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boohicks · 02-18-2011, 07:00 PM

I am a 51 year old female recently in for my annual check up. Here are the test results:

TSH 5.99
T4 6.4
T3 Uptake 30%
Free Thyroxine Index 1.9

My Vit. D level is low. My total Cholesterol is 281 and
LDL is 176...I know both too high!

After reading some of these wonderful messages, I'm thinking I need to be on meds...for thyroid and cholesterol

Thanks!

FinnMaid · 02-19-2011, 04:01 AM

You may not need meds for high cholesterol at all - once you get your hypoT under control those levels may very well normalize. Your TSH is high and you should have your free thyroid levels (FT4 and maybe FT3) checked to get a better picture (those other thyroid tests you had taken are pretty useless) and thyroid antibodies (TPOAb and TGAb) too.

midwest1 · 02-19-2011, 08:17 AM

Hypothyroidism is the second-leading cause of high cholesterol after poor diet. You're hypothyroid, no doubt about it. Healthy people have TSH around 1-1.5.

Treat the hypothyroidism, and it's all but guaranteed you'll see an improvement in the cholesterol.

boohicks · 02-20-2011, 08:13 AM

Thanks for your quick replies! I'm also a little concerned about weight gain from the meds? Does that happen to alot of people? I really need to lose weight, surely not gain weight!

Thanks again!
Lisa

cd37 · 02-20-2011, 08:38 AM

There are NO side effects from thyroid hormone replacement meds. Any difficulties you may experience would be dose-related.

In other words, if you are gaining weight not related to overconsumption of calories/less exercise, more likely than not, your dose isn't high enough.

It's very important to work with your doctor to optimize your thyroid hormone levels to YOUR normal - not just any level within the normal range. For most of us, our normal is FreeT4/FreeT3 levels towards the high end of the range. Many doctors undermedicate.

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