothing about thyroid. So, you are really going to have to learn about your disease and take charge of your health. Your problem is not high cholesterol. Your problem is low thyroid hormones.
If you want to be well, you need your
TSH
FT4
FT3
TPO antibodies
Tg antibodies
vit D
vit B12
folate
ferritin
tested. And therein you will doubtlessly find the answers to your health problems.
You live in France, right? Are you aware how easy it is to change your doctor in France? Just find one that is taking on new patients - by ringing reception and asking - and make an appointment. Tell your new doctor you want full thyroid testing, as above. French doctors are far more likely to do full testing than NHS doctors - and I do know that for a fact because I live in France, too.
Also, in France, you do not need a referral from your GP to see an endo. Just ring the endo of your choice and make an appointment. Of course, that might not work at the moment, due to lockdown and all the other problems we're having with the virus, but when things settle down a bit, you need to take action. Don't just stay with the same old useless GP, doctor-shop! Find a doctor that is prepared to help you. They do exist.
OK, but it sounds like the problem is that your doctor doesn't understand the results. This doctor has been keeping you sick for a long time, so I doubt things will ever improve whilst she's still treating you.
Do you mean that doctors aren't taking on new patients because of the currant situation? Or they aren't taking on new patients because they have no room on their lists? How about endos? Have you tried seeing an endo? Are you anywhere near Paris? You might find a decent endo there.
I live near Mayenne, there are not enough Doctors but I have appt with Rhumatologist next week so I can ask him for a letter to give to Endo and hopefully a way forward
Well, we do need the ranges for those tests, because they vary from lab to lab. When were those tests done?
However, we don't need a range to see that that TSH is much too high. It was said to be 'normal' because it is in-range, that's all normal means, it doesn't actually mean normal for you. But, when you're on thyroid hormone replacement, it needs to come down to 1 or under. So, yours is too high, whatever they say.
So if your TSH is too high, then the odds are that your FT3 is too low - it does look low, but would need the range to confirm that.
And, it rather looks like you have Hashi's. Did you know that?
You don't need a letter to go and see and endo, as I explained above. Just make an appointment and go.
Your doctor is another uneducated one who hasn't a clue about clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism and a 'higher' cholesterol level is but one symptom. I'll give you a list as your doctor seems completely unaware of any clinical symptoms.
As our dose of thyroid hormone replacements is increased the cholesterol level will reduce without any other 'additions'.
That's the commonest problem with doctors in that they are apt to 'treat' a symptom the patient has but has no knowledge of any symptoms at all that will usually resolve as the patient's replcement dose of thyroid hormones is gradually increased.
Sorry for not replying, my health has been pretty bad For two years
I’m had cholesterol test here and results my doc said were high so she didn’t want to put me on statin but is trying Ezetrol for two months and then another blood test.
HDL 4.57 and LDL 2.26
My diet is good weight too. I manage my diet well.
With proper dose of thyroid hormone repalcements cholesterol level will reduce (unfortunately few doctors know any clinical symptoms and are apt to treat a 'symptom' as apart from hypothyroidism.)
If you have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), treatment may be delayed until this problem is treated. This is because having an underactive thyroid can lead to an increased cholesterol level, and treating hypothyroidism may cause your cholesterol level to decrease, without the need for statins. Statins are also more likely to cause muscle damage in people with an underactive thyroid.
Change your doctor
Standard starter dose of levothyroxine is 50mcg (unless over 65 years old).
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase
The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many patients need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 is in top third of range and FT3 at least half way through range
NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.
Also note what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)
Low vitamin levels are almost inevitable when under medicated, as being hypothyroid causes low stomach acid and poor gut function
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Ask GP to test vitamin levels and thyroid antibodies
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)
All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels
Levothyroxine doesn’t “top up” a failing thyroid, it replaces it ....so it’s important to take high enough dose
Even if we don’t start on full replacement dose, most people need to increase dose slowly upwards in 25mcg steps (retesting 6-8 weeks after each increase) until on full replacement dose
Consider starting levothyroxine at a dosage of 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (rounded to the nearest 25 micrograms) for adults under 65 with primary hypothyroidism and no history of cardiovascular disease.
There are over 108,000 members here and those of us who have found wellness have read and read to learn about our condition. There is so much we can do to help ourselves.
Members on this forum have found that many doctors are useless at anything to do with hypothyroidism. I am one of them as I had to diagnose myself. I was given 'this and that' was wrong with me - anything but hypo..
One of the commonest autoimmune diseases and they don't know any clinical symptoms at all. In the past, before blood tests were introduced - doctors knew all the symptoms and treated us with Natural Dessicated Thyroid Hormones.
Nowadays, instead of knowledge of all clinical symptoms they now know none at all and are apt to prescribe for each symptom anything but optimum thyroid hormone replacements.
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Statins
Statins
Statins and levothyroxine
statin or not
Statins 
