Hi all, would you agree that if I didn't have brain fog and blurry vision prior to commencing levothyroxine and after taking cholesterol tabs it seems the brain fog has improved and I wear glasses a lot less , would that mean levo causes high cholesterol?? Or contributes to high cholesterol
How many people taking Levo are also taking cholesterol pills and free from brain fog??
How many taking Levo and have high cholesterol but don't take cholesterol pills and suffering brain fog???
Is the serum levels of T4 contributing to high cholesterol???
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Timbutdim
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High cholesterol is a symptom of hypothyroidism and/or being undermedicated.Brain fog is a symptom of hypothyroidism and/or being undermedicated.
Often when starting on levothyroxine symptoms worsen or new symptoms appear. This is because sensing the hormones coming from elsewhere the thyroid takes a breather as it were. However the starting dose is not enough to make up for what the thyroid was producing - hence the initial worsening.
Was not initial worsening, worsening continued as far as brain fog,blurred vision and high cholesterol for years even after dose stabilised at 125mcg Levo with low range TSH
But, it's not about dose stabilisation. And, it's not about TSH. It's about getting enough T3 into your system. Unfortunately, doctors don't know that.
T3 is the active thyroid hormone, needed by every single cell in your body. If you don't have enough to go round, that is what causes symptoms like brain-fog. And mal-functioning like high levels of cholesterol.
But, another reason I don't agree with your theory is that high cholesterol doesn't cause symptoms. Low T3 does. Have you ever had your FT3 tested?
Oh, and by the way, statins can also cause brain fog.
Grey goose , high cholesterol , sticky gloopy blood sticks to artery walls causing reduced flow , brain needs good blood supply if reduced I'm sure would cause brain fog ect
Hmmm... I think you need to do some research. That's not how it works at all. Try reading Dr Malcolm Kendrick's blog, and his book: The Great Cholesterol Con.
I'm not sure that cholesterol is 'gloopy', I've never seen it,
but the reasons it sticks to artery walls is that it's nature's sticking plaster. When the arteries are damaged by inflammation, the cholesterol comes along and covers it up while the damage heals. When it's healed, the cholesterol is absorbed into the cells walls. Because that's what cells walls are made of: cholesterol. Come to that, the brain is largely made up of cholesterol. So, it's hardly likely to cause brain fog, is it.
Brain-fog and high cholesterol are hypo symptoms. And possibly the blurry eyes, too. It's not at all unusual for new hypo symptoms to appear - and old ones to become worse - after starting levo. But, that doesn't mean the levo is causing them.
Could mean that taking levo, on a starter dose, has reduced your thyroid's output of T3. Could mean that your body is not very good at converting exogenous T4 to T3. Could be both. But, the brain needs high levels of T3, so if the brain-fog got worse, you're obviously not getting enough T3.
Same with cholesterol. High cholesterol has nothing to do with what you eat, it's made in the liver and the liver maintains a steady level no matter what you eat. BUT if your T3 is low, the body cannot process and excrete cholesterol efficiently, and it tends to build up in the blood.
Ok, so taking into consideration initial worsening as lalaloot mentioned that would explain onset of symptoms after commencing levothyroxine, so levothyroxine did not cause them but promoted them to a level which needed medication to control
I had the dio2 test done recently but as yet have not been contacted as to results. The variant can cause issues with the conversion of T4 to T3 within the brain, liver that would sit well with symptoms experienced
So without having the dio2 test a diagnosis could be done via patients increased cholesterol levels and brain fog .
Funny unless I'm taking part of a double, triple blind test my brain feels better most days now and I'm still taking the same medication at the same dose as always.. So why do I feel better now? Environmental changes? Cholesterol medication? My dio2 morphed into a function version or was not the reason for symptoms? Or ashwagandha?
so levothyroxine did not cause them but promoted them to a level which needed medication to control
We-ell, yes and no. You did not need statins. Nobody needs statins. High cholesterol is not a problem, it doesn't cause heart attacks or strokes.
But, it wasn't the levo that 'promoted' the worsening, it was the lack of levo. You didn't start on 125 mcg, surely, did you? More likely you started on the usual starter dose of 50 mcg, which is almost always too low. The higher your dose of levo goes, the higher your FT3 level should go - in principal. And, that's what you needed: more T3. Or, more levo.
So without having the dio2 test a diagnosis could be done via patients increased cholesterol levels and brain fog .
Yup. That's how it used to be done, before they invented blood TSH/FT4/FT3 blood tests.
Why do you feel better now without increasing medication? Because levels of T4/T3 build up on the same dose, and as it builds up more receptors are switched back on, so more symptoms are relieved.
It certainly won't be the statins! They're more likely to make you feel worse!
Doubt it's the ashwagandha, either.
Oh, and by the way, you don't have to have the dio2 polymorphism to be a poor converter, it can be caused by all sorts of things! To know how well you convert, you need your FT4 and FT3 tested at the same time and compare them.
As previously mentioned cholesterol high and problematic only after commencing Levo. Cholesterol still an issue after specialist fixing dose at present level..Whatever my reduced thyroid out put was it was more effective at stabilising cholesterol regardless if I have the dio2 variant,which must only be an issue with synthetic version of thyroid hormones as did not have awareness of any cholesterol issue with own thyroid hormone
Grey goose I doubt that it's took over five years to build up to relieve some symptoms I think it's more likely to be the new stuff added. What if I was converting to rt3 and increased testosterone, then roid rage mistook for psychotic behaviour eg irritability and ashwagandha joins the mix and balance is established Add ezetamibe not statin and reduced gloop from blood flows and bam brain feeling happy
As previously mentioned cholesterol high and problematic only after commencing Levo. Cholesterol still an issue after specialist fixing dose at present level..
Yes, well, I explained why that might be. And, just because your specialist fixed a dose it doesn't mean it's the right dose for you. Probably not if you still have high cholesterol.
And the fact that levo is synthetic - i.e. made in a lab rather than a thyroid - has nothing to do with anything. It is identical to the hormone made by your thyroid.
Grey goose I doubt that it's took over five years to build up to relieve some symptoms I think it's more likely to be the new stuff added.
Could be a mixture of both. But, I don't think you understand how slowly things move when we're dealing with hormones. Five years in nothing in thyroid hormone terms.
What if I was converting to rt3 and increased testosterone,
You definitely are converting some of your T4 to rT3. Everyone dose. That's perfectly normal. But, if you mean excess rT3, well, that's pretty likely too. But, doubtful it has anything to do with your levo unless your FT4 is really high in range (would have to see your labs to know that). There are many, many causes of excess rT3, but the rT3 itself is not any sort of problem.
Levo does not convert to testosterone.
I have said all I have to say on the subject of cholesterol above. Except that cholesterol is essential for the production of sex hormones, as well as brains, cells walls and many other things. But, it seems to me that you made your mind up about all this before even asking the question and all you wanted was someone to agree with you. Well, I don't agree with you on any level. So, I am now bowing out of this 'discussion', wishing you good luck for the future, but warning you that not only are you barking up completely the wrong tree, you're in the wrong forest.
If you want answers from other people, it would probably encourage them to reply if you posted your blood test results, with ranges, because then they would know exactly what they're talking about.
I didn't give any links. lol Was this intended for humanbean? She gave lots of links.
But, I know what you mean. Low cholesterol is far more dangerous than high. And, I have heard that those with high cholesterol live longer. But, try and convince a doctor of that!
OK, one more word: there's no such thing as 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol. That is an invention of Big Pharma to scare people into taking statins. There is just cholesterol and you need it for all sorts of things.
Do you know that when they 'test' cholesterol, they don't actually test cholesterol. They test the number of protein carriers in the blood and just assume that those carriers are full of cholesterol. There are different sorts of carriers because they have different jobs to do, not because they are good or bad.
As Dr Malcolm Kendrick stated at a Conference I attended - cholesterol is a chemical and cannot be both good and bad. Somehow that stuck with me ! Great responses greygoose ....🙄
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.
Personally, I wouldn't take statins if you paid me.
Take a close look at the graphs on this link and note that overall mortality is lower with higher cholesterol.
One thing that annoys me about cholesterol is that doctors bang on about the risks of heart disease, heart attacks, stroke etc, but never mention what happens to the risks of death from other causes when people take statins to reduce cholesterol.
Hi humanbeing thanks for the links I'm not taking a statin as they don't agree with me I'm on ezetamibe for three months only as cholesterol high and continuous pain in left arm which was worrying pain now gone after approx 6 weeks of medication
Prior to taking I did research pros and cons and decided I needed to lower cholesterol in the short term
If my cholesterol is high because I have dio1 variant which makes T3 an issue resulting in reduced liver and brain function then after confirmation and authorisation of T3 prescription via nhs I should get normal function of liver and cholesterol should return to normal
I have already had a TIA, my father died of a massive stroke , lived the last part of his life disabled by stroke, had several heart attacka so I'm at high risk so for me it's essential at this time until confirmation can be obtained as to reduced T3 and liver fiction is confirmed
Tim I got T3 prescribed without the test. I made my case based on blood tests showing that ft3 was very low in range while ft4 was high in range. Maybe you could do this to back up your Dio result.
What are your most recent thyroid and vitamin results
If cholesterol is high, likely Ft3 is still too low…..either because not on high enough dose levothyroxine (Ft4 will have room for increase in dose) or because of poor conversion of Ft4 to Ft3 (high Ft4 and low Ft3)
For good conversion of Ft4 to ft3 we need OPTIMAL vitamin levels
What vitamin supplements are you currently taking
Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription
As you have autoimmune thyroid disease
Have you had coeliac blood test done
Or are you already on absolutely strictly gluten free diet
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested.
Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least annually
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially as you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)
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)
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
I also find it interesting that when Hypo many of us suffer Low B12. This in turn can be the cause of raised Homocysteine which when raised can be a predictor of heart attacks and strokes.
When they were researching cholesterol within arterial plaque they also found Homocysteine. This research was buried as statins were already in the pipeline.
Homocysteine can be lowered with a good supply of all the B vitamins.
I have high cholesterol apparently and I’m hypo and did suffer brain fog until I started using the prime fifty fighting fatigue supplements. It hasn’t made any difference to my fatigue but my brain is definitely fog free. I ran out and it came back so I promptly ordered more and I’m free of it again. The same company does do a brain supplement which I might try before running out of the current one to see if that helps. I also take sea buckthorn oil supplements which are supposed to be good for cholesterol, I started taking for dry eyes but they have helped my eyes and other drynesses I was suffering from.
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