Statins

[Flowerloverforever]

Hi I have been advised to have statins by my doctor as I have palpitations and they have found an extra heartbeat has anyone on thyroxine had any side affects with statins please

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Welcome to the forum

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking and how long on this dose

High cholesterol is frequently linked to being hypothyroid, and suggests you may not be on high enough dose levothyroxine

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

Also 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

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 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...

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning.

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...

Tips on how to do DIY finger prick test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Medichecks and BH also offer private blood draw at clinic near you, or private nurse to your own home…..for an extra fee

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.

[humanbean]

Palpitations, tachycardia (fast heart rate) and chest pain can all occur in people who have low iron and/or low ferritin.

Have you had anything iron-related tested recently?

[Flowerloverforever in reply to humanbean]

Hi I have had my thyroid blood test which apparently came back fine and an ecg which came up with an extra heartbeat our doctors are not very good can't even get to see a doctor so have been taking plant sterol supplements but have just cancelled them today as made me worse

[humanbean in reply to Flowerloverforever]

A couple of links you might like on the subject of cholesterol and statins :

drmalcolmkendrick.org/2012/...

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

functionalmedicineuniversit...

[Blissful in reply to humanbean]

"In contrast to the current belief that cholesterol reduction with statins decreases atherosclerosis, we present a perspective that statins may be causative in coronary artery calcification and can function as mitochondrial toxins that impair muscle function in the heart and blood vessels through the depletion of coenzyme Q10 and ‘heme A’, and thereby ATP generation. Statins inhibit the synthesis of vitamin K2, the cofactor for matrix Gla-protein activation, which in turn protects arteries from calcification."

tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10....

I'm sure I read somewhere that "they" (UK authorities and pharma companies) want to "re-purpose" statins as a cancer preventing strategy*** - Statins work by disabling/impairing the Mevalonate Pathway. Except in the context of the chemical companies many on-going various experiments with us human guinea pigs, I'm not sure how messing up the vital MP can be a good option.

***a better strategy would be to ban anything connected to Monsanto, GM and all the other poisons that are involved in food production and completely wreck the quality of our mother's soil. There no money in that of course!

wellnessresources.com/news/...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Flowerloverforever in reply to Blissful]

That's really interesting and got me wondering if I should star taking Q10 supplets

[humanbean in reply to Blissful]

Statins have so many side effects, including excruciating pain in many people, that I think they should just ban statins altogether. But since statins have made billions they will never do that.

And I'm sure that the risk of dying of cancer is increased when taking statins.

[serenfach]

There are many reasons for the odd extra heart beat, and palpitations. I get palpitations when my thyroid dose is too low. I was told to take statins and refused until all the vitamins etc were tested. I even wore a heart monitor for the GP, but when my thyroid dose was increased, the palps disappeared. For some reason, the medical profession does not think of vitamins and trace elements as being important.

Vets, on the other hand, regularly test this in cattle and sheep, and the animals have a lick for this. I am sometimes tempted to give it a lick myself!

You are entitled to all your blood results. Phone the surgery and tell them you will be picking them up in a couple of days, then come on here with the results to see if we can help further. "results are fine" for the GP are not necessarily fine for you. As long as the results are in their ranges, they think all is well, but it is not.

Just check everything else first before taking statins. I know how worrying palps and anything heart related is, but it is important to rule out everything else first. Sending a hug.

[Flowerloverforever in reply to serenfach]

Hi serenfach this is the 3rd time I have tried to reply to you but keep losing it it'll ring the doctors tomorrow and hopefully will get my blood test results then will be in touch thank you so much for your help

[sugarplumferry]

I am in permanent AF with an enlarged left atrium. I absolutely refuse to take statins or be tested for cholesterol levels. Please have a look at a couple of posts that have come up in the past few days regarding statins. Malcolm Kendrick and Zoe Harcombe are really well worth reading. Best wishes.