The iodine question

[Lilacsocks]

Hello,

I am pondering on iodine supplementation. The b-complex I used it buy have changed the formula to add iodine so I am trying another one. However my nutritionist friend has incouraged me to have some iodine as it is important for healthy breast tissue and ovaries. I am also reading The Period Repair manual (recommended ages ago on this forum) she also stresses the importance of iodine for healthy metabolism and ovulation "the ovaries need a lot of iodine" and mentions it as one of the most important treatments for estrogen excess (which I suspect in myself).

It's seems like it is a little more complicated as a person with a menstrual cycle and I am considering whether maybe a small amount would be beneficial for me.

Any thoughts or further reading anyone can suggest?

(I will add, so far I have found this book realy helpful and informative, it has answered questions I have had about thyroid health in relation to hormone fluctuations in the menstrual cycle I haven't been able to find elsewhere.)

[Lilacsocks]

*She's does so mention if you have autoimmune thyroid disease you need to stay low with the dose or avoid all together. I'm not exactly sure what would constitute a low dose though.

[ali2341 in reply to Lilacsocks]

Im actually looking into this too, one of my multivitamins has 15 mcg of iodine and i feel so much better with the iodiine than without.

[radd in reply to ali2341]

ali2341,

My multivitamin has a tiny amount of iodine too. I think if selenium levels are matched, thyroid antibodies aren’t rampaging, and we feel well, it must be beneficial. My thyroid gland is completely atrophied but iodine is used by multiple organs and essential for many biological processes. 

Lilacsocks , iodine has a very narrow range of safety. Pregnant women need more and our daily iodine amount varies depending upon what you read but I think in general hovers at about 150mcg (including dietary sources).

I would never advocate supplementing large iodine doses though, particularly with Hashi, and be aware certain foods such as milk alternatives may be iodine fortified so need consideration.  

[helvella in reply to radd]

You are absolutely right to point out possible surprises in foods.

When it comes to milk substitutes, I think you'll find the amount of iodine is intended to be similar to that in dairy milk. (Though not all have any added iodine.) Therefore, if you directly switch to a substitute that contains iodine, or from that back to milk, it will probably make little difference.

There is no substitute for reading the labels and doing online research!

[userotc]

Would you test during supplementation? I posted a day or so ago about apparent uncertainties for testing.

[Lilacsocks in reply to userotc]

I've also read the test is unreliable..

[Sybilla14]

There is a lot of controversy about iodine with hashi, the risk being that excess iodine leads to the dumping of thyroid hormones into the blood causing hyper like symptoms. Last year I was listening to an interview by Jonathan Landsman (can’t recall the name of the guest) who mentioned that applying iodine solution resolves ovarian cysts and breast fibroadenoma as it regulates oestrogen levels. He said that it takes a few weeks and having had fibroadenoma for 25 years (and PCOS diagnosis) I was keen to try this as no one has ever proposed there may be a solution. Mike Mutzel talked about iodine supplementation and thyroid as well and said that good selenium levels protect against negative effects (I’ve been taking selenium sups for years).

I’ve found that applying iodine solution to the skin - the time it takes to absorb is correlated with the iodine status - suggested I was deficient so I continued to apply it it every other morning for about 3 months. I’ve had positive impacts on my fibroadenoma and cycles and, most notably and excitingly, it resolved the residual brain fog I couldn’t shift (I take lots of supplements) almost immediately. I’ve had no negative effects, not once, so can only recommend trying it for yourself to see how your body reacts.

[helvella in reply to Sybilla14]

helvella - Iodine Patch Test

Why the iodine patch test is not appropriate for indicating iodine status.

From Dropbox:

dropbox.com/s/a4xpwn6fwc42g...

From Google Drive:

drive.google.com/file/d/1C1...

[userotc in reply to helvella]

But it's debatable if any test is appropriate (see my post on this a day or so ago).

[RedApple]

Lilacsocks, The topic of iodine comes up frequently on this forum, so if you do a search you'll probably find very many varied opinions. The most recent discussion is here healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Lilacsocks in reply to RedApple]

Thank you, it's the varied opinions that's are so confusing 🤣🙈

[RedApple in reply to Lilacsocks]

Absolutely. But that's the point really isn't it. We're all different, there's no 'one size fits all' for anything thyroid related 😊

[Sharoosz]

I was reading an article on this topic on the 'stop the thyroid madness' site yesterday. (worth reading) The author said start low (probably 1-2drops Lugols/day), increase very slowly and don't go too high. Good advice, I'd say.

[helvella in reply to Sharoosz]

Which is not very helpful of the site when Lugol's comes in many strengths from 1% through to 20%. (1%, 2% and 5% are expressly mentioned on that site.)