I have been advised by GP to take statins.Serum Total Cholesterol 6.9
I have Hashimotos and not keen on starting Statins. This concern has been covered by others on this site and very grateful for the knowledge I have gained.
My concerns is that I have a lot of painful symptoms that may be causing my high cholesterol so I have taken a thyroid test with Blue Horizon
I am concerned with 2 results that are outside normal range and I feel are possibly the cause of a lot of painful codtions that I felt were due to my Throid disease
Ferritin. 6.0
Serum Folate. 6.63
Active B12. 47
Cortisol (Random) 549.0
I was diagnosed with Hashimotos by Endocrinologist In 2014 although underactive thyroid since 20s . I am aged 67
I have a blood test every 12 months for TsH only
I am seeing my Gp this afternoon and I don’t feel confident.
I have looked back on past B12 results and they are all borderline line or below range and all tests are always ticked off by doc as normal even though lab comments Pernicious Aneamia!
I would be grateful for points I need to make that will help to get the right help .
Thank you
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Strollingrose
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My concerns is that I have a lot of painful symptoms that may be causing my high cholesterol
Not sure what you mean by this - how can symptoms cause high cholesterol, painful or otherwise? High cholesterol is more than likely due to low FT3. Cholesterol is made in the liver, and the liver does its best to keep the level steady. But when T3 is low, the body cannot process cholesterol correctly and it tends to build up in the blood.
Check out the blog by Dr Malcolm Kendrick and his book The Great Cholesterol Con:
With terrible vitamin levels you likely have low Ft3
Low Ft3 results in vitamin levels dropping further
Low Ft3 also results in higher cholesterol
What was vitamin D result
Ferritin. 6.0
Serum Folate. 6.63
Active B12. 47
Take these results to GP
Are you vegetarian or vegan
Ferritin is deficient if below 30
You need full iron panel test for anaemia including ferritin
Likely iron supplements, possibly iron infusion
B12 and folate are far too low.
I have looked back on past B12 results and they are all borderline line or below range and all tests are always ticked off by doc as normal even though lab comments Pernicious Aneamia!
With serum B12 result below 500, (Or active B12 below 70) recommended to be taking a separate B12 supplement
A week later add a separate vitamin B Complex
Then once your serum B12 is over 500 (or Active B12 level has reached 70), you may be able to reduce then stop the B12 and just carry on with the B Complex.
If Vegetarian or vegan likely to need ongoing separate B12 few times a week
Igennus B complex popular option. Nice small tablets. Most people only find they need one per day. But a few people find it’s not high enough dose and may need separate methyl folate couple times a week
Thorne Basic B recommended vitamin B complex that contains folate, but they are large capsules. (You can tip powder out if can’t swallow capsule) Thorne can be difficult to find at reasonable price, should be around £20-£25. iherb.com often have in stock. Or try ebay
IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 5-7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results
In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate folate supplement (eg Jarrow methyl folate 400mcg) and continue separate B12
Post discussing how biotin can affect test results
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)
is this how you did your test?
How much levothyroxine are you taking
Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription
Exactly what vitamin supplements are you currently taking
With Hashimoto’s and very poor vitamin levels you should also have coeliac blood test BEFORE trailing strictly gluten free diet (if not already GF)
Apologies….didn’t realise this was your first post
Welcome to the forum
Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances.
Most common by far is gluten.
Dairy is second most common.
A trial of strictly gluten free diet is always worth doing
Only 5% of Hashimoto’s patients test positive for coeliac but a further 81% of Hashimoto’s patients who try gluten free diet find noticeable or significant improvement or find it’s essential
A strictly gluten free diet helps or is essential due to gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and may slowly lower TPO antibodies
Assuming coeliac test is negative you can immediately go on strictly gluten free diet
(If test is positive you will need to remain on high gluten diet until endoscopy, maximum 6 weeks wait officially)
Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse
The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported
In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned
Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.
Similarly few months later consider trying dairy free too. Approx 50-60% find dairy free beneficial
With loads of vegan dairy alternatives these days it’s not as difficult as in the past
I took test 7.30am on empty stomach and 24 hours since last dose.
I am on Levothyroxine 150 microgram daily
I always seem to have the same brand, but I cannot remember the name as I have a different t brand at the moment Hillcross.
I have now seen doctor, locum So I had to go through my medical history!
She will test my folate and associated tests including coeliac. She said my Thyroid tests in normal range so I will probably need to see Endocrinology if I wanted to discuss this more.
I will work on improving vitamin levels .
I feel the pressure to start on statins as last weekend I had dangerously high BP and chest pain and ended up in AE. ECG ok and BP now down to usual readings . All very stressful.
At least I am now more informed and if I do start statins I will make sure that my thyroid and vitamin levels are all functioning at optimal levels so I may reduce / eliminate statins.
Even without seeing the reference ranges, it looks that your T4 is at the high end and your T3 is very low. As others have commented, if your T3 is low, you would feel awful. There is also a wide gap between your T4 and T3 levels, which indicate that you don't convert the T4 you are taking (in the form of levothyroxine) to the active hormone T3.
The problem with reference ranges is, that GPs generally do not care where in the reference range your results are. As long as they are somewhere within the ranges, you are 'normal' and their job is done. Did he actually ask you how you feel with these results?
Most people on replacement therapy feel best if their TSH is around 1 or slightly below, and both the T4 and T3 between 60 and 75% through the range. I think that you may need an addition of T3 to your therapy to get your T3 levels higher. And as someone else has pointed out, the low T3 is responsible for your higher cholesterol level, as you have not got enough active thyroid hormone to properly metabolise your lipids. Once your levels of T3 go up, the cholesterol will come down as a result. Sadly, GPs will rather give you statins than address the real underlying problem, which is a lack of active thyroid hormone (T3).
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