Good afternoon lovely people, my GP has moaned at me that my cholesterol is too high and has advised healthy eating, well i do eat healthy and have told them that. I have stated if its too high its because of my thyroidectomy. My reults are as follows all mmol/l
Serum cholesterol 6.8
Serum triglycerides 0.88
Non HDL 4.7
Serim LDL 4.29
Serum ratio 3.3
They said they only count the non HDL, but doesnt the good LDL count?
Thank you for your time. They have threatened statins but i will not take those.
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Soaping
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Well, for a start, there's no such thing as good and bad cholesterol. It's all the same. When they do a blood test for cholesterol they don't actually test the cholesterol itself, just the protein carrier: HDL and LDL. So, I don't know what your doctor thinks he's doing. lol
There are many, many posts about cholesterol on here, if you do a search. Here's just one of them:
Assuming Ft3 is still too low you’re going to need T3 prescribed alongside
Recommended that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Monitor My Health now offer thyroid and vitamin testing, plus cholesterol and HBA1C for £65
Can I throw in I used Monitor my Health recently and I was really pleased with them - results back in no time so I’ll definitely be using them again. At the same time I used City Assays for cholesterol (it was cheaper) and they were really, really slow in getting the results out so I’m not sure I’d use them again.
Hi Soaping my cholesterol had been high for ten years that I know of and I've been on levothyroxine for 40+ years since having thyroid removed. I was scared in to trying statins and they had a severe effect on me. Eventually consultant gave up but occasionally doctors try again. Suggested on here that I may be a poor converter which can be a culprit so am going to get T3 tested now though I think it's been ok in the past.
I have so many issues now I think they must be connected!
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.
am going to get T3 tested now though I think it's been ok in the past.
I have so many issues now I think they must be connected!
Remember that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Essential to also test vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin
Thank you all for your replies but my serum cholesterol ratio is 3.3 which is a good score so i an going to ignore my gp. Yes my t3 is still low at just over 3 and i am still trying to optimise everything as i dont want to trygoing down the private route of which i cannot afford. Xx
Thank you slow dragon, I have enough going on at the moment been put on list for another hip replacement. My partner has throat cancer and im wrapped up with that at the moment attending therapy with him all too much at present to deal with. Xx
To further support your argument, your HDL/triglyceride ratio is comfortably >1. Renowned consultant cardio Dr Aseem Malhotra (>21 yrs experience) prefers that ratio and certainly disputes total cholesterol value.
PS my mum's TC is stable 7.1 but HDL/trig good. We believe TC likely high due to post menopause.
My doctor takes the approach that age has to be taken into the equation when deciding whether cholesterol is too high or not. He runs the diagnostic tool but takes out the age factor for people over 65. If it then shows up as normal he leaves well alone.
Yes, the 'good cholesterol' does count becauseit helps break down the bad! Your overall is better than mine and I've no intention of taking statins. Thing is they all have to do this cardiovascular disease risk score, and if you don't score well on that then waive the statins card at you. You can take plant sterols that help break down the cholesterol. They're quite pricey but I'd rather have those than statins.
I refused statins, because when they first emerged, my husband had a very serious reaction to them ( he has Hughes Syndrome, so that may be why…). At the time, he was told by a consultant that ‘the liver produces cholesterol and consumption of fats is a complicated factor…’ Recently I read Malcolm Kendrick’s book on cholesterol…it may put your mind at rest even more.
Thank you. I did read some very interesting articles on how cholesterol is actually used in your body some years ago but I've forgotten so I will read that. I don't know enough to face down GPs about it and I don't think I should tbh but I do need to be armed with some facts.
Your body is made of cholesterol! The brain, cell walls, sex hormones... all made of cholesterol. And it's used for reparation and regeneration. That's why low cholesterol is more dangerous than high.
We need cholesterol for so many functions in our body and I suspect that the levels chosen are rather random and not individual. Just as many people with "normal" cholesterol die of CVD as do with "high" cholesterol. My uncle lived to 96 with very high LDL. The statins he was prescribed caused him enormous muscle pain, so he stopped taking them and lived happily ever after. My LDL went down after I started taking T3 (and I also feel a lot better as a bonus ), but still is not within "normal" interval. To me this hype about getting the cholesterol down is just a way to sell statins to unsuspecting patients. Over time the acceptable "healthy" LDL levels were lowered more and more and the sale of statins skyrocketed. What did your doc say would be a healthy diet for you? My advice would be to stick to your determination not to take statins. If LDL is dangerous, statins are definitely more dangerous. I have said before, that I would rather give birth to 10 more children than ever touch statins again. The muscle pain all over my body was indescribable and in muscles I did not even know I had (like around my eyes and the front of my neck). My whole body hurt to the point that I cried in pain. And I can be a tough cookie. If you can find it, watch "Statin Nation". If you have the time, start looking into it and don't take my word for it. Good luck.
My diabetic nurse is actually the most reasoned voice re cholesterol at the surgery I use. She pretty much ignores everything except triglycerides. The are the bad boys. Apparently low fat low sugar diet helps to reduce but in my case that appears to be be having the opposite effect at present. No idea why and she ifs also stumped. We did discuss asking the endocrinologists for input but thought better of that one. Yours are deliciously low so I’d just ignore the GP comments. He/ she is very unlikely to remember it anytime soon.
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), but still is not within "normal" interval. To me this hype about getting the cholesterol down is just a way to sell statins to unsuspecting patients. Over time the acceptable "healthy" LDL levels were lowered more and more and the sale of statins skyrocketed. What did your doc say would be a healthy diet for you? My advice would be to stick to your determination not to take statins. If LDL is dangerous, statins are definitely more dangerous. I have said before, that I would rather give birth to 10 more children than ever touch statins again. The muscle pain all over my body was indescribable and in muscles I did not even know I had (like around my eyes and the front of my neck). My whole body hurt to the point that I cried in pain. And I can be a tough cookie. If you can find it, watch "Statin Nation". If you have the time, start looking into it and don't take my word for it. Good luck.
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