Iodine deficiency

[Penny1976]

Anyone got any advice about iodine deficiencies. Has anyone got this or is anyone taking iodine supplements, if so what were your symptoms.

[Clutter]

Penny, you need a blood test to rule out or confirm iodine deficiency before considering supplementing. If you are on Levothyroxine it should supply the iodine you require.

[Penny1976 in reply to Clutter]

Have done the 24 hour urine test which confirmed iodine is too low also my t4 is very low, not on any medication from the doctor

[Clutter in reply to Penny1976]

Penny, have you had a thyroid blood test?

[Penny1976 in reply to Clutter]

I had one done at the doctors which they said was normal so I paid for private bloods and private urine tests, both of which came back as flagging up thyroid problems, I have been visiting a nutritionist instead as I have hit a brick wall with the GP.

[Clutter in reply to Penny1976]

Penny, if you post your results with the lab ref ranges members may be able to advise.

[Penny1976 in reply to Clutter]

I will, post them shortly.

[Penny1976 in reply to Penny1976]

Total thyroxine (T4) 76 nmoL. (59-154)

TSH 3.57 mIU/L (0.27-4.2)

Free thyroxine 14.0 pmol/l (12.0-22.0)

Free T3 3.9 pmol/L (3.1-6.8)

Thyroid antibodies. 17.2 IU/mL (0-115) (negative)

Thyroid peroxidase antibodies. 6.8 IU/mL (0-34)

The above is blood tests.

The following is urine tests

Triliodothyine (T3). 744. (592-1850)

Urine (T4). 149 (347-1994)

T3:T4 ratio 5.00. (0.50-2.00)

Iodine - 56 (100-199)

Sorry for long post but had lots of tests done !

Many thanks

[Clutter in reply to Penny1976]

Penny, it looks as if you are becoming hypothyroid but under UK guidelines you are unlikely to get a diagnosis and treatment until your TSH is above the lab ref range used at your GP surgery. Make sure your next thyroid blood test is early in the morning when TSH is highest.

Your thyroid antibodies are negative for Hashimoto's so it may be iodine deficiency affecting your thyroid.

It may be worth discussing this with your GP to see whether a therapeutic trial of Levothyroxine would address it or whether you need to supplement iodine.

[gabkad in reply to Clutter]

Clutter, it would be easier to supplement iodine with the advice of her nutritionist than start on prescription drugs if they are really not necessary. Don't you think so?

[Clutter in reply to gabkad]

Gabkad, I don't know anything about nutritionists or their qualifications so I suggested Penny discuss it with her GP. I'm wary of iodine, too little can cause thyroid disorder but too much can trigger Hashimoto's.

[gabkad in reply to Clutter]

150 mcg per day is not a lot. She could just drink 1/2 liter of milk per day and get that much. Or eat seafood. No big deal. I think people should get their iodine from natural food sources. But if a person is not consuming dairy or eating foods which contain iodine, then they should do something about it. Her urinary iodine excretion is ridiculously low.

If she has too low iodine, then the thyroid doesn't work properly, then she'll have inadequate stomach acid, her stomach acid won't protect her GI tract from pathogenic bacteria and she'll get leaky gut and THEN get Hashi.

What about that possible chain of events as opposed to your hypothesis?

[Clutter in reply to gabkad]

Gabkad, I don't have a hypothesis. Penny is iodine deficient but I wouldn't know whether it is dietary or related to something else. If it is dietary then, of course, correcting it via diet is preferrable to supplementing iodine or thyroid hormone replacement.

[JLTsirius]

Penny, I use Iodine. Liquid form IOSOL. Iodine supplementation seems to be a very contentious subject.

You may be interested in this Dr and his info

drbrownstein.com

Micro nutrients that include Iodine, can also be found in for eg Sea Greens (that is the brand)

Iodine has a range of helpful uses. Misinformation about it also exists.

Comes down to a personal decision to use or not.....

Research, Research, Research - always a good idea. Then go with own instinct.

JLT

[LuckyKat]

Hi Penny, I have Hashimoto's and I use iodine very successfully without any problems. It helps with a very wide range of the symptoms we read about on this forum and even though I was doing well on NDT it has boosted me further. As JLTsirius says do some research and make up your own mind. I find this site very helpful:

healyourselfathome.com/HOW/...

[Penny1976]

Thank you very much for all your advice, after consulting with my nutritionist I am going to start on a low dose of iodine. I have purchased a good book by Lynne farrow - the iodine crisis and have found this very useful.

[salon9153]

I read the same book. It was scary just reading how most of us are dangerously deficient in iodine, and how many health problems are related to lack of iodine. I assure you, start slowly, My thyroid went crazy when I started taking iodine, everyone is different, try kelp, it is more bio-identical to our bodies.

[narayan8]

Hi Penny,

I too take an Iodine supplement because of an iodine deficiency. I take one of these every other day:

vitacost.com/terry-naturall...

sorry for the long link, haha! Anyhow I started taking T3 (liothyronine) around the same time i started on this iodine supplement so I can't say what exactly worked right away, all I know is I feel MUCH better.

My Mother now also takes the same iodine supplement without the T3 and she has seen some pretty obvious results in having more energy, less salt cravings (could be triggered by iodine deficiency) and overall better feeling of well being. she also lost some weight and she seems to think it's related.