Hi, i have hashimotos. Couldn’t get on with Levo. I am taking iodine, 1 grain of NDT & not much else. My levels arent bad but my T4 is 10 which is low. What can i do to improve it? I also had the cyst tested which it is benign .. but it has swollen in size again .. is that whats known as a goiter ? Do they go away eventually? I think I’m going to have another ultra sound as the doc is worried.
Lastly, I’m 50 and I’m getting hot flushes but not sure if that’s to do with the thyroid or “changes” I didn’t have a period this month.
If you are in the UK then iodine deficiency is rare, we can usually get what we need from our diet - milk, yogurt, cod, haddock, scampi, etc.
If you can post your latest results, with reference ranges, then we can possibly help.
Hashi's and gut absorption problems tend to go hand in hand and can very often result in low nutrient levels or deficiencies, so it's essential to test:
Vit D
B12
Folate
Ferritin
Some members with Hashi's have found that adopting a strict gluten free diet can help, although there is no guarantee.
Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks.
You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.
I agree with SeasideSusie. Iodine is very bad for Hashimotos and in fact, lugols iodine can cause Hashimotos (in high doses) or flare ups when you have Hashimotos. My Hashimotos is most likely caused after ingesting huge doses of lugols I was given as a child after the Chernobyl nuclear explosion. But this is my situation
Naturopaths have some very strange ideas - and very little real knowledge - of thyroid. And I would never recommend a hypo consult one. I was prescribed iodine by an ignorant doctor - who did no testing whatsoever - I think he was a homeopath - just as bad. And, it did me a lot of harm. I'd don't think I'd be quite so bad today if I hadn't taken it.
It's common to have bottom of range or even under range free t4 when taking NDT. Not a problem as long as your free T3 is near the top of the range (but not over). One grain is a very low dose, so you might be undermedicated. If you have decided to take iodine (for whatever reason), don't forget that you also need to take selenium). A cyst is not a goitre, but I'd get it looked at.
Iodine protocol is great for the thyroid and gets rid of cysts etc....Are you taking the accompanying co factors with it? like Mg, Selenium B2 & B3 , Vitmain C? and do you use Lugols Iodine? I've used both Lugol's liquid Iodine & Lugotabs from Hakala in US... For thyroid also many use LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) and they find they need less of their thyroid meds...>At moment I take 1 grain of NP per day in 2 doses (biggest one in the morning) but stopped the Iodine protocol for the time being (having used it for almost 2 years at up to 150mg per day) for a month before my thyroid testing to see if that's why I had elevated numbers (was temporarily hyper on 2.5 grains of NT); I started taking NDT's since last year at end of September for Hypo symptoms...
There is some evidence that kelp supplements (such as tablets and capsules) can increase levels of TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone).
Although often promoted for thyroid health, iodine supplements will not help your thyroid work better, and may even cause problems, unless you have an iodine deficiency.
Considering that iodine used to be used to treat hyperthyroidism iodine really should only be considered if tested and found to be deficient.
If you read around, a typical daily requirement for iodine is 150 micrograms.
You write about taking 150 milligrams of iodine. Which can be expressed as 150,000 micrograms. One thousand times as much. I am willing to consider that 150 micrograms could be a little low for some people.
I am struggling to think of any other nutrient or food which could safely be taken at a thousand times daily requirement. I can only think of one possibility. Certainly not water. Nor salt - can you imagine consuming five kilograms of salt in a day? Nor sugar - NHS says no more than 30 grams a day - a thousand times that is 30 kilograms a day. Nor selenium - 70 milligrams a day would be at least eighty times a toxic dose. Nor vitamin B3 - which can have serious effects well below that sort of dose multiplier.
In order to take that much iodine every day, a considerable amount of your body's processing capacity simply must be spent getting rid of the huge excess.
Maybe, for now, your body is somehow managing. But it is absolutely NOT something to recommend to everyone who happens on your post. It is potentially very dangerous.
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