You can of course, request the test from a local physician at your next check up. Generally speaking, the higher the dose of statins, the more muscle pain and myopathy occurs. var gcse = document.createElement('script');
Cholesterol and your thyroid Hypothyroidism can cause levels of total cholesterol, LDL bad cholesterol, and triglycerides to rise. Why the 'Cholesterol Causes Coronary Heart Disease' Dogma has Persisted, Evidence Against Cholesterol Causing Atherosclerosis. In most cases, enlargement of thyroid glands is caused by a non-cancerous tumor called an adenoma. It’s dose-dependent. When you have hyperthyroidism, your body is producing excessive amounts of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Defining Coronary Heart Disease Risk What About Cholesterol? Between 1.4% to 13% of patients with high cholesterol also have an underactive thyroid. So you can see why it’s important to have a thyroid profile done at least once a year and more often if you take a statin. Myopathy occured in one patient with hypothyroidism and two patients with hyperthyroidism. You can self-order tests if you’d like at many labs today, or you can go through my practitioner link for DIRECT LABS and buy the test there: Scroll down and click on this test “Thyroid Panel Complete-August Test of the Month”. Hyperthyroidism, also called overactive thyroid, is when the thyroid gland makes more thyroid hormones than your body needs. You may not have clear symptoms of hypothyroidism! I was among the first health bloggers to ever alert consumers about this effect back in 1998, and I took a lot of flack for it! var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
Statins are far more likely to cause muscle pain, cramps and skeletal muscle damage if you already have hypothyroidism (diagnosed or not). What about Graves’ disease or hyperthyroidism?The opposite effect occurs meaning that elevated thyroid hormone could lead to a reduction in total cholesterol. Statements on this site are those of the credited author of the article or message and the expressed opinions are not necessarily those of the site owners, operators, developers, or hosts. The composition and transport of cholesterol is severely disrupted with thyroid dysfunction. It’s like their #1 side effect pretty much! But if you’re not tested for CK levels or hypothyroidism, it will get missed and then your statin drug will make these muscle problems even worse.You can see why treating hypothyroidism can address several issues all at once, and yet the test is something that some of you still have to fight for. Today’s laws actually permit you, the patient, to visit some qualifying labs and get this type of test all done by yourself.The clinical pearl I want to relay to day is that taking a statin if you have hypothyroidism could be harmful because there is a situation called thyroid-induced myopathy, and it will be exacerbated by the statins. Antibiotics ending in -mycin such as erythromycin or Biaxin (clarithromycin) may increase the statins present in the blood and may also increase side effects. 4, 50 Facts on Statins, Cholesterol and Heart Health, Fat and Cholesterol Don't Cause Heart Attacks 1 of 3, Fat and Cholesterol Don't Cause Heart Attacks 2 of 3, Fat and Cholesterol Don't Cause Heart Attacks 3 of 3, My Statin Story Personal Experiences Main Menu, Chronic Neuromyopathy Triggered by Statin Use - part 1 of 2, Chronic Neuromyopathy Triggered by Statin Use - part 2 of 2, 08. com. Recommendations, statements and other opinions expressed on this site have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. So it might be bad because as your thyroid hormone declines, you will gain weight, feel tired, deal with poor concentration and focus, and you might have bouts of anxiety and depression. Certain drugs, such as … Red Meat. Using a statin in someone who has hypothyroidism could be harmful if you’re not careful because the thyroid-induced myopathy will be exacerbated by the statins, which are known to induce myopathies. A good endocrinologist will know all this.If you do start medication for thyroid, be aware that there are significant interactions with popular items such as diary (because of the calcium content) as well as iron supplements like “ferrous sulfate.” You need to separate your thyroid medication (Levothyroxine) from these by 4 hours. If you’re a patient trying to make sense of this, then ask for a complete thyroid profile. 78 patients (77.2%) were administered drugs metabolized by CYP isoforms also used by statins (3A4: 66 cases (65.3%); 2C9: 67 cases (66.3%); … Even mildly low thyroid hormone levels (subclinical hypothyroidism) can lead to high cholesterol. A rule of thumb is that the lower your thyroid hormone, the more lipid (cholesterol and triglyceride) abnormalities you have. The thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly and it regulates your body temperature, how fast you burn fat and your energy levels. Products, including vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements, and any statements made about those products on this page and throughout this site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. If it’s missed, they’ll give you a pill for this and a pill for that! You cannot make adequate thyroid hormone without selenium by the way! In conclusion, if you’re a practitioner, then please always consider the patient’s thyroid status before you order statin prescriptions or any lipid-lowering medication. The links between cholesterol and thyroid disease. What About Thyroid-Induced Muscle PainA simple test might determine if the muscle weakness, pain and tenderness is associated with hypothyroidism. Copyright 2020 | Suzy Cohen, America’s Pharmacist® & Dear Pharmacist, Inc. | All Rights Reserved Affiliate Disclosure. Products, including vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements, and any statements made about those products on this page and throughout this site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. © 2008 - 2020 All material on this site http://www.spacedoc.com/ is copyrighted and may not be used or reproduced in any form without written permission, © 2008 - 2021 Spacedoc Media LLC
Statins may improve thyroid function in patients with hyperthyroidism. Formula structure of cholesterol: Causes: Statins, hyperthyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, malabsorption, malnutrition, etc. In fact, it may not even be traced to a medication you started 2 or 3 years ago! Also called thyrotoxicosis, hyperthyroidism is caused by an increase in production of thyroid hormones (known as T3 and T4) from an enlarged thyroid gland in a cats neck. Hyperthyroidism is a condition of the thyroid. Since the publication of the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS), which reported … You can monitor this throughout your therapy to check the status of your muscle health. Thyroid hormone is known to play a role in regulating the synthesis, metabolism, and mobilization of lipids. The side effect of drugs for both conditions. By that I mean, by restoring the depleted nutrients. But thyroid hormone doesn't just stop there. Statin therapy is much safer and effective when you have normal thyroid levels, and this is the main point I’d like to make. Having too much cholesterol in your blood increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes. Note that no personal medical questions of any kind can or will be answered. Atrophy of muscles is another rare possibility. It is possible that low vitamin D … The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. If you’re a practitioner, then please always consider your patient’s thyroid status before you prescribe a statin drug, or any lipid-lowering medication. Anyone who has been diagnosed with cholesterol (lipid) abnormalities should have a complete thyroid hormone profile conducted. Magnesium is so potently reduced by PPI drugs that it could trigger cardiac arrhythmias, that’s why there’s a black box warning on those drugs! In contrast, the vast majority of the 278 patients not taking a statin had abnormal uptakes and scans. It’s what we call the risk to benefit ratio. Statins work to decrease cholesterol levels in your body. Usually a low serum TSH suggests hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid function) but these low TSH patients often had no signs of hyperthyroidism and had normal to high-normal thyroid hormone levels when they were measured prior to referral. Statins include atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol XL), lovastatin (Altoprev), pitavastatin (Livalo), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor, Ezallor) and simvastatin (Zocor, FloLipid). Hyperthyroidism is the condition that occurs due to excessive production of thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland. Before I close, I want to describe the details of a very important case study about a man who experienced hypothyroidism-induced problems with cholesterol or triglycerides.He lacked the typical symptoms of low thyroid. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. What if you’re taking both thyroid medicine AND a statin…, Since many doctors prescribe both statins and thyroid medicine, it’s important to know if that’s okay. And you might like this article too, 5 Benefits of Using a Weighted Blanket. Statins are known to cause myopathy, and this risk and the level of discomfort is compounded by you having hypothyroidism. At its core, thyroid hormone is a fat burner and cholesterol is a fat. It’s actually been studied using simvastatin. Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) is a condition in which your thyroid gland doesn't produce enough of certain crucial hormones.Hypothyroidism may not cause noticeable symptoms in the early stages. Read the full Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers before using this site. gcse.src = (document.location.protocol == 'https:' ? As discussed above, cholesterol is mostly synthesized in the liver. If you are taking 300mg or more per day, this can impact the functional activity of your thyroid gland. Statins are far more likely to cause muscle pain, cramps and skeletal muscle damage if you have hypothyroidism (diagnosed or not). gcse.async = true;
According to this case STUDY “Further, if a patient’s dyslipidemia gets worse without apparent cause or he or she develops SIM unexpectedly, hypothyroidism should be considered.”. Some rare cases of hyperthyroid disease are caused by malignant tumors known as thyroid adenocarcinomas. It’s a blood test. Aside from statins lowering thyroid levels, another drug that can do that is Lithium. STATIN prescriptions form a part of many people's daily routines, especially older people in the UK, many of whom will soon have their first dose of the Covid vaccine. Statin drugs are a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs (such as Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, Mevacor, Lipostat, and many others) that block an enzyme that allows your body to absorb cholesterol. Today, virtually every doctor knows this as a fact.Always keep in mind that statins negatively affect your ability to absorb your thyroid hormone medication, and produce thyroid hormone so it will be contributing, if not causing thyroid disease in some people. (function () {
A defect in the body's production of cholesterol can lead to adverse consequences as well. Subclinical and overt hypothyroidism are relatively common disorders in the general population. If not, READ HERE. Hypothyroidism has also been thought to be linked with diastolic hypertension. Thyrotoxicosis is the condition that occurs due to excessive thyroid hormone of any cause and therefore includes hyperthyroidism. Anti-oxidation and Mitochondrial Damage 2, Rhabdomyolysis - From the London Blitz to Statins, Ten Common Myths about Statins and Cholesterol - 1 of 3, Ten Common Myths about Statins and Cholesterol - 2 of 3, Ten Common Myths about Statins and Cholesterol - 3 of 3. There were no significant differences in the TSH, fT4 and fT3 levels between patients with statin induced myopathy and patients with other types of adverse effects. I had to defend that statement with research over and over to physicians that thought I was the new quack in town. The remaining 13 low TSH patients who were taking a statin (45%) had abnormal uptakes and scans, most commonly showing diffuse thyroid hyperplasia ( large increase in number of cells in the thyroid ) with increased radioiodine uptake. It is noted that thyrotoxicosis is related to hyper-kinetic movement disorders including chorea and myoclonus. See above for the list of symptoms.This led to a misdiagnosis and the inappropriate use of a statin. For example, take a look at the graph below. While some negatively affect the absorption of hypothyroidism drugs, one category of lipid-lowering medications—statins—may reduce the risk of thyroid eye disease in people with Graves' disease/hyperthyroidism. Muscle ProblemsYou might get muscle problems from taking statins and that would make existing muscle problems terribly worse! Back on 10 mg Atorvastatin and … To check for that, have your Free T4 and T3 evaluated as well as Total T4 and T3. This data was taken directly from the HUNT Study, the largest population-based heart disease study ever conducted. It’s probably their #1 side effect!The next situation worth noting – and this isn’t too well known- but cholesterol drugs may affect your thyroid gland, and reduce levels of thyroxine which either cause or contribute to hypothyroidism. Systemic conditions with a higher risk of tendon rupture include diabetes, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic kidney disease. You can also use my search box on this site because I’ve written about the impact of many popular drugs and all of those articles are archived here for public reference. That resulted in severe statin-induced myopathies. Of the 29 patients who reported using a statin, 16 were taking atorvastatin, 6 simvastatin, 5 pravastatin, 1 fluvastatin, and 1 lovastatin, reflecting the common observation that all of the different brands of reductase inhibitors have the same general side effect profile. He reluctantly gave me some medicine Immediately the first week on Armour and I felt better than I have in the last 8 years!! Diastolic blood pressure is the lower number on the blood pressure reading. It’s not just statins, by the way. Red meat contains cholesterol and an excess amount of saturated fats; that is why hyperthyroidism patients should not consume it. Cholesterol levels; Glucose; Specialized thyroid tests like Thyroid receptor antibody (TRAb) or Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulin (TSI) Imaging tests of the thyroid may also be needed, including: Radioactive iodine uptake and scan; Thyroid ultrasound (rarely) Treatment. In 2014 a large study looked at those newly diagnosed with an … Here’s a list with a few more interactions between thyroid medicine and other drugs: What should you do if you take these other medications with thyroid?Adjustments to your medication can be made if you don’t enjoy the benefits within a couple of weeks, but just make sure you are closely monitored and doing your initial tests so dosage adjustments can be made. Statins may improve thyroid function in patients with hyperthyroidism. These drugs are sold over-the-counter, so you may not even realize that. Tendinopathy usually occurs within the first year of statin use and improves after the drug therapy is stopped. 4 In recent years, there has been an emerging interest in the potential role of statins to reduce the incidence of VTE [which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)]. 2, Uffe Ravnskov - The Real Cause of Heart Disease? Hyperthyroidism is usually treated with one or more of the following: … The term “subclinical hypothyroidism” means that it’s very early in the disease process, and that the levels are not dangerously low, and that the level of TSH might be slightly above the normal range. Uffe Ravnskov - The Real Cause of Heart Disease? The treatment of this condition (hypothyroidism) with some thyroid hormone medication will usually alleviate symptoms of myopathy and might even help with the lipid/cholesterol ratios! That is allowed now as outlined in my article, You Can Order Your Own Blood Work and Lab Tests. Thyroid disease does not cause diabetes no more than diabetes causes thyroid disease, but we will examine the link between the two in detail. In closing, if you find yourself resistant to statins (meaning your cholesterol ratios remain high during statin therapy), it could be due to you having hypothyroidism and dyslipidemia related to low thyroid will not respond well to statins, no matter how high the dose. The results of this study show that statins may falsely lower the serum TSH without altering thyroid function, the condition observed in the 16 of the 29 statin users described above who had normal scans and uptakes on follow-up examinations. The reason this could happen is through the drug-nutrient depletion effect, what I call the “drug mugging” effect. Some of you don’t respond to lipid-lowering medications. Recommendations, statements and other opinions expressed on this site have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A study demonstrated an overall prevalence of 13.4% of thyroid diseases in people with diabetes with the highest prevalence in type 1 females with diabetes (31.4%). If the topic of restless legs and muscle problems is of interest to you, CLICK HERE to read my article, Akathisias Make You Want to Jump Out of Your Skin. To contact site administrator regarding technical or other aspects of this site, e-mail to site@spacedoc.com. It is not clear from these studies if low vitamin D is a cause, a consequence or an innocent bystander in the development of these common thyroid conditions. The scientists concluded with, “…the findings of the present study suggest that there may not be any significant interaction between simvastatin and levothyroxine.”. So if you are someone with high LDL problems despite an apparently healthy lifestyle you should probably get your thyroid levels checked, particularly if you are a woman. Alternatively there is another explanation. If you’re a patient, you have every right to ask your doctor for a full thyroid profile (or panel), in fact, you can self-order this test if you desire. However, not everyone with hyperthyroidism will … You can’t see CoQ10, selenium, magnesium, potassium, Vitamin D or any other depletion on an MRI!!! As such, Immunovant’s decision to run cholesterol tests on stored serum from previous trials in MG and Graves’ disease could provide an important answer regarding any read across to other … Disorders including chorea and myoclonus t be able to metabolize fats you feel... Policy and Disclaimers before Using this site have not statins and hyperthyroidism evaluated by the U.S. Food and drug Administration will be. The first year of statin use and improves after the drug therapy is stopped LDL receptor functioning happens is the. An excess amount of pressure blood is pushing up against the walls of the every! There could be a reason and you should know it before you raise your statin dose and antacid dose at..., metabolism, and yet they ’ re nearly asymptomatic gland, and biceps... 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