I was lucky.
My cholesterol hadn’t started to raise yet when I was on Synthroid and later Levoxy. But it was going to, because nearly everyone on a T4-only medication has a climbing cholesterol number, sooner or later, along with heart problems and/or elevated CRP. And what do their doctors do next? Put them on statins with all the lovely side effects: muscle aches & pains, memory loss, and peripheral neuropathy. (See the Yahoo Stopped My Statins group here.)
My mother is the classic example. We have absolutely no heart problems in our family history that I know of. Yet, here was my mother who, in her 60′s, was suddenly in the hospital having a balloon procedure on her heart, called an Angioplasty, done to open up a clogged artery to her heart. Huh??
It was only years later, when I become a thyroid patient advocate, that I could look back and see why that happened to her. She had been on a T4 medication for the majority of her adult life!
Today, as patients are switching to natural desiccated thyroid like Armour, Naturethroid and Westhroid and others, and as they are allowed by their informed doctors to raise NOT according to the TSH but by the complete elimination of symptoms…VOILA…. their once-high cholesterol….FALLS!!
But guess what else falls? Your CRP.
CRP stands for C-Reactive Protein, and it becomes elevated in response to an inflammation. With that elevation comes the heightened risk of heart attacks and strokes. And guess what: continued hypothyroid (as found with T4-only treatment) results in an increased CRP level.
On an optimal amount of Armour, which for me is 4 grains, my CRP is 0.9. Ideal is less than one. Bingo.
***Have a story to share about your improved lipid or CRP levels since you became optimal on Armour? Let us know.
YEEHAW! Check out this study done in 2007–the higher the TSH, the worse your lipids. Ironically, even a TSH IN RANGE does this, according to the experience of MILLIONS of patients!! Thanks Nita for bringing this to my attention!
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 and is filed under Related conditions due to hypo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Maureen Glickenberger said:
Jul 04, 08 at 10:07 amSome cases of thyroid disease are caused by a gluten intolerance (Celiac Disease). My ferritin level and tsh improved after giving up gluten. However, after 2 years of being gluten free, my tsh was still not in the optimal range between 1 & 2 and my current doctor put me on Armour Thyroid. I no longer have little episodes of alopecia areata.
My ferritin went from 4 to 11 after giving up gluten. I don’t want to take iron supplements to get my ferritin level higher. Microorganisms (viruses & bacteria) need iron to survive. If you are sick with any kind of infection, taking iron supplements could be more harmful and prolong your illness.
Thanks, Maureen
(from Janie: you might want to read the page on TSH here.)
Justme said:
Jul 13, 08 at 7:16 amMy mother has a shmorgesborg of issues that I can relate to: piss-poor thyroid treatment and unmanaged adrenal function – osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, muscular sclerosis, and depression, to name a few.
It’s so sad, and it angers me, that doctors can’t (won’t) treat thyroid/adrenal issues better — all this could have been avoided, no?
Julie said:
Aug 08, 08 at 3:01 pmMy cholesterol dropped 50 points from 208 to 158 after 7 months of Armour. For 20 years I had high cholesterol, started synthroid 15 years ago. In just 7 short months I have “normal” cholesterol for the first time EVER. And it will stay that way now because we treated the cause.
Tammy said:
Dec 01, 10 at 5:30 pmI have celiac disease, thyroid issues and taking natural hormone replacement. I have started having “cardiac” episodes that no one seems to be able to explain. I wake in the middle of the night with my heart rate as high as 180bpm. I have lost concisousness twice because of this. They now want to put me on beta blokcers, but I can’t help but this is yet another “mask” of what the real issue must be. Has anyone ever heard of these symptoms from the above diseases?
Janie said:
Dec 01, 10 at 6:30 pmTammy, sounds like you have an adrenal issue. You need to do the 24 hour adrenal saliva test to see what’s going on. One can be ordered from here: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/recommended-labwork and they don’t need a prescription. To understand your results, go here: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values Read more about adrenal issues here: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/adrenal-info
Cecilia said:
Dec 03, 11 at 7:28 pmJanie is right. This is an adrenal issue. Interestingly enough, the genes for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, mitral valve prolapse and celiac disease are linked on the same chromosome, which means when one is triggered, such as celiac, the other two are as well, if you have the genes.
My history: I have celiac disease, Hashimoto’s, and the concomitant adrenal issues. I used to have mitral valve prolapse. I exercised regularly, and took calming aminos, so I no longer have it. STTM has been a Godsend to me.
I was first diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse in 1990. Had pounding heart issues that kept me up all night. Cardiologist put me on beta blockers, 25 mg. every night. Then in 2000, I was diagnosed by a naturopath with having hypothyroid. He put me on 1/2 grain Armour and left me there! Of course, my hypothyroid worsened, and I gained 13 pounds and ended up going to an osteopath to get an MRI of my pituitary (which I insisted on). No tumor, so he sent me to an endocrinologist, who put me on Levoxyl and Cytomel because my antibodies were elevated. She at least knew to test that, and diagnosed me with Hashimoto’s in 2000.
Could not drink alcohol, caffeine or eat chocolate (yeah, like I was going to give chocolate up!) and took beta blockers (Atenolol) for 17 friggin’ years. I got myself off of it after feeling like crap, with taking Alka Seltzer Gold (sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate) at night with 4 grams of L-arginine. That was in 2009. Took me 6 months to do this. Had I read “The Mood Cure” by Julia Ross, I’m sure I could have done it a lot quicker. It’s about neurotransmitter balancing. Dopamine causes the heart to race. GABA, L-tryptophan (in a very low dose), L-glycine, L-glutamine, and taurine will suppress dopamine. I take GABA (50 mg.), L-tryptophan (250 mg.), Alka Seltzer Gold, and 4 grams of L-arginine nightly.
An age-management doc convinced me to change over to Armour, which I did, 2 gr. I am up to 4 now, dosing 3 in the a.m. upon rising, then 1 grain in the early afternoon. No more pounding heart. But I also am still supplementing with 50 mcg. bovine adrenal sublingual adrenal extract. The age-management doc didn’t understand/was threatened by treating the adrenals, so I did it on my own with Isocort at that time. Some days I don’t need it or my thyroid hurts, so I back off and don’t take it until I “feel” my adrenals are down.
Long story, but I’m doing great now and heed my body’s warnings of what I am ingesting too much/not enough of.
Hope this helps.
Cecilia