Hi, I have low thyroid and when first diagnosed my cholesterol was very high. Since being on thyroxine my cholesterol returned to a normal level even when I stopped taking statins
It is now very high again. Having missed blood checks during the pandemic I feel my tsh may be high again.
I have agreed to start statins again though I am very reluctant as I suspect they were the cause of some of the joint and muscular pain I had at the time I was taking them.
Does anyone else experience a connection between cholesterol and thyroid function?
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Widawake
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Oh yes! When I had Graves’ disease and my TSH was off the scale low, my cholesterol was the lowest I’ve ever had. Now I’m no longer hyper and my TSH has crept up so has my cholesterol.
I suggested to my GP that there was a link - she smiled sweetly and said ‘Mmmm’ I have since found out that I was correct, that there is a link but the NHS doesn’t do ‘fine tuning’ and I’m within the range so there’s no chance of reducing my TSH - the range is SO huge and because of that I’m stuck with things as they are.
I tried statins years ago - I had no previous knowledge or prejudices about taking statins and within a week my legs hurt so much that I could barely walk and I felt really depressed too. I limped (literally 🤣) along taking them for a couple of weeks then gave up.
Thankyou it sounds like it does have a connection. I Google it and there is quite a bit of info on the connection. Dare not say this to gp , even if I could get to see one.
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.
Suggest you insist on full thyroid and vitamin testing done FIRST
How much levothyroxine are you currently taking
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
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)
When on T3, day before test, split dose into three smaller doses roughly equal 8 hour intervals. Taking last dose T3 at roughly 8-12 hours before test
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
Thankyou so much. My treatment consists of a blood test for tsh only. They do it only when I ask for it. Except last week when the nurse forgot and only tested my blood sugars, which have been steadily on the rise and have now put me in the diabetic range. It good for them as they now have a new cash cow. I went for a tsh test today and will have a week to wait for result.I have not been able to see a gp due to covid. The treatment I had before covid was just adjustment of my prescription. I was on 1.25mc until tsh went high last test so they dropped me to 1.12.5mc.
They are at the moment using nurses to prescribe. I have not been able to dicuss this with a gp
I feel I may have to find a private specialist if I am going to have any quality of life.
All you hormone and blood sugars etc will be out if you are not properly thyroid medicated.........as thyroid controls most of it. Thyroid sorted firstly and properly, vit supplements etc for optimal functioning of all hormone and digestive balances. You might not be covering your Levo fully......without full blood tests you will not know. Get that sorted first, you may well find that all the other things stabilise. Good luck
Hi, I am very new here, but do have anecdotal experience. I was dx with hypothyroidism last month. My cholesterol was way high. In the past, I had been on statins, (all three different "types") and I always ended up feeling like I was 110 years old - so painful that I couldn't sleep, but also too painful that couldn't get up. I stopped taking them (the statins) three years ago and resolved never to go back. No one EVER did a thyroid test on me. They did do a Vitamin D test when I was complaining about weight gain (80 pounds in 3 years), and that test showed I was at a 35 (Range 30-130). So I was told it was "normal". Fast forward to a new doctor this April. He flipped out at my cholesterol numbers, but fortunately had also ran a TSH/FT4 test. The TSH was high, the Ft4 was lower than the range. He wanted to put me on statins - I refused. He said, okay, I will treat the thyroid with 50mcg of levothyroxine and he also gave me Zetia (which supposedly lowers the cholesterol by inhibiting absorption of foods that have cholesterol). I added 1.5 g of wax-matrix niacin.... and in 30 days my TC when from 7.9 to 5.9, the LDL from 5.8 to 3.9 and my good HDLs went up from 1.1 to 1.4. While still not "perfect" by means of the powers that be, I am quite happy with this. I just wonder if my thyroid has been off all of this time and the drs just immediately went to statins. This is not meant to be a recommendation, simply my experience.
And btw, thanks to all who write/respond on this forum. I am in the US and I have yet to find such an active group of people giving support to folks with thyroid issues. I am hoping I am a fortunate one that responses well to the levothyroxine, as I definitely feel so much better.
Bless you for taking time to reply. This information on here has been so useful. We all don't feel like bothering the medics at the moment. So pleased you are feeling stronger. One thing I can say has helped me with joint and muscular issues was the removal of gluten. I am not celiac but even so I feel much better.
Go strictly gluten-free - it makes the biggest difference! I feel so much better and as someone said to me it’s like being pregnant- you can’t be a little bit pregnant- an all or nothing scenario for the biggest benefit- good luck with things 😊👍
me too, allergen testing and avoidance, like a different person now. They had me trying to lower the fat in my diet when I did not eat any to cut out. thyroids were out because GP accidentally lowered my thyroid meds instead of putting dose up after tests. Cholesterol shot up from under 3 to 6.5 in a few months with now change in my diet.
I would go for a YES on that question. GPs get pid special rates for certain tests for blood pressure and cholesterol......but when results come back they only deal with those test results not the causes of the increases. Cholesterol tests are extra money for GP surgeries.....but the dots don't join up. Never treated a whole just piece meal, which in itself creates imbalances.
The connection between cholesterol and thyroid is that the lower the FT3, the higher the cholesterol.
Cholesterol is made in the liver - and it is made in the liver because you need it. It has little to do with your diet, or anything else. The more cholesterol you consume, the less the liver makes. The less you consume, the more it makes, trying to keep it at a constant level. However, when FT3 is low, the body cannot process and excrete cholesterol correctly, and it tends to build up in the blood.
Statins are superfluous for just about everybody, because cholesterol does not cause heart attacks, or strokes, that's a story Big Pharma put about to boost sales of statins! But, they are definitely not recommended for hypos or women. Your cholesterol levels will drop when your FT3 rises.
I have a deep seated mistrust of the medical profession (with a few exceptions), founded on too many negative experiences- thankfully we can now access pretty much all the knowledge available to the medical profession and if my recent experience is anything to go by with our local surgery, I’m accessing it more than they are!
My experience of our GP service is very similar. It is a business. If they can get you on statins and their Diabetes list, they are delighted. I am bombarded with requests that I attend for tests relating to damage caused by Diabetes.
I have no family history of Diabetes, I am not overweight,follow a healthy diet and keep active. All this leads me to believe it is also connected to my thyroid issues. The treatment I have received since being diagnosed with low thyroid, is shocking.
I am seriously considering a change of GP and hope there are some decent ones left.
The NHS as wonderful as it is has been hijacked by greedy pharmacy.
Same......they only want the big earning work, probs is, if they put more effort into treating thyroid, they would save the Practice a lot of time on under medicated sick thyroid patients. It is an upside down system...not fit for purpose. Letters and letters from GP for me to have the lucrative testing done of things that don't affect my daily life. I would just like the to treat the stuff that makes me ill every day properly. Had to do all that privately in the end......but still getting letters for checkups that I don't have health issues with. Madness !!!!
They get financial incentives to prescribe statins, that's why they're so keen.
As for the HDL and LDLP tests, that's not even the cholesterol they're testing, it's the protein carriers. Have you read Dr Malcolm Kendrick's book The Great Cholestesterol Con? Great reading.
Well, I hadn't thought of it that way... Doesn't the word 'prostitute' imply sexual activity? lol Perhaps I'd rather not think of it that way, given some of the doctors I've seen! But, you could argue corruption of some sort.
Poor Hippocrates must be turning in his grave! His first principle went out the window a long, long time ago. I don't think doctors are even required to swear the oath, these days. It's all about money, now, not people.
I am generalising, of course. There are still some doctors with principals out there. But, they're few and far between. And, the real corruption is in the medical schools, which are financed by Big Pharma, and therefore toe the BP line, teaching what BP want doctors to learn: i.e. prescribe enough drugs to keep the patient alive, but not make them better. BP makes its fortune out of returning customers!
They have had whistleblowers recently saying the same of the drugs manufacturers. GP however are paid by the NHS and should have higher standards. Once year we have a young doctor appointment asking if people want to come off meds......looking in incredulity, as they have not even read your notes to see what you are taking before asking. I have to point out that I will die without my thyroid meds eventually. They would not ask a Type 1 Diabetic the same question.
When Thyroid is under medicated, cholesterol levels will shoot up whatever you are eating. Need to get thyroid meds right before sorting cholesterol. One affects the other. GP should go back to thyroid before throwing statins at you. Had this myself and had to resolve it myself because GPs did not understand the connection. They have just tested husband high for cholesterol, but did not check his thyroid properly at sam time. I have bought him testing kit for T4 and T3 , to make sure his thyroid meds are correct. I hear this story time and time again. Our postman really struggles with Statins leg pains......
Ah yes. It's brilliant, kit comes in the post, finger prick ( I get someone else to do that) register the pack and send it back in the post. Cheapest and easiest way to get results.......I use as back up to rubbish NHS tests, for T3 numbers. I have had all kinds of stuff tested, found out myself I was Hashimoto autoimmune, masses of allergies. Managing my own health and with help from this site....I have gone from nearly bed bound, house bound to gardening again in 6 months. Good luck with your journey....light at the end of the tunnel. x
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
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)
When on T3, day before test, split dose into three smaller doses roughly equal 8 hour intervals. Taking last dose T3 at roughly 8-12 hours before test
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
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