Plant Sterols.

[Pipkin4ever]

Is it safe to take plant sterols with levothyroxine? I've been told my cholesterol is high, it's 6.1 and my GP wants me to take Statins. I am not happy about this as I feel sure they will upset my IBS so I wondered if plant sterols were compatible with levothyroxine.

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

hey, you are right you don’t want statins. GP needs to read up. Shouldn’t be prescribed to women from what I’ve read here.

High cholesterol seems to be common on undermedicated thyroid. Particularly low T3. What is your Levo dose? What brand are you taking? What are your most recent blood test results with ranges for TSH, T4 and T3? If your GP is saying your results are ‘normal’ you’ll need to test privately and post here. I can fairly safely predict you are undermedicated and I’m absolutely no expert. It’s a common theme here. 🌱🦋🌱

[SlowDragon Administrator]

IBS is also common with hypothyroidism

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking

How long on this dose

Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription

Is your diabetes Type one or Type 2

Please add most recent blood test results

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested

plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once

Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum

About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease, usually diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies 

Autoimmune thyroid disease with goitre is Hashimoto’s

Autoimmune thyroid disease without goitre is Ord’s thyroiditis. 

Both are autoimmune and generally called Hashimoto’s.

Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)

20% of autoimmune thyroid patients never have high thyroid antibodies and ultrasound scan of thyroid can get diagnosis 

In U.K. medics hardly ever refer to autoimmune thyroid disease as Hashimoto’s (or Ord’s thyroiditis)

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test 

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options and money off codes

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

If you can get GP to test vitamins then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

Monitor My Health also now offer thyroid and vitamin testing, plus cholesterol and HBA1C for £65 

monitormyhealth.org.uk/full...

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning. 

Watch out for postal strikes, probably want to pay for guaranteed 24 hours delivery 

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Link about Hashimoto’s

thyroiduk.org/hypothyroid-b...

Symptoms of hypothyroidism 

thyroiduk.org/wp-content/up...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

nhs.uk/conditions/statins/c...

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.

[mrskiki]

I wonder if practices are trying to meet some government targets for cholestrol levels for us all regardless. My cholesterol has been high for a few years and never offered statins. last result it had actually reduced to 6.1, but the latest random miscellaneous nurse, paramedic, clinical admin or whoever got hold of my thyroid results and called me, asked why I wasn't taking Statins, had I refused. I said my cholesterol results had always been filed as OK no action. When i tried to discuss the link with hypothyroidism she was lost. Anyway she gave me my levo increase (an improvement on previous experiences)to get me off the phone even though she thought a TSH of 6.4 was OK as below 10. Sorry not an answer to you question, but just an example of how random our treatment is and to say with a cholesterol 6.1 too I will be avoiding statins especially as I still have all my hypothyroid symptoms.

[lisabax in reply to mrskiki]

you poor thing! I hope your TSH has now dropped to around 1 after the increase and that you feel well?

[mrskiki in reply to lisabax]

Thankyou, I have yet to get in range < 4.2 but hopeful, now have the references ready for TSH needing to be lower.

[shaws Administrator in reply to mrskiki]

The aim for us who have hypothyroidism, is a TSH of around 1 or lower with FT4 and FT3 towards the upper part of the ranges.

[TSH110 in reply to mrskiki]

I’d like to give your GP a TSH of 6.4 and see how much she liked it! They are so ignorant it’s a darn disgrace.

[EmJB]

Thank you for posting this as my blood test recently showed high cholesterol and a doctor phoned to say I must start statins. I suggested trying diet first and he said not to leave it more than 3 months as I was in danger of a heart attack. I’m 74 and my cholesterol was 6. I think statins are not recommended for women over 70 as the risks outweigh any possible benefit but I have given up on any meaningful discussion. Luckily no one will follow it up.

[radd in reply to EmJB]

EmJB,

'Luckily no one will follow it up'.

Yes, an ironic perk that we would rather do without if things were to be run properly in the first place!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to EmJB]

EmJB

Suggest you get FULL thyroid and vitamin testing done

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking

Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription

More likely your levothyroxine dose needs small increase or vitamin levels are low

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum

About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease, usually diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies 

Autoimmune thyroid disease with goitre is Hashimoto’s

Autoimmune thyroid disease without goitre is Ord’s thyroiditis. 

Both are autoimmune and generally called Hashimoto’s.

Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)

do you have autoimmune thyroid disease?

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test 

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options and money off codes

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Monitor My Health also now offer thyroid and vitamin testing, plus cholesterol and HBA1C for £65 

monitormyhealth.org.uk/full...

10% off if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning. 

Watch out for postal strikes, probably want to pay for guaranteed 24 hours delivery 

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Link about Hashimoto’s

thyroiduk.org/hypothyroid-b...

Symptoms of hypothyroidism 

thyroiduk.org/wp-content/up...

[FancyPants54 in reply to EmJB]

You don't have to take them just because they want you to. Read up. Read Dr Malcolm Kendrick's book about Cholesterol. I've been told my level was high for years. I don't care. Cholesterol is a symptom, not the problem. There is no evidence of prolongation of life for women taking statins. In fact there isn't for men either, other than a tight band of men over 60 who have just had a first heart attack.

Before blood tests of TSH and thyroid hormones, they diagnosed hypothyroidism from symptoms and particularly higher levels of cholesterol.

[mrskiki in reply to EmJB]

Ive got my broken down results, and I think that it is my HDL always putting up my total levels, as my LDL and triglycerides aren't that bad, and my cholesterol ratio quite low. So, ignoring the hypothyroid contribution, I'm not sure statins would even work for me as i've read some statins at least, don't lower HDL. The random healthcare people just seem to look at the total figure of 6.1 ..

[TSH110 in reply to mrskiki]

I was told I had too much good cholesterol 🙄 whatever that means - I think the whole cholesterol stuff is complete nonsense. I wouldn’t take statins no matter how much pressure I was put under by a GP they stop you from dying of heart attacks only to increase the chances of dying from strokes (or it might be the other way round) overall they do sweet Fanny Adams but make huge profits for drug companies.

[Batty1]

Doctors won’t even entertain your hypothyroidism as a possible reason for high cholesterol especially if your labs fall within the ranges and talking to them about it is as pointless as talking to a wall.

[Newmummy82]

my cholesterol has been creeping up slowly for a couple of years. I tried stenols for a year and they made no difference to me sadly, that’s not to say they won’t work for you.

Agree don’t take statins, side effects are awful.

You probably would benefit from introducing T3 as there is a strong relationship between T3 and cholesterol. Your GP will likely be clueless about the link.

If you haven’t yet had a recent test for TSH, T4 and T3 it might be worth getting a test and finding out if you are converting T4 effectively. If like me you are a poor converter, introducing T3 will likely reduce your cholesterol without the nasty side effects of statins.

I’ve been taking T3 for 4 months, feel much more energetic, sharper, lost weight and I suspect when I test again in a couple of months my cholesterol will also have come down.

[arTistapple]

These doctors work from a crib sheet only. No comprehension of what they are doing and no knowledge of the part hypothyroidism or treatment of hypothyroidism does to improve of levels. Mine was 9.9 for years. Recently they came in at 6.8 after starting levo. New doctor was busy pontificating about prescribing statins when I informed her it had dropped 3.1 after commencing levo. Fortunately that put her gas at a peep!

[humanbean]

Read this whole page (from the NHS website), paying particular attention to the section entitled "People at an increased risk of side effects" :

nhs.uk/conditions/statins/c...

Notice the references to being over 70 and to hypothyroidism. And also check to see if the "Interactions" section lists any drugs relevant to you.

Some other links that you might find of interest :

drmalcolmkendrick.org/2012/...

Pay particular attention to the graphs in the above link.

And in this link, pay attention to No 17 - but read the rest too.

spacedoc.com/articles/50-fa...

[Charlie-Farley]

Hi Pipkin4ever

no to Statins! Lots of good advice here.

Get genned up with the references and links provided and don’t be bullied- GPs seem to be utterly ignorant re thyroid.

The old adage a little knowledge is a dangerous thing absolutely applies to our Doctors. Too wide a remit, inadequate training (except on how to have an over inflated ego). I had to battle to a full replacement dose whilst in range - different GP every time - they all thought being in range (anywhere in range) is adequate. If you land on your sweet spot it is lucky for you not judgement from them. My bio is written as a sort of case study - it exemplifies the levels of ignorance that exists.

Get reading and never look back- don’t allow doctors to dictate 😊👍❤️