I read about a test you can do where you paint iodine on your arm and see how long it takes to disappear. So this week I have been experimenting. I take T3 only and have been taking 60 mcg once a day. I've taken my dose first thing (as usual) then lunch time painted some iodine on my arm, it seems to take one to two hours to disappear. Then I tried splitting the dose and yes it took longer for the iodine to disappear.
The thing is just lately I've started feeling tired in the afternoons and cold by evening. I don't know if to split my dose or add to it. I could ring my lovely GP but is he going to laugh at my iodine experiment ??
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beaton
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Beaton, the iodine skin patch test was discredited a long time ago. You may be exceeding the recommended daily amount of iodine by taking 60mcg in addition to T3 and iodine in diet. High doses of iodine have been used to slow production of thyroid hormone in hyperthyroid patients and can also induce autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's).
If you search HU you'll find 2,000+ posts discussing the pros and cons of supplementing iodine.
Hello to you the small amount of iodine that is needed can be found in sea kelp , also do not drink tap water as the flouride in it counteracts the iodine in your body so thats the way forward on a self help basis
The amount of fluoride in tap water in the UK varies. Some has a very low amount. It could very well be that certain bottled water would contain more fluoride than some tap water.
I often wonder if the explosion and epidemic of thyroid problems isn't due to the fact that most of us get little if any iodine in our diet. In the US, they removed iodine from commercial bread products back in the 70s and replaced it with bromide... a toxin.
The Japanese ingest 10 - 12 mgs of iodine each day and they get it from their high seafood/seaweed consumption and their incidences of cancer, especially uterine, cervical, ovarian, breast and prostate cancers, is miniscule compared to the rates of these cancers in the industrialized West. When the Japanese adopt a Western style diet, their cancer rates duplicate our own.
Just start off low and slow with supplementing iodine. Don't use the iodine you buy off the shelf in the pharmacy... the one intended to treat cuts/wounds... for ingesting. It is poison but perfectly safe used on the skin. You want to use Lugols or J Crow liquids.... usually available in 2% solution. I think 1 drop equals 2.5 mgs (if memory serves). You can stay at that dosage for weeks... slowly moving up. If the 2.5 mg is too much, just add a drop to a few ounces of water, then drink only half of the water. See..?? That way you are getting 1.25 mgs of iodine. Easy to adjust.
With most vitamins/minerals... no big deal. You just start taking them, right? Not so with iodine. A little science here just by way of explanation of the low - slow protocol.
Iodine is a member of the halide family of chemicals. Flouride, bromide and chloride are also members of this family. They all can and do occupy the same receptors on our cells. When we begin to ingest iodine, the iodine will slowly start replacing/displacing and 'kicking out' these other chemicals. and this action can cause a detox reaction. Your body will be frantically trying to expel these toxins so you need to support your kidneys and liver.
It is recommended that you take the co-factors in order to facilitate iodine ingestion and hasten or support the detox that will be going on. I had only a vague, slight headache. Others had no problems. Still others reacted strongly to the iodine and had to really go slowly. In other words, you take a low dose. If little or no reaction, you increase dosage being ready to back down until detox symptoms subside then .. back at it, increasing dosage.
The cofactors are selenium - 200 mcg per day (don't exceed this amt), magnesium,
Vit C and organic salt... like Celtic Salt or Real Salt. If you get one of those headaches, just mix a 1/2 - 1 tsp of salt in water and drink it. The salt is support for the adrenals.
Some folks even take milk thistle to help and support the liver.
Most health practitioners have been brainwashed into thinking iodine is a poison... bah!! lol.. Years ago tho, iodine was used for a lot of things and was used safely.
Funny how it has been proven that when iodine is ingested, it is taken up, preferentially, first by the thyroid, then the sex organs, then the rest of the body.
Do try to avoid your exposure to the other members of the halide family... chlorine pools and in our drinking water... bromides in our commercial bread products and flour and fluoride in our toothpastes/mouthwashes. Even if you don't take the iodine (and some folks do just paint a 1 inch square on their bodies every day or two), selenium is soooo protective of the thyroid gland. Oh... kelp isn't considered a safe alternative to iodine consumption since it is difficult to know it's source (if it is from unpolluted waters).
Thanks Phoenix for such a comprehensive reply. I shall have to read it over again to take it all in but you have given me the confidence to try. I'm a veggie so no fish and have never had seaweed and with the tend to cut down on salt perhaps that is under used.
Thank you, helvella... You guys are very lucky. Sometimes, between the fluoride in our water and the bromide in our breads/flours and GMOs, I swear this country is trying to kill us all. Or at least keep us unhealthy. No money to be made if you have a hale, hearty, robust populace, right?
If you have hashimotos and have not tested low on iodine, i surely wouldn't be using supplements as it can flare up the attack on your thyroid, some get very ill on it. The skin test is not an accurate test.
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