While on holiday, I opted for a multivitamin rather than bringing several separate bottles. After a couple of days on it, I started feeling pain in my throat, in the thyroid gland area...it felt like I was coming down with a strep throat. Unlike what I expected to feel while on holiday (well-rested and full of energy), I started feeling lethargic and needed to sleep 2-3 hours more each night.
The particular brand I've been taking contains 150 mcg of iodine, and I am wondering if that is what possibly messed me up...I have Hashimoto's.
Has anyone else experienced this while taking iodine? I normally eat Celtic sea salt (which is said to be good for adrenal function) without problems but of course I doubt I am getting 150 mcg of iodine daily from that...
BTW, it seems most OTC products for hypoT contain iodine...
Most of them do. Because most people - doctors included - believe that iodine is 'good' for the thyroid, that iodine 'improves' thyroid function. It isn't and it doesn't.
Iodine is one of the ingredients of thyroid hormone - one molecule of T4 contains 4 atoms of iodine. One atom is removed to make T3 and recycled in the body. So, if you are taking thyroid hormone replacement, you are already getting iodine from if - 100 mcg levo contains 65 mcg iodine. Plus what you get in your food. So, taking iodine supplements can easily give you excess iodine. And, excess iodine is a very bad thing. For a start, iodine is anti-thyroid. It used to be used to treat people with hyperthyroidism. So, probably that is what happened to you: your thyroid was producing some hormone, and the iodine reduced that production, making you more hypo.
However, multi-vitamins are a bad idea for a lot of other reasons:
* If your multi contains iron, it will block the absorption of all the vitamins - you won't absorb a single one! Iron should be taken at least two hours away from any other supplement except vit C, which is necessary to aid absorption of iron, and protect the stomach.
* If your multi also contains calcium, the iron and calcium will bind together and you won't be able to absorb either of them.
* Multi's often contain things you shouldn't take or don't need : calcium, iodine, copper. These things should be tested before supplementing.
* Multi's often contain the cheapest, least absorbable form of the supplement : magnesium oxide, instead of magnesium citrate or one of the other good forms; cyanocobalamin instead of methylcobalamin; folic acid instead of methylfolate; etc. etc. etc.
* Multi's do not contain enough of anything to help a true deficiency, even if you could absorb them.
* When taking several supplements, you should start them individually at two weekly intervals, not all at once as you would with a multi. Because, if you start them all at once, and something doesn't agree with you, you won't know which one it is and you'll be back to square one.
With a multivitamin, you are just throwing your money down the drain, at best, and doing actual harm at worst. Best to stick you your individual dosing.
Thanks for that valuable input, Greygoose...I realise now multivitamins are a bad idea, no matter how convenient...! Of course, my supplement (like so many others) also contains iron...!
It's easy to forget that thyroid meds contain iodine...
A lot of people don't even know that thyroid 'meds' contain iodine. But, of course, your feelings of lethargy could also have been contributed to by lack of the vitamins and minerals you were used to taking. There were probably multiple causes caused by the multi.
Sea salt contains not very much iodine. Most of the iodine in the sea gets taken up by the things that live there - especially the seaweeds. Therefore, not much left in the water.
Evaporating pans then leave the salt in the open, under the sun. What iodine once existed in the sea salt (or brine), reduces further by sublimation into the atmosphere.
Finally, between production and use there can be months to years in which the iodine content will reduce still further.
Do you or anyone else know why Celtic sea salt is often recommended for adrenal fatigue...I've seen the advice to mix a couple of teaspoons with water and drink every morning before breakfast?
That level of salt - a couple of teaspoons in water - is rather high! It is very possible to get too much of a good thing.
If you want to know more about salt in connection with the adrenals look up information on the adrenal cocktail. It is (usually) a home-made drink that contains a source of potassium, a source of sodium (salt) and a source of vitamin C.
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