Statins with hypothyroidism

[Thesockthief]

My cholesterol is very high. Doctors recommended statins a while ago but I said I wanted to try and manage it through my diet and lifestyle. I have Hashimotos and have spent the last year really focusing on eating an anti inflammatory diet and can’t do much more there. The results have improved slightly but not much. I have an appointment next week and I know they will want to give statins.
When I pointed out the NICE guidelines for statins and hypothyroidism the doc said that it was only if the hypothyroidism wasnt being managed, and mine is as my TSH is fine.
I also have arthritis and am worried about joint pain with statins. Does anyone in a similar situation have any advice?
These are my results:
Serum HDL 2.1 mmol/l
Serum cholesterol 7.9 mmol/l
Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio 3.8
SE non HDL 5.8 mmol/l

I also have v high cholesterol but can’t get statins as apparently my q risk is ok. Have you done your q risk score? I think that’s the guidance they follow (I would happily take statins but can’t get them prescribed).

You can't manage hypothyroidism by TSH alone.

High cholesterol used to be a diagnostic for hypothyroidism. My guess is you need more thyroxine, but only a full thyroid test will prove that.

I'm surprised at this because I have hypothyroidism but my cholesterol has always been fine.

I didn’t realise this. Interesting. I’ll ask the GP.

I did it online and it was ok actually. I’ll discuss this with the doctor.
edited for spelling.

You have high cholesterol because your body is probably using a lot cortisol to try to compensate for the hypothyroidism. Cholesterol is the building blocks of hormones.

Cholesterol is not a risk factor alone. What is your HbA1c, fasting insulin, CRP and homocysteine? They will give you a fuller picture of your risk.

And the number needed to check is Triglyceride to HDL ratio. The nearer to 1 the better.

@AgentPidgeI imagine it was one of many. There are so many symptoms aren’t there!

There certainly are! I commented because I'd never heard that before.

Your cholesterol is not very high, highish maybe but not very high. My serum cholesterol was over 11. Many people have it even higher and are healthy so don’t panic. Cholesterol is not really the bad guy it’s made out to be, if your arterial endothelial cells haven’t been poisoned by cigarettes and years of high blood sugar then you’re probably ok. Cholesterol is mostly a danger to those with damaged arteries (genetic issues like FH aside).

You need to educate yourself more on cholesterol because there is more than one type of LDL cholesterol and large LDL particles are healthy, small are considered the dangerous ones. So even if you have a high LDL reading if it’s all large particles your risk will be low. You’d have to go private to get particle sizing tests done though.

By the way don’t bother trying to change your cholesterol level with diet, if you eat less cholesterol then your liver will make more and vice versa. Oh and consumed cholesterol is not small particles, but large healthier cholesterol particles. Small cholesterol particles are caused by large particles our livers make reducing in size over time due to a failure to be recycled.

That said, I’ve been on maximum daily statin dose for over 5 years and no adverse side-effects. You might have no side effects - you won’t know unless you try them. I know someone who did get muscle pain with statins so they simply stopped taking them.

Btw, @PegDope is correct.

One supplement you can try to lower LDL cholesterol (it worked for me) is berberine - that has other benefits too like lowering blood sugar levels and being anti-inflammatory. Not as strong as a statin though.

@PegDopeyes, this is the thing. I know it’s linked to my hypothyroidism but I’ve run out of road with the gp who thinks my thyroid’s fine because my TSH is ok. I’d like to have a long sensible discussion about it all but I know she’s just going to give me statins and tell me not to eat too much cheese.

@SanityWhatsThatthank you. Yes, I have been reading a bit more about it and will look into the tests you mention. I’ll investigate berberine. I’ll have to see if it’s OK to take with my other thyroid meds.