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Lisa (Jax, FL) on 06/14/2026:
I was diagnosed hypothyroid last year and put on Naturethroid. I never really felt much energy on it, and have frequent infections so I decided to begin dosing Lugol's iodine 2% as an overall antiseptic, detox and help for my thyroid; I stopped taking the Naturethroid and began a low and steady dose, around 10 mg daily. I have been taking iodine now for a year, now up to 80 mgs, sometimes taking breaks for a day or two, worried that I was taking too much even though my energy was very good and increasing. Blood work was decent too with a decrease in thyroid antibodies, etc. In the meantime, I was diagnosed with Lupus (9 months after I began dosing the Lugols). I had some body pain that wasn't severe, but never had a rash or any other symptoms; prescribed hydroxychloroquine but couldn't bear the side effects, and the pain seemed to be increasing. I was concerned that maybe my iodine was too high and stopped for 3 days. The next morning, I was completely wiped out and in pain spending the whole day in bed. So I began the iodine again. It seemed to help with energy, but I wasn't sure about the pain or how it effected the Lupus. I then took another 3 day break with the same result thinking then that it must help with the Lupus pain. The third time I was off the iodine for 3 days, it was to take an iodine test (Hakala labs), and again the body pain. It was hard to get through the 3 days to even do the test. The test showed 55% urine excretion rate, whereas 90% means your body is saturated, so I was far from that. The bromide test showed that my rate of bromide was 2x the average American. The bromide blocks the body's iodine uptake, so I was not getting as much iodine as I thought, but it was detoxing the bromide. So I am back to increasing my iodine every few days. In the meantime, my body pain from the Lupus is non-existent and my energy only gets better. Unless I work out or work hard I have body aches, then it is only in the mornings. I have talked with two of my doctors and they don't understand how iodine is helping me or effecting the Lupus, but they do see my results.
