Thyroid with Cholesterol

[gaurav_jasani]

I have been diagnosed recently with Hypothyroid having TSH higher then the normal range (mine is 5.8) while T3 and T4 are in normal range, I also have cholesterol unit as 218 which is again little higher then normal range (<200).

My question is to endocrinologist whether I should start any medication now or I should wait for next couple of months with no medicines and get myself tested again and decide upon the test results (as per endocrinologist's advices).

My only concern is, if I start thyroid medicines once then I will have to take it for life time and this is something I would like to avoid but at the same time I dont want to sleep over on my disease (Hypothryroid) and so seeking expert advice on the same.

I really appreciate if one can respond to my above query quickly.

Thanks and Regards,
-Gaurav.

[remar]

Did your Dr do the Frees, FT3 and FT4?
Your TSH is high but you also need these other tests so please let us know if those are the ones you've had.
Did you get any antibodies tests? You need those also.
Hypothyroidism can elevate your cholesterol.
I don't think it's a good idea to wait and see if your TSH comes down before starting treatment. Ask your Dr if he/she has checked your Frees, if not then get them tested and post your relults here so the members can tell you what they mean. Take care. Remar

[redheadaussie]

Hi there. Unfortunately many thyroid patients have cholesterol problems too. It seems to be a hypothyroid symptom. It is probably not a good idea to wait to start thyroid medication, as delaying it can also increase your cholesterol levels as well. This is something you need to avoid.
  Do you know what your HDL and LDL cholesterol reading was? Often too many doctors lump them both together and say you have high cholesterol. It's the LDL's you want to try to keep down, and the HDL, the good guys up. So if your HDL is much higher than the LDL's then you are not technically in a high cholesterol danger zone.
   Regardless if it good or bad, you need the thyroid medications to avoid other hypothyroid issues.  Believe it or not, it is not such a difficult thing to get used to taking a tablet for life. You put on your clothes everyday, so a tablet a day becomes second nature. ( Or maybe you live in a nudist colony! Just kidding!)
Cheers

[remar]

Your right Redheadaussie. My cholesterol was close to 200 but my Dr told me my HDL was very high, one of the good guys! So when he broke it down for me and did the ratio's my cholesterol was very good.
Yes, please post your cholesterol numbers here because it is your LDL and triclycerides you really need to be concerned about. Remar

[Barb135]

The above posters are right - hypothyroidism can cause high cholesterol.  When I was dx'd hypo, my cholesterol was very high and my doctor wanted me to start on cholesterol meds right away.........I declined..  I knew that with a TSH of 55.51 and Free T4 of only 0.4, that I had no choice but to go on thyroid meds and hoped that once my thyroid got back in line, my cholesterol levels would too.......... I was right.  The last time I had my cholesterol checked, all the levels were back in range, even though my thyroid is still not balanced out yet........

The thyroid is most important -- as Red said, if you start taking it now, you might avoid some of the symptoms that some of us have suffered through AND if getting your thyroid back in line, helps your cholesterol, you've killed 2 birds with one stone.  And Red is also right - incorporating one tiny pill into your daily routine is not such a drastic thing -- once you get used to it, it becomes almost automatic.........

And do make sure that each time you get your thyroid levels checked, make sure they do TSH, FREE T4 and FREE T3...... Thyroid antibody testing would also be good at this point to see whether or not you have autoimmune disease(s).  

[stella5349]

Yeap - you got real good thoughts here.

You have to ratio out the reading to see where your ranges are with the HDL and LDL . In most cases you will find that in hypothyroidism the HDL's are higher too and will counteract those labs.

I do notice though, that in most hypothyroid cases - many doctors will prescribe a cholestrol busting drug when a count of over 200 is present. This is not necessarily the right thing to do if they look at the HDL counts with the others.

Hypothyroidism effects the breakdown of bad fats and can cause cholestrol build up - due to the slowing of the metobolism. It's essential to speed the system up to release that fat tissue. This is where the Free T3 and Free T4 tests come in for us. If the Free T3 hormone in our system is optimal than that is the key to keeping the system running correctly.

You have a high TSH which in most cases - the FT3 will be bottoming out. You need to look at those labs to feel better.

Some hypothyroid patients do find when they start meds for their thyroid do lower the cholestrol counts. ( but only if the true thyroid hormones are balanced too)

You pretty much have a choice here. Either way - you can take cholestrol meds to "fake" lower the cholestrol - or - you can start hypothyroid meds to stabilize the thyroid so that the cholestrol counts lower normally.

I believe - finding the root of the issues is most important . You may want to consider looking at your thyroid issues and moving to heal that first before anything.

[ChitChatNine]

High CHolesterol FROM thyroid med Synthroid?

Did I read someplace that can be a side effect?

[gaurav_jasani]

Hi Thansk all, my other ratings are as mentioned below.

-> CHOLESTEROL                         216.8 (Normal Range 0-200)
-> LDL Cholesterol                             158 (Borderline High: 130 - 159)
-> Chol / HDL Chol Ratio                     5.15 (Avarage Risk: 4.5 - 7.0)
-> LDL Chol / HDL Chol Ratio              3.8 (Moderate Risk: 3.1 - 6.0)
-> T3                                          130.1 (58 - 159)
-> T4                                                  6.31 (4.87 - 11.72)
-> TSH                                           5.92 (0.35 - 4.94)
-> SGPT                        50.9 (Should be Less than 45)

I understand that i need to consult Endocrinologist as soon as I can and start medicines based on his/her advise but please provide me with your valuable comments based on above ratings too.

Thanks Again!
-Gaurav.

[stella5349]

were your T3-T4 test Free tests?

[gaurav_jasani]

I dint get, what do you mean by free test?, I was told its T3 and T4 test, what should I ask them to get whether its free or not.

[stella5349]

Making sure you have the free testing is key to finding out the real ratios.

T3 -T4- ( or TOTAL T3 -T4) is "stored" hormones that do absolutely nothing for you, but doctors seem to test the totals more than the frees..