I have heard that it is common to have a high cholesterol with an under-active thyroid. Thyroid problems are hereditary within my family and all those who have been diagnosed with this have soon after being diagnosed with high cholesterol. The individuals in question (including me) live a healthy life and so I am miffed to understand why I have suddenly got high cholesterol.
Is it a given that thyroid problems and or levothyroxine cause high cholesterol?
The GP (well pharmacist) is saying I need to go on to statins but I am very reluctant to do so.
Hate taking medication unless absolutely essential.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
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Health4I
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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.
What replacement thyroid hormones are you taking
Please add most recent thyroid and vitamin results
You need to get FULL thyroid and vitamin levels tested as per previous post
I do have an under-active thyroid and it was diagnosed approx 4 years ago. At the time my cholesterol was not high but it is now. Is it known that thyroid issues result in high cholesterol and if so do we know the reason why?
I eat healthily, rarely drink and take exercise so there should be no reason for my cholesterol to have increased? Taking statins is a worry as I don't particularly want to take more medication.
I recently had a blood test and my TSH was 1.4. No other tests were done. I am now due to have a lipid and LFT test and feeling is the pharmacist is only doing that so that she can prescribe statins.
GP is not even involved in this process. I had a medication review with the pharmacist by phone!
Then say no. I would not take statins. They tried with me years ago. I had more sense. Cholesterol is not the killer they have made it out to be.
I'm not sure you read and understood the clip in italics that Slowdragon gave you. It's clear as day. If you are under replaced with thyroid hormone your cholesterol is likely to be high. In the past, before the TSH test was invented, doctors used raised cholesterol levels as another symptom to diagnose hypothyroidism from.
You really need to get some private bloods done to get the FT4 and FT3 tested at the same time as TSH and do the test first thing in the morning before you take your thyroid meds for the day. Then, armed with the results and persistent nagging from the pharmacist, go see a GP and ask for a dose increase if that is what is indicated.
Hi Health41. This link between hypothyroidism and cholesterol is an interesting one. I was diagnosed with high cholesterol about 11 years ago (7.3 mostly ldl) and was put on a statin by my GP. At the time my thyroid function looked to be within a normal range. At a routine blood test 5 years ago I was found to be hypothyroid and started taking Levothyroxine. So, I now take a statin and the Levo in combination and appear to have no side effects whatsoever. I just wanted to reassure you that long term use of both drugs has worked for me.
I am 71 and my grandfather was perfectly healthy at the age of 60. By the age of 65 he had passed away due to multiple cardiac problems. This was before the days of statins and regular blood testing. This was a warning to me and so I continue with my medication and (fingers crossed) I feel fine and hope to live a few more years yet. I suppose the long term use of any medication needs to be considered carefully, but so far it has worked for me. My cholesterol stays at around 3 to 3.5 with low levels of ldl and so I will continue doing what I am doing.
when I was diagnosed hypo my cholesterol was 14.85 and I started on levo. Within about 5/6 months my cholesterol was 4.6. No statins just levo. Cholesterol doesn’t cause heart attacks. You should have a read of The Great Cholesterol Con I think the author is Malcom Kendrick. Jo xx
I’ve already read that book and am highly sceptical of its claims. When my cholesterol was first found to be high my thyroid function was normal. In other words, hypothyroidism wasn’t the cause of my high cholesterol, although I appreciate that this is often the case with many other people. Hypothyroidism didn’t start for me until years later.
Here is a post on statins that is very recent with lots of contributions. (See bottom of my reply) 😉👍
The reason tissue damage is mentioned in the guidelines is that it has been observed. I know of cases myself where people have been permanently damaged. Some people may not, but the risks are far higher for people with hypothyroidism - Hence, the mention in the guidelines which frequently gets missed. In fact, people are generally being treated with statins long before they get the diagnosis of hypothyroidism, which is a huge concern.
I still cannot fathom why they insist on hypothyroidism being managed using TSH, which is a hormone from the pituitary i.e. not a thyroid hormone. On first scientific principles, this makes no sense, and I am still agog at this. Thyroid UK advise for thyroid function test for this reason. I personally would like in the NHS thyroid function test as a version of medical ‘Catchphrase’.
No history of high cholesterol in my family (or me) but mine shot up two years ago and I was given the old 'lifestyle' chat and threat of statins when I knew nothing had changed in my (good, low fat) diet and exercise regime. I was having so many other hypothyroid symptoms that I asked my doc if the sudden rise could be related to thyroid. 'Unlikely', I was told as my TSH was only about 4.6 . I had read on here that a T4 was needed to double check so I pressed hard for BOTH to be tested -and hey presto, diagnosis. Medication given. Three months later, cholesterol back to normal. I'm sure I was one of thousands struggling unnecessarily with this life threatening situation. Big Pharma pushing the statins - or GP's not having time to listen to patients? Probably a bit of both.
I believe there's little doubt that cholesterol can be reduced by:
1. Statins
2. Thyroid optimisation
But is high cholesterol a risk factor for heart disease (presumably the reason of concern of your medic, pharmacist)? That's debatable, at best. Google "evidence that high cholesterol causes heart disease" to see what I mean.
if you would rather not take statins you are within your rights to say, “I’d rather not take them at the moment, thank you”. You could then add “I’ve read in NHS guidelines that thyroid treatment should be tried first so I’d rather continue with getting that optimal”
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