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I've been dealing with varying symptoms of CFS for years. A recent (Skype) visit with a CFS-aware naturopath Dr. inadvertently led to me identifying iodine as a significant treatment for my symptoms. Searching these forums, I don't see much information about iodine's use in treating CFS.
I took iodine for the first time 6 months ago, starting at 500mcg. I was at one of my many "fed up, exhausted, desperate" points and was googling anything that might help. I found an article about self miracl testing and, despite reservations about it's new age slant, decided to try it. I self muscle tested every supplement and drug in our house (like many of you, I have a twisted amount of supplements filling several cabinets) and found only one surprising result: iodine. I don't know why I even had iodine (not uncommon with supplements) but the self muscle grea indicated I should take 2.5mg of it. I googled iodine since I didn't know anything about it, and found lots of scary stuff about it wrecking the thisthy, being antiquated, etc. I decided to start low, with 500mcg, and follow "my subconscious' recommendation" if the lower dose seem to cause a negative reaction.
I felt the same the best day so I tried 2.5mg. I felt much more energy, more than I'd had in about a year, within hours. I performed self muscle testing again and came up with a result of 25mg. That seemed crazy to me so I read all I could for days about iodine. Confident that 25mg was ok for some people and not a suprapharmological side, I upped the iodine. With more iodine, I had more energy.
I continued taking 25mg of iodine for a few months, eventually feeling well enough that I began working out, staying up late, and talking on more work. I still had symptoms of brain fog, fatigue, and a week immune system, it just seemed like they weren't as troublesome because I sometimes had energy.
Fast forward to May 2018, and I began to expect to have energy. I went on a day trip to explore wild and in a Jeep with friends and the Jeep got stuck. We spent hours digging it out and I felt a twinge of something being wrong with my body afterward. The next day, I felt the twinge again, only a little stronger. By the following day, I began to feel sick. I had what seemed like a flu for 6 weeks. During my relayed, I found a new practicioner, the one I mentioned above, and started on a new functional/naturopathic treatment protocol. Despite my misgivings, I stopped taking most of the supplements I'd been on and switched to the new protocol but I cheated a little and reduced iodine to 12.5mg.
Over the next week, I felt progressively worse. By the second week of my new protocol, I felt the worst I ever had in my CFS journey, infection aside. I went from being half-present in life to barely getting out of bed for an hour. I keep detailed notes on everything I take and all changed in symptoms so, in a moment of relative clarity, I began cross referencing changes in symptoms and supplements. After ruling out 5 other candidates, I looked at the reduction in my iodine supplementation as a cause of my energy train wreck. It was iodine. I'm talking 50mg now, and my energy is back to 50%.
Here's the confusing part for me: I seem to have a mammoth need for iodine AND CFS. Where those two intersect, I don't know. Any ideas from the community would be helpful.
I took iodine for the first time 6 months ago, starting at 500mcg. I was at one of my many "fed up, exhausted, desperate" points and was googling anything that might help. I found an article about self miracl testing and, despite reservations about it's new age slant, decided to try it. I self muscle tested every supplement and drug in our house (like many of you, I have a twisted amount of supplements filling several cabinets) and found only one surprising result: iodine. I don't know why I even had iodine (not uncommon with supplements) but the self muscle grea indicated I should take 2.5mg of it. I googled iodine since I didn't know anything about it, and found lots of scary stuff about it wrecking the thisthy, being antiquated, etc. I decided to start low, with 500mcg, and follow "my subconscious' recommendation" if the lower dose seem to cause a negative reaction.
I felt the same the best day so I tried 2.5mg. I felt much more energy, more than I'd had in about a year, within hours. I performed self muscle testing again and came up with a result of 25mg. That seemed crazy to me so I read all I could for days about iodine. Confident that 25mg was ok for some people and not a suprapharmological side, I upped the iodine. With more iodine, I had more energy.
I continued taking 25mg of iodine for a few months, eventually feeling well enough that I began working out, staying up late, and talking on more work. I still had symptoms of brain fog, fatigue, and a week immune system, it just seemed like they weren't as troublesome because I sometimes had energy.
Fast forward to May 2018, and I began to expect to have energy. I went on a day trip to explore wild and in a Jeep with friends and the Jeep got stuck. We spent hours digging it out and I felt a twinge of something being wrong with my body afterward. The next day, I felt the twinge again, only a little stronger. By the following day, I began to feel sick. I had what seemed like a flu for 6 weeks. During my relayed, I found a new practicioner, the one I mentioned above, and started on a new functional/naturopathic treatment protocol. Despite my misgivings, I stopped taking most of the supplements I'd been on and switched to the new protocol but I cheated a little and reduced iodine to 12.5mg.
Over the next week, I felt progressively worse. By the second week of my new protocol, I felt the worst I ever had in my CFS journey, infection aside. I went from being half-present in life to barely getting out of bed for an hour. I keep detailed notes on everything I take and all changed in symptoms so, in a moment of relative clarity, I began cross referencing changes in symptoms and supplements. After ruling out 5 other candidates, I looked at the reduction in my iodine supplementation as a cause of my energy train wreck. It was iodine. I'm talking 50mg now, and my energy is back to 50%.
Here's the confusing part for me: I seem to have a mammoth need for iodine AND CFS. Where those two intersect, I don't know. Any ideas from the community would be helpful.