Do you take iodine on a daily basis? For how long have you taken it? How much do you take now?
Izzy, iodine was the first supplement I purposefully took after really running myself into the ground that I could tell did me a whole lot of lasting good. I consider it a foundation supplement of my current health. I've always taken some supplements and dabbled around in alt nutritional methods, but iodine is the first thing that ever had a noticeable and dramatic effect...probably because my health had deteriorated so badly in the first place.
I started taking it about 5 years ago. I had a pretty bad detox off it at first, and some intolerable sides (got sick/crashed, insomnia, jitteriness, sky-high anxiety, etc.) so I had to back off it for a few months and chelate. When I went back to it after chelating it really helped my thyroid and helped me to feel better. TSH went down to below 1 (had been as high as 4 in the past), plus all other values improved.
I megadosed on it for a year or so (100mg/day) in the hopes it might help my uterine fibroids, but it didn't do much for them. However, I think it did chelate some mercury and bromides and maybe other bad stuff out of my system over the long haul.
I also think it may have had a somewhat deleterious effect on my gut flora, which is one reason I finally backed off the big doses. I went down to about 12.5 mg/day, and eventually just only took it sporadically.
Interestingly, when I was taking MSM for a few months last year I think the MSM chelated all the iodine I had left in my system, because I started getting these horrible menstrual cramps again, like I did when I was in my 30's. So I started asking myself what was different and researching, then it dawned on me that it was the MSM (sulfur) antagonistic to iodine. So I upped my iodine dose again and magically my menstrual cycle went back to pain-free. I cut the MSM for that reason...it was also making my hair greasy.
Edited to add: MSM also helped chelate my iron stores because it was during this time that my ferritin levels bottomed out again. Another reason I quit.
Now after "loading" iodine again I'm back to sporadic ("as needed") dosing. I don't seem to need 12.5mg/day orally, but sometimes I do ingest it. I also paint it on my skin sometimes, plus I use it in my Waterpik as part of oral hygiene routine every night. So I'm getting some from waterpik every day, too.
Probably more than you wanted to know but that's how I take iodine. LOL
