Goitre & supplementing selenium & iodine

[Insomania]

Does anyone supplement with selenium & iodine?

I have a multi-modular goitre which is not really causing any problems. I do not take any thyroid medication. I have had a lot of blood tests done because I have a lot of unexplained symptoms like fatigue, insomnia, aches, brain fog, digestive issues etc. I supplement vitD, Bcomplex, magnesium, k2 mk7. I have unexplained iron deficiency, treated with regular infusions.

I have read about selenium & iodine and am wondering about supplementing to help my enlarged thyroid.

Advice appreciated 🙂

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Forum recommendation is not to supplement with iodine unless you have tested levels and are deficient. I personally wouldn’t use it and I actively avoid seaweed and other foods high in iodine.

Selenium can be helpful for some in lowering antibodies or if you have (like me) thyroid eye disease (TED). However, with TED, it is advisable to supplement no more than 200ug selenium for 6 months, then reduce to 100ug when active symptoms reduce. Another option is to have a Brazil nut (or 2) a day. Do be careful as selenium content of nuts varies according to soil type with brazils varying 50-90ug per nut. Studies have shown that 400ug daily supplement can be toxic.

[PurpleNails Administrator]

Iodine deficiency is extremely unusual unless you have a very restricted diet.

Extra iodine isn’t recommended as it can cause the thyroid to behave unpredictably causing hyper in some cases & hypothyroidism in other cases. 

High dose selenium is often recommended for hyperthyroidism but this associated with selenium protecting eye in cases of thyroid eye disease.

For those with autoimmune thyroiditis the antibodies are said to be reduced when raising low selenium levels & selenium supports T4:T3 conversion.  

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

You have negative antibodies? Was there any explanation of low TSH / low FT4? 

Do you have recent thyroid function ? Has nutrients & FT3 been tested?

 So I would leave the iodine supplement but add 100mcg selenium.

200mcg could be used short term (6 months) but then drop to 100mg.  

Selenium l-selenomethionine and yeast bound selenium are most absorbable form avoid selenite and selenate.

[Insomania in reply to PurpleNails]

Hi,

My thyroid bloods were done again in January. This is how @slowdragon interpreted my results in a recent post:

“Thyroid results look “normal”….though Ft4 is at lower end of range 

FT4: 14.4 pmol/l (Range 10.5 - 21) Ft4 only 37.14% through range 

FT3: 5 pmol/l (Range 3.5 - 6.5) Ft3 higher at 50.00% through range 

TSH is not reflecting the fact Ft4 is struggling.”

TSH was 0.32 in December and 0.59 in January (nhs range 0.35-5.5)

Thyroid antibodies were normal too.

Thank you for the info!

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to Insomania]

FT4 & FT3 are something to monitor.  Every 3-4 months.  TSH not reflecting low FT4 & FT3 did doctor have thoughts on this? 

[Insomania in reply to PurpleNails]

My GP says my symptoms are carers burnout and nothing to do with thyroid. His exact words were “you need to move on.” (…to antidepressant?!)

I’m following up on my last appt, an cortisol blood test on Monday, if it’s low he said he will refer to endocrine. Then I’m moving GP surgery!

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to Insomania]

I can’t write what I think about that.  Carers burnout - obviously something he’s not at risk of ever suffering from.

He can’t find obvious cause so wants you to take antidepressants & hopefully not bother him again.

Think you’re right to find a doctor who will listen.  

[Insomania in reply to PurpleNails]

Exactly! I’m looking after my three autistic kids who have multiple services involved and I’m being let down badly.

On a previous post someone recommended the book Your Thyroid and How to Keep it Healthy. I started reading it last night and my head is aching from nodding! 😀

Onwards and upwards…

[GlowCoach Administrator]

Have you had your thyroid tested and antibodies? Ask GP receptionist for a printed copy which you're legally entitled to and post results here. Sometimes when we are told our levels are normal they are not normal for the individual.

[Insomania in reply to GlowCoach]

I’ve had numerous tests over the last two years. I can see all my GP results on nhs app and hospital results on MyChart. I posted recent ones above on the reply to purplenails.

[dtate2016]

Dr. Christianson (and American Endo that has a best seller on thyroid reset) talks about goiter, selenium and iodine here: kathysmith.com/episode-88-d...

If you don' want to listen to the video the transcript (personally, I get more out of the transcript) is below. You can find it by scrolling down.

[Insomania in reply to dtate2016]

I listened and read the transcript at the same time, multi-sensory!

Slightly confused because I thought a goitre meant I needed more iodine not less. But I'll work it out. The book looks interesting. I'm anti-restrictive diets or calorie counting (grew up in the 80s, my mother did every diet going and it never made her happy!). I downloaded the free kindle intro to check it out.

I'm getting nowhere with the NHS so I'm going to see a private endocrinologist 🙌

[tattybogle in reply to Insomania]

it's important to note that this article is from america where iodine is routinely to manufactured salt and they have to go out of their way to find non-iodised salt.

This is opposite to the UK ,, where you have to go out of your way to FIND iodised salt (eg "Cerebos Iodised Salt"). most UK salt is NOT iodised.

So it can't be directly applied to UK patients unless they have tested Iodine reliably and are sure they have high levels .. UK patients are presumably much less likely than americans to have 'too much iodine' from their diet .

Also, it forgets to mention that not all Brazil nuts are high in selenium.. they are only high in selenium if they are grown in selenium rich soils .. you always need to check the packet.

One cause of goitre is Iodine deficiency ... but not all goitres are caused by iodine deficiency . mayoclinic.org/diseases-con... -conditions/goiter/symptoms-causes/

Goitre caused by Iodine deficiency is not very common in UK any more ..(it used to be in certain areas and the lack of it did cause the thyroid to enlarge to try to catch more iodine (goitre) see 'Derbyshire neck')

(i think ? that when goitre is caused specifically by iodine deficiency , it is a generalised enlargement, as opposed to 'nodules / multi nodular goitre" but i'm a bt out of m depth there .)

Autoimmune hypothyroidism is not totally ruled out by finding normal results for thyroid antibodies (TPOab / TGab) ... it is possible ( but unusual ) to find autoimmune thyroid damage to the thyroid without the patient even having raised TPOab / TGab ( or at least none that were found when they were tested )

So just because you have normal levels of TPOab / TGab you can't 100% rule out having autoimmune thyroid disease.

NHS usually only tests TPOab .. but some people with autoimmune thyroid disease only have TGab ( NHS don't use them for thyroid diagnosis because there can be other causes of raised TGab)

[Nico101]

I take selenium, as people with thyroid issues normally need it. Iodine deficiency can be tested for quite easily. Before bed, paint some Lugol's (or similar) on the soles of your feet and go to bed with socks on (as it stains). In the morning, if your feet are back to normal, you need iodine. If yellowish, you may need a little, but if they're still quite orange, don't take iodine at all.

[tattybogle in reply to Nico101]

Nico this patch test method of testing for iodine is no longer considered reliable .I think helvella has some information on why not.

[helvella in reply to tattybogle]

Here:

helvella - Iodine Patch Test

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

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...