Is there any point in taking iodine supplements (or eating iodine rich foods) if you have no thyroid. After a total thyroidectomy (TT) you get your T4 from an external source (NDT or a synthetic) the only thing that happens as far as I know is that one iodine ion gets knocked off to form T3. You needed iodine when you had a thyroid to make T4, i.e. you had to find 4 iodine atoms - but after TT wouldn't that imply that you need not worry about iodine?
Iodine.: Is there any point in taking iodine... - Thyroid UK
Iodine.
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Iodine is VERY important. I think iodine deficiency is dangerous and probably widespread. Look at some of the benefits.
theiodineproject.webs.com/c...
Thanks Heloise, the link is very, very interesting. But it doesn't say if you need a thyroid intact to process the iodine. I guess I will try it out any way, if you don't need a thyroid then I should feel pretty good, if you do need the thyroid, then I guess I will feel no difference. But thanks.
We have iodine receptors on cells all over the body. Do start off with small doses and work up. Iodine belongs to a chemical group called halides. Chlorine, fluorine, bromine/bromide also belong to this 'family'. In the absence of iodine, these other halides will occupy iodine's receptors on the cells. When you start ingesting iodine, it will start 'kicking out' these interlopers and your body will have to get rid of them. This is called detoxing. So.. go low and slow, being ready to back down if you feel the effects of this detoxing. Taking the companion nutrients will enhance your detox pathways... selenium, Vit C, magnesium and unprocessed salt.
articles.mercola.com/sites/...
edit... also drink plenty of fresh, clean water to help flush the kidneys.
Awesome. I just started taking iodine (potassium iodide) two days ago. I feel more achy in my body but my mood is better. Brain fog about the same. Little moments of clarity.
So this is day number three could I really be feeling a difference this soon?
Yes, you might be feeling some effects. Do take selenium and the companion nutrients along with your iodine and don't start off with too high a dose. Low and slow ..... ready to back down if necessary if the detoxing gets to be too much. Don't exceed 200 mcg (yes... mcgs, not mgs) per day of selenium. Some folks eat 1 - 3 brazil nuts per day instead of a supplement. The amount of selenium in brazil nuts depends very much on their size and freshness so it is hard to predict your dosage with any certainty. Optimally, a brazil nut will have 50 - 75 mcgs of selenium each.
When I first started iodine, I would get vague headaches (I never, ever get headaches) and when that happens, they suggest taking 1/2 - 1 tsp of unprocessed Celtic salt in a glass of water once - twice per day. The headaches can be a sign that you are detoxing some of those undesirable halides and the salt drink helps the body facilitate excreting those halides. A lot depends on your exposure to these other halides.
Have you read all the other posts in this thread? Good information. 
No I am too tired and I am very scattered with attention problems and only have this tiny iPhone for my thyroid UK experience computer is broken a lot going on this upcoming week but I am doing the best I can and will learn as much as I am able to as time goes along.
Recently bought or actually someone else gifted me Stop the Thyroid Madness books 1 and 2 😽
well, my friend. Be good to yourself and just take things one at a time as you can handle them. When you do get your computer fixed/repaired/replaced, do look up the companion nutrients. They can make the whole detoxing process a lot more manageable.
When you supplement iodine (or get it from food etc), it is taken up preferentially by the thyroid first and then the sex organs then the rest of the body. Japanese who eat their traditional diet, consume about 11 - 12 mgs of iodine per day. They have much less occurrences of ovarian, cervical, breast, uterine and prostate cancer compared to those in Western, industrialized countries. Do some research on the subject, bearing in mind that main stream medicine, with rare exceptions, deplores iodine supplementation.
Thanks for the info, phoenix. There is some change made in the Japanese consumption of iodine. It has to do with the seaweed and the weight after being dried I think. I think it is now considered 3 mgs. rather than 12 now.
Thanks so much. I will have to update my information. Do you have a link for that? I hate to pass on less than accurate info if I can help it. I always appreciate corrections.
I take between 6 - 12 mgs per day of iodine (Iodoral or Lugols). I still had some cold intolerance altho NDT resolved all my other hypo symptoms (from taking synthroid). Every time I tried to raise NDT, I would get heart palps. After about a year or so on iodine, no more cold intolerance and no more heart palps. Oh.. and my tsh dropped to 1+/-1 with no increase in NDT dosage. I was amazed..lol.
That is great. We had a discussion about two years ago, I wonder if it could be found through a search. I don't know where I found the explanation but posted it at that time. Right now I'm looking at this:
earthclinic.com/remedies/io...
So you are taking iodoral along with your NDT? It's still controversial here.
I'm going to check this one out tomorrow and see if I can locate the new information.
health-science-spirit.com/i...
Heloise, that is an excellent article on iodine and quite comprehensive. I have saved it to my favorites. Thank you for the link.
I love the earth clinic site. Lots of good information via the link you provided. Several good articles and especially the books recommended on the site.
Yes, I take iodine along with my NDT. On a USA group that I belong to, it is often pointed out the rise in thyroid problems coincides with the government's taking iodine out of bakery goods back in the seventies and replacing it with bromide.. a toxin.
Even NDT contains trace amts of iodine. It is imperative that one take selenium with the iodine. In fact, selenium is very protective of the thyroid gland whether one is taking iodine or not. Always take iodine away from Vit C. People with hashis should educate themselves on the importance of selenium before supplementing iodine.
Here is an article that you might enjoy... also read/follow all the links provided in the article.
What if I have Hashimoto's though? They never tested me for it 
Jill, I don't have hashis so I have little experience with the condition. It is recommended that hashis sufferers start taking selenium a few weeks before starting iodine. This allows the protective effects of selenium on the thyroid gland to be in place before starting iodine.
jeffreydachmd.com/hashimoto...
Hashimoto's is an autoimmune condition and many who are diagnosed with this condition find that going gluten free with their diet is beneficial in dropping antibody numbers. Selenium supplementation facilitates this antibody reduction also. If gluten sensitivity is a problem for you, going gluten free for a week or so should yield dramatic results. In other words, you WILL notice an improvement in digestion, mood, etc. If you are not gluten sensitive, going gluten free will yield hardly any change in you and your body. I went gluten free for almost a month and zero difference...lol... So, guess I am not gluten sensitive.
If you suspect hashis, and your doc refuses to test for antibodies etc, I strongly suggest that you get your own tests privately. At least you will know with certainty what you are up against.
Thank you I have been eating two Brazil nuts a day since July 17. I get them organic from the bin at whole foods. Have been on able to locate ones pre-packaged in a bag or container that states grown in selenium rich soil. Perhaps they would have it at central market but it is far from where I live and I don't have a car
Good for you in eating the Brazil nuts since July. Excellent. At least you are getting some selenium and it is very good for us.
🌝
Hi Jill, I buy my Brazil Nuts off the Internet at Nuts.com. They operate from the east coast and I find them very efficient - fast delivery and good quality nuts. I eat 2 per day.
Thank you LAHs I'll check into it once the weather cools :]
Thank you so much Phoenix and Heloise I didn't realize there was so much to this, absolutely fascinating, thank you.
My daughter says i should start using irish moss which is seaweed i have an underactive thyroid and started Levo 25 last Nov now on 50 Levo if it helps id give it a go but i thought it can hinder rather than help
greygoose in reply to
It can. Excess iodine is as bad as too little. Always get tested before starting any form of iodine supplementation.
Suin in reply to
Is that what we call Dulse? It friend on the rocks in summer months and u gather it then dry it 😍
The body has other uses for iodine. For instance, it has been documented that women who are iodine-deficient have more breast and uterine problems. If you are unsure about your status, consider investigating the iodine sufficiency test offered by Dr. Jorge Flechas and others.
In addition to thyroid hormone, I take a trace mineral supplement to make sure I have enough of minerals like iodine, selenium, zinc.
Awesome. I just started taking iodine (potassium iodide) two days ago. I feel more achy in my body but my mood is better. Brain fog about the same. Little moments of clarity.
So this is day number three could I really be feeling a difference this soon?
Hope you are not taking a mega-dose of iodine. You are more likely to get a positive result via low dose over a long period of time.
Thank you Eddie83. Directions say to take two drops in a glass of water with food once a day. That would equal 226 µg of potassium iodide. It's the clear kind, as I was unable to find Lugols. Next month when weather cools I will begin ordering a few things online. What do you think? Is Lugol's the best kind to take?
This is day number 10 and I am alternating from taking the 226 µg one day and then the next day taking 113microgram. microgram.
Cousin is a nurse and suggested I do you only one drop for the first two weeks but I decided to alternate two drops one day one drop the next started off with one drop (113mcg) on first day.
I suppose I will mention this to my gynecologist who is treating me for my thyroid condition but after seven years I don't really necessarily take all of her advice as being something that I should follow necessarily anymore. So when the two weeks is up I'm not sure if I will up the dosage or just stay at the recommended two drops a day that it says on a bottle which once again is 226 µg of . What do you think?
I am currently fighting as hard as I can to get anti-bodies tests done during my next blood work which should be this upcoming week.
Getting iodine level tested will not be an option as money is a factor. I'm pretty sure I'm deficient and everything my vitamin D levels have been between 17 and 22 for the last seven years.
Even with vitamin D supplement Tatian and daily exposure to sun .
Thankfully from this wonderful site I finally found out that I should be taking K2 along with it.
I told Dr. this on the phone when I was requesting to be switched over to WP thyroid from Synthroid to which she responded will test that again when we check your levels .
Honestly I would rather wait a bit longer to see how the D is going and save the money to put it towards a B12 test as I've never been tested for that either . Nor folate, nor iron, nor ferritin.
I'm pretty upset by all this. She is a private doctor does not accept my insurance (Medicaid) family helps pay for it. she is considered progressive, and I have been complaining of feeling terrible for years now .
I stupidly assumed she was running all the right tests...and taking care of my best interest.
Thank God, (if there is a God…) That I came across this site on July 17 of this year 😢
Thanks for your help.
Jill
PS I guess I don't understand how to make it highlight your name in green and underlined... how to do, please?
Type @The_will_of_Jill - as you type characters, a short list of possible members is displayed at the bottom of the box you are typing in. When the name of the person appears, click on the name. That will convert @The_will_of_Jill into The_will_of_Jill - and the person will receive an alert.
Oh, I see... @helvella I don't see what you mean, but I am not in a laptop or PC if that makes a difference. Laptop broke about five months ago. Just have this small iPhone 5s.
I put the @ though, before your name.... perhaps that will do it? I've tried that before though and I don't think it worked. Guess we'll find out here in a second…
By the way I am so curious what your profile photo is of…?
Thx Jill
Helvella crispa - a fungus
Oh ok... from the tiny size circular picture on my phone screen it almost looks like an adorable little Muppet character. Then after I clicked on it to enlarge I realized it was not that at all 🌝
Forgot to add, with false colour added!
Sorry... I missed something (hectic day, cat has cancer). Are you referring to Lugols?
No! My picture.
Oh! I'll look the fungus up now 🌞
I love mushrooms. Not so much how they taste, but to look at. Unusually beautiful. Wiki says they smell nice. Is there a special significance to you with this particular fungus?
Not really - just like photographing them in general!
🍄😎
In the USA, the label "daily value" is 150 micrograms for iodine. I would feel comfortable with 5 times that, so 226mcg is fine. However, I would not be comfortable with Iodoral at 12.5 milligrams or more daily. I do not know if Lugol's is really better than anything else, although it certainly is a popular brand.
As far as other nutrients like D, folate, iron, B12 ... I would not wait for testing. I would start taking all those at biologically appropriate doses, and then hike dose later if testing shows you are severely deficient. By "appropriate", I mean a dose that is no more than about 5 times the daily value. A lot of supplements are sold in high dosages that should not be used unless you have a test result that indicates you need the high dose; for instance, B12 can be purchased in 5000 microgram tablets, which is 83 times the daily value!
D3 seems to be an exception. 5 times the DV is 2000 IU, but I find I have to use more than that to get the test value to a reasonable level.
If you are going to take iron, be sure to use one of the chelated forms. I used a chelated iron in the past, but don't remember which type/brand.
Thank you I have been eating to Brazil nuts a day since July 17
Thank you for the information Eddie83 I am now taking vitamin D three daily currently at 5400 IU a day, as well as vitamin K2 as MK-7 90µg a day. I'm also taking a teaspoon of some very expensive fish oil called Wiley's Finest it doesn't say how much vitamin D is in there. States there's 2150mg of EPA+DHA+Omega-3.
I am also taking a teaspoonful of natural calm brand magnesium in warm water in the evenings made from ionic magnesium citrate. (That's about 175mg of)
Ashwagandha before dinner, and Braggs apple cider vinegar drink with Lemmon before meals once or twice a day. Will start the B-12, vitamin C, and whatever else...oh yeah zinc, going to put some zinc in the mix too. After upcoming blood work next week.
Nite nite
Jill
🤘🏻
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