The fantasy of both conventional and alternative healthcare practitioners is finding a single nutrient to treat hypothyroidism. For doctors, this is thyroid hormone. For alternative practitioners, it is iodine.
In the previous article I showed why, when used alone, thyroid hormone replacement often fails. In this post I’ll explain why iodine may not only be ineffective, but also cause harm.
Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide. Once researchers realized this, health authorities around the world began adding iodine to table salt.
This strategy was effective in correcting iodine deficiency. But it had an unanticipated – and undesired – effect. In countries where iodine has been added to table salt, the rates of autoimmune thyroid disease have risen. The following is just a sample of studies around the world demonstrating this effect:
Why does this happen? Because increased iodine intake, especially in supplement form, increases the autoimmune attack on the thyroid.
Iodine reduces the activity of an enzyme called thyroid peroxidase (TPO). TPO is required for proper thyroid hormone production.
Also, in studies where rats were given excess iodine, they developed a goiter-like condition.
On the other hand, restricting intake of iodine can reverse hypothyroidism. In one study, 78% of patients with Hashimoto’s regained normal thyroid function with iodine restriction alone.
However – and this is a big “however” – iodine may only pose a problem for people with Hashimoto’s and other autoimmune thyroid diseases in the presence of concurrent selenium deficiency. In the study above where rats developed goiter while receiving excess iodine, when they were given adequate selenium they did not develop the goiter.
Other studies have shown that selenium protects against the effects of iodine toxicity and prevents the triggering and flaring of autoimmune disease that excess iodine without selenium can cause.
This is important information for anyone with hypothyroidism in the U.S., because the most common cause of hypothyroidism is not iodine deficiency, but Hashimoto’s (the autoimmune form of hypothyroidism).
In my practice I always test for both iodine deficiency and Hashimoto’s when a patient presents with hypothyroid symptoms. If they are iodine deficient, I will start them on a trial of iodine and selenium together. In most cases, patients see a significant improvement. In a minority of cases, they cannot tolerate supplemental iodine even with adequate selenium intake.
The use of iodine in the treatment of thyroid disease is a controversial subject. I’m sure some readers will post comments directing me to the work of Dr. Abraham and Dr. Brownstein, both of whom have successfully treated hypothyroid patients with iodine.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that for the people who have hypothyroidism caused by iodine deficiency, supplemental iodine is both necessary and effective. How do you know you’re in this group? You can get a 24-hour urine iodine test to determine your tissue iodine levels. This involves taking a 50 mg iodine tablet and measuring how much iodine is excreted in the urine over the subsequent 24-hour period. You should excrete more than 90% of that iodine if you have sufficient levels in your body. If you excrete less than 90%, it means you’re iodine deficient.
Also keep in mind that a minority of patients with Hashimoto’s confirmed by biopsy (the gold standard) never test positive for thyroid antibodies. This is probably because their immune systems are so depressed they can no longer produce antibodies. If you have a combination of hyper- and hypothyroid symptoms, I would still suspect Hashimoto’s even if your thyroid antibody tests are normal.
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{ 122 comments… read them below or add one }
how does hashimoto, as an auto-immune disease, respond to high-dose vitamin D treatment? my neurodermatitis simply went away at 5’000IU D3, which speaks for a strong immuno-modulatory effect i assume.. could hashimoto maybe just be another symptom of D deficiency? are there any studies correlating H. and D levels? just a thought.
Yes. Vitamin D is one of the therapies for Hashimoto’s I’ll be covering. Most Hashimoto’s patients have vitamin D receptor polymorphisms that impair absorption and metabolisms of D.
Chris,
I was wondering when you would cite “Dr.” Kharrazian!
But, anyway, you have to be congruent! If you theory about iodine is right, Drs. Abraham and Brownstein could not have “sucessfully” treated hypo patients with iodine!!
On the link above, on item IV, Dr. Abraham propose a explanation about salt iodinization and incidence of Hashimoto:
http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-05/IOD_05.html
I, for one, will keep my daily intake of 50mg of Lugol’s. Unless my blood tests, that I have every 2 or 3 months, says otherwise. Until now, they didn’t.
Mario,
The human body isn’t a machine. It’s a complex web of interrelated connections. It may be possible for some Hashimoto’s patients to improve with iodine. I can’t rule that out. But that doesn’t mean most will, and it doesn’t mean that it’s the right choice for the majority of patients.
Why did you put “Dr” in quotation marks? Because Dr. Kharrazian is a chiropractor? Does that somehow make him less intelligent, able and qualified to evaluate the research? I assure you it does not. He has Harvard MDs and PhDs coming to his Mastering Thyroid course. I was at the last one, and spoke with an MD that said it was by far the most comprehensive and cutting-edge course on thyroid treatment he had ever attended.
Should we listen to all the MDs that tell us heart disease is caused by cholesterol, in spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary? That we should take antidepressants for depression, even though the evidence clearly shows they are no better than placebo in most cases? Heck, they’re MDs, so they must be right!
That’s exactly the attitude that motivated me to start the blog.
The weight of the evidence suggests that iodine is not a good choice for Hashimoto’s patients. You’re free to disagree, and I know that you do.
i haven’t managed to wade through all you wrote (i could feel my stress hormones rising as i read what i did), but what i have leads me to believe that you treat “Hashimotos” — not “hypothyroidism”. perhaps you should label your articles more specifically…?
i was apparently born thyroid deficient, 55 years ago. i have a mountain of experience of BAD treatment. the first sight of light at the end of MY tunnel was Iodoral. since the proliferation of the internet, i have made a good deal of progress in self-treatment, through education on things the medical establishment has theoretically “known” for decades, but never helped me with — things like getting enough good saturated fats, protein and trace minerals, dumping seed-oils and grains, and managing stress by steering clear of mainstream thinking on my condition.
if your articles have anything helpful to tell me and others in the same boat, i’d like to know exactly where. reading about Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is not constructive.
I wanted to add a few comments about the concern over negative effects of iodine and hashimotos.
I run the IODINE group on Yahoo groups where there are over 3,900 members. Many of these members have hashimotos and are taking iodine sucessfuly to treat it. There are key nutrients that need to be taken with iodine to put the thyroid in balance. These include Vitamin C (heals the NIS – sodium iodine symporters), unrefined salt (used in the symporters as well), magnesium (involved in enzyme reactions), and selenium (works in the oxidation process).
In the oxidation process where hydrogen peroxide is increased and interacts with TPO to reduce iodine to iodide for the creation of MIT & DIT (precursors to T3 & T4 hormone) another process comes into place when enough oxidizining has occured. This is done by the δ- Iodolactone (an iodolipid) – a liped that puts the “brakes” on the oxidizing (burning) process. Intracellular calcium levels are also important in this process in not letting things get out of balance as occurs in a hashimotos situation. This iodolipid is only created when iodine is supplied in amounts larger than RDA recommendations. For many on my group this is 50 mgs or more. Many with hashimotos have issues with swelling or painful glands at low iodine supplementing levels yet have the symptoms resolve at higher dosing.
Hashimotos also seems to accompany high levels of bromide toxicity. The iodine saturation level as well as the bromide toxicity level can be obtained by ordering a 24 hour iodine loading test with bromide levels from http://www.hakalalabs.com
It is dicouraging to see posts warning against the supplementation of iodine with hashimotos when there is no evidence to show harm when all the appropriate supporting nutrients accompanied with detoxification are in place.
The Jod-Basedow Phenomenon seems to only be applicable in cases of autonomic functioning thyroid nodules. Not in a normal goiter situation.
Stephanie,
As I said at the end of the article, I realize this is a controversial subject. And I’m open to hearing conflicting points of view.
You mention that there is no evidence that iodine causes harm when all appropriate nutrients accompanied with detoxification are in place. Is there any evidence that it does not, or that it actually provides benefit? In the article I linked to studies demonstrating that iodine increases autoimmune activity, and that restricting iodine alone can induce a euthyroid state in Hashimoto’s patients. What is your explanation for these phenomena? Also, I have yet to read a convincing explanation of why iodine increases the incidence of Hashimoto’s rises so significantly in places where iodine is added to salt. If you claim that this happens because the dose is too low, or because these populations are deficient in co-factors like selenium, magnesium and vitamin C, I’d like to see evidence supporting that.
There’s also the question of how iodine interacts with thyroglobulin polymorphisms commonly found in Hashimoto’s. From a study in Thyroid in 2004:
“It is conceivable that Tg polymorphisms, combined with the explosive mix of iodine, TPO and H2O2 necessary for thyroid hormone synthesis, inadvertently provide the trigger for the autoimmune thyroid response.”
I am on Stephanie’s Iodine group and have employed the recommendations she cites here with MUCH success, not only with myself, but, with my clients as well.
I must say that I have not as of yet read Dr. K’s book, so I am not familiar with the totality of what is written therein, but I would think if you have not read and implemented Dr. Brownstein’s recommendations, with Stephanie’s thoughts in mind, you’d be limited in your perspective greatly.
I’m no expert like the others who have responded here, but I am a practicing herbalist and also have hypo/Hashi’s. I’m very interested to learn more about the iodine “controversy” as it relates to healthy thyroid function.
From my perspective as a practitioner, the one huge hole I see in your logic is that the vast majority of my clients with hypothyroidism have been eating sea salt for years, and that is exactly why they are iodine deficient. In addition, many are “recovering” vegetarians, another category suffering from high levels of iodine deficiency. I think that you are missing a huge chunk of the hypothyroid crowd who are BOTH autoimmune and iodine deficient. Look forward to hearing your perspective on this idea! -Susan
There’s no hole in the logic. The relevant question is, how much iodine does the thyroid need to perform its function? That amount is very small. It’s roughly equivalent to the head of a pin per day or one teaspoon per year. Iodine deficiency must be very severe to cause Hashimoto’s. If someone is very deficient in iodine, it’s likely they’ll have a goiter. It’s certainly possible to have both Hashimoto’s and iodine deficiency, but that doesn’t necessarily mean iodine deficiency is the cause. Correlation is not causation.
don’t forget that it isn’t just the thyroid which requires iodine — breast tissue, for example, requires a LOT of iodine. indeed, every cell in the body has receptors, from what i understand. the problem of deficiency gets worse when these sites are filled with fluoride, chlorine and bromine, iodine’s truly toxic competitors. i suspect that a lot of “bad reactions” from iodine supplementation are actually detoxification symptoms.
Hi Chris
Could you please comment on what level of iodine intake you feel becomes excessive in terms of what you have outlined. New Zealand has soils very low in iodine and goitres are on the comeback following less use of iodised salt at the table, non-iodisation of salt in food processing, and the discontinuation of iodophors as disinfectants in the dairy industry. And it would seem that the cleaner one eats, the less iodine they get.
I am picking that some level of iodine intake is required to meet physiologic function. Do you feel 150ug daily to be ‘excessive’ in the group you have written about above?
Cheers.
Interesting, thanks for this blog of yours!
The link to the Dr. Kharrazian blog post is broken… I went to his website and it is available at the link below, though:
http://drknews.com/why-i-dont-give-iodine-to-my-hashimotos-patients/
Unfortunately this is a complex subject to comment on a blog and autoimmune conditions are not related to iodine deficency alone. Have you read Dr. David Brownstein’s book on Iodine? http://www.drbrownstein.com He is my doctor and friend. We research Iodine in thyroid conditions. I think his book will answer many of the questions you have posed (above). Iodine is more than just the thyroid gland. Every gland and mucosal lining needs and uses iodine.
The thyroid gland when totally saturated holds approximately 50 mgs of iodine. It needs approximately 6 mgs of Iodine / day to create sufficient thyroid hormones. Dr Abraham believes that daily requirements are 13 mgs for the total body. However, with the increase in toxic halides more and more are needed to overcome the barage of toxins (perchlorate, bromide, fluoride and mercury). When deficient the body attempts to use the halides in place of the iodine. It is not clear the mechanism by which this occurs.
When I started to use 50 mgs of Iodine for thyroid cancer (after 3 failed RAI’s – read my story on my website @ http://www.naturalthyroidchoices.com – blog) I was pushing out 24 ug/L of bromide. But when I started to use 100 mgs of Iodoral and then tested my levels they rose to 66 ug/L. My son when 9 yrs old was sending out 45 ug/L when on 12.5 mgs / day. It’s the toxins that seem to be the biggest issue in autoimmune thyroid conditions – combined with low iodine (which is cancer protective – research the P53 gene and its needs for iodine – Book: Minerals For The Genetic Code).
Consuming sea veggies is problematic. They have been found to be high in toxic halides and arsenic. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070406140955.htm
Finally – how is euthyroid defined? Many times this is defined as a TSH lab value that is within the ”almighty” TSH range (.5 – 5.0). This is NOT how euthyroid should be determined. All the research I have read regarding this has been a TSH value. When supplementing with iodine it is very common to see TSH values rise to levels as high as 75 for up to 6 mos without any clinical signs of hypothyroidism. The body is doing what it should do as increased iodine increases TSH to stimulate the production of thyroglobulin to bind to more iodine in the hormone creation process. High thyroglobulin levels are actually an indication of iodine deficiency. It is best to use Free T3 and Free T4 lab values to determine thyroid status since these represent the unbound proteins that are available for usage by the body. In 99% of the cases I have seen on my group where the TSH increases but the free’s remain in a normal range. TSH does not increase to high levels in all cases though.
When many of the members begin higher supplementing of Iodine they experience detoxing symptoms – for those that can test they are finding it is bromide. What was once considered to be iodism is now being linked to bromism as they share the same symptoms.
Jamie,
I agree this is a complex subject. I hesitated to even begin writing this series for that reason.
I’ve read Dr. Brownstein’s Overcoming Thyroid Disorders book, but I haven’t read his iodine book. But he does talk about bromides and other toxins in that book and I’m aware of those mechanisms.
For now we’ll just have to agree to disagree. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
According to my rheumatologist, a one time positive TPO/ TG result is not a true indication of Hashimoto’s. He says one must be tested repeatedly over time and if antibody levels are steadily increasing over time then Hashimoto’s is indeed present. Having never heard this before, I’m not sure what to believe. What do you think?
I’ve heard that before, and I don’t understand the logic behind it. Once the immune system tags a tissue (by producing antibodies), it never forgets. This is a benefit in the case of foreign invaders, but a liability when it’s our own tissue being tagged. A positive TPO/TG test indicates the body is attacking those enzymes and proteins, and that’s Hashimoto’s.
On the other hand, a negative TPO/TG antibody test doesn’t rule out Hashimoto’s. Nor does it indicate a clinical improvement or remission. Why? Because Hashimoto’s is a Th1 dominant condition. When the Th1 system is dominant, the Th2 system is suppressed. The Th2 system is involved in antibody production. So, if the Th1 system is out of control, we could see low antibody levels because the Th2 system is so depressed it can’t produce them. This is hardly a good thing – but it could be interpreted that way if someone believed that low antibody levels were a reflection of improvement.
“The relevant question is, how much iodine does the thyroid need to perform its function? That amount is very small. It’s roughly equivalent to the head of a pin per day or one teaspoon per year”
Exactly! I am a Nuclear Medicine Technologist and we do thyroid uptake scans which test the function of the thyroid by giving the patient a small amount of radioactive iodine (the amount of iodine is equivalent to 1/2 of a single grain of table salt). IF the patient consumes ANY iodine (from vitamins, food or medication sources) in the 3 weeks previous to their scan, their uptake value goes from a normal 15-30 % to nearly zero or very often less than 5%. This is because the thyroid stores iodine so well and it needs VERY little iodine daily. And these are normal thyroids….
If I understand him correctly he believess the antibodies can be present for a variety of reasons but simply not active unless shown to be so over time by rising lab levels.
He does seem to be very concerned about reducing inflammation though, but only has prednisone in his arsenal. Will you be blogging more on this topic?
If you mean will I be talking more about reducing inflammation, the answer is yes. I will also explain the immune system disruption in more detail.
Thank you for starting this much needed topic. I too would like to see the evidence that iodine is effective in treating Hashimoto’s. Dr. Kharrazian’s new article at http://drknews.com addresses this topic in more depth.
It is not enough to check antibodies. You need to check cytokine levels and the ratio between T-suppressor and T-helper cells to see whether iodine is truly dampening the autoimmune effect.
Like Chris, I am open to the possibility of iodine being effective with the cofactors as so many believe, but I would like to see the evidence. There is plenty of evidence from around the world on the other side. Testing antibodies alone is not sufficient.
Exactly. I briefly explained why antibody levels are poor indicators of the disease state below in comment #19. Antibodies may be low because the condition has improved, or they may be low because the Th2 system is so depressed it can’t produce antibodies anymore. This is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the thyroid world.
Chris,
Stephanie gave you lots of information to consider as well as recommending Dr. Brownstein’s book, and, if you didn’t notice, she also is a patient of his as well. If you truly wanted to get to foundational information, you would AT LEAST read Dr. B’s book on Iodine and/or take full opportunity to seriously consider Stephanie’s personal success and that of MANY others on her forum. Until then, your credibility as a journalist or informed consumer is compromised. Any further engaging of the discussion of this topic is futile when all relevant data is not considered, by you or anyone else.
Just in case anyone else might be interested in reading further documentation:
http://www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/opt_Research_I.shtml
From Dr. K’s most recent article:
This also explains why the use of iodine can produce a negative antibody panel in Hashimoto’s. Iodine has been shown to stimulate the autoimmune attack against the thyroid, which increases inflammation, a TH-1 response. In a TH-1 dominant person—statistically most people with Hashimoto’s—this further stimulates TH-1 while suppressing TH-2, again producing negative antibody results and giving many the impression the Hashimoto’s has been “cured.” Also, high doses of iodine can stimulate the production of TPO, the enzyme that is the target of autoimmune attack, to the point that it becomes inactive and the autoimmune attack ceases. However TPO is necessary for thyroid function and this is not a desirable approach when we have other methods that work better.
I’ve read Dr. Brownstein’s other book, I’ve read Dr. Abraham’s online information, and I’ve read the Williams Textbook of Endocrinology chapter on iodine as well as several other sources.
I already mentioned that Dr. Brownstein has treated hypothyroid patients successfully with iodine in the article.
I’m not a journalist, nor did I ever claim to be. I’m presenting a point of view on this blog. If you don’t like it, you’re not required to read it or participate here.
Please consider the possibility that others including myself have considered the relevant data and reached a different conclusion.
I have read Dr. Brownstein’s book on iodine and talked to Dr. Abraham on the phone several years ago. I have done iodine loading myself and used to frequent the iodine group when it first started. (Even with the cofactors and the detoxing, i could never hack higher doses of iodine so i stopped.)
I’m familiar with the oxidation explanations, i have seen it described many times (although i confess i wish someone could use lay language to explain it more simply). I’m just personally curious about before and after immune panels, to see whether the cytokines are at normal levels and in balance. There are a lot of negative stories concerning Hashimoto’s and iodine too — it has really harmed some people, but there seems to be little tolerance for that information. So why does it work for some and not others? I’m not saying we need clinical trials, but it would be interesting to see some before-and-after immune panels on folks.
I just reread Stephanie’s post. Is this saying that high levels of iodine suppress TPO? If so, that is what Dr. Kharrazian says. Because TPO is attacked by the immune system for most people with Hashi’s, suppressing TPO would suppress the autoimmune attack. Is this the approach that is favored? If so, Dr. Kharrazian personally does not support suppressing TPO as a means to manage Hashimoto’s, but rather to address immune imbalances instead.
Question (if it’s not to off topic):
What would Lithium do to a person with Hashi’s/Hypothyroidism?
Just curious. I’ve been off all psych meds since 9/2008 but in 2007 Lithium was added to the cocktail of drugs I was on (Cymbalta, Lamictal & Vyvanse).
Or, what would a cocktail of drugs like that and withdrawaling from them do? I got off 3 of those drugs around 4/08 and tapered Lamictal thu 9/08. My TSH went haywire for quiet some time afterwords. Part of this (after 9/08) was due to changing thyroid meds, I’m sure. Thankfully, its closer to 1. something now.
Mar-07
Apr-08
Jul-08
Sep-08
Jan-09
May-09
Sep-09
Oct-09
0.249
4.599
0.11
21.78
5.18
0.066
22.77
7.58
Elaine beat me to it! What she said.
Sorry, those numbers didn’t transfer right
Lithium is known to depress thyroid function. When your TSH is all over it means your autoimmune thyroid condition is acting up, perhaps in response to getting off the meds. The book at thyroidbook.com addresses this autoimmune issue and what to do.
“Why does this happen? Because increased iodine intake, especially in supplement form, increases the autoimmune attack on the thyroid.”
This citation links to an article titled Drugs and Thyroid Function published in 1995 in NEJM. It is a review article, not an empirical study. Within the article, I could not find any references to original sources that provide empirical support for the claim that increased (increased relative to what?) iodine (not iodide) in supplement form (e.g., not a side-effect of another medication) increases the autoimmune attack on the thyroid (how measured?).
Since this is the crux of your argument, I’m sure your readers would prefer reference to randomized controlled trials rather than reviews that don’t cite original sources.
“Iodine might exert influence on the level of CD4/CD8, and thus the production of thyroid antibodies might directly or indirectly take part in the process of thyroid autoimmunity. Both low iodine and 100 times normal iodine intakes might activate the immune state on some degrees.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16620592
“It is conceivable that Tg polymorphisms, combined with the explosive mix of iodine, TPO and H2O2 necessary for thyroid hormone synthesis, inadvertently provide the trigger for the autoimmune thyroid response.”
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/1050725041517057
Also consider the study linked to indicating iodine restriction alone can induce a euthyroid state.
Here are a few more, some more conclusive than others:
“In genetically predisposed individuals the iodine intake modulates autoimmune thyroid reactions. Especially with acute or chronic increase of iodine intake it leads to a significant increase in the incidence and intensity of autoimmune thyroid disease.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15255317
“Thyroid antibodies, both thyroglobulin (TgAb) and peroxidase (TpAb) or microsomal, were not detected in serum from patients with endemic goiter, but became positive in 43% of subjects three and six months after therapy with iodized oil, and there developed transient hyperthyroidism. Similarly, the addition of iodine to the diet or the administration of iodine-containing medications increases the frequency of ATD and the severity of existing autoimmune thyroiditis. Furthermore, autoimmune thyroiditis has been induced by the administration of excess iodide to strains of chickens and rats that are genetically predetermined to develop the disease.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1345585
“The best-established environmental factor is excess dietary iodine. Increased iodine consumption is strongly implicated as a trigger for thyroiditis, but only in genetically susceptible individuals.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19818584
“High iodine intake, selenium deficiency, pollutants such as tobacco smoke, infectious diseases such as chronic hepatitis C, and certain drugs are implicated in the development of autoimmune thyroiditis, primarily in genetically predisposed people.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18607401
“In our investigations, we have shown directly that T cells from humans with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis proliferate in the presence of iodinated but not in the presence of noniodinated human thyroglobulin… if iodine is added to the drinking water, the prevalence and severity of the thyroid lesions increase markedly. The immune response is specific for thyroglobulin, both in terms of the antibody response and T-cell proliferation.”
“A body of clinical and epidemiologic evidence points to excessive ingestion of iodine as an environmental agent. In genetically determined thyroiditis in animals, iodine enrichment has been shown to increase the incidence and severity of disease.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12849065
“Autoimmune thyroiditis, a model of organ-specific autoimmune disease, is associated with iodine as a precipitating environmental factor. T cells from patients with chronic thyroiditis proliferate in response to normal human thyroglobulin, but fail to react with non-iodinated thyroglobulin.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9419438
“A causative relationship between dietary iodine and thyroiditis has been clearly established in animal models of thyroiditis, including the NOD.H2(h4) mouse strain, which develops enhanced thyroiditis spontaneously after supplementation of drinking water with sodium iodide.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16232211
Chris, you are doing an excellent job handling the comments – especially those that disagree. Polite, factual and concise. Thumbs up!
Thanks for the reply.
As you quoted from the first article, “Both low iodine and 100 times normal iodine intakes might activate the immune state on some degrees.”
This study was conducted in rats. Since you apparently feel comfortable generalizing these findings to humans, do the results apply to those who are euthyroid or those with thyroid dysfunction (e.g., Hashimoto’s)? And if a person’s diet is iodine deficient, supplemental iodine in normal dosages is likely to be beneficial, correct? It would seem, based on these results, that adequate iodine in the diet is necessary, just not 100x normal amounts. But again, we are talking about a study in rats. We don’t know how this can be applied to humans, and whether we can use the results to make recommendations to those with Hashimoto’s based on this one animal study.
Also, I noticed that the first article was in Chinese. Were you able to read the entire article, or just the abstract? I often find it necessary to review the methods and results in greater depth to accurately understand the strengths and weaknesses of the research. Unfortunately, I can’t read Chinese.
The second article you cited is also a review article that does not provide any citations to randomized controlled trials in humans that support the statement you quoted.
So, we are back where we started.
Uncle, so where are the studies to the contrary? Also, how do you account for the anecdotal evidence, of humans, of iodine making Hashimoto’s worse in people? Also, are the high doses of iodine suppressing TPO and hence the autoimmune reaction in people with Hashimoto’s? Is that how it is working? If so (because i’m not sure i totally understand the oxidation thing) then there is no argument.Also, how do you account for the study, on humans, of an iodine-restricted diet resolving Hashimoto’s symptoms in the majority of subjects? Where is the evidence that high iodine for Hashimoto’s brings cytokine and CD/CD8 levels to normal?
Thanks for the additional citations. I am not arguing for or against a particular point, per se. I am simply asking that all crucial points be backed up by rigorous science. I’m happy to review these studies and form my own opinion, rather than just accept something.
Uncle,
That’s exactly what I advocate. I’m happy to provide the citations. I don’t include them all in the original articles because I don’t want to overwhelm people.
Another issue with using iodine to shut down TPO is that it doesn’t address the overall immune imbalance present in Hashimoto’s. Studies show Hashimoto’s patients often have antibodies to other tissues in addition to the thyroid. The best approach is to regulate the immune system so that all affected tissues are protected.
Interesting but very confusing. If you don’t mind giving your opinion (and anyone else as well) what do you make of my daughter’s case. I am trying to make sense of it.
16 y/o female. Likes to sleep a lot, is always cold (today was over 90 and she wore a light weight long sleeve shirt, a long skirt and knee high boots and was comfortable – I was hot just looking at her) and is photophobic, she really hates bright light and sunshine.
She’s been tested several times in the past year or so and her results are pretty stable.
TSH 1.0 +/- 0.5, FT4 1.0 +/- 0.2, TG Ab negative TPO Ab 54-107.
We’ve decided to just keep our eye on her TSH going forward – should I be worried about the low level of anti-TPO? Do you think restricting iodine would resolve it?
Your daughter has elevated TPO antibodies. That suggests autoimmune thyroid disease.
Her TSH is normal from a conventional perspective (0.5 – 5.0), but low from a functional perspective (1.8 – 3.0). FT4 is also low from a functional perspective when it drops below zero. Positive TPOAbs combined with low TSH and low T4 suggests autoimmune hypothyroidism secondary to pituitary hypofunction. Chronic stress is at the root of this pattern. Stress taxes the pituitary until it can’t release enough TSH to trigger thyroid hormone production. Stress management and supporting healthy pituitary function are essential to working with this pattern.
Keep in mind that it’s impossible to provide a diagnosis on the internet with something as complex as a thyroid condition. These are just a few ideas to consider.
Chris much respect! Keep up the awesome work.
Quick question in all your studies on Iodine, do you believe an iodine deficiency plays a role in inadequate stomach HCL levels?
I don’t have any thyroid issues, however among a host of guy dysbiosis problems (SIBO, yeast) I’m correcting I have low stomach acid. I’ve been supplementing with betaine HCL for over 6 months hoping that it would correct the problem (no luck) and in some of Pro-Iodine camp literature I was reading that the parietal cells need iodine to collect chloride to make HCL. I started supplementing with Iodine this month in hopes this might help me restore my stomach acid levels however I can’t seem to find any medical literature/studies explaining/confirming this hypothesis. Thoughts?
Physiologically it’s plausible, though it isn’t discussed much in the literature. More typically hypochlorhydria is caused by bacterial overgrowth in general, and H. pylori in particular. Have you ruled out H. pylori with a urea breath test? H. pylori suppresses stomach acid production in order to create a more hospitable environment for itself.
I just had a Genova CDSA done a month ago and had them check for H. pylori, test results were negative. Is it smart to get a urea breath test as well to confirm? After being on the SCD diet for over 6 months (amazing turnaround) and with the confirmation of the CDSA test my bacteria levels seem to be under control besides a very small level of Candida. Am I missing another link in the stomach acid puzzle (nutrient deficiency, signaling pathway)? Or after several years of SIBO I should just be patient? Thanks!
Hard to say, Steve, without actually doing a full intake and exam. Sometimes H. pylori shows up on the stool test, sometimes not – and the same for the urea breath test. If I strongly suspected it, I’d do both. How do you know your stomach acid is still low? Have you had it tested, or are you going by your response to HCL?
Chris, thanks for starting this great discussion. I tried iodine last year and made it to three Idoral drops per day, but I just couldn’t take the swelling. I kept telling myself that if I continued with the regimen, the swelling would subside. At one time, I belonged to the iodine FB group and did read success stories from other thyroid patients. I tried again, and again my thyroid swelled to the point that it was difficult to swallow food.
Tamra
During my third attempt to introduce Idoral’s drops into my diet, my friend told me to stop the drops and read Dr. K’s book. I did, and decided maybe Dr. K. was right about iodine. I then gave up gluten and I am now seeing a doctor who practices Dr. K’s methods. I am taking supplements to balance my TH1 dominance. I’m feeling better than I’ve felt in a very long time.
Neither have I read Dr. Brownstein’s book, nor have I been able to work up to 50 mgs per day. Therefore, I cannot fully comment on Dr. Brownstein’s methods. I can only comment on my limited experience with iodine and with my alternative wellness program.
I do have a concern about lack of iodine in my diet, not for my thyroid, but for the rest of my body, especially since my grandmother died of breast cancer. I have read that iodine supplementation cuts down the risk of breast cancer.
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks!
Perhaps you could try obtaining small amounts of iodine through seafood. That may not be enough to trigger an immune response, but could meet your systemic needs.
I’ve read Dr. Brownsteins Iodine book and as a hashimoto’s patient I tried Iodoral in the hopes it could help….this was before I read Dr. K’s book. When I first tried Iodoral at 12.5mgs I had side effects of metallic tast in my mouth and salty feeling eyes (hard to explain) When I raised to a higher dose of 50mgs this went away. I only tried this for a couple of weeks and never felt any better but no worse either….then I stopped when i started reading Dr. K’s book. I’m curious since as you mention most hashi’s are TH1 Dominant if this could have anything to do with how some hashi’s react to iodine supplementation. I’m TH2 dominant and as I said I had no negative reaction. don’t know if there’s any correlation at all but thought i’d put it out there. Also wondering about any connection between Gluten free diet being so important and without consuming bromide containing breads and products perhaps this helps prevent iodine from being displaced in the body? Not sure if GF products contain bromides…i’ll have to check some labels….
In some of the studies indicating increased autoimmune activity with iodine, the authors claim that it is more prevalent in people with a “genetic predisposition”. They’re not referring to Th1/Th2 dominance, and I can’t think of a mechanism where that would influence iodine’s effect on TPO, but I can’t rule it out either.
labrat, whenever you see positive TPO antibodies you are looking at Hashimoto’s, which is primarily an immune disease more so than a thyroid disease. Does her TSH fluctuate? It can swing from low to high with Hashimoto’s.
The most important first step your daughter can take is to completely eliminate gluten from her diet. There are strong links between gluten and Hashimoto’s in many studies. A gluten-free diet is paramount. If not, she is at risk of developing autoimmune diseases against other tissues. For instance, Type I diabetes is also correlated with gluten.
For more information, you can learn more from the book at http://www.thyroidbook.com.
Chris and Elaine
Thank you for your input. From my perspective – stress makes sense to me as I have always felt her symptoms were more related to psycho-social issues. She is also an asynchratic gifted child. Very high intellect with suppressed emotional and social developement. She is quite eccentric and does not have much in common with her peers. I have her in counselling for executive function issues and with a gifted and talented counsellor. We have also been through a very contentious divorce in the past 4 yrs. Can you elaborate on how to support healthy pituitary function?
Elaine – no. I’m a lab tech – I have checked her TSH regularly over the past year and it has basically remained stable. I have actually considered gluten-free but have hesitated as it would be a very difficult thing to implement. She is a very picky eater and it’s hard to find things that she will eat as it is. I did check her for anti-gliadin ab and it was negative.
Unfortunately the standard lab tests for gluten intolerance are insufficient.
The literature is so clear on the connection between gluten intolerance and autoimmune thyroid that I recommend all patients with thyroid disorders avoid gluten – regardless of test results. If you want an accurate test, get the full profile from http://www.enterolab.com. Dr. Fine is a gluten researcher that has pioneered the latest, most specific methods.
Bromide exposition does not come only from bread. Far from that. Is all around any modern city, but, due it’s flammability laws, it is specially high in USA. Californian citizens have the highest exposures in the world. Bromide is in the dust, carpets, textiles, foams, electronics and plastics:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100621072114.htm
And, for those of us in a high fat paleo diet, in USA, fat from red meat and pultry is a possible source too:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714213957.htm
For those on a low sodium diet, elimination of bromine, at least in rats, is dependent of sodium intake:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15717853
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15695847
Again, at least in rats, bromide can affect iodine absorption in thyroid and mammals glands:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15119938
It can also decrease body temperature and body weight:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4060147
Greenpeace, Chemical Footprints in Blood:
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/chemical-footprints-in-human-b.pdf
The question is: does a good and balanced immune system is enough to get ride of all this bromide?
A diet low in iodine, that showed to normalize TSH in that China study, will work in USA or other country with high bromide contamination?
Dr. Datis Kharrazian doesn’t mention bromide, fluoride nor bisphenol-a on his book. At same time, Drs. Brownstein and Abraham never mention how one can improve the immune system. And neither of them mentions LDN, which is one of the best things (after a paleo diet) you can use to improve your immune system.
So, no one have all the answers nor is 100% correct all the time.
Mario i have heard Dr. Kharrazian mention LDN as being effective. As a functional medicine practitioner, however, he largely does not go the pharmaceutical route if he doesn’t have to.
Labrat, the teens is indeed a difficult time to introduce a gluten-free diet. However i have heard many moms say their children are less picky once they get through the transition. Picky eating is actually a symptom of food intolerances in children. I saw my own daughter’s palate really widen after we kicked dairy and gluten. It’s not easy, but many people see profound improvements as a result, so it’s worth the effort. I highly recommend you read up on pubmed or elsewhere on the connections between Hashimoto’s and gluten intolerance. Blood screens for gliadin have a very high false negative rate.
Here’s one data point: me. I’ve been severely hypothyroid for years, and diagnosed with Hashimoto’s based on antibody tests. When I supplemented with iodine (initially via daily iodine-rich sea vegetable consumption and later via 12.5 mg Ioderal daily), my requirement for thyroid hormone supplementation decreased dramatically: so far, from 165 ug T4 per day to 100 ug T4 per day and still, apparently, dropping. These dose reductions were made by my endocrinologist based on both routine TSH and Free T4 lab tests and my subjective feelings of wellness. There’s no doubt I need far less T4 medication than I did before beginning iodine.
None of my doctors has ever seen anyone reduce their required T4 dose like this, and all agree this has to be considered a sign of improvement my illness. My endocrinologist, who did not encourage me to try iodine but reassured me it could not cause harm at these doses, is so impressed that he is considering trying iodine supplementation with other patients.
As far as I can tell, my experience is quite consistent with what the docs most experienced with iodine supplementation (Abraham, Brownstein, and Flechas) have observed for a number of years now. They indicate that about a third of their hypothyroid patients can reduce their T4 dose, often by about half, with adequate iodine supplementation. The rest, apparently, cannot do so for some reason but stabilize and do not experience the typical need for ever-increasing doses, as I did before starting iodine. I don’t recall these docs citing any cases where autoimmune hypothyroidism got worse with iodine. And they’ve been giving iodine for years, sometimes at doses an order of magnitude greater than mine.
Bill, had you done a salt loading Iodine test to see if you had a deficiency?
I wonder how many of these people who’ve experienced good results with Iodine confirmed an iodine deficiency. I’ve always asked this question….what if a hashimoto’s patient has an iodine deficiency?? Then wouldn’t they obviously need iodine supplements just as they would need vit D supps if they were vit. D deficient!?
“Bill, had you done a salt loading Iodine test to see if you had a deficiency?’
No, I didn’t do any iodine lab testing before beginning my supplementation (though I’m not sure exactly what you mean by a “salt loading Iodine test”). Since I began with simply increasing my sea vegetable consumption and now take no more iodine via Iodoral than Japanese people have been eating for eons, I didn’t see much risk, and neither did any of my doctors. Plus, Drs. Abraham, Brownstein,and Flechas pretty well convinced me that, as with Vitamin D, iodine deficiency is almost universal, at least where I live, and quite possibly just as dangerous.
Since I’ve had such excellent results, my docs agree with me that there’s no compelling reason to do any iodine lab testing now. It seems pretty clear I needed the iodine and that I’m taking enough to begin repleting my stores of it. At some point, perhaps when my T4 dose finally levels out, I plan to do a 24-hour urinary iodine loading test to get a sense of whether I’ve achieved whole-body sufficiency. Based on that, I may change my Iodoral dose up or down.
This has all been very interesting reading, though a bit confusing. I have Hasimoto’s (10 yrs). Started taking Nascent Iodine about 6 weeks ago. Did not do iodine deficiency testing as the cost made it unafordable. Have purchased Dr Brownstien books. Hope it works for me. I also have started using Transdermay Magnesium. For some time now I have been using barley greeens, and vit B, D, C and omega’s. Since taking the Nascent Iodine and Magnesuim I have improved. My muscle aches and pains and anxiety etc are so much better. My endochronologist knows I am doing this but he is not sure wether it will be of benifit. My antibody level was very low (under 100) for about 6 years, until I broke my foot in Dec 09. They skyrocketed up by over 1,000 in the Jan 2010 when symptoms escalated. My next appointment and antidbody test is 27 June 2010, so I am interested to see the results. After reading the above article am feeling worried that I am agrivating my antibodies. It is difficult to decide what to do. Thanks to all. Roswitha
As a person with diagnosed with and treated for hypothyroidism for 4+ years, I’m always interested in increasing my understanding of the origin and the best options for treatment of the condition. It’s been a slow and uncertain road, especially within my HMO options: as a result I’ve had to consult with a number of doctors both within and outside my HMO in an effort to find my best treatment options.
In addition to diet and lifestyle modifications, I have been on Synthroid or Levoxyl only, Levoxyl with compounded natural thyroid extract, Levoxyl with Cytomel, and the new formulation of Armour and now Naturethroid only (some variation of T4/T3 therapy seems to give me the best results when the dose is right).
Earlier this year I became aware of Dr. Kharrazian and his book, which I’m partway through reading. It’s quite different from the many other books I have read on hypothyroidism and its treatment.
I was interested to note that Dr. Kharrazian is located in my area, in fact, there is an address listed in my town, however there is no practice at that address. I can find little evidence that he actually sees patients currently. Does anyone else know anything about him and his practice? Most of the info I have found about Dr. Kharrazian relates to the training seminars he conducts all over the country for other practitioners. Many of the testimonials of his “students” (typically chiropractors and alternative health practitioners) refer to how his seminars have assisted in growing their practice and increasing revenue.
Despite the inability to find out enough information about Dr. Kharrazian and his practice, I was curious, and I made an appt with a “graduate” of Dr. Kharrazian’s seminars, a San Diego chiropractric doctor who claims to be an expert at treating hypothyroidism and diabetes with Dr. Kharrazian’s methods (I also am glucose intolerant/prediabetic, so this had some appeal).
I can’t comment on the treatment protocol, though, because I ran for the hills after the first appt (which was free, pending “acceptance” as a patient).
I have no idea if Dr. Kharrazian suggests the “patient recruiting” methods this arrogant “graduate of his seminar” uses, but my “radar” was on high alert when he wouldn’t tell me anything about the treatment he would propose for me; would only schedule the next appt (after some blood test results were in) to outline the recommended treatment protocol IF my husband also attended; and insisted it wasn’t up to me if I would be his patient, it was up to him to accept me as a patient IF I met his qualifications.
Frankly, it felt like eerily one of those hard-sell home improvement and time-share salespeople who insist on both spouses being present at the pitch for the “one time only” sales “opportunity”. I can understand encouraging the support and participation of spouses (support and understanding is always a good thing), but I question the “requirement” that the spouse also attend the appt. My past experience with this sort of requirement is that there is a large cost involved and the salesperson wants to head off objections to the sale. It simply didn’t feel right for medical treatment.
Has anyone else experienced this approach with thyroid treatment? Frankly, it was far more arrogant and off-putting than the HMO docs who provided such abysmal care early in my hypothyroidism treatment.
The unfortunate thing about Dr. Kharrazian’s work is he has no control over how practitioners choose to practice. I’m sorry about your experience, i would have run too. That approach in no way represents Dr. Kharrazian or his work, it’s just that one individual’s approach. I sure am glad it was free at least! I have talked to Dr. K’s patients and know he doesn’t work that way.
Yes Dr. K is real and he practices and teaches. He has a clinic phone number on his site.
I would say try a different practitioner, or email your concerns to the thyroidbook.com site.
There are a group of us at the “Hashimoto’s 411″ group on facebook that are currently using Dr. Kharazian’s protocol usng drs. who have trained with him and we’re having great success. Feel free to join us there….we’re all tracking our progress there and are happy to answer any questions you may have.
I’ve treated a few patients (including my wife) with Dr. K’s protocols and they work very well. Certainly much better than the care they had received before.
I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience with the practitioner in San Diego. I wouldn’t, however, write off the idea of a treatment plan altogether. The reason these plans are offered is that making a commitment to care and sticking with that commitment is an important variable in determining whether that treatment succeeds or fails. This is even more true with a condition as complex as hypothyroidism. It takes between 4-6 months on average to address all of the mechanisms and bring a Hashimoto’s patient into a more stable and higher functioning state.
Many practitioners have found that when patients commit to their course of treatment up front, they are more likely to receive the care they need, and thus more likely to get well.
The reason he/she asked for your spouse to be present is probably exactly why you suspected: treatment plans for Hashimoto’s generally won’t be cheap. Depending on the type of practitioner, they may include acupuncture, herbs, supplements and lab tests over a 4-6 month period. Many people who are married have agreements to make larger financial decisions together. Thus the doc wanted your spouse to be present to save another step in the process.
What concerns me is that the doc wouldn’t tell you about the treatment. That’s strange, and I can’t think of any reason why he/she would not explain their protocols. It doesn’t make sense.
I believe Dr. K is accepting new patients, but he’s selective about it. At this point he specializes in difficult-to-treat cases and has patients flying to see him from around the world. These are usually people with mysterious, rare or intractable conditions that haven’t been able to find help elsewhere. He only sees 8 new patients in a month, because he spends so much time on their cases and because he also needs time to research, write and teach.
Dr. K is master diagnostician, and he’s approaching autoimmune disease in particular with a rare level of specificity and sophistication. I have referred people who’ve contacted me with the kind of conditions I described above for this reason. But because of his focus, he’s not the right practitioner for everyone.
One thing i do know about Dr. K is he won’t treat someone who doesn’t have the support of the spouse and family. He has just seen too many failures otherwise.
Interesting articles and discussion, it is great to hear so many perspectives. I am a nutritionist and was last year diagnosed with Hashimotos. I have been strict paleo and gluten free for a few months now. Paleo fixed my other niggling auto-immune issues (joint inflammation) and menstrual issues – pms and severe menstrual pain, and constipation – so it is highly likely I had an issue with gluten – undiagnosed but responsive to removing it.
I tried iodine – but my thryroid started to swell and TSH increased very quickly, and I started to gain weight, even with paleo eating. So I stopped it and my swelling has reduced, and weight dropped back down.
I actually have very few symptoms and am not on medication, I’m hoping to manage it by using paleo diet plus supplements like Vit D, C, selenium, zinc, and omega 3.
Interesting topic. I myself was diagnosed in 2007 with “thyroiditis”…no one would call it Hashimoto’s. I also went under-treated. However I did try a holistic doctor at the time who told me to take iodine. (I used Iodoral). I felt AMAZING after taking it for just a few days…felt no need for the tiny Armour dose I had been trying to take. However it turned bad when I started to have a terrible metal taste, cycstic acne, horrid mood swings and exhaustion. The doctor told me she had never heard of anyone having that reaction. I emailed Dr. Guy Abraham having read some of his iodine info on the internet…he told me it was iodism and to cut my dose. I had to to stop all together for the symptoms to go away. I tried again another time and the same thing happened. Now I notice they have info on bromide toxicity..and that taking iodine can cause you to detox from this. I believe ( as Stephanie wrote about earlier) this was my case.
I am now trying to recover from a severe flare up of Hashi’s after having a baby. I am not seeing a Dr. K doctor, but instead a functional medicine doctor. She is treating my immune system (I go weekly for IV infusions), healing my gut and also balancing my hormones. So far it’s working for me and I have seen drastic improvement. It’s a huge lifestyle change and costly due to all the supplements & visits, but well worth it.
I am still curious though about my previous experience with iodine & how great I felt for a little while anyway. Could be worth looking into to test for bromide…maybe this is a link to my autoimmune problems. I don’t know.
My doctor of good friends with Dr. Browstein’s associates (I’m in Michigan). I suppose I will have to ask her take on iodine as well!
I’ve been having a hard time getting my thyroid regulated after the armour reformulation. I went to a doctor that recommended I take the Iodoral. I told her I have Hashimotos, but she assured me that all the information I had read about how bad this is for Hashimotos was old information, that they have proven Iodine will help your thyroid problems. She also told my she was hypothyroid until taking Iodoral, and she doesn’t have to take any thyroid medication now. So I decided to give it a try, at that point I was desperate for anything. WOW! Wish I could go back in time and listen to my gut instinct instead of her. It make my Hashimotos flare up, I had SEVERE pain in my legs, feet, arms, hands. I had been taking it for a few weeks when all this happened. It also seemed to make me feel hyperthyroid, yet at the same time I had a lot of my hypo symtoms come back. I immediately stopped taking it and after time started feeling better. I swore I would never take that stuff again. So about a month ago I ran out of vitamins and grabbed some centrum vitamins. I didn’t think to look to see if they contained iodine in them. While I was taking them I noticed my hypo symtoms were really coming back with a vengence….and the Iodine in the vitamins is a lot lower then the amount of Iodoral I was taking. I grabbed the bottle the other day because I was wondering how much selenium was they contained, and noticed the iodine in them. I can’t believe I made that mistake again, but I have stopped those vitamins, found some w/out iodine and will be anxiously awaiting the day it is all out of my system. If you are planning on taking Iodine and you have Hashis, you really are taking a gamble.
tinks2cents: Symptoms of overdosing and underdosing with thyroid hormone can be very similar and hard to tell apart. There’s a good chance what happened to you was what happened to me and many others after taking milligram level doses of iodine: a reduced need for thyroid hormone medication. Did you try reducing your thyroid hormone dose? That might have made you feel better.
My dose has deceased 40% since starting Iodoral. My endocrinologist is so impressed with this progress that he and his medical partner have both started Iodoral themselves, and they are using it with patients. So far, he believes many patients are having the same great results as me. He’s advising them to try reducing their thyroid hormone dose on their own a little if they begin to feel poorly after a few weeks. The results have been good so far. A year from now, after he’s done this with more patients, the patterns will be clear.
I don’t see how these results are consistent with the theory that taking iodine is pouring fuel on the fire of autoimmune thyroid disease, at least not for me and apparently for most people who experiment with Iodoral.
By the way, I also don’t see how the insignificant amount of iodine in a multivitamin could make you sick. I don’t doubt you had the experiences you describe, but I wouldn’t be so quick to blame iodine.
Bill,
Want ot experiment with reducing synthroid and supplementing with Iodine/Iodide.
Am very intereste in your experience and how this has worked for you over time.
Would you be willing to dialogue with me about this? I have done much research, and have tried many many things for my thryroid health, but am new to the iodine aspect of this.
Thanks!
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Sure, be glad to share experiences. By supplementing with iodine (initially cooked kelp, then Iodoral @ 50mg/day) I was able to reduce my thyroid medications for Hashimoto’s by almost half. I did the entire Abraham iodine protocol including all the “companion supplements.”
An initial iodine loading test by Dr. Flechas’s lab showed my extraordinarily toxic in bromine and, as expected, deficient in iodine. Dr. Flechas recommended 1 teaspoon of Celtic salt a day (as per the Abraham iodine protocol) to help drive the bromine out in urine. A followup loading test showed substantial improvement in the bromine toxicity as well as iodine saturation. My need for thyroid meds gradually decreased over this time period, lasting perhaps a year.
At some point my need for thyroid meds increased slowly again, as shown by standard lab work as well as how I felt. The reason seemed mysterious until I had another loading test. This one showed even higher bromine toxicity than the initial one. I then realized I had become complacent and gradually slacked off on the Celtic salt while continuing the 50 mg Iodoral and the rest of the protocol.
My bad. I resumed the daily salt supplement and the increasing need for thyroid meds halted. My doses leveled off. It remains to be seen if my requirement for supplemental thyroid hormone starts to go back down. I believe it will, up to a point at least. My Hashimoto’s is very sever (I take as much T4 as many thyroidless people), so the chance of a complete recovery seems remote. As you know, people at earlier stages frequently do stop requiring any meds via the iodine protocol. I’ll take what I can get!
I plan to try LDN in the near future to see how far that can take me as well.
Good luck. Based on my experiences, I suggest trying to find a friendly, knowledgeable doc to help you with all this and to monitor yourself via loading tests if you can. And don’t forget the salt!
Let me know if I can help further.
Bill
Bill,
Thanks for taking the time to write.
I am curious how you were diagnosed as having Hashimotos. Was it through antibody testing? My endo says I have Hashimotos, but my thyroid antibody tests have come out negative twice, so I am not sure that my problem is autoimmune and why it would be called Hashimotos if it is not.
My TSH is not high, but it has just increased after several daysof eating loads of dried seaweed. Interesting….
I just found some relevant and interesting material that helps to balance some of the controversy regarding the camps that are proponents for iodine therapy and those that are not. It also helps with dosages.
Take care,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Yes, I was diagnosed on the basis of both an extremely high TSH (>30) and high antibodies. Not sure about your case, but I suspect that Hashimoto’s is often simply assumed with primary hypothyroidism if there is no other obvious cause. Mainstream docs treat it the same way regardless, so in their minds perhaps it doesn’t matter very much.
As you may know, TSH often rises with iodine supplementation (via seaweed in your case perhaps). It seems to be generally benign, though it may scare the bejesus out of your doctor. The experienced iodine docs believe this is a healthy physiological adaptation to the amelioration of iodine deficiency, since TSH up regulates the thyroid’s ability to absorb iodine now that it is more available. Usually it is not associated with actual hypothyroidism, as shown by free T4 levels or symptoms. I did not experience this TSH rise, but many do. It can take months to resolve. It would not have bothered me if it had happened as long as I did not feel like I was truly going hypothyroid.
You are probably aware that seaweed can be very high in heavy metal toxins. Something to think about and one reason I switched to Iodoral.
Bill
You might want to check out Stop the Thyroid Madness. It talks about people using natural dessicated Thyroid hormone to great effect where T4 only synthetic hormones didn’t do much of anything for them.
The website with the same name has quite a bit of the information. Its a great read. I think it might be an improvement if you switched to a dessicated Thyroid instead of T4 only.
Dessicated Thyroid has T1, T2, T3, T4, and Calcitonin all of the things the Thyroid naturally produces rather than just one of them.
Truly impressed! All the things is quite open and very clear explanation of issues. It contains certainly information. Your website is very helpful. Thanks for sharing. Searching ahead to far more!
What is the best way to detox to get rid of the toxins that are previously stated way above, causing
hypo thyroid problems, or that add to the problem?
And what would be a proper amt of vit d for someone with hypo thyroid?
Terri,
I take lots of Vit D3, drops or capsules, and my lab levels are still only 43 which is too low.
I have recently read that D3, which is fat soluble only, must be taken with an oil to be absorbed, so now i will take it with food/oils to see if this helps with absorption.I am hypothryroid and I took about 5000 IU but will up it to 20,000 IU for awhile then back down to 10,000 IU. As long as it’s D3,( not D2 -the artificial form and not safe in high doses).
In Nov 2010, after I finally reached menopause (yay!), my routine well-woman Lab Corp lab tests showed I was on the high end of their normal range (5.5) and my panicky doctor immediately wrote an Rx for Synthroid, which I declined. I was certain they made a mistake. My hair was not falling out, my nails are hard as nails, my eyebrows are full, I have plenty of energy, and I’m not constipated, among other things. A month later, my independent Quest Diagnostics test results showed I was in their normal range so I made the right call to decline the Rx. Then I read a Brownstein article that claimed that daily supplementation with 12.5 mg iodine, based on Japanese health statistics, would be good for nearly everyone. (This article made only passing mention of selenium. But why be so specific about iodine amounts yet leave the reader to guess how much of anything else to use alongside?) So for 18 months, I conservatively took 6.25 mg iodine daily, expecting my 2012 well-woman lab tests to put me well within the new normal range. NOT! My initial results of TSH 5.5 in 2010 shot up to TSH 16.5 in 2012 after 1.5 years of taking that daily half dose of Iodoral. Thank goodness I didn’t take the full 12.5 mg all that time. So I immediately stopped the 6.25 iodine daily supplement; 30 days later, my TSH was back down to 5.13…but the full thyroid panel shows I have excessive thyroid antibodies. So here I am, out of the frying pan and into the FIRE. Thanks, Brownstein (NOT). Nevertheless, my hair is full, my nails are gorgeous, I have plenty of energy – e.g., I still have no hypothyroid symptoms. The only way I can figure out how to get out of this lab test mess is to take 200-400 mcg of selenium supplements daily as an “antidote” for the next 6 months, hope for the best and re-test.
Deb,
Did you have an iodine load test done (before beginning supplementaion) to see if you were actually deficient in iodine? I am curious, as I just had one myself.
I understand your frustration:)!
Menopause (I am there, too) can raise your TSH levels, and make them fluctuate, so I have read.
Perhaps the Iodoral did help you, and it would be great to know if your were actually deficient which can be done with iodine load test about ($130).
Dr. Flechas, a colleague of Dr. Brownstein, has written that with Iodoral supplementation, the TSH level sometime increases, but the person is asymptomatic/feels great and so he believes that on a cellular level the Iodoral supplemetn is helping the body systemically. Who knows for sure?
I have had a TSH level of 2.6 and have felt AWEFUL with all the Hypo symptoms that fortunately you did not have at TSH 5.5. Going on synthroid helped me greatly, at times, but there is no exact science to this, and this is so very, very frustrating.
Also, there seems to be BIG holes in the “research” both for and against iodine/iodide/iodoral supplementation. Also, if the Rx medications for thyroid “disease” worked consistently, and medical professionals had true and absolute answers to the cause and cure for thyroid and other related issues, then we “suffering” patients would not be left to basically figure this out on our own.
Good luck to all of us.
Hello Lisa,
Until recently I was unaware that an iodine load test was possible, so no, I have not had one done yet. That is the point at which I probably should have started, rather than plunging right in with mega-doses of Iodoral based on reading an article. It’s possible I was not iodine deficient to begin with. My new doctor is not quite as panicky as my previous one, he recommends that I re-test in 6 months, and he understands my reluctance to take Rx without having any symptoms as it could possibly cause those very symptoms if it’s unneeded. In the meantime, I’ve come across articles that suggest that either selenium alone or selenium taken with the iodine supplement may place TSH readings in a normal range. But careful, they say selenium can be toxic over 400 mcg / day. I do have mild allergies, plus the newly diagnosed thyroid antibodies, so there may be some kind of autoimmune process going on. I just came across a book in the library about how breathing correctly could help alleviate allergies, asthma, emphysema, and, get this, thyroid problems (among many other ailments), see http://www.buteyko.com/. It has to do with the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance and the immune system. I’ll pursue that angle a bit not just on my own behalf but for loved ones with allergies and lung problems, hope it’s not a false lead. Maybe it takes a combination of a few approaches to tackle a health problem, we’re all different.
I am confused by certaining terminology regarding “iodine” as I research this topic and here’s why:
It seems that the word “iodine” is loosely used to refer to both iodine and iodide as well as the combination of the 2 like that which is found in Iodoral.
Since the articles/research Optimox site, etc. has indicated that the thryoid needs “iodide” and that the breast (FBD) needs “iodine”? how does one take a combination product that uses each of its 2 component to address 2 different health issues? The con cern is that the Iodide is needed for thryroid, but that the Iodine (the amount needed) is controversial, still.)
I have negative thryroid antibodies (tested twice), have FBD, am hypothryroid( with sometimes hyper symptoms while on Rx meds).
Not looking for medical advice but a way to understand the terminology when distinguishing between iodine, iodide, elemental iodine. (Is elemental iodine the combination of iodine and iodide?)
Read Iodine by David Brownstein, The Iodine Crisis, and Stop the Thyroid Madness. That should give a more complete understanding of Iodine, Thyroid, and Adrenals.
I am interested in hearing from people who are diagnosed Hypothyroid (I currently test negative for antibodies)and who are successfully using Iodoral or other iodine/iodine supplements as a replacement for or in supplement to their Rx thyroid meds.
Since Rx thyroid meds do not work consistently for me, I wish to eliminate or reduce the dosage and supplement with Iodine/iodide which I am certain i am deficient in and will found out for sure this week with results from and iodine load test. I am not sure this will work for me, but i am willing to try.
(Unmedicated, my TSH is not that high-2.5-4.3-and sometimes it is even this without synthroid),but I am highly symptomatic for Hypothyroidism, no eyebrows, constipation, tired, 30 lb weight gain, which is helped sometimes on meds. I am a mess without them. I am menopausal on biodentical hormones, eat zero sugar, and take many supplements and as I siad above my thyroid antibodies have been negative, tested twice, so i am just assuming that I do not have Hashimotos immune disease)
Anyone who has weaned off meds and who takes supplements insteads, please share amounts taken, any tips, etc. I am not looking for medical advice just some real life results to use as a guide in deciding what next step to take for myself. Thank you.
Go to http://www.iodine4health.com and read the research there. I got to the point where I couldn’t swallow without choking due to my thyroid being inflamed and went on iodine supplementation. It has helped, but I have been unable as of yet to wean myself off of the medication. I take armour thyroid which is better (according to my doctor) than synthroid along with 50 mg of iodoral a day. I am considering upping my intake to 75 mg to see if I can make faster progress. Who did your iodine load test? Is it something a medical lab will do?
i have had all of my thyroid removed and take oroxin tablets can i have a vitamin that has some iodine in it
Hello
I wanted to know what is the recommended iodine dose for hypothyroidism
And what is maximum dose
I also want to know what are hashimoto treatments how is gland inflammation treated
And immune sys regulated
I have elevated tsh and I’m still doing the antibodies test
hi dalia :
are you from Egypt? if so i have collected some good information about thyroid contradictions,
hope it will help you,
Thanks
Chris,
I am struggling with the issue of balancing all the positive nutritional benefits of cruciferous vegetables vs the negative effects of the goitrogens for someone with hypothyroidism. I have read everything I can find on the reduction in goitrogens from cooking, but they all focus on steaming or boiling. Can you comment on whether roasting at high temp (425 for 45 mins) has any effect? How about satueeing? Also are there some choices that are better than others? Broccoli or cauliflower? Spinach or kale? Brussel sprouts or cabbage?
Thank you so much for the wonderful contributions you are making to help shed light on the truth about real nutrition and health. You have made a tremendous impact on our family and so many others.
Greg
Hey Chris
Great articles! Good work.. I was wondering if you (or anyone else for that matter) could guide me as to what I should do.. The thing is I had my thyroid tests done 3 times over the past year.. All 3 times, my T3 and T4 results were within range, however, the TSH fluctuated quite a bit. The first time, my TSH came at 9 (tht was really high!).. I didn’t go to a doc but someone recommended I have fish oil so I had that continuously. After 3 or 4 months, my TSH dropped to normal range and was at 4.0. I stopped having fish oil after that and in the recent test that I got done (4 months later), my TSH came in at 4.628. I’m 27 years old and as per the reports, the normal band for TSH at my age is 0.4-4.2
Can you or anyone please guide as to what I should do? I don’t want to go to the docs cause my friends were saying they’ll prolly give me a medicine for life :/ Also, is and can one’s TSH level fluctuate this much within a year? And did the fish oil actually benefit or was it mere coincidence?
A popular anti-inflammatory is Bromelain… Does that convert to Bromide or Bromine ?
I have hypothyroidism and started supplementing with 500 mcg iodine (had also been eating Brazil nuts). Started having strange things happening with my heart (skipped beats, pounding, racing). Decreased to 300 mcg, still had heart symptoms. Stopped supplementing and two weeks later had elevated tsh, but normal t4 and t3. Heart symptoms went away at that time. Now, if I have more than 2 pinches of sea salt a day my heart symptoms come back. Any idea of what might be happening?
Your articles on the thyroid are excellent and informative. I find the “iodine controversy” interesting. Articles with “anti-iodine” sentiment inevitably refer to Hashimoto’s, but not everyone who is hypothyroid has Hashimoto’s or any other autoimmune condition.
It’s also common to reference older studies or look at epidemiological studies, but rarely does someone acknowledge how much the clinical landscape has changed over the last 30-50 years.
Rarely do I hear anyone acknowledge how much chronic halogen exposure from ubiquitous toxic chlorine and fluoride might play a role in thyroid issues and necessitate higher iodine intake to compensate for it.
While many people believe that vegetables are “universally good for us,” Americans, especially health conscious Americans, probably eat more goitrogenic vegetables and soy than Americans from a few generations ago: broccoli, cabbage, arugula, kale, etc, not to mention lacto-fermented vegetables that don’t alter their goitrogenic tendencies. These anti-nutrients block iodine usage by the thyroid, so another interesting question is how eating a “super healthy” or vegan/vegetarian diet with high amount of goitrogenic anti-nutrients might necessitate more compensatory iodine intake.
Finally, I never hear practitioner’s discuss the real issue of global nuclear meltdown events like Fukushima on the thyroid health of their patients. UC Berkeley reports on radioactive elements found in rainwater, dairy milk, vegetables, etc found massive increases in the level of these toxic elements in our water and food supply post-Fukushima. This means that west coast populations like San Francisco and Berkeley were exposed to very high levels of nuclear fallout. How do these kind of events change our need for healthy forms of iodine? The reactors are still putting out significant amounts of radiation to this day – largely ignored by our politicians and global media.
So, with all of the above taken into consideration, what constitutes healthy and adequate iodine intake??
If a typical American consumes between 2-6mg of fluoride a day – a toxic halogen that will bind to iodine receptors – can 150mcg of iodine be adequate to compensate for that? What is a therapeutic iodine dose for someone who is hypothyroid or borderline hypothyroid, but is not suffering from an autoimmune thyroid condition?
Given the substantially different clinical landscape that exists today, I think it is a bit knee-jerk to be paranoid about iodine consumption, given our modern chronic exposure to other toxic halogens, as well as radioactive iodine. Surely some people do poorly with even small amounts of iodine, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. It may be that some people do need substantially more iodine while others (Hashimoto’s patients, etc) do not.
Sean Carson, L.Ac.
Chris:
Very good post as always. Thank you.
In those individuals with deiodinase deficiencies, like me, are characterized with very high FT4, low FT3, low TSH and high RT3. Adding a small 500 mcg dose of iodine raised my T4 even higher (above normal range) and made me feel even worse than without iodine supplementation. My theory is that the excess FT4 produced from iodine supplementation is dumped as RT3 as it cannot convert to FT3 and only further exaggerates my hypothyroid symptoms. Are theses dots connected in a logical sequence?
The only treatment that is helped me is Cytomel.
I was recently told that I am hypothyroid. I am researching to figure out everything that is happening to me – if that is even possible! I had 2 CT Scans with iodine contrast over a 4 month period – each time I would get 2 golf ball size knots on each side at the front of my neck. It did not happen immediately but 1-2 days after the scans and they were painful. I have had CT Scans with iodine contrast in the past with no reaction afterwards.
I have had hashimoto’s since 1987 and have always taken Levoxyl. I had been vegetarian since 1982, until a year and a half ago, when I started eating fish because I stopped eating grains, soy and dairy. I ate so much fish! A couple of months ago, I began to have heart palpitations unless I stopped my Levoxyl. After a month of no Levoxyl, my TSH was 100. Now I’m back on Levoxyl, but if I eat fish regularly, I have irregular, racing and pounding heartbeats again. I also had a chest rash after a scan using iodine contrast and I had red streaks up my arm after taking an iodine supplement about a year ago. This was prescribed by a dr after an iodine loading test. Do I need to just avoid fish and all iodine forever?
Thank you
Have you tried unrefined salt supplementation as recommended in Dr. Guy Abraham’s Iodine Protocol? You could be very toxic in bromine, as I was, in which case the salt would be needed to eliminate the bromide driven out off tissues by the iodine. You might even need the more aggressive salt loading procedure in addition to the normal salt supplement.
Did your loading test include a bromide test?
The salt resolved my own bromine toxicity very nicely.
Well this MD says otherwise, and that the studies were interpreted wrong. I guess no one really knows for sure.http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/headline_health/iodine_study_misinterpret/2012/01/27/430557.html
Excellent article, Zach. Thanks for posting.
I will offer here what I have found to be true, as one with hypothryroidism, and after years of self-directed research, many many lab tests, and trial and error with different meds and modalities.
I believe and have found that iodine supplementation in far higher doses than the RDA , but somewhat lesser quantities than Brownstein suggests, can be safe and healing for the entire system.
As an example, blood work shows that I do not have Hashimotos/autoimmune hypothyroidism, though my thyroid is inflamed and I have higher than normal TSH levels. I have tried everything under the sun to cure and heal my low thryroid “naturally,” including Armour and Naturethroid, which were a bomb for me because the balance of t3 and t4 in them is known to be incompatible with the t3/t4 levels in humans, which can cause rapid heart rate.
Without a low-dose of non-generic Synthroid, my body just shuts down. I must take this.
Yet, this is still not enough to restore overall wellness.
I have been diagnosed by urine analysis to be BORDERLINE low iodine, and this result coincides with the fact that my hypothyroidism is, by lab numbers, mild, even though I become ill and non-functional without thryroid medication.
When I add 6.25 milligrams of combination iodine (Tri-iodine), everything changes for the better-sleep, weight, mood, overall health. Just iodine, which I have tried, is not enough, and neither are thyroid meds alone. I believe that I could take up to about 10mg, and still see good results without consequence.
I do believe the doses of iodine that Brownstein suggests may be too much for some people, and here’s why. If a person takes “too much” iodine, it can actually sweep the “good T4″ out of the system, along with the toxins. Perhaps this is why people who take the higher doses-12.5-50mg. of iodine that Brownstein suggests- sometimes have elevated TSH and increased hypo symtoms.
Edgar Cayce sugggests taking iodine for hypothyroidism, and he also recommended (in my words) that taking iodine in a cycled pattern is the key to treatment, as it allows the body to increase T4 and T3 production, and to rest (on no iodine days) to absorb and retain it.
This has absolutely worked for me, without fail or side effects.
I started having swallowing issues last spring and went to my doctor telling him it was my thyroid. He poo-pooed the idea since I was already on 60 mg of armour thyroid. After getting to the point where I couldn’t swallow anything without choking, my chiropractor suggested using iodine supplementation. Within 3 days my symptoms were almost gone. I currently take 50 mg per day just to be able to swallow without choking. You need to re-examine your supposed facts on iodine. A good website is http://www.iodine4health.com.
I developed an under active thyroid from only taking 12.5 mg of iodral for a year. Prior to that my thyroid was fine. There is a wealth of evidence that supports the onset of hashimotos with taking too much iodine and I am living proof. It over stimulates hydrogen peroxide in the thyroid cell causing inflammation. Please be cautious.
Hello Dr.Chris :
I hope you are well ,
I am a female ( 48 years old ) , I have thyroid problems that
The doctor removed a part of the thyroid & asked me to go with radioactive iodine
Therapy , but I find it very terrible consequences , &I did not want to proceed with it ,
I read about Nascent iodine , my question is :
Is this Nascent iodine compensate or equivalent to the Radioactive Iodine ?
Also I have read about that taking Iodine without Selenium is not correct,
Have a nice day ,
Linda,
My God!….reading all this makes me wonder how extremely difficult it is to try to balance this curse! I might as well just give it up. There’s gotta be something simpler than this. I vote for a find the cure for thyroid disease cause….it’s hell!! Someone’s gotta figure this darn thing out!
Evon, my sentiments exactly! I haven’t found one person where I live (Wash DC area) who comes remotely close to a true understanding of the thyroid and immune system. I have Graves and Hashi’s and a multi-nodule goiter, plus chronic Lyme disease. The online blogs, books, studies and doctors all say something different from each other. Elaborate testing is referred to but then I try to get my doctors to do it and they are clueless. Then even with the standard thyroid tests there are different opinions in how to interpret them. Who is right? How do you know which direction to head in? One person says you’ll never get well without iodine, another says it’s the worst thing you could take. I’ve had the greatest improvements in how I feel by simply following a Paleo/GAPS type diet and detoxing. So, when in doubt, heal the gut and eat the way the body was designed to eat. The rest of this is crazy-making.
Hi Chris,
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s during my 1st pregnancy, that was 17 years ago. I was on Levoxyl for 13 years + antidepressants and suffered from terrible PMS. My vit D levels were low as well as B12 and cortisol was very low. I have now been on Naturethroid the past 4 years and lots of vitamins. I know my gut is messed up have been gluten free for 4 years but now going Paleo. I am taking a vitamin pack supplement called Propax with NT factor. The ingredients say it contains 18.75 mcg of iodine. Should I stop taking this supplement because of the iodine?
Thanks. I love your website and the wealth of information.
Hello,
Is it possible to reverse hypothyroidism from taking too high a dose of iodine for too long?
I took iodoral 12.5 mg daily for a year and have now developed an under active thyroid.
I don’t want to go down the lifetime medication road unless absolutely no other option. Please help!!
I also suffer from adrenal fatigue due to suffering 2 deaths in a year and various other stressors. I am taking an adrenal support for this.
Thank you
Heather
http://www.bodybio.com I watched that video and its obvious that the balance of all minerals are needed to heal the body. Too much of any one will get the body out of balance. Selenium is the balance that is most mentioned but it still seems we are looking at the most misunderstood part of medicine. The problem is experts run the show and they will kill us are proving there POINT !!!
What form of iodine is this article referring to? Potassium iodine? I didn’t see it mentioned.
Heather, are you sure that it is the iodine that caused your thyroid to go hyper? Could be other causes. Also, for those who struggle with bromide detox, there is a salt loading protocol that one can follow to help address this. I’ve found some interesting and helpful iodine info on the ‘Breast Cancer Choices’ site. The info there is harmonious with everything Chris relates regarding the taking of iodine. For those who struggle with thyroid, I understand that managing it can seem like running the gauntlet. I have Hashimotos and have been finding my way too.
Hi Dr. Chris . I have a question regarding to gliadin and its role in causing autoimmune disease ( thyroid hypothyroidism). We already know that gluten causes leaky gut syndrome and in consequences thyroid dysfunction . As You mention in article (http://chriskresser.com/the-gluten-thyroid-connection ) once this gluten protein enters bloodstream through the leaky gut lining antibodies starts to attack thyroid. My question is ; can we expect ours antibodies to stop attacking the thyroid once the gut lining is healed and on condition that we will be gluten free for more than 6 months even if we eat a little bit of gluten ? or if antibodies will still attack thyroid due to( antibodies memory of that particular protein ) even if some gluten is consumed but the gut lining is well healed ?
Hello,
I must admit that I have not read all posts in this discussion which is fascinating. I confess that I have very little experience or knowledge compare to many here.
I was given a herbal tincture containing a herb called Ashwaganda which I took over a period of time. I noted that intially I began to lose hair, after time most of my facial hair dissappeared too. I beleive that I went Hyper due to the supplements (Solgar VM75 which containes potassium iodide) and the herbal tincture. My body went through some trauma- I feel my thyroid enlarging when I take simple herbal teas, I can’t tolerate vitamin D, or iron, or indeed any medication.
My hair is fine and is still falling out, eyebrows are barely exisitent. Please can someone please explain what happened to my thyroid, I believe I damaged it by consuming supplements and more importantly Ashwaganda known to cause Thyroidoxicosis. (I did not know this at the time).
Will I ever recover, please can someone tell me why I can’t tolerate essential Vitiamin D and iron which I so badly need. (My thyroid enlarges, the result is dreadful ear pain, extreme heat, I feel as though my head could explode). No doctor will believe me when I tell them this and I am told that I have nothing wrong with me. Blood tests are always normal but I am ill!
Apologies for posting this here, I just wondered if some kindly soul could advise.
It’s been a pretty frightening experience!
Supplements have to be treated with caution!
Kind Regards
In the study quoted I think that saying 78% of Hashimotos hypothyroid patients were returned to a normal state from reduction in iodine intake is an inaccurate conclusion. Consider that 55% of the controls (who did not change their Iodine intake) also saw their hypothyroid condition returned to normal . Would not this indicate that only 23% actually got any benefit from reduction of Iodine? Considering this and the very small size of this study it would appear that more research needs to be done before drawing any concrete conclusions..
The more important question would be WHY did those 55% spontaneously recover? Something must have changed . If someone had looked closer into all details of diet, exercise, and lifestyle perhaps something more important could have been discovered.
I have hashimotos and when I took iodine drops my goiter swelled, endo informed me only option surgical removal of thyroid. I quit taking iodine, quit glutin and my thyroid shunk, it’s almost been a year and my goiter is gone
My blood test showed 6.5 TSH.. I quit all grains and currently take 50 mgs of lugos per day. i have no hypothyroid symptoms whatsoever.
Their are different types of iodine. I believe salt company use low quality iodine in their products, also salt is chemically and heat treated, very low quality. Today many quality salts are available if you take the time to look for them, and yes they cost more. But their much healthier and they taste better, and I like pink Himalayan salt.
Based upon the findings of research found in the following link
http://drsircus.com/medicine/iodine/iodine-rescue
this article and the title are somewhat misleading . To use a photo of table salt containing Iodide does not address the successful use of other forms of Iodine, especially the atomic (Nascent) form rather than the molecular form.
Robert
Hi Chris,
I have Hashimoto’s disease and just started taking Iodine from a recommendation by Dr. Brownstein’s newsletter saying Americans don’t have enough iodine in their diet and the lack of iodine can cause cancer. If I take selenium with the iodine will that solve the problem? What if I continue to take Iodine what might happen?
I just want to say that I am one person that was very much adversely affected by taking Iodoral. I have lost my thyroid gland because of taking 12.5 mg/day of that supplement.
I test negative to all the usual antibodies that most doctors test for, i.e., TPO, TgAb, etc. Little did I and my doctor know that II was hypothyroid due to the TSH Receptor antibodies (TRAb). He put me on Iodoral to help with my hypothyroidism. Within a month, my FT4 and FT3 starting climbing and kept on climbing. When I saw an endocrinologist, I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. I now know that I’ve had TRAb all along.
The TSH Receptor Antibodies (TRAb) can be BLOCKING (TSBAb) causing hypothyroidism or STIMULATING (TSAb/TSI) causing hyperthyroidism (Graves’ disease) and it can switch between the two.
WARNING TO HYPOTHYROID PATIENTS CONSIDERING TAKING AN IODINE SUPPLEMENT: At the very least, you should get tested for the TSBAb via the TBII test. If you are positive, don’t take the iodine/iodide, it’s NOT worth the risk, believe me, it’s been hell having Graves’ disease.
I’m not a doctor, nor an expert. But I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s six years ago (age 16) and I have been on Levoythyroxin that whole time. And I still feel terrible. Now, I don’t know if I feel bad from some other undiagnosed problem (I’ve been going to doctors for years trying to get a diagnosis for severe fatigue, being unrefreshed after excessive amounts of sleep, severe night sweats, and thin, weak hair.) Or if maybe my thyroid is not being treated properly. I am on a Vitamin D supplement, even though my deficiency was not brought to my attention for a couple years after my diagnosis, nor that it could be connected to my thyroid.. But I have never heard from any doctor to take other supplements as well, like Selenium. I just recently was looking for causes for my adult acne and found out that iodine can cause acne and that increased my desire to found out if I am taking an unhelpful medication. I also read that even if my thyroid levels are normal, with Hashimoto’s it doesn’t really matter if I am still feeling bad and have unresolved symptoms. So, I can’t make comment on what facts are true or false or any of that, but I can say that I have been taking a medication to fix my thyroid symptoms that happens to have iodine and that I can say 100 percent that I don’t feel well or that my thyroid problem has been helped at all!
Also, if these two sentences are true, I am flabbergasted as to why in the hell I am being treated with a medication that can do the exact opposite of what I was taking it for: ” Because increased iodine intake, especially in supplement form, increases the autoimmune attack on the thyroid.
Iodine reduces the activity of an enzyme called thyroid peroxidase (TPO). TPO is required for proper thyroid hormone production.”
Also, I have found through the years and numerous doctors (some even at Mayo clinic) that doctors are very uninformative and do not share valuable information with their patient about their health or how to make themselves feel better.
I really think it would go a long way to helping you restore your health if you read Stop the Thyroid Madness by Janie Bowthorpe, Iodine by David Brownstein, and/or The Iodine Crisis by Lynn Farrow. I really enjoyed both the last two, but its up to you.
There may be people that actually feel wonderful on T4 only treatment like Levoythyroxin, but I haven’t seen those stories. Janie’s book is filled with patient stories where they used T4 only treatment exclusively and never felt a significant improvement. Their tests were better. The TSH test “improved”, but they still felt like crap.
Some other resources that may be useful in case you decide to supplement Iodine are at the following websites.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/iodine/files/01%20NEW%20MEMBERS%20-%20READ%20FIRST/
This may require membership to get to the page though I don’t think so.
http://home.comcast.net/~jocy1/junk/The%20Guide%20to%20Supplementing%20with%20Iodine.pdf
In case it is the membership is free by the way you just have to request it. Great discussion group on Iodine.
tinyurl.com/iodine-references.com
This is also great.
Good luck
Jonathan
Hi,
I’ve had diagnosed Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis since I was 12 years old. There is a strong belief that I likely had this from birth or developed it much earlier than my diagnosis and it was only found at that time because I stopped growing at the size of a typical 6-8 year old or show any beginning signs of entering puberty. Once I started thyroid hormone replacement therapy I rapidly grew to a height commensurate with the other females in my family and after the growth slowed I went through puberty. I am now 41 and had been stable on the same dose of Levothyroxine since the time I was diagnosed, but now my labs are going crazy. On that stable dose of Levothyroxine, I have been undergoing testing nearly every two months due to these radical fluctuations. One test is severely underactive (TSH 49), the next test is severely overactive (TSH 0.001), the next severely underactive (TSH 66), the next severely overactive (TSH 0.004), etc. I take my Levothyroxine at the same time every morning, on an empty stomach and do not eat for at least 30 minutes. I take no other medications at the same time as my Levothyroxine and have always taken the same multivitamins in the evening after dinner. I was told by a reproductive endocrinologist, that I was seeing for fertility issues at one point, that eventually the antibodies associated with Hashimoto’s will kill off the thyroid all together. However, towards the end, the thyroid will fight for it’s life. In his explanation, he likened this to a car running out of gas. The car will go downhill, where it can contact small amounts of gasoline left in the tank and sputter back to life giving the car the ability to run again, meaning the thyroid will come back to life to certain extent, as it temporarily wins this tug of war for it’s life and kick out massive amounts of thyroid hormone, causing you to be overactive. Once the car starts going uphill, it cannot access the small amounts of gasoline in the tank and it will slow down or stop, meaning the antibodies start to win again, so it slows down and the thyroid hormones become inaccessible again causing you to be underactive. He said that this will usually continue until the thyroid dies off on it’s own and then a stable dose of thyroid replacement hormone can once again be found. Other patients undergo radioactive iodine treatment or surgical removal of the thyroid under a doctor’s recommendation or through the patients urging because the process is taking too long and the ups and downs get to be too much for the person or for the person’s system to handle and then a stable dose of thyroid replacement can once again be found. He said that most patients don’t reach this point in the course of Hashimoto’s because they don’t develop Hashimoto’s antibodies until later in their lives so they don’t have active Hashimoto’s for 30+ years. My regular endocrinologist did not disagree with any of these things or the reproductive endocrinologist’s explanation of it, but he refuses to suggest or let me undergo radioactive iodine treatment or surgical thyroid removal. My problem with this is that I don’t feel that I can continue to go through these rapid and extreme fluctuations for much longer. They are causing other health issues for me due to the fatigue, insomnia, hot and cold fluctuations and too many other things to mention. I have constant heart palpitations and recently had an abnormal EKG, which I need to have repeated as it is very different from my previous EKG’s performed before these fluctuations began. I believe this may be connected to the abnormal issues with my thyroid, as well. What could cause such radical shifts in TSH while on the same dosage, taken under the same conditions throughout the testing period? What are your experiences with patients who’ve had long term Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and hormone antibodies? Does the explanation that the reproductive endocrinologist gave sound accurate? How does someone in my condition find a stable dose of thyroid replacement hormone? Have you heard of Hashimoto’s patients undergoing radioactive iodine treatment or surgical thyroid removal? What impact can long term, radical shifts in thyroid hormone have on the body or systems of a Hashimoto’s patient?
Thank you for any help you can offer in this area,
Fed up with 30+ years of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis!
http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/iprotocol.html
http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/ipractitioners.html
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/
I highly recommend that you read Iodine by David Brownstein and Stop the Thyroid Madness. I think they may be very helpful to you and your situation. With an Iodine Literate practitioner I think you could solve your problem.
Also the use of a hormone that isn’t T4 only may help as well which is why you might want to read Stop the Thyroid Madness.
Good luck
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