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Significant improvement with iodine!

Sherpa

Ex-workaholic adrenaline junkie
Messages
699
Location
USA
I was hitting a low point where I could barely do much physical activity at all: digging a bucket sized hole in the yard and putting a plant in left me achy and exhausted for the rest of the day. was always couchbound and depressed in the evenings after work.

I started seeing a new practitioner who looked at my thyroid labs, and he said that while my TSH / T3 / T4 were all "in range" on a standard test - but that my thyroid appeared stressed when he considered functional ranges.

He prescribed a Iodine Loading Test from Hakala Labs /w Bromine, Chlorine & Flouride. My test results came back as iodine deficient (81% excretion - should be more than 90%) and very bromine toxic (18% excreted - should be less than 5%).

I took 1.5mg Iodine a day and I was suddenly able to do light-to-moderate yard work. Now I am up to 3mg iodine per day and I am cheerfully going on walks in the evening after work, attending social events, and even yoga classes! :):balloons::lol:

In addition I take 300mcg of selenium, Thyrotrophin PMG glandular, and Celtic Sea Salt to help excrete bromine. He says that, starting low and going slow, we may eventually go up to 12.5mg iodine... and maybe even up to 50mg.

I am feeling MUCH better, even at the start of this therapy. My energy is higher and my PEM symptoms are way down. Tenatively, it seems like I can reduce or even stop taking the d-ribose and L-carnitine i depended on, and feel pretty much OK.

Some of what I thought was "mitochondrial damage" or ATP production blockage may have actually been subclinical low thyroid due to iodine deficiency, setting my energy metabolism into very low gear.
 
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drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
Good to hear. I had this happen as well, last year. Iodine made me 110% better, however after 5 days, I crashed hard, presumably from my adrenals not keeping up. I was using iodoral 12.5 mg, so maybe it was too much too fast. In any case I'm going to try it again when my adrenals are ready. When I first used iodine before my crash I was using 400 mcg a day when my adrenals were somewhat working, and it really helped.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
How did you get your doctor to order the test? I checked the site and there doesn't seem to be any way to order it.
 

Sherpa

Ex-workaholic adrenaline junkie
Messages
699
Location
USA
@drob31 My practitioner gave me the test kit and arranged the billing for it. The full panel was $175. Call them and ask for a kit, they are very helpful.

He advised taking very low doses of iodine and gradually increasing on a weekly or bi weekly basis. 500mcg, then 1.5mg, 3mg, 4.5mg, 6mg for a while... then 12.5mg.

It may be unsettling if you have dysregulated adrenals - I have heard they need to be stabilized first or thyroid can drive them too hard if they are a mess.

Caution: The test involves taking a 50mg dose of Iodine. It really made me high and then low after I rebounded. but overall well worth it.
 
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Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,376
Location
Southern California
@Sherpa - that's amazing - I'm so glad to hear you're feeling so much better! I'm going to look into that test. I took iodine before with little noticeable results but it would be very informative to see the bromine info, if nothing else --
 

Tammy

Senior Member
Messages
2,185
Location
New Mexico
This is just a suggestion from years on and off taking iodine. More is not always better...(in my case anyway).........if you are already feeling benefits from the dose you are taking..........I would stay with that at least for awhile. Also I found it much better to pulse the iodine...........like 4 days on 3 days off then after a month or two months I gave it a 2 week break then began again. These are just my thoughts........I tend to hypothesize that if you are giving your thyroid the fuel it needs every single day it might get the signal that it doesn't have to do its job anymore. Happy to hear you are noticing improvements.:)
 
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Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
A lot of that I thought was "mitochondrial damage"-induced low energy or ATP production insufficiency may have actually been subclinical low thyroid.
What brand of Iodene supplement are you using? Is it this one Iodoral ? I am worried about the Potassium component...
 

Sherpa

Ex-workaholic adrenaline junkie
Messages
699
Location
USA
@Bansaw I am using Liquid Iodine Plus - 30 drops are 1.5mg I , 60 drops are 3mg I. I was told I need one that contains both iodine and potassium iodide. The good side is you can very finely adjust doses, downside is it takes a minuite or so to measure out 60+ drops.

@Tammy Thanks for the sugestions. I believe you. For the first time in my illness, I am working with a practitioner who seems to know what he's doing so I am going to follow his instructions... but if I run into trouble I will remember what you said and discuss it with him.
 
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drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
@Bansaw I am using Liquid Iodine Plus - 30 drops are 1.5mg I , 60 drops are 3mg I. I was told I need one that contains both iodine and potassium iodide. The good side is you can very finely adjust doses, downside is it takes a minuite or so to measure out 60+ drops.

@Tammy Thanks for the sugestions. I believe you. For the first time in my illness, I am working with a practitioner who seems to know what he's doing so I am going to follow his instructions... but if I run into trouble I will remember what you said and discuss it with him.


That's exactly what I just bought! Liquid Iodine plus. Of course I'm taking like 5 drops, probably not enough.

Did he say serum iodine is a good measurement of iodine?
 

Sherpa

Ex-workaholic adrenaline junkie
Messages
699
Location
USA
@drob31 my practitioner knows a lot about testing and recommended the Hakala labs test. I didn't ask about serum iodine.

@Bansaw I think the tiny amount of potassium contained in the iodine drops would be insignificant, compared to a serving of vegetables or a handful of potato chips. I am not 100% sure of this, just my assumption.
 

whodathunkit

Senior Member
Messages
1,160
Hey @Sherpa...good news, brother! :thumbsup:

I love iodine, and in fact consider it the first "brick in the wall" of recovering my health. I started with it about five years ago and had a pretty bad time with it at first...I was so toxic that I had to do a couple rounds of chelation before I could tolerate it. I used to eat a lot of processed food so was probably loaded up with bromine. Maybe mercury, too, as iodine can chelate that. It made me nervous & anxious, gave me horrible insomnia, I had to pee every half hour...just miserable. Salt loading and selenium and magnesium (all of which you appear to be taking) also helped with sides. But after chelation it was all good to go. I started it to address some female problems, but sight unseen, it made me feel loads better than anything I'd ever tried before that, and in fact is what gave me my first inkling that hey, maybe I could correct my health problems after all.

At one point I was taking 100mg/day with no problem. I did this for quite a few months. However, I do think that dose is quite large, and might have had a deleterious effect on my gut because of the length of time that I did it, as iodine can kill good gut bacteria as well as the bad guys. I did that big dose to address the problems I was trying to tackle. But at low doses I don't think it has too much of an effect on the gut, although after you get stabilized you might want to pulse it as @Tammy says. I also agree with her that the lowest possible dose that makes you feel good is what you should stay with, just in case. There is definitely a point where more does not make you feel any better than you already do.

These days I take it topically...usually I put it on my scalp to help with hair growth (no proof, just a theory) and because it makes my hair shiny and soft.

Since I started taking iodine my TSH has routinely been <1. Before that it was always in the 2's and 3's and I think one time I got a 4 back, although I can't remember now.

Obviously it didn't cure my problems (or I wouldn't have gone searching for the answers that led me to PR) but it definitely made me feel better and improved my outlook on life. It's a keeper. :)

Let us know how it goes.
 
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drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
So it seems like you may have had first adrenal issues, and then underlying iodine deficiency. You first resolved the adrenal problems (where I'm at now), then improved more by fixing thyroid.
 

whodathunkit

Senior Member
Messages
1,160
So it seems like you may have had first adrenal issues, and then underlying iodine deficiency. You first resolved the adrenal problems (where I'm at now), then improved more by fixing thyroid.
This is how it went for me, although I wouldn't say that adrenals or thyroid were "resolved" or "fixed". Just markedly better. Then methylation and gut therapy brought me the rest of the way to where I am, although I don't think my adrenals are completely healed and may never be. But since hitting PR adrenals and thyroid have seemed to get better still, etc.
 
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Sherpa

Ex-workaholic adrenaline junkie
Messages
699
Location
USA
@drob Yes, I spent almost 2 years - from 2011 to 2013... fixing my SEVERE adrenal dysregulation ("Fatigue"). That was before I came on this site.

In early 2013 I started taking thyroid glandular and did VERY well, like now. Then I self-tapered down to half the amount of thyroid around 2014 because I thought I was improving and I didn't seem to need it. For a while I didn't. Then I had a stressful relationship and I CRASHED, super hard. Became sluggish, couchbound, and spent from May 2014 to August 2015 in a depressed valley. I didn't think I needed thyroid any more and took mitochondrial supplements. Turns out all I needed was thyroid support probably. Better late, than never, to figure out!
 
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Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,307
Location
Ashland, Oregon
Hi @Sherpa, congratulations on your improvements!

Thought I'd mention I read an account once on CureZone by a man who found the Lyme herxes he was initiating to be absolutely intolerable. It was only after he read about the importance of having sufficient iodine in the body to support detoxification that he was able to go back to his therapies.

I've only ever seen that one reference to iodine supporting detoxification, but it might be worth considering for those who have detoxification problems (isn't that most of us?). -- I believe @Ema once mentioned that iodine can be problematic for people with autoimmune thyroiditis. Definitely something to consider if anybody knows or suspects that is something they are dealing with..
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
Hi @Sherpa, congratulations on your improvements!

Thought I'd mention I read an account once on CureZone by a man who found the Lyme herxes he was initiating to be absolutely intolerable. It was only after he read about the importance of having sufficient iodine in the body to support detoxification that he was able to go back to his therapies.

I've only ever seen that one reference to iodine supporting detoxification, but it might be worth considering for those who have detoxification problems (isn't that most of us?). -- I believe @Ema once mentioned that iodine can be problematic for people with autoimmune thyroiditis. Definitely something to consider if anybody knows or suspects that is something they are dealing with..


Iodine is one of the most controversial supplements there is.

From what I have read, iodine is only an issue for those with hashimoto's when there isn't enough selenium, and infact selenium is the key to iodine supplementation. It usually takes 200 mcg/day for a month or two to build up levels of selenium, at which point iodine could be added or increased.

Personally I crashed hard on iodine when I first tried it. It started off great, I felt 100% better, but then after 5 or 6 days I went extremely hypo. This could be because I didn't have enough selenium or it was enough to make me hypo (12.5 mg/day without working my way up). In either case I think it's a huge clue, that if iodine makes you feel better, you have figured something big out.
 

Sherpa

Ex-workaholic adrenaline junkie
Messages
699
Location
USA
I'm up to 4.5mg iodine and I feel so much better. I went out to a club on Saturday night and to a beach party on Sunday afternoon. It feels like I've been released from jail.

I possibly have an autoimmune thyroid disorder, but don't have antibodies that show up on test.

Any ideas on how to take Iodine without kicking in hashimotos - aside from taking adquate selenium? (I'm taking 300mcg / day)
 
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whodathunkit

Senior Member
Messages
1,160
I went out to a club on Saturday night and to a beach party on Sunday afternoon. It feels like I've been released from jail.
:thumbsup:

I kind of have been feeling the same way lately, although not directly due to iodine even though it's a staple in my bag of tricks.

To the larger point of your post: FWIW, I've bee taking iodine for 5 years and never worried about or gotten Hashimoto's.

Just a friendly question: why borrow trouble? You likely *don't* have an auto-immune thyroid disorder if you have no antibodies and are responding well to iodine, and I suspect just taking the co-factors and not going too high for too long with iodine dosage will be fine. That's all I did or ever worried about. Regular blood tests for a while to ensure all is well will probably not go amiss, either, and will help clear any lingering worries.

Just my $0.02.