Iodine urine test do's and dont's?

[ainslie]

We have bought the Iodine urine test from Genova again, and having read the instructions we are a bit confused as the instructions on do's and dont's are a bit vague. My partner did two of these tests already and had strange results, the first test came back over 300 and the second 600, the range is up to 200, she is not aware of taking anything with iodine in it since stopping 4 drops of Iodine per day back in mid sept. ~We are wondering if the test is accurate (again) or are we spiking the result somehow? In the instructions from Genova it says beware of taking thyroid meds, nutrients and botanicals, and non essential medications?. thats all it says, I called Genova who said we cant advise go back to whoever doc prescribed the test, we bought it via THYROID UK, so does anyone from THYROID UK know or anyone know the correct way to do this test. Thank you.

[humanbean]

I'm not familiar with iodine testing personally - I've never got round to testing my own.

Is your partner taking any form of thyroid hormone (which are partly made of iodine), or any supplements containing iodine, or eating lots of foods rich in iodine?

There are quite a lot of possibilities...

Levothyroxine (T4)

Liothyronine (T3)

NDT e.g. Thyroid-S, Armour

Thyroid glandulars

Multivitamins containing iodine

Kelp tablets

Seaweed

Fish

Iodised salt

Seafood / shellfish

You can do a search for more "iodine-rich foods".

This is worth reading :

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

Just for info...

There is a relationship between selenium and iodine, but I couldn't say what it was. I have read that supplementing iodine without enough selenium in the body/diet can cause side effects from the iodine.

The body ought to excrete most excess iodine.

Urine iodine is an accurate reflection of recent dietary intake of iodine as approximately 92% of ingested iodine is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, and in adults who are healthy and replete in iodine over 90% of absorbed iodine is excreted in the urine.

Source : journals.sagepub.com/doi/fu...

And this link on Selenium might be of interest - and it mentions iodine several times :

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/S...

And here's a link from the same site on Iodine :

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/I...

...

Why did your partner decide to supplement iodine in the first place? Did she have evidence of a deficiency?

[ainslie in reply to humanbean]

thanks for info, she wasnt taking any of those things with iodine in them when she was tested and got result of 600, she was advised to take 4 drops of iodine after patch tests with R Lane.

she is no longer working with him and it seems the patch test maybe BS, hence urine tests which I am now beginning to also question, it also seems the loaded test is more in favour, how confusing

[humanbean in reply to ainslie]

Yeah, the patch test is definitely bullshit. I don't know who R Lane is.

You might find these links useful on the subject of iodine testing - don't do loading tests because they are not reliable either :

townsendletter.com/Jan2013/...

blog.zrtlab.com/flaws-in-th...

[ainslie in reply to humanbean]

thanks interesting articles, ZRT are critical of the loaded test as they sell the dry patch tests, I tried one of theyre dry patch tests for IGF-1 and I am not convinced its accurate as it showed my IGF-1 to be around 180 when it is usually half that. It seems most of the docs seem to lean towards the loaded iodine one which I dont think is in the UK

[ainslie in reply to humanbean]

although it looks as if the loaded one seems to diag deficiency , whereas the urine non loading one alleg shows overdose, the more I read the more sceptical I get about if any of them are any good

[humanbean]

Here's another link that might be useful, giving pros and cons of different methods of iodine testing :

restartmed.com/iodine-testing/

[ainslie in reply to humanbean]

thanks , thats a good article and his conclusion is like mine at time of writing, ie none are defo accurate so why bother, fine if a iodine deficit is the concern but my partners lab show she is double max, we bought the test already so will use it but wont lose any sleep if the results are odd

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

ainslie

In the instructions from Genova it says beware of taking thyroid meds, nutrients and botanicals, and non essential medications?

I'm not sure but maybe that's to do with creatinine levels not iodine, it's not crystal clear from their instructions:

Certain medications can affect urine creatinine levels (e.g. Tagamet). Thyroid-supporting prescriptions, nutrients, and botanicals may influence test results. Let your practitioner know about your use of these medications before doing this test. Do not change use of medications unless instructed to do so by your healthcare provider.

• For a baseline analysis, discontinue non-essential medications or supplements 48 hours prior to the test

I did the test back in 2016 and they only tested iodine levels back then, they didn't include creatinine.

My partner did two of these tests already and had strange results, the first test came back over 300 and the second 600, the range is up to 200, she is not aware of taking anything with iodine in it since stopping 4 drops of Iodine per day back in mid sept.

Does she drink milk, eat yogurt, cod, haddock, scampi, iodine fortified milk alternatives?

Don't forget there's approx 62mcg iodine in 100mcg Levo.

I don't know how long it would take the body to excrete the iodine drops that were taken regularly.

I have only done the non-loading test and I have done it twice. The first time was when I did a raft of tests prior to consulting with a practioner. My level was 150 (100-199). I was already on Levo (probably 150mcg) and fish and milk/yogurt are main staples in my diet. The practioner suggested I take a multivitamin which contained 150mcg iodine (the recommended daily amount). I questioned this and said why take it when my iodine level was nicely mid-range, she said to take it anyway. I tested again 6 months later, out of curiosity, and found my level had increased to 250 (100-199). In my opinion this suggested that the test was accurate, I had no reason to doubt it, I was supplementing but nothing else had changed and my level had risen considerably. I ditched the multivitamin and at the same time ditched the practioner!

[ainslie in reply to SeasideSusie]

thanks for input, she as far as we know doesnt take any supplements with iodine in them and at the reading of 600 wasnt on Armour, there is a possibility there is iodine hidden in something ie a med but how do you know , we checked pretty carefully and couldnt see any likely culprits, I think the Genoava instructions are patchy at best, what does "be aware" of taking thyroid meds , botanicals or non essential meds mean?, if on thyroid meds are we supposed to stop, who takes non essential meds anyway , , its meaningless in my opinion.

I even spoke to the Nutritionist recommended by Thyroid UK on website, she advised I just follow the Genova instructions.....?

We will run the test again as we bought it and I will have a read of David Brownstein's book which I just downloaded, he seems to be a bit famous for iodine.

[userotc in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi Susie, please see my response to Ainslie. This follows recent communication between you/I too on the matter eg by pm.

[userotc]

We communicated on this previously (1st link below) as you/I are trying to manage the iodine testing issue at the same time. In order to get everyone's attention here, currently my belief is that iodine tests seem to be of limited or NO VALUE although I hope Im wrong. This follows significant communication with TUK and Genova plus personal research eg 2nd link.

Strangely my personal results indicate graphically that, as I REDUCE iodine intake, the urine level INCREASES - and your posts indicate likewise. I can speculate on possible reasons for this but it questions the validity of urine testing. And note (in confidence) that Genova suggested serum testing instead so this must confirm uncertainty with (their!) urine test.

For space reasons, I suggest we communicate by private message if you wish although I do believe it's a potential problem for others too.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

ukiodine.org/faqs/#:~:text=...

[ainslie in reply to userotc]

I will keep an open mind but I’m now pretty sceptical about the accuracy of iodine tests, my partner is doing another Genova one ( because we already bought it) and for fun going to do a patch test at same time to compare, it would be interesting to do the challenge and blood test at same time to compare but spent enough £ already, thinking about it , it would be interesting if anyone anywhere has compared all the tests at once., that would maybe settle the puzzle

[userotc in reply to ainslie]

Ive just sent you a pm which includes both urine and serum tests but difficult to compare accurately for reasons stated. Keep in touch after next urine test.

PS I suspect lack of responses on here confirms uncertainties and misunderstandings re iodine testing.