Nicole (Stanton, CA) on 12/23/2008:
I am hoping you will start a new supplements section on iodine. Also another section on maybe causes of ailments, like fluoride and the problems it causes. Here is my story about fluoride, iodine, and thyroid....
I first noticed my husbands goiter close to 6 months ago, at that time it had become quite noticeable and was indeed very large. Obviously concerned for his health he went to see his doctor, who referred him to an endocrinologist, who then referred him to a surgeon. Strangely enough they told him his blood levels were normal and he didn't have a thyroid condition.... interesting since he has this giant goiter on his neck. lol
At the time there was so little that I knew about thyroid disease and I didn't have much interest in it, I was concerned for my husband but thought that surgery was the only option. Then my husband began to have panic attacks after my daughter was born, and at home no less (I now understand it to also cause and fluctuation of the thyroid hormone)! I honestly thought it was a mind over matter and went searching online to prove that he just needed to stop scaring himself. Instead what I found was that his panic attacks were actually caused by the goiter. Because I had my daughter at home without a midwife, just me him and my mother (planned it that way ; ) I had already learned a few natural remedies, while looking up honey and the wonderful benefits of it I also learned of coconut oil, though I only learned about it being good for pimples. I was interested in purchasing some coconut oil online and that's when I found some of the most amazing information. The site selling it said it helped with thyroid conditions, I wasn't going to believe them, after all they were selling it they would say anything to sell their product right? So I looked up thyroid forums and testimonies regarding the use of coconut oil and sure enough I found out that it was indeed beneficial to his thyroid. Well I ran out to the store and bought some the next day, in the car my husband was exhausted and began to have a panic attack and I told him to take some coconut oil, he only had a 1/4 of a teaspoon and ten minutes later his attack had subsided and he felt energized! After this experiment, we continued treatment and slowly worked up to 3tblspns a day where he's at now. After that revelation and since we had his attacks under control (and in fact after taking it for a week he no longer even experienced an attack) I went back online to find out what we needed to do to shrink his goiter. That's when I learned about iodine and how important it is and how many people are deficient and thus many are hypothyroid and even still many are undiagnosed with hypothyroidism. I also learned about what counteracts iodine, like soy which is a big one since it is in just about all prepackaged foods. When I found out how important iodine was for the thyroid and how the thyroid makes hormones for your whole body I became interested in what else iodine deficiency was responsible for, And do you know what I found? Lots! Here is a sight that lists all the symptoms of iodine deficiency...
But first, after realizing that my husbands thyroid was caused by a change in his diet, I began racking my brain thinking of what on earth has changed over the past year. I've been trying to figure it out for the past couple months and today I found it.
During our big change to all, well almost all, things healthy, I remembered reading about people using toothpaste that doesn't have fluoride in it.. I looked online for the reason why and WOW, what I found is shocking! Fluoride also counteracts iodine, it inhibits the uptake of iodine to your thyroid and we both know (at least by now) how important adequate amounts of iodine are to your thyroid. So I told my sister about it and she said that she didn't think we had fluoridated water, so I searched for the cities that had it in OC and that's when I came across this article ( http://www.ocregister.com/article/water-fluoride-county-1924513-muir-doctors ). I told my sister what I'd found out and how the time they added fluoride pretty much coincided with the onset of my husbands goiter and the worsening of his thyroid (I believe he has been hypothyroid for a long time as have I and my mother based on the symptoms) and my sister said that she has experienced a worsening of her asthma over the past year!
I am interested in asking friends of mine who have symptoms of iodine deficiency whether they experienced and increase or decrease in their symptoms over the last year (without divulging anything till they have answered so that my findings are not biased) I will report back later with some of my findings, but I am interested if anyone else has experienced similar problems after their area had been fluoridated.
http://charles_w.tripod.com/fluoride.html
http://www.ocregister.com/article/water-fluoride-county-1924513-muir-doctors
http://poisonfluoride.com/pfpc/html/symptoms.html
Katie (Edison, NJ) on 10/22/2008:
I stopped taking my synthyroid and started supplementing with iodine. It took me a month and a half to build up to the 12.5mg. My body temperature increased by 2 degrees - from 96.3 to 98.3. My skin and hair have dramatically improved and I can sleep through the night.EC: Synthroid is taken for hypothyroidism.
Jayna (Fountain Valley, CA) on 08/08/2008:
Shalom! I have been painting with iodine (a.m. and p.m.) for about five years now. I stopped taking the drug medications for Hashimotos Hypothyroidism because I learned that it eventually can rob me of my bones and mind. I am now 60 years old and function very well ~ praise be! I also take other herbs and vitamins (no tablets!) for this condition including liquid kelp drops in drinks during the day. Iodine for painting is less than $3.00 a bottle if you can still find it. I do not use regular pharmaceutical drugs of any kind. Blessings!
Ann (Worcester, MA) on 05/25/2008:
Kelp: It works wonders for thyroid disorders. It can be given to cats dogs and humans. What ever the problem it will get the job done. Can be purchased at local heath food store. Used in cooking or can be added to pets food.
Jan (Buffalo, NY) on 04/18/2008:
Lugol's cure for Hyperthyroidism. 2 years ago I went to the doctor for fast pulse rate. Resting it was 105 to 110 bpm. He sent me to an endocrinologist who recommended the radioactive pill approach to killing the thyroid. I asked him about Iodine. He was very specific about how dangerous it would be to treat it with Iodine. I went home and ordered a bottle of Lugol's from the internet and three days later having taken doses for 3 days, my pulse rate was below 75 and the swollen throat had subsided. It was common goiter. The allopathic treatment seems to be kill the thyroid and take T4 for the rest of your life. there should be a law against the quackery practiced in modern medicine. What a waste of 12 years of education.
Angie (Sparta, MO) on 12/09/2007:
I have been having problems with being so tired the past month or two. I knew it was a low thyroid problem. I ordered some organic iodine from a seller on ebay and within hours have felt a lot better, I'm on my 3rd day and my fatigue is still a lot better.
Donna (Aspen, CO) on 10/17/2007:
I took one tablet of Iodoral (iodine supplement) a day for a year, my blood calcium and alkaline phosphatase levels rose to above normal. A year later my blood test results were even higher, so the doctor gave me a PTH (parathyroid--which sits right next to the thyroid) blood test, and it was very high. As the only thing that I had changed in my life was taking Iodoral, I quit taking it, and 3 months later all my tests were back to normal. The parathyroid's job is to take calcium out of your bones and give it to the brain, but too much in your blood can mean heart attacks, strokes, and osteoporosis. There really aren't any symptoms of an over active parathyroid until it's very bad...feeling cold all the time, brain fog, are two. If you've been supplementing with Iodoral or iodine I suggest you get your blood calcium level tested, then alkaline phosphatase, then PTH (which is expensive, so save that for last).
Maria J (Orlando, Fl) on 08/06/2007:
Well it's a weird story because I think Iodine helped me and then didn't do so much good. I had a pain like "something stuck in my throat" and the acupuncturist thought it was my thyroid so she gave me potassium iodine drops to drink (20 or 40 a day - remember it is not regular iodine); and these were great to alleviate the pain and gave me the strength I needed to move, because I was in a point of suffering all the symptoms of a thyroiditis or a thyroxicosis; but then I took Ibuprofen and when the swelling of my thyroid was coming down, the iodine felt terrible so I stopped taking it! I really never knew which was the perfect dosage for the potassium iodine drops! I also took kelp, around 20 pills divided in 4 or 5 times in a day and they helped me a lot, but I was never sure if this is what I needed. I end up going to a specialist who immediately asked me to leave the iodine because he thought the help was just psychological, and charged me 250 dollars for saying this! I hope the traditional doctors learn about the iodine to properly help their patients. And I also hope that people who is suffering the hyperthyroid symptoms and hypothyroid too, should consider having some iodine to help ease the pain and problems. What I recommend very urgently is to have a blood test taken meassuring your thyroid levels (TSH and T4 and T3) way before taking the iodine or Kelp, because it can change those results and affect your helath or, worst, doctors might end up giving you the wrong medication - (as it happened to me and thank God they couldn't harm my thyroid too much!). Hope you all get well! Think that you will!
Anne-Marie (Palm Coast, FL) on 02/04/2007:
While I would not consider myself "cured" of anything, I have found that Iodine..or the lack thereof...causes me to have panic and anxiety attacks. This is a recent (within 3 months) development for me as I have never had panic and anxiety attacks prior. And although I now take Kelp in a Thyroid supplement (for my newly developed Hypothyroidism), My Iodine test (painting a 2x2 in sq on my abdomen) still shows a regular Iodine insufficiency. Interestingly, I also drink protein shakes that contain 30% FDA Iodine each. I drink 2-3 of these each day. Yet, my Iodine is consistently depleted.
