Help with iodine levels please

[ella1953]

I have just received my urine iodine level which shows it is over 300 if/L which is high. As I already have a figure what does this mean? I have been taking T3 supplement for the last month, can this affect my iodine levels?

[gabkad]

Why do you think your iodine level is so high? It has no effect on T3.

[ella1953 in reply to gabkad]

Hi Gabkad, thank you for your reply. I think perhaps daily seaweed and a tablespoon of fermented veggies in Himalayan salt may be the cause. I also have been drinking fish broth once a week.

[Clutter]

Ella, I don't know but maybe the link below will explain.

biolab.co.uk/docs/iodine.pdf

[ella1953 in reply to Clutter]

Dear Clutter, thank you for the link. It seems that if I continue to take any Iodine, I am in danger of developing an autoimmune disease, so I shall stop taking any Iodine drops and seaweed.

[crimple]

Gosh, that is high, my level was 20!! Do you eat seaweed or use iodised salt?

[ella1953 in reply to crimple]

Hi Crimple, yes I started to eat small amounts of seaweed daily and also fermented vegetables using Himalayan pink salt (I am not sure if it is iodised) since January 2015.

[gabkad in reply to ella1953]

ella, which seaweed are you eating? Some are rich in iodine, some have none. Nori or Laver have none. Small amounts of dulse now and then won't cause high iodine levels. It's kelp and kombu that are very high in iodine. I think it was the Lugol's that raised you iodine. Your urinary iodine excretion is not sky high. it's just over double what it should be though.

What are you trying to do? Boost tissue iodine because of the breast cancer diagnosis or suppress your thyroid?

Are you taking T4 and T3?

[ella1953 in reply to gabkad]

Hi Gabkad, thank you for your reply. I have been eating Kombu almost daily, which may account for the high levels. However I did not start taking Lugol's Iodine drops until after I submitted my urine test. I was impatient to get the results and I guess that I thought I may be deficient of Iodine causing the breast cancer and goitre. I was hoping to decrease the goitre by taking more Iodine.

I am currently only taking T3 and am going for a blood test today for my thyroid levels.

[gabkad in reply to ella1953]

From your blood test results of the thyroid, it seems that you are producing a lot of thyroxine. You really need to get the goitre checked out because it doesn't seem to be the sort that causes hypothyroidism.

I suppose you are following Brownstein's protocol. But, he's never given citations in the literature for his hypothesis that large doses of iodine are curative of any sort of breast tissue problems. Maybe there's more 'evidence' cited in his book that is not on his website. I have not read his book. I have looked for information in Pubmed and have not found any. Aside from his website and book I have not found anything he's published confirming what he claims. Maybe my search terms were not good. Have you found anything?

[ella1953 in reply to gabkad]

Hi Gabkad, thanks for your reply. I only took seaweed not knowing that my Iodine levels were high and yes I was following Lynn Farrow's book which suggested that low iodine levels were linked to breast cancer. Now that I know that I have high levels of Iodine, I am back to square one. I have an appointment to see a doctor who specialises in hormones, Dr John Moran, to try and find out why I have this goitre. If all else fails I suppose I shall have to have the biopsy.

[Heloise]

Is that a measurement of some kind.....300 if/L?

Dr. Sebastiano Venturi informs us that "iodine is one of the most abundant electron-rich essential elements we consume and is transported to the cells via iodide transporters. Iodide, which acts as a primitive electron-donor through peroxidase enzymes, seems to have an ancestral antioxidant function in all iodide-concentrating cells. Oxygen is a potent oxidant whose accumulation in terrestrial atmosphere resulted from the development of photosynthesis over three billion years ago, in blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria)." Iodine was used by Nature as one of her main strategies of antioxidant defense in plants and animals. The point is that antioxidants, iodine included, are important as protective substances against many chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The antioxidant biochemical mechanism of iodides is probably the most

ancient mechanisms of defense from poisonous reactive oxygen species.

Dr. Sebastiano Venturi

alkalizeforhealth.net/Liodi...

[ella1953]

Thank you for your replies. Heloise, I meant to say that my levels were 300 ug/L. Also, the reason I had the urine test was because I thought I may have low iodine levels due to my recent diagnosis of breast cancer and a goitre.

In November 2014 I had a mastectomy on the right breast and lymph nodes. In December 2014 I found out that I had a goitre under the sternum following a CT scan. Late December 2014 I then had a blood test which showed:

Serum THS level - 0.03 mu/L ( range 0.38-4.70) (stating that this was a bit high)

Serum free T4 level - 22bpmol/L (range 10.00-23.00 pmol/L)

Serum free T3 level- 4.8 pmol/L (range 2.80-7.10 pmol/L)

I was sent to an Ear Nose and Throat surgeon who wanted to do a biopsy but I have held back as it is invasive and I am wanting to find out the cause of this goitre.

I have been eating seaweed everyday since In January 2015 and just after I sent the iodine urine test two weeks ago, I started taking two drops of Lugols Iodine daily. Perhaps I should stop now? Also, for a more accurate result should I take the Iodine Loading Test?

Thank you

[greygoose in reply to ella1953]

I think you should stop! That's an awful lot of iodine. I Don't think you need anymore. If you are taking T3, it's pretty certain that that T3 is also having an effect because it should be being converted to T2 and T2 to T1 and that will give you a certain amount of iodine. We Don't need high levels because iodine is recycled in the body.

But I Don't think you need to give up the fermented veggies. There's little or no iodine in Hymalayan salt. There's not even much in sea salt. Fermented veggies are very good for your gut.

Your T4 is very high for someone taking T3 only.

[ella1953 in reply to greygoose]

Dear Greygoose, thank you for your reply. I have stopped taking any Lugol's Iodine drops and it makes sense that T3 is contributing to my Iodine levels.

My T4 level was high before I started taking the T3, it was suggested that I should take T3. I will be having another thyroid blood test today, but am wondering if I should stop the T3 also.

[greygoose in reply to ella1953]

Why would you stop the T3? If you are hypo, you need some sort of thyroid hormone to survive. If your T4 was high and you were still feeling bad, then the odds are that you weren't converting. So, you need T3.

My thyroid gland is next to dead, due to Hashi's. I've been existing on one form or thyroid hormone replacement or another for 15 years. My iodine level is extremly high on just that alone. But that's no reason to stop my thyroid hormone. I wouldn't survive more than a year, I reckon, without it - but a very miserable existance it would be.

[ella1953 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for your reply. I shall continue taking the T3 until I get further advice from a specialist. Do you think I should do the Iodine Loading Test?

[greygoose in reply to ella1953]

Why would you do that? You already know that your iodine levels are high. An Iodine Loading Test is to see if you have a deficiency. You know you Don't.

Yes, keep taking the T3. You're taking it for the hormone, not the iodine.

Tell me, you don't think you might have an iodine obsession on the quiet, do you? lol

[ella1953]

Hi Greygoose, thank you for your reply. I was wondering if my body is not able to utilise the iodine and therefore excretes it into the urine. Otherwise I probably have a quiet obsession with my health!

[suejjjj]

Dr Brownstein, the iodine expert. says you will need 3-5 years to get

your iodine normal. Thats at a high dose of 50 mg day!