The incidence of hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, has reached epidemic proportions. Synthroid (levothyroxine), typically prescribed to accelerate the gland’s activity, is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States, especially for people over the age of 50.
Besides the frustrating symptoms and overall effect on your health, a slow thyroid is also damaging to your bones. Let’s explore why, but first…
Just What is Hypothyroidism?
When the thyroid gland, which is located in the front of the neck, does not produce enough thyroid hormone, it’s said to be slow or underactive.
Hashimoto’s disease is not the same thing as hypothyroidism, although Hashimoto’s can result in an underactive thyroid. Hashimoto’s refers to a specific condition where the immune system attacks the thyroid.
What Are the Symptoms of Hypothyroidism?
A slow thyroid may cause pain and discomfort in the throat, especially when swallowing. In addition, here is a partial list of other symptoms that may be present:
- Fatigue
- Weight gain
- Feeling cold all the time
- Puffy face
- Dry skin
- Weak muscles
- Hoarse or “gravely” voice
- Difficulty remembering things
- Hair loss
- Joint pain and/or stiffness
Any time a major gland in the body is not working well, it is cause for concern.
Your Doctor Will Never Tell You This: Osteoblasts “Communicate” With Thyroid Hormone!
To understand the role your thyroid plays in bone metabolism, we need to back up a little and talk about how the thyroid works.
Your thyroid gland is stimulated by a hormone called TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), which is secreted by the pituitary gland. The thyroid then produces its main hormone, T4.
But recent research has shown that TSH has a dual function: it also communicates with osteoblasts, the bone-building cells.
Osteoblasts actually have TSH receptors, and they are constantly “listening” for signals from TSH, which “tells” them whether to build bone or back off a bit. It’s a fascinating balancing act, and …
Too Much or Too Little TSH Can Throw a Wrench in the Whole Process
Excessive TSH can result in too much thyroid hormone, which in turn can stimulate excessive bone resorption. An Australian study showed that “thyroid hormone can act on osteoblasts to indirectly stimulate osteoclastic bone resorption.”1
Hormone Conversion: a Delicate Balance For Proper Bone Mineralization
Your thyroid’s main hormone, T4, must be converted to T3 to be of use in bone metabolism. T3 acts as an energy regulator for the osteoblasts, providing them with the fuel they need to manufacture and build bone. In addition, T3 stimulates the production of alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme produced in the liver and crucial to bone mineralization.
In Other Words, T3 Sets the Bone-Building Tempo
And like all tempos, it needs to be consistent and regular to produce harmonic results, and it involves many key players. For instance, osteoblasts actually “play an important role in mediating the thyroid hormone stimulation of osteoclastic resorption,”2 according to a study published in the European Journal of Endocrinology. This means that osteoblasts act as mediators between thyroid hormone and osteoclasts (the cells that tear down bone).
Without sufficient T3, then, normal bone remodeling is disrupted, and bone resorption happens at a more rapid rate than bone building. The result: decreased bone density and osteoporosis.
Both an Over- and an Under-Active Thyroid Can Hurt Your Bones
But an under-active thyroid – hypothyroidism – is much more prevalent. Why?
There are various potential culprits behind the hypothyroidism “epidemic,” but one of the biggest ones is…
Fluoridated Tap Water
As I write in the Osteoporosis Hydration Protocol, a free report on water that is included with the Osteoporosis Reversal Program, “scientists hypothesize that fluoride may be the culprit of the recent hypothyroidism epidemics, as it interferes with iodine metabolism.”3
Fluoride’s ability to slow down the thyroid has actually been well-known for some time. In fact, “Not so long ago, fluoride was used as an anti-thyroid medicine specifically to slow down an overactive thyroid. For instance, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology published an article by Drs. Galetti and Goyer confirming that fluoride slows down thyroid activity.”3
How much fluoride did doctors give their patients? Doctors found that only 2 milligrams a day of fluoride was sufficient to decrease thyroid activity.4 But here’s a startling fact – if you drink fluoridated tap water, you’re likely ingesting more than 6 milligrams of fluoride per day!4 That’s more than enough to slow down your thyroid.
In the Osteoporosis Hydration Protocol, which is part of the Osteoporosis Reversal Program, you can read more about the ravages of fluoride.
The Correct Dosage of Synthetic Thyroid Hormone is Tricky
Remember the delicate balance discussed above? Quite a few players are required to create the harmonious “symphony” of thyroid hormone balance and, consequently, healthy bones. Patients can easily end up taking too much or too little thyroid medication, causing accelerated bone loss.
For example, the dose you’ve taken for the last year may be too large or too small the following year. Changes in lifestyle, diet, medical conditions, and a host of other factors can all influence thyroid levels. Some doctors recommend 6-month evaluations in an attempt to maintain normal levels of thyroid hormone, and yearly check-ups are considered the minimum. If you change dosage or brands, your doctor will likely want to see you back in 6 weeks for another evaluation.
This is a far cry from a healthy body’s constant, around-the-clock regulation of thyroid hormone. So if you've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, make sure you avoid fluoride as much as possible.
Till next time,
References
1 Britto, J.M., et al. “Osteoblasts mediate thyroid hormone stimulation of osteoclastic bone resorption.” Endocrinology. Jan. 1994. 134(1): 169-76. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8275930
2 Langdahl, Bente L. and Eriksen, Erik F. “The influence of thyroid hormnones on bone nturnover in health and osteoporosis.” European Journal of Endicrinology. 1998. 139 10-11. Pdf
3 Osteoporosis Hydration Protocol.
4 National Research Council. (2006). Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA's Standards. National Academies Press, Washington D.C. p 197.
Comments on this article are closed.
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This will be long but I need help. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in 2005 with osteopenia in 2007 and in 2016 after falling and breaking my wrist, with osteoporosis. I seem to have developed some balance problems and have decided to start back with yoga, by the way. From 2005 to 2007 I learned I cannot take synthetic or natural treatments for my hypothyroidism/Hashimoto’s. It’s a long story and I’ve visited 4 endocrinologists – who sent me to four psychiatrists who, with shaking heads, referred me back to the endocrinologists. (I guess when the endocrinologist can’t figure it out, it’s in your head, right?) The endocrinologists, all of them, only said, “you need to take your thyroid medicine.” (along with an array of other medications from anti-depressants to antihistamines. I am NOT depressed, by the way) My symptoms, when I took any hypothyroid medicine (and I tried them all armour thyroid, synthroid, generic, name brand, and even a European capsule that looked much like a vitamin D capsule with no fillers) while I wasn’t aware at the time, were those of severe hyperthyroidism, although my blood work was perfect. (Panic attacks, even in my sleep, climbing stair steps would put my heart rate at 186bpm, etc. and I had been relatively active up until the meds, even climbing trees!) After I got off the thyroid meds for years I couldn’t drink more than a cup of coffee, one small piece of chocolate (with other food!) and even now any kind of stimulant overreacts in my body. I have learned that, since no one is either willing or able to search out WHY I’m so over reactive to the hypothyroid meds I’ll just go without. There’s more but….I could write a book. Since it appears that I will be unable to “treat” my hypothyroidism in any conventional way and apparently my bones are quickly drying up on me, is there any “special” of these bone saving avenues I should follow, or perhaps rather any of the suggested plans I should focus on even more specifically? Thanks!
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Check your calcium levels! Anything over 10.2 could be hyperparathyroidism. It is often a missed diagnosis.
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If one has hypothyroidism and osteoporosis what kind of dr do I need to see to be guided right about bone loss supplement?
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What kind of dr. can I go to to guide me in preventing further bone loss and the correct dosage of thyroid meds. I don’t think my primary is the right one for these
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Please guide me
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My thyroid TSH is 15. If I try suppress it I feel Terrible, incredibly terrible. I’m happiest with a TSH of 15. My T4 is 15 right in the middle of normal. Same with my t3. If Dr tries to correct my TSH levels I become very unwell. Just thought I’d let the world know.
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Thanks for the recent information on the Thyroid. I ordered a supplement called Iodine Plus-2 from 1-Natural-Living.com, planning to take one capsule a day for general purposes. The ingredients are listed below, but the print on the lable is so small there may be some inaccuracies in my typing. Does it seem worthwhile to take this? And I was puzzled by the Shellac.
Thanks very much,
John
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 15 mg
Total Iodine/Iodide – 12.5 mg
Iodine 5 mg
Iodide (as potassium salt) 7.5 mg
Selenium (AAC) 15 ??
Other Ingredients DiCalcium Phosphate, Cellulose, Stearic Acid, CMC, Silica, Magnesium Stearate, Shellac, Talc, Carnauba wax. -
Hi Vivian – I have hypothroidism and have never had fluoride in my water. We always have had well water. My mother and five of my siblings have the same condition so I feel there is a strong hereditary factor. I am on Eltroxin and it works very well for me. I look forward to your e-mails every week. Thanks! Marie Wilson
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Marie – I just pulled this article up, so my comments are almost 4 yrs old. You stated that you had never had fluoride in your water, as you have always had well water. Fluoride is a natural source even for wells. You can have high concentration of Fluoride even in well water. Unless your folks had their well water tested, you don’t really know what was in the water. If small quantities of fluoride help maintain bone and your mother and 5 siblings have the same condition, perhaps the lack of fluoride in your water caused that condition. That is a high percentage for all of you to have the same condition even with hereditary factors. I really don’t know if fluorde in water helps bone health (teeth) when you can ingest other minerals/vitamins that do the same thing.. Generally, too much fluoride will cause your disease, as it affects the thyroid. It almost sounds like you all ingested the same thing, which caused your problem.
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Our well water has 4x the RDA limit of naturally occurring fluoride and sodium too. We currently do not drink the water, but eventually, we will be using it as our main water source. I have purchased a Berkey water filter with the charcoal filters and the extra fluoride filters. However, I just read that they are not that helpful. I’m not sure what other options there are to remove natural fluoride from well water.
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As always an informative email about low thyroid function.
However, I’m not convinced that this report would help me (or any other women in the same boat) as my thyroid gland was burned out when I had radiotherapy years
ago.
I will be interested to see if ohter women find the report useful. -
Good Morning
Can you please advise how common is Hyperthyroidism (over-active) , especially in young (22yr old) males.? Is there anything natural he could be taking or eating to benefit the medical treatment he is receiving please? appreciate your advice, comments. thanks
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Regarding over active thyroid in young people, I myself was affected by this when I was 18 years old, I apparently had had the condition since I was 10 but it was not until I fell asleep at work one day and sought medical help that I discovered I had it. I was lucky to have found not only a doctor who injected me several times a week but also upon completion of the medical side of it told me to take Kept tablets, two three times a day before meals to stop me falling asleep and to give me energy. He was way before his time and it worked marvellously for me. I have looked at iHerbs.com and found A Vogels Thyroid Support Tablets, 120 tabs for $14.40, they are in short supply that speaks for itself and I think that this would help your son tremendously as it did for me. I am now in my late 60’s and have the under active thyroid now and take Now Thyroid Energy 180 veg caps and this works well for me too. Check the former Vogels tablets out he has nothing to lose but his bad health. It is not often you hear of this in young people but having been there and lived through it I know it works. I live in Australia but get all my supplements from iHerbs.com as recommended by my therapist. Am very happy with their service would be even quicker in the States. Good luck, please write again if you have a great experience. This product makes you lose weight if you need to, another added bonus for some.
June from down under.
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thanks “SAVE OUR BONES” book has helped me to feel so much better. PLEASE write about HYPERPAROTHYROIDISM AND broaderline Diabetics. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL INFORMATION. INELL
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Hi! Vivian,
How Can You Tell If You Have A Slow Thyroid? I Have Many Of The Symptoms. But Other Things Could Have A Lot Of Those Same Symptoms? So How Can I Know For Sure?
Thank You Very Much, In Advance, For Answering This Question For Me.
Until Next Time- Take Care Of Yourself, And Stay Well!
LOVE, LESLIE (MS. L. CARMEL)
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It is scary that the Australian Government (doctors!) endorses fluoride in our drinking water, except for a few – smarter! – communities that refuse to add it. How can doctors (our health authorities!) be so ignorant about the dangers of fluoride?! They are adamant, when challenged, that fluoride is essential for our dental health, therefore the whole country has to accept it! Don’t worry about the health problems it causes; cp. Vivian’s article. I wonder if these so called doctors ever read about the latest research. Most European countries have eliminated fluoride from their drinking water years ago; that’s when Australia started adding it. Smart?! I don’t think so!!! Who can talk sense into these doctors; the general public obviously can’t. I am not happy about spending a lot of money on water which should be available free of fluoride.
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I just found this article:
Coalition votes down Bill to force councils to fluoridate
Comments (37) »27th Feb 2014 2:17 PM
A BILL that would have forced all NSW councils to allow fluoridation of their water supplies has been voted down in the State Parliament.
The Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Ammendment Bill 2013 went before the NSW Legislative Assembly today, where it was rejected by the combined vote of the Liberal and National parties.
The Bill had been introduced to the Parliament by the Labor party after Byron Shire Council last year voted against fluoridation and would have given the government the power to order councils to add fluoride to their water. It would also have prevented councils from stopping water fluoridation without first gaining approval of the NSW Health director general.
In a statement released a short time ago, Labor Health spokesman Andrew MsDonald lamented the failure of the Bill to pass the Lower House.
“It is a tragedy for the dental health of the people of NSW that the Liberals and Nationals have used brute numbers to block this vital reform,” Dr McDonald is quoted saying in the statement.
“From today, no community or local council in NSW is safe from attack from the anti-fluoridation lobby.
“The scientific evidence is in – every day that our drinking water does not contain fluoride, our teeth and our children’s teeth are at risk of preventable decay.
“Labor does not want to see the situation on the north coast repeated across NSW – where local councils can be intimidated into opposing fluoridation by a fringe element of the community.
“The O’Farrell Government had a once-in-a-generation chance to protect the dental health of every child in NSW. Instead Barry O’Farrell and nine other Coalition MPs did not even bother to vote.
“By hitching themselves to the anti-fluoridation circus, the NSW Liberals and Nationals have failed our children’s dental health.”
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I don’t feel the information included in this hypothryroid “book” is worth #20, and the extreme ‘sales push’ to get another sale for $57 was infuriating. Please don’t associate yourself with people like this, Vivian.
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Thank you so much for your wonderful program. When I first joined the Osteoporosis Reversal Program I had a bone density of -2.8, two yeas later my bone density was -2.4. Needless to say I was as happy as a pig in mud. The following two years I was not quite as good at staying with the program but certainly aware of what I should and should not be eating. Last week I had my Bone Density again and would you believe it is now -2.00. I no longer have Osteoporosis. I now have to work on the Osteopenia. I am over the moon. Thank you Vivian
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I commend you for your bone advice, but you are way off on endorsing this natural thyroid program. As I have been a Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patient for ten years, I am a total expert on reading every book on the subject and being on every blog and web site group. I have tried every natural and alternative means possible as well as tried every medicine and combination of medicines out there. You have no expertise on thyroid and should not be endorsing this useless thyroid report. Instead, educate yourself by going on the Mary Shomon web site https://thyroid.about.com or read one of her books. She is both a thyroid patient and an advocate. Stop the thyroid madness group is another. One of the best new books is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, The Root Cause by Izabella Wentz. There are doctor recommendations on both of these sites. There are many other hypothyroid resources, many of them free.
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Hi Linda,
Thanks for the referral to Mary Shomon’s work.
I find her website cluttered, full of ads, confusing, and a real challenge to find what you’re looking for. But her books (available on Kindle and probably many other places) are spectacular. They are beautifully written – detailed but easy to understand. And there seems to be one book for each specific hypo/hyper-thyroid situation whether it’s Hashimoto’s or menopause or Graves, etc, etc, so you can zone in on the one that’s most appropriate for you and avoid being inundated with the other extraneous-to-you information.
Much appreciated.
Ruth
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Ordered the thyroid book. Just so you know, it winds up being $37 if you want a printed copy mailed to you.
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I just wanted you to know that I have been following your recommendations (sort of) for the past 2 years. I am not very good about doing enough exercise or eating exactly as I should, but I am aware of good bone health and make an effort. 🙂
I just had my every-two-year bone scan and bone density has increased 5% in the hip region. I did have a very slight decrease in the upper spinal area (0.1%). Any suggestions of how to increase bone density in this area?
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Wonderful Article. When I was first diagnosed with osteo, he also told me that my thyroid was a little slow and that if it didn’t come up then he wanted to put me on meds. Well, it came back up after I went on your program. I don’t know why, it very well could be the removal of fluoride. Thanks again for great information! You just keep making my life better!!
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more than 10 years ago, my Dr. had me take radio-active iodine to kill my very over active thyroid glan, so I am asking what I can do other than taking my .0125mg of Synthroid every day. My Dr. does do reqgular blood work to be sure the thyroid levels of T4 and T3 and where they should be. I have the save our bones program and have reversed bone loss the first year, and I am maintaining the diet so I hope to reverse more bone loss. I am a Fossomax victime of a broken femur so I do not ever take any bone medications……only good food and the Synthroid I must have to live now…..
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Im 22 year old male.
I write in cry and need for help.
Recently my doctors have found out by tests that i have problem with my thyroid(its on the last
limit on norm basically) and my spleen is too large also.My bones(especially finger bones) literally i have lose bone mass
for a half a year.(i have done x ray and even after that they said it was okey!)The symptoms you wrote-i have them all.
Mentally i´m very positively minded person.
Different doctors don´t take me seriously and say its normal.
They are wrong(i have many experiences with doctors about being wrong and i have blood tests
to prove it).I want to be fully strong and in health again.
So now i have decided to really heal and get help from real doctors who are educated.
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I am shocked about the thyroid article. In May, this year2013, I had a Total Thyroidectomy.
I had been tested and found to have 1 half of my thyroid was a single cyst. The other half contained multiple cysts. Then I had both halves (all) of my thyroid was a solid gland and could not be aspirated.
Because of my age (60) and a complex medical history, it was decided to have it removed, as there was a very low TSH and T3 & T4 counts. They want me to take Calcium supplements. What should I do Vivian ?
Thanks for your opinion, Annette
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I recently consulted my doctor about test results, surprisingly for around 14 years, my thyroid was hyperactive with symptoms similar to menopause but nobody indicated to me about it until now. As it is now more balanced, I still have all the aches and pains (bones, muscles, hair loss, palpitations, etc). More concerned about the risks of osteoporosis as previous x-rays show there was osteoarthritis from my back as well as low vitamin d levels despite having a balanced diet and exercise. Even it affects iron levels so I was anaemic around 5 years ago (my periods are irregular so thought I was nearing to early menopause!) I am now 45 and also have other conditions (sjogrens/pcos/raynauds) which can affect my hormonal health. Been advised many times there is no need to take medication as it is not serious but a bit worried.