Question: I am an indian and a hypo thyroid patient for the past ten years. My thyroid is checked every 3 months and it has always been normal with the medication. I was on Lipitor on and off due to the high cholesterol. From last month I having been seeing a doctor who has brought in some diet changes and requested me to stop Lipitor. I now use virgin coconut oil and follow a diet. As it is the lent season I have been off non-veg for over a month. My diet is in the morning I eat some oats with fruits or sometimes the oats is replaced with rice cakes. In the afternoon I eat chic peas or kidney beans prepared in a semi gravy form. Oil used for all preparation is virgin coconut oil or olive oil. The dinner is usually 3 chapatis with some gravy.. I take 3 table spoons of virgin coconut oil on a daily basis. I also do 2 km on the treadmill at least 5 times a week. Since I had stopped my Lipitor medication for about a month I did my lipid profile and the results were total cholesterol 278.14 mg/dl, trigly 348.69 mg/dl, hdl 34.67mg/ dl and LDL 194.80 mg/ dl. My fasting sugar is 100.87 mg/ dl. I am a non smoker and have alcohol very occasionally ( although I haven't had the same after I had stopped Lipitor). I visited the doctor today and due to my anxiety he asked me to do a cardio evaluation and both the ECG and the TMT was fine. The doctor says to give 3 months time for things to change around before to decide if I need to have statin on a regular basis. My worry is within 3 months will my blood results go wary and out of control or am I being just over exited.

Thanks.... XXXXXXX

Dear Doctor

Thank you for the reply.

Please can you let me know the following

The diet i mentioned in my initial mail is fine. I will be cutting down totally on rice and eating atta chapatis instead. Is this fine?
What would be the pointers i should look out (in case something goes wrong) for during the next one month i am off medication.
I have slight headaches, watery eyes, constipation. Is this something related?
Is it enough for me to do lipid tests after a month.
Is there any herbal / ayurveda / homeo remedies that you would suggest?

I have attached my report which was taken just after a week i stopped lipitor and after 4 weeks since i stopped.

I look forward to hear from you.

Kind regards.... XXXXXXX

Dear Doctor,

Thank you for the above.

I am just a bit over anxious and hence have the following queries.

Hope u had a look at my reports which was taken with a month's gap. Considering I will not be on medications for a month is it ok to have such high levels without causing any harm. If the diet does not work then I will probably start medications form next month end. You did mention that I will have an issue only if I ignore the high levels for long terms and this one month should be fine.

Do you see any risk that I run in the coming one month I intend to be of medication and follow the diet.

Does Lipitor have any withdrawal symptoms cause I doubt if my headache and the feeling of pressure in my head is due to that or is just a feeling.

I read somewhere on the Internet that high levels of cholesterol can show some signs in the eye. Is that the case and what should I look out.

I take garlic, ginger and turmeric in a small amounts daily. Can that cause constipation.

My thyroid function is fine but I still feel tired and sleepy at times, have pains on my XXXXXXX back of the thigh, neck.

I look forward to hear from you.

Regards.... XXXXXXX