Selenium dosage

[TiredMummy]

Does anyone know how much selenium we should take each day to support the thyroid? I have 200ug selenium tablets and wondering if I should take one every day?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I've seen it said that 100-200mcg is a safe amount to take daily. Some people prefer to test before supplementing. My choice was to take 100mcg without testing.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I personally would advise you half the tablet to 100mcg if not deficient or advised by a practitioner.

I have Thyroid Eye Disease & was advised 200mcg daily during the active phase of the condition & any flare up, then a maintenance dose of 100mcg.

Research has shown that over 400mcg a day can be toxic, so it’s important not to exceed this. Brazil nuts can contain 50-90mcg per nut (dependent on how rich in selenium the soil is) and some people choose to eat 1-2 a day instead of supplementing, but you need to check the packet for selenium content.

[TiredMummy in reply to Buddy195]

Thank you both. I will halve the tablets or presumably it would be ok to take one 200ug tablet once every other day?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to TiredMummy]

presumably it would be ok to take one 200ug tablet once every other day?

I do that with my K2-MK7 tablets. The advised dose is 90-100mcg daily and the times I can only buy a 200mcg dose I take those alternate days.

[pennyannie in reply to Buddy195]

A1Amber

[humanbean]

I tried taking 200mcg selenium per day, but didn't feel well. I switched to taking 100mcg and tolerated that without any issues.

[TiredMummy in reply to humanbean]

I’ve decided to take 100mcg every day also…..just to be safe!

[humanbean in reply to TiredMummy]

There are a variety of selenium supplements available, and some are better than others.

SeasideSusie gives some very useful info on this link, as well as a suggestion for a particular supplement :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[TiredMummy in reply to humanbean]

OMG!!!! Metallic taste in mouth…..garlic breath! I’ve had this problem more and more over the past few months & I’ve just worked out that I’ve been over dosing on selenium as the multivitamin I’ve also been taking contains 75ug. So that combined with the 200ug selenium tablets (which are smelly btw!) was 275ug daily!! I’ll give my body a break from the selenium for a while and get the ones Seaside Susie mentions as I like that brand. I think I’d better post another question about vitamins generally…..

[DeeD123]

I never found a benefit when taking them. Maybe I have enough in my diet. Never tested either though I was advised to take them when my eye disease kicked off again. Didn’t help at all.

[Bellazzurra in reply to DeeD123]

I’m so sorry to hear about that. Did you take Selenomethionine or Selenite? Selenomethionine worked so well for me. I took pictures along the way, and you can see the huge difference. How long were you on Selenium for?

[DeeD123 in reply to Bellazzurra]

It was one I had from Amazon that had been recommended. Sorry it was a few yrs ago now so can’t remember which one but it did nothing. I have always wondered if it was because I wasn’t graves but hashimotoes. From what I have seen it appears to help those with ted and graves rather than hashimotoes or no thyroid antibodies and ted. I’m glad you found a benefit. Oh I took it for around 5 yrs so a good trial

[Bellazzurra in reply to DeeD123]

Oh yes, 5 yrs is definitely a long time! I must admit that I don’t know much about TED when it comes to Hashimotos. I’ve only really studied it in relation to Graves’ Disease as that’s the condition I have.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

A number of years ago, most selenium supplements seemed to be 400 micrograms - and it was widely suggested that 400 a day was a reasonable dose.

Given the daily requirement for around 75 micrograms, I never subscribed to that high a dose.

Since then, supplements are more often 100 or 200 micrograms.

If we are already getting some selenium in our diets, I suggest that absorbing 50 micrograms would be plenty. Always difficult to know for sure how much is being absorbed, but I'd suggest absorption isn't that much of a problem.

[Caveman_Canaricus]

Depends on how much selenium you lack.

Also remember that you have to use organic forms. Synthetic forms are almost always toxic.

6-8 years ago, I had to abort an alternative treatment at Dr Rea in Dallas and travel home due to an exceedingly low blood pressure. It was down to 52/27.

Knowing a little bit about selenium, I knew I were secerely deficient. I had a harmed liver with reduced function due to improper use of a detox chelator. And selenium is also used in Deiodinase type II, which is affecting the T3 levels in the body.

So I took 12x normal dose of selenium for 3 months. My low blood pressure went up to normal and I have never had that problem again.

One could expect people with a high blood pressure to be harmed from this, and even far lower levels.

I can not recommend my dosing though. It can be potentially very damaging.

But I don't know. I don't know where the reports of selenium toxicity comes from, what types they have used, and for what conditions of the patients. Generally the farmaseutical industry use synthetic minerals or vitamins when making studies and these studies then result in conclusions of toxicity. People should report where the toxicity studies comes from.

I would have liked to have this toxicity data from ortomolecular science which has an enormous calalogue of studies on minerals and vitamins. Ortomolecular medicine was Linus Pauling's creation, the two times nobel price winner.

[Jajda]

my findings: 200 mcg of Selenium might be too high - if taken -- then for short time -with dr approval-- recommended daily intake 55 - 70 mcg ... Personally I opted for food source and I am taking 1 - one ☝️- Brazilian nut a day ( typical one nut is 60-90 mcg of Selenium) plus S in other food as other nuts. seeds some fish (tuna) meat etc - ... there's many sources however the Brazilian nuts are the highest.... My nodules shrank after 4-5 weeks a bit - My next appointment hopefully will show even better / well smaller 👍😁

[TiredMummy in reply to Jajda]

I think Brazil nuts are the way to go. Thank you

[Hidden in reply to Jajda]

I took Nature’s Aid Selenium for a number of 40 days and it completely shrunk my thyroid nodule and improved my heterogeneous gland. I have had to cancel my Lobectomy. I only started the antioxidant to reduce TPO Abs, definitely a double win.

Will eventually treat with a Brazil nut.

[Bellazzurra]

Hey! I took 200mcg highly absorbable selenomethionine for 6 months for TED, and the results were amazing! I can DM you before and after photos if you like. That’s allowed on the forum, right?

I was hesitant at first as blood tests showed my Selenium was on the higher side already, but I had no issues and I’m glad I gave the Selenium supplements a try.

[Martina]

I have seen supplements containing selenium derived from mustard seeds. Has maybe anyone tried this form of selenium?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Martina]

I wonder why they chose to do that?

I suppose the yeast-based forms are a problem for some but they are supposed to be effective.

[WeeMj]

I was told by my naturopathy to take 180ug of selenium. Biocare drops with iodine drops in water every morning then do an iodine skin patch test monthly to check my iodine levels.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to WeeMj]

The iodine skin patch test has been shown to be affected by numerous factors other than the body’s iodine content. Including atmospheric pressure!

It is unreliable.