[lolagraves]

#1060775

I was diagnosed with Graves over 20 years ago. I had severe reactions to the 2 medications that were options at the time. Ultimately, my thyroid was shut down with a treatment of radio iodine. It took more than a year to get my levels correct and I have been on Synthroid daily since then. I have always believed that this drug has caused me joint pain, bone loss and now my bone density shows osteoporosis. Here are my 2 questions…..Is there finally a more natural replacement which does not have these type of side effects, or other options at all? And what type of vitamin/mineral is believed to helpful with a graves diagnosis and Synthroid supplementation?

[Kimberly]

#1184699

Hello and welcome – Some doctors will prescribe desiccated products like Armour or Nature-throid (which are made from pig thyroid glands and contain both T3 and T4), although this is somewhat controversial in the medical community. We hear from patients who have had success with this approach, and from others who felt that these products brought back a return of their hypER symptoms. You can read more here:

http://gdatf.org/forum/topic/44358/

Hopefully, you are getting levels checked and the dose adjusted at least annually. Bone loss can be an issue *if* the dose of Synthroid is too high.

If you have bone loss, talk to your doctor about calcium supplementation – although this is another area where not all doctors agree!

Rarely, patients can react to the fillers/dyes in color-coded replacement hormone tablets. If you are taking a color-coded version of Synthroid, you might at least ask your doctor about taking the non color-coded version (there is usually one) and adjusting the # of tabs taken daily to get you to the correct dose.

There is also a product called Tirosint that is a T4-only gel capsule and does not have the binders/fillers in traditional meds.

Another thought would be to get a complete physical *just* to rule out any other possible underlying causes for the joint pain that could benefit from separate treatment.

[snelsen]

#1184700

Well, I am not sure how old you are, but certainly age and genetics are significant variables, and in my opinion, more significant than Synthroid, which is a hormone we must have to live.
Sometimes it is hard to get familial history a few generations back, but I know that many of my female relatives “rheumatism” and arthritis, which I realize is
not osteopenia or osteoporosis.

You can ask you doc, but I don’t think any supplements reverse osteoporosis.
And follow Kimberly’s suggestions, which are all super.

[Author]

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