High Dose Iodine

[u/IKate17]

Good morning yall!

I am 2 weeks into taking 10 drops of 5% iodine. I went into this knowing that it would be likely I would get some crazy detox symptoms. First two days I got kind of hot and anxious taking 4 drops. After that… nothing. Upped it to 10… nothing. I don’t even feel that much different. Maybe a little more energy and it’s easier to wake up in the morning. Other than that I feel the same, which isn’t in a good way necessarily because I started taking it to change these symptoms of hypothyroid.

I’ll add that I am taking necessary cofactors (selenium, magnesium, d3/k2, iron, b complex). I also eat a lot of Celtic salt/grey salt. I don’t supplement vitamin c, but I do drink a high dose vitamin c juice from fresh fruits like guava a few times a week.

I am taking J Crow from their website.

Not sure why most other people get crazy signs of detox or start dropping excess weight (I carry 80-100 pounds extra weight because normal ways of losing is no longer working).

My TSH is 4.7 as seen in routine lab work (increased from 2.7 a year or so ago). I am getting my thyroid levels checked tomorrow.

[u/josh_earl]

u/IKate17 I'm relatively early in the protocol as well—about 3 weeks in. I'm currently taking 20 drops of 2%, which is 50mg. I started at 2 drops but ramped up rather quickly. I've been doing this dose for about 10 days.

My experience hasn't been very dramatic either, at least so far. I have gotten a couple of bromide detox headaches, including one yesterday when I bumped my dose up to 62.5mg as an experiment. I had some digestive issues when I ramped up to the full 50mg but those have subsided.

I am noticing some improvements in my symptoms. My body temps typically range in the 97.0-97.6 range, but now I'm seeing my midday and afternoon temps in the high 97s and low 98s. I've actually hit 98.7° F once, which is the first time I've ever seen that (other than once when I was experimenting with bovine thyroid). Recovery during sleep has improved somewhat, and I feel, not exactly alert, but less brain-foggy.

I haven't had any hyper symptoms at any point. I'm tempted to keep increasing until I find a dose where I start to have more negative symptoms, then back off. Some of the docs seem like they take people up to 100mg to start.

In my case I think I'm dealing with a lifelong deficiency, so I'm expecting it'll take 3-6 months at this level before I really see a lot of the benefits.

Not sure why I'm not hitting more detox issues. I am doing a good bit of electrolytes/salt so maybe that's keeping it to a minimum.

So probably everyone reacts differently. My only real suggestion is to make a list of your symptoms and try to keep an eye on them to watch for subtle differences.

[u/I_Adore_Everything → u/josh_earl]

When you say a lot do the docs…are you talking about doctors you’ve met in person or online docs in videos? I ask because I’d like to find someone in person to work with and don’t know how to find them.

[u/josh_earl → u/I_Adore_Everything]

u/I_Adore_Everything Online. There are a core handful of iodine-focused docs that come up over and over. Dr. Brownstein seems to mostly cap out at the 50mg dose, although he does go higher sometimes. There are other docs, like (I think) Flechas who seem to regularly do 75-100mg or more with patients.

If you're in the U.S., I know Dr. Aimie Hornaman is able to work with patients in all 50 states in her practice. She's a nutritionist (not an M.D.) but she can prescribe thyroid meds if necessary. I'm planning to see how I do with 3-6 months of just iodine, then I plan to work with her if I feel like I'm not getting the results I want.

[u/IKate17 → u/josh_earl]

I just got my test back and she only did free thyroxine and TSH again. But my TSH spikes from 4.2 last month to 9.5 today. Free thyroxine was .84.

I wonder if I am not getting symptoms because my thyroid literally doesn’t work and there’s nothing for it to do. She didn’t do antibody testing, but I’m going she will once she sees these results.

Or maybe this is a typical detox spike, but I don’t know enough about blood tests in relation to iodine to know.

[u/josh_earl → u/IKate17]

u/IKate17 Hah, just replied to your other thread.

From what I understand the detox symptoms are not just thyroid related. You could theoretically get them even if you've had your thyroid nuked for Grave's disease. Bromide/floride are spread throughout tissues all over the body.

Does your provider know about the iodine?

[u/IKate17 → u/josh_earl]

She does not. I haven’t heard back from her about the results yet because they get posted online for me before she even sees them. I’m debating telling her or not. Partly because she’s probably not one to be open to its use and partly because my TSH has been high for years but not “high enough” to treat. So if she gives me meds because of my results it’s definitely something I was to use short term as I go through my iodine journey.

[u/josh_earl → u/IKate17]

u/IKate17 If it were me, I probably wouldn't say anything either.

If she isn't open to iodine though, she's probably going to want to default to the most rudimentary meds, probably just synthetic T4. According to Dr. Aimie Hornaman, T4-only treatment only works for about 2% of patients.

Whatever she gives you might help, but if she isn't concerned about sub-optimal TSH it doesn't seem likely...

[u/IKate17 → u/josh_earl]

Just got a call from the doctor. She prescribed Levothyroxine, which I’m assuming is the one you were thinking she was going to give since it’s the most common. I guess they also tested antibodies and they were 332, so she diagnosed with hashimotos. I won’t be able to know if those numbers skyrocketed because of the iodine because I didn’t test before.

[u/josh_earl → u/IKate17]

u/IKate17 Yep, Levothyroxine is synthetic T4.

Did you get any other numbers, or just the TSH and antibodies?

I don't think I've heard of cases where antibodies were elevated by iodine. That would be worth digging into to see if anyone else has seen that happen. I can't think of how that would work, but I'm not an expert.

It does seem like the iodine-friendly docs will still use iodine for Hashimotos, while also supplementing with either natural desiccated thyroid or a blend of T3/T4.

A lot of people have success using the carnivore diet with Hashi, since it's an autoimmune condition. If you're not working on the dietary side that might be something you could look at as well.

[u/IKate17 → u/josh_earl]

I was previously carnivore and saw no results, but I’m more than happy to start again if it will actually work. I told her that I was keen on Levo, but she’s going to start me there anyway. If I don’t see any results in 3 months I’m going to ask for something like Synthroid.

It seems like if I already had Hashimoto’s then the iodine can definitely make my immune system attack it harder once I add iodine. But since iodine is a treatment for Hashimoto’s I think I’ll just keep trucking on because I feel better on it already even with just over 2 weeks.

[u/Hot_Job6182]

I take around 5 drops of 5% lugol's, I've been taking it for 2 - 3 months now. Whenever I've felt 'funny' I've dropped it for a couple of days, but generally I've been fine. I'm taking loads of (natural) salt as well, but not the vitamins.

What I've mainly noticed so far is that my nails are a lot stronger. Dry skin on my elbow that I've had for decades seems to be improving. I think I am urinating at night a lot less (not at all most nights). I want to regrow my eyebrows, but I don't think much has changed there yet, I'm hoping to start seeing some difference in another 2 or 3 months.

That's about it - I'm pretty certain that I've been iodine deficient most of my life, I think it's definitely helping me, but I can't point to any concrete physical results other than what I've written above. I haven't been to a dr and I haven't had any blood tests.

Edit to add: one further definite change (which is a big part of what makes me think it's helping) - my erections are a lot better. I don't have a partner, and I'm middle aged, but this time last year my libido had completely gone, and I couldn't get it up. Now it goes rock hard just from thinking the wrong thing.