# Hyper & cholesterol sky high



## DonnaK (Mar 22, 2011)

Any ideas? I went in for lab results today. End of November my TSH was 1.59 (.4-4.5) and FT4 was 1.3(.8-1.8) FT3 was 3.0 (2.3-4.2). Last week with no medication changes my TSH is .39 (.4-4.5) and Total T4 15.4 (4.5-12). I have no idea why he didn't run my free's this time, but he wants to cut back my medication based on my TSH and Total T4. Also, my cholesterol doubled since the last time it was checked. My tryglicerides are over 300! The have never been over 150. Is there a connection being hyper and cholesterol. My diet hasn't changed at all other than eating less of what I used to eat. I have lost almost 40 pounds in the last 7 months since my TT and I was totally hypo the whole time.

Could my abdominal pain be from being hyper, too? It's been horrible and hair still falling out like crazy.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Not sure...

Hopefully it will go back into normal ranges once you are stabilized.

My Cholesterol was up on my last draw and my labs were low toward hypo - without any dose changes. My blood pressure was also higher than usual and definitely higher since my TT.

The body is an interesting thing and all you can do is keep track of changes and hopefully your cholesterol will fall once you stabilize.

Your hair loss is due to thyroid hormone changes most likely - that will lessen once you stabilize too.

Not sure about the stomach pain, unless it's from an accelerated digestive track due to being hyper.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

DonnaK said:


> Any ideas? I went in for lab results today. End of November my TSH was 1.59 (.4-4.5) and FT4 was 1.3(.8-1.8) FT3 was 3.0 (2.3-4.2). Last week with no medication changes my TSH is .39 (.4-4.5) and Total T4 15.4 (4.5-12). I have no idea why he didn't run my free's this time, but he wants to cut back my medication based on my TSH and Total T4. Also, my cholesterol doubled since the last time it was checked. My tryglicerides are over 300! The have never been over 150. Is there a connection being hyper and cholesterol. My diet hasn't changed at all other than eating less of what I used to eat. I have lost almost 40 pounds in the last 7 months since my TT and I was totally hypo the whole time.
> 
> Could my abdominal pain be from being hyper, too? It's been horrible and hair still falling out like crazy.


I think you need a new doc. No one should change med based on TSH and the Total 4!

And you are on a really high dose of Synthroid. I suspect that it is converting to rT3 (reverse) instead of T3.

Get a new doctor; that is my thinking. You would benefit from dessicated thyroid instead of Synthroid, I believe.


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## bob_norm (Jan 11, 2013)

There is a link between cholesterol and hyper or hypothyroidism. When a person is hypo, the body processes less cholesterol. When a person is hyper, the body processes more. So high cholesterol means you are spending more time as hypo. Abdominal pains can be a sign of slowing digestion and build-up of gas or material moving from the small intestine that is not properly digested to the large intestine.

I think you should talk to your doctor about your issues and if you are not satisfied with his explanation and solution, find another doctor. If your symptoms get worse, find another doctor - at the very least, get a second and even a third opinion hopefully from doctors who specialize in this.


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## DonnaK (Mar 22, 2011)

Thanks, guys. He re-ran my cholesterol yesterday in case there was a lab error. I go back for blood work in six weeks and I am going to make sure he runs my free's and RT3 to get a better idea what's going on. I don't know what happened - I asked him to run them this time and he is usually really good about putting in for whatever I ask him to do. He is willing to let me try NDT, so maybe next visit will be time to ask him to switch me and see how that goes. I have been having hyper symptoms and I think my dosage may be high now that I have lost weight. Based on my current weight and the recommendation I should be at a lower dose anyway.


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## DonnaK (Mar 22, 2011)

Oh, and I do have an appointment with my GI on Monday. I'll have to talk to him about the abdominal and stomach pain. It's been terrible the last few weeks.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

I agree with Andros......suggest a new doc.

Also, just running a basic cholesterol test is about as useless and running the total T3 and T4. You need to get a complete lipid panel which includes the LDL, VLDL, HDL, Triglycerides, etc. I'm always leery of cholesterol results because it's done mostly through calculation which can be unreliable.

Frankly, I don't know anyone who survives the December holidays without some elevation in cholesterol.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

CA-Lynn said:


> I agree with Andros......suggest a new doc.
> 
> Also, just running a basic cholesterol test is about as useless and running the total T3 and T4. You need to get a complete lipid panel which includes the LDL, VLDL, HDL, Triglycerides, etc. I'm always leery of cholesterol results because it's done mostly through calculation which can be unreliable.
> 
> Frankly, I don't know anyone who survives the December holidays without some elevation in cholesterol.


That is 100% correct about the cholesterol. Thank you for pointing that out!


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## DonnaK (Mar 22, 2011)

He did run the full lipid panel. As well as cbc, metab panel, Vit D, Vit B12 + folate and methylmalonic acid (whatever that is?) My D was low but b12 was in low range. I'm going to add both though. The only thing missing is the free's which he ran last time so I don't know why he didn't this time.

HDL 32 (>=46 mg/dl)
LDL/CHOL 164 (<130 mg/dl)
Triglycerides 304 (<150 mg/dl)
Cholesterol/HDL ratio 8.0 (<=5.0)
Total Cholesterol 257 (125-200 mg/dl)
LDL Cholesterol Direct 174 (<130mg/dl) first time he's done that one.

Not sure what the VLDL is, I've never seen that on my labs. In April, before my TT my labs were -

HDL 42 (>=46 mg/dl)
LDL 97 (<130 mg/dl)
Triglycerides 153 (<150 mg/dl) 
Chol/HDL ratio 4.0 (<=5.0)
Total cholesterol 170 (125-200 mg/dl)

I'm not ready to change docs, I'll be with him either way as he is my primary and is great with everything else. If I have to find a better endo for the thyroid side of things, then that's what I'll do, but not many are willing to prescribe NDT and my primary is. I just have to make sure he remembers to run the free's from now on. He ran them the time before so I don't know why he didn't this time.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

[Deleted due to table misprint]


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

VLDL = Very Low Desnity Lipoprotein [Google for more information]

Just to show you how cholesterol test results can jump all over the map, check mine out. The first two numbers following the name of the test is the normal range. The numbers separated by commas are my quarterly test results over a period of time.

CHOLESTEROL, TOTAL	130 - 199 
269, 222, 225, 242, 220, 200

CHOLESTEROL, HDL	40 - 85 
67, 56, 53, 55, 58, 54

CHOLESTEROL, LDL	57 - 100
176, 123, 129, 156, 124, 111

VLDL	6.0 - 35.0
26, 43, 43, 31, 38, 35

CHOL/HDL RISK RATIO	0.0 - <4.4
4.01, 3.96, 4.3, 4.4, 3.8, 3.7

TRIGLYCERIDES	0 - 150
131, 213, 217, 155, 188, 176

In case you're wondering about the formula and the way the results are calculated:

[HDL + LDL + (Trig/5)] = Total Cholesterol


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## DonnaK (Mar 22, 2011)

Thanks, Lynn. I guess they can be all over in short periods of time. I'll be interested in seeing where they are with the one he ran a week later.


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