You’re probably iodine deficient because most people reading this will be American, and most Americans are iodine deficient. Whether it will cause out-and-out disease in your body depends on whether you have any physical “weak links”, so to speak.
I have a history of “hot” thyroid nodules – nodules that spew thyroid hormone without regard for what my body needs, making me hyperthyroid. I had a partial thyroidectomy when I was 19, and most of my thyroid was removed. My doctor told me to take synthroid for the rest of my life to suppress my thyroid activity, but I didn’t and I was fine for many years. But recently the nodules recurred.
The problem was caught in a blood test. Again my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was very low, indicating that my body somehow already had enough hormone – i.e., nodules again. It occurred to me that I had recently switched from regular, iodized salt to sea salt, which is not fortified with iodine. So I did a google search to see if iodine deficiency could cause hot thyroid nodules. The answer was yes, so I then researched supplements. After taking a high dose supplement (details below) for about a month, two miraculous things happened:
- My thyroid nodules went away and my thyroid levels returned to normal.
- My ulcerative colitis went into complete remission for the first time in 10 years. (HUH?!?!)
It turned out that my two assumed-to-be-unrelated conditions were actually related – to an iodine deficit. Iodine is heavily absorbed in the bowel, as well as the thyroid (and a few other areas, notably breast tissue). Both thyroid problems and inflammatory bowel disease run in my family. Apparently I inherited an above-average need for iodine, and/or my thyroid and bowel were vulnerable.
Iodine Supplementation
Here are the links for the iodine supplement and accompanying book I bought on Amazon:
Supplement: Optimox Iodoral 180 tabs
Book: Iodine: Why you need it, Why you can’t live without it by David Brownstein, M.D.
Iodoral, the iodine/iodide supplement, is very high dosage and the only one of its kind. The only other supplement in this dosage with both iodine and iodide is a foul tasting liquid. This is the only tablet. The associated book explains the science. It’s self-published and not well-organized, but the information is documented and the studies appear solid – solid enough that I tried it, and it’s working in my body. I had my thyroid levels checked before and after taking the supplement, with these results:
| Before iodine | One month on iodine | |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 8, 2012 (normal range) | Jul 19, 2012 (normal range) | |
| T3 | 131 (71-180 ng/dL) | T3 (total) 0.82 (0.80-2.00 ng/ml) |
| T4 | 8.7 (4.5-12.0 ug/dL) | 5.1 (4.5-11.7 mcg/dl) |
| TSH | 0.013 (0.45-4.500 uIU/mL) | TSH (ultrasensitive) 2.690 (0.270-4.200 uIU/ml) |
The very low TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) before I started the supplement was a sign that my “hot” thyroid nodules were back (confirmed by scan). After taking the iodine supplement, my TSH became normal – a sign that the nodules went away. Insufficient iodine sometimes causes nodules, and sometimes causes hypothyroidism. Iodine supplementation also put my colitis into remission, which I did not expect. I later found this journal article, confirming the link between iodine deficiency and inflammatory bowel disease:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/235826
Brownstein’s book argues persuasively that everyone needs iodine supplementation. It says that the US RDA for iodine is grossly underestimated. Iodized salt (which I’d stopped using right before my nodules came back) does not give enough iodine. The iodine intake levels in Japan are much higher than the US because of the sea vegetables they eat, and their rates of thyroid disease are vastly lower. Your whole body uses iodine. It’s especially used in breast tissue, and prevents breast cancer. It’s also heavily absorbed by the bowel (which is why iodine deficiency can cause inflammatory bowel disease). Even without outright disease from iodine deficiency, people commonly experience decreased energy levels. Plus iodine keeps certain toxic substances from taking residence in your tissues – a good thing. But for this reason, when you first start taking Iodoral, there can be some detox symptoms.
Here are some links with info:
Iodine: Its Role In Health and Disease
Iodine: An Important Detoxification Tool – this site sells the gross-tasting liquid version of the iodine I mentioned. You shouldn’t buy this – buy the pill. But the detox information still applies. Iodine has a detoxifying effect on the body which can be uncomfortable at first if you tend to eat a junky diet. I had almost no detox symptoms – just a bit of a headache the first week and nothing after that. But if you read the reviews for the supplement on Amazon, you’ll see some complaints about skin breakouts and feeling crappy (these are the 1-star reviews). These are detox reactions from a lifetime of junk food (the comments explain). It’s temporary, and you’re better off getting the poisons out of you.
Each Iodoral tablet contains 12.5mg of iodine and iodide. A maintenance dose is 0.11mg per pound of body weight. So if you weight, for example, 140 pounds, you’d multiply 140*0.11=15.4mg recommended daily dose. Each pill is 12.5mg. You can cut pills in half, so you could take 1.5 pills. That would give you 18.75mg – a little over, but that’s okay. Taking more than you need is not a problem – you just pee out the extra. So in this case 1.5 pills per day would be your maintenance dose.
But before you can take a maintenance dose, you need to get iodine sufficient. That requires taking more than your maintenance dose for a few months so your iodine-deficient tissues can absorb a baseline of iodine. The book recommends taking 50mg per day (4 pills) for 3 months. You can minimize any detox effects by slowly increasing the dose rather than starting with 50mg per day. This is what I did, except that I found I couldn’t tolerate 50mg (4 pills) per day – it gave me headaches (from iodism), so I cut back to 37.5mg or 3 pills per day.
I started with half a pill for a week, then a whole pill for a week, then 1.5 pills for a week, then two pills for a week, and then 3 pills per day for 3 months. I probably could have ramped up faster because I experienced almost no detox symptoms.
After 3 months, I took a test for iodine sufficiency. I bought the test kit from here:
Hakala Labs
http://www.hakalalabs.com
The lab is owned by the guy who manufactures and sells Iodoral. It’s a 24-hour urine test. They couldn’t mail the test kit to New York State because of its nanny laws, so I had to have them mail it to Vermont, where I have a PO box. I also bought the bromide test option (to see if that was detoxed out of my body). The results showed I have no bromide in me. But after 3 months I was only halfway to iodine sufficiency (45%), probably because I was taking only 37.5mg per day, and probably also because I have a higher-than-average need for iodine, as evidenced by my family history of thyroid disease (mother, brother, and grandmother also had/have nodules). Had I been iodine sufficient, I’d have dropped to 1 or 1.5 pills per day for life. Since I was not yet, I continued to take 3 pills a day for another 3 or 4 months. I am now iodine sufficient. My thyroid hormone levels remain normal, and my ulcerative colitis is still in remission.
Other Health Impacts
I mentioned at the start of this post that iodine is heavily absorbed in the breasts, as well as the bowel and the thyroid. Brownstein says that iodine supplementation has been successful in treating and preventing fibrocystic breasts, and protecting against breast cancer, and well as various other problems.
I’m not a doctor, so please don’t treat this post as medical advice. I am just passing along information that I found helpful in my own life. I hope it’s helpful to someone else, but please consult your doctor if you have questions.
Hi Cheryl! I came upon this by looking up ‘how to season a cast iron pan’ .. to send to a friend. Go figure. VERY interesting. Hakala labs site claims they don’t ship to NY. Did you have your stuff shipped to another state? And, if iodine is released when the body doesn’t need it (figuring it’s like b vitamins and not at all dangerous?), wouldn’t it be a good idea to take it? What if you’re already on some synthroid (we’re in similar sitches .. all in the fam.) My endo is about to do more bloods, another sono and another biopsy this summer. Hope all is well with you. Jane
Hi Jane! My claim to fame is how to season cast iron, of all things. My blog posts are #1 in Google for searches on it. I spent an obsessive week researching it, wrote some posts, and they were picked up by Cooks Illustrated. That really made them go viral. They’re even referenced in Wikipedia now. My Normal Eating book and counseling practice should get as much attention!
Hakala Labs won’t ship to NYS because of its Nanny Laws. I had the same issue when I went to get my DNA sequenced by 23andme, but they interpreted the law the opposite way of Hakala. 23andme would ship the kit to NYS, but I could not mail my DNA sample (or, technically, take the sample) from within NYS. So I took the PATH to Hoboken. Hakala Labs does it in reverse. They won’t mail the kit to NYS, but you can mail back the sample from NYS. My business is located in Vermont, so I had them mail the kit there.
I do think everyone should take an iodine supplement (Iodoral is the only one I know that has what’s necessary). The US RDA for iodine is much too low – the book makes a very strong case for this – and there are very few natural sources for iodine in the American diet. It’s also true that iodine is released in urine when your body has absorbed all it needs, but it’s still possible to take too much – called “iodism”. The suggested maintenance dose (daily iodine requirement) in the book – 0.11mg per pound of body weight – will never give you iodism. However, a higher dose is suggested at the beginning to make up for your body’s iodine deficit.
I built up to the higher initial dose slowly because iodine has a detoxifying effect which can cause uncomfortable symptoms. It turned out I didn’t experience that, however – I don’t eat a lot of packaged or prepared foods, so I had little bromides in my body (verified by Hakala Labs). I did find, however, that taking 4 pills a day, as suggested in the book at the beginning, gave me headaches. I’m very headache prone, so it could have been just me. But it’s also the first sign of iodism, so I cut back to 3 pills a day and the headaches went away. I now take 1.5 pills per day to maintain.
As for taking iodine supplements with synthroid… It depends more on the condition of your thyroid – why you’re taking synthroid. People with hot nodules may take synthroid to suppress thyroid function (that’s what I was told to do, but I didn’t do it), others take it because their thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormone, still others take it because their thyroid has been surgically removed, or destroyed with radioactive iodine. It’s worth noting (though I know this isn’t your situation) that even people without a functioning thyroid need iodine, since the thyroid isn’t the only part of the body that uses iodine.
My non-medical opinion is that if you’re taking synthroid to suppress hot nodules (as I was supposed to have been, but wasn’t), you might want to go off it when you start the iodine supplementation, to at least give your thyroid the opportunity to return to normal function (as mine did). If you’re taking synthroid to supplement inadequate thyroid function, it would probably be a good idea to monitor your T3, T4, and TSH blood levels frequently for the next year or two – maybe every 3-6 months – to make sure your dosage is still correct. The iodine supplementation will likely make your thyroid start producing more hormone in line with your body’s needs. Possibly you’ll end up not needing the synthroid. (There’s also some sort of boomerang thing that happens when the thyroid first starts functioning normally again, but I can’t remember the details – it’s described in the book.) Of course, people who no longer have a functioning thyroid will always need the synthroid and their dosage levels won’t change, but they will benefit in other ways from iodine supplementation. Iodine is also absorbed heavily by the breasts and bowel, for example.
Let’s talk and I can tell you more. I can also tell you about 23andme. It’s fun and useful. My brother and one of my nieces have done it, too. It’s fascinating to see how you match up with your relatives. My brother and I are about 50% genetically identical; my niece and I about 25% (math works!). I wonder what our percent would be. It said I was 97% Ashkenazi Jew from Eastern Europe with light eyes and curly hair (okay, I knew that – but it was still fun that THEY knew that from my spit). It told me that a medication I was taking was not safe for me to take (that was news – I called my doctor to let him know). It also tells you your genetic risk of many different diseases, which some people find disconcerting (therefore the Nanny Laws). I found it interesting.
I have often wondered if using more sea salt and other “gourmet” salts has an effect on iodine levels. As my wife and I have gotten more and more into cooking the last few years (started just trying to eat less processed and fast food and morphed into more complicated dishes, etc) we have also stated using salt grinders, flavor salt, kosher salt, sea salt, etc and leaving the old school Morton’s “can” of iodized salt on the shelf.
Hello,
I sund as if I’m in the same position as you – have nodules, a goiter and very low TSH but nromal range T3 and T4. I am tempted to try Iodoral but am aslo leanign towards kelp supplementation as I guess it seems more ‘natural’ to me. Did you ever try Kelp instead of Iodoral?
Thanks
I went straight to Iodoral because I was convinced by what I read that kelp supplements did not have sufficient iodine. I had another blood test last week, and my thyroid remains completely normal.
I think that to do this with food (naturally)(, you’d have to start eating sea vegetables every day in fairly large quantities, as they do in Japan. In Japan, children are told to “eat their sea vegetables” like American children are told to eat their broccoli.
Hello Sheryl,
Can I ask if you also took other supplements such as Selenium and if so in what dosage. From reading around it looks like various supplements including Selenium, Magnesium and Vit C alongside Iodoral are considered important in treating Multi Nodular Goiter.
Thanks 🙂
No, the only supplement I added was Iodoral. I just had my thyroid levels checked again this week (T3, T4, TSH), and they are all 100% normal. No more hot nodules. Iodine is all I needed to solve the problem. (And one of the endocrinologists I saw was ready to irradiate my thyroid and destroy it!)
Hello Sheryl,
Were you hyperthyroid when you started taking iodine? I have hyperthyroidism (very low TSH but normal T3 and T4) with nodules. But when I took some prolamine iodine that a holistic chiropractor gave me, my symptoms got VERY much worse. I am really confused about this iodine issue and do not want to take medication to fix the problem. I can see taking iodine for hypothyroidism but it is not as clear with hyperthyroidism. Thanks.
Betsey, my situation was identical to yours – borderline hyperthyroid, very low TSH but normal T3 and T4. Taking iodine fixed it – everything now normal. Read the post carefuly – I give exactly blood levels. It’s very specific.
You have to take the right kind of iodine supplement, and in the right amount. Read the post. If you do what I did, you’ll probably get the results I got – especially since our starting stituation is exactly the same.
I read that you can become more hyperthyroid before it levels out. Give it time.
Thank you for this blog! I started taking Lugols 5%iodine a year ago after learning it was used to combat fungus and bacteria and build up immune system. Boy, I am so glad I’ve found it. It is a cure for many ,many, many of todays chronic conditions. All the reproductive cancers in men and women have a root in depleted iodine. Adhd was cured in the 19th and 20’th centuries with it. I could feel the positve effects immediately, specifically it calmed my nerves.
Now I have begun taking nascent iodine from Dr. Edward group . His products sell on inforwars.com store and they are all tip top quality. it gives me real energy not hyper energy.
I recommend the supplement mentioned in my blog post, Iodoral. The dosage is adequate, it’s pill-form so it doesn’t taste bad, and I have proof in my body that it works.
I’m wondering why you have to take a maintenance does?
I also have nodules and a hot thyroid. I have been officially dx’d with SIBO which can cause malabsorption so I think that’s what caused my deficiency. Of course SIBO has no cure yet.
You need a maintenance dose for the same reason you need to take it in the first place – insufficient iodine in the diet.
Thank you for this research. I have a family history of thyroid issues & was just told I have a toxic (hot) nodule on my thyroid. I have taken iodine in the past, stopped due to the scary stories, found goiter, had scan, fna tomorrow. Since my ENDO said iodine was fine for me to take, I have continued. I don’t take the pills, I paint a couple drops of lugol’s 7% randomly around my body. I have a TSH of .08 low ft3 & high ft4. I also had a thyroid storm..when that passed I restarted the painting. It gives me energy & I never get ill!
Ashley, I doubt that you are getting as much iodine through your skin as you would from swallowing Iodoral in the dosage I described in the article. You need a lot to make up for the kind of deficit that causes hot nodules. You might want to try it – it cured my thyroid problem (hot nodules), as you can see from my blood test results. Thyroid nodules run in my family, too – I suspect because we have an above-average need for iodine.
I am at wits end trying to figure out how to get my son off of the Ritalin and/or Adderal my son has been on for years now. I actually weaned him off the Adderal recently & gradually added Iodoral iodine/iodide supple!ment & he’s now taking 3 12.5 tabs ea day, but he’s still struggling greatly, daily to get his school studies done. I’m ready to put him back on the Ritalin because his focusing issue is worse now, but he is eating more now that he’s been off of the pharma drugs.
I’m very worried still because as each day progresses he struggles to maintain his usual level of focus while on the Ritalin or Adderal, but he’s sleeping & eating much better now that he’s drug free. But his ability to focus & make good choices gets worse as the day goes along & he gets angrier as well.
I just don’t know what to think or do? Our son was adopted at birth and WS know there were issues w/the birth mom as well as all of his siblings – even tho there are 4 different birth father’s involved w/all the siblings.
In just don’t know if I should watch him continue to struggle with his focus & anger issues while taking the daily 37.5 MCG/mg dose of Iodoral, or get him back on the Ritalin & deal w/the sleep & appetite issues. He lost a lot of weight while on the Ritalin as well as the Adderal.
Plz send me any info you can that might help me figure out what I should do as to which pathway to take. In am soon to be 60 yrs old next month & our son jUST turned 17. I’m worn out & sick with worry about him& his behavior and that he won’t be able to finish his home school subjects & graduate next year.
Thank you for listening to me!
Cindy B
Sheryl, I am so glad my mom found your blog. You give me some hope. I am like you, low TSH with “normal” FT3 and FT4. Recently had ultrasound and then scan and uptake and found out I have hot nodules. As we are trying to have a family, recommendation is surgery. (We have had 5 losses and also have MTHFR A1298C mutation, which we found out trying to see why I can’t carry.) For the last 5 years I have had thyroid testing with the same results and the official diagnosis was subclinical hyperthyroidism. I was curious about iodine treatment and yours is the first I have heard of it working for hot nodules. I am going to have the 24 hr iodine loading urine test and see if I am indeed iodine deficient as I suspect. Thank you so much, you may have saved me from surgery and a lifetime of thyroid hormone supplementation!
I have been told I have a nodule (calcium deposit) on my thyroid. However, the doctor said it is fine and we will watch it for 6 months to see if it grows. Meanwhile, my blood test comes back everytime saying my thyroid numbers are normal. I have every single symptom of a sluggish thyroid but the doctor says no you are fine. I have several family members including mother on synthroid for thyroid problems. So now what do I do? My right arm is trembling but they say it is not from thyroid either.
do you have these figures reversed?
Before iodine One month on iodine
Mar 8, 2012 (normal range) Jul 19, 2012 (normal range)
T3 131 (71-180 ng/dL) T3 (total) 0.82 (0.80-2.00 ng/ml)
T4 8.7 (4.5-12.0 ug/dL) 5.1 (4.5-11.7 mcg/dl)
TSH 0.013 (0.45-4.500 uIU/mL) TSH (ultrasensitive) 2.690 (0.270-4.200 uIU/ml)
typically we’d want to see a lower TSH figure and higher levels of T3, not the other way around.
oops, please disregard my comment above, (I don’t see a way to delete it)
I just realized you were saying your levels were too high before.
…mine are always low so I am always looking for the reverse effect. =)
I just stumbled upon your post as well 🙂
Just so happens I am a patient at Dr. Brownstein’s Clinic in Michigan, there are three MDs there and Dr. Ng is my doctor and I can not sing their praises enough.
On to the reason for my comment – I don’t love how Dr. Brownstein’s books are put together but they are life savers, if you haven’t read “Salt Your Way To Health” It is a MUST read and you will be beyond please. I am a fairly new patient to their practice, I haven’t read all the books not sure if I even need to so I am not promoting for any reason other than I have thyroid and autoimmune issues too. Dr. Ng also is requiring his patience read “Grain Brain” by Dr. David Perlmutter, not often physicians ask their patients to read books written by Doctors from outside their practice.
I am taking the Armour thyroid pills. I was taking the Iodoral but was told that I probably don’t need them. My grandmother had a large goiter..and my sis now is developing one. While on the Iodoral my neck got skinny because the thyroid gland swelled up when I lacked enough Iodine. Sis is taking the synthyroid pills. With them I would have my heart race whenever I laid down of night. Scared me so had Dr give me the other brand. Does dry skin and eyes seem to indicate lack of enough Iodine?
Kathy, you don’t give enough information for me to comment on your condition. Who said you don’t need more iodine? Dry skin is a symptom of low thyroid.
Hello Sheryl, many thanks for sharing your story. I wondered if you could let us know how many nodules you had, and how big they were. I have two thyroid nodules, the largest is nearly 4cm and at the moment it feels like I’m choking. Thankfully I’m not hyperT nor hypoT. I’ve tried the iodine protocol twice this year and both times I felt extremely ill – couldn’t think straight, extreme tiredness, twitching muscles etc. The symptoms cleared up within 2 days of coming off iodine. I don’t think I eased myself into it properly, so I might try again at a slower pace. But thanks anyway for sharing, it’s encouraging to hear there’s a cure for some people at least. Regards, Marisa.
Sheryl, I’ve just realised that the Brownstein book you quote is called ‘iodine why you need it, why you can’t live without it’. Could you let me know whether this is where you found the iodine protocol for your nodules please? I have Brownstein’s book ‘overcoming thyroid disorders’ and it doesn’t say anything about the dosage for nodules in there. In fact, if I remember correctly, there is only one sentence in the whole book that mentions nodules. I found my protocol off the internet, but I just wondered whether the book you mentioned had more information in it than the one I have. Thank you.
Hi Sheryl
What symptoms did you have with your UC? I’ve healed majority of mine but the urgency is still a problem. I’m a month into iodine therapy (only 2 days on 50mg) and it would be great if it helped this issue.
Hello,
I’m curious about the US connection too. That’s how I found this post. Please say more…
Ugh…UC Connection
On 125 of synthroid and 10 of cytomil. Is it safe to take iodine?
Hi Sheryl……. I did the 24hr loading urine test about 2-3 yrs ago & I was at 41%, so I put myself on Iodoral for months, kind of missed doses, began taking Iodoral again (1 a day then build up to 4 a day over 6 mos time) then I had a gallbladder attack, was also on a liver cleanse. Had confirmed my gallbladder was full of stones, too many to count. Got on herbs for gallbladder stones etc….& did not have surgery thank God…….the 7 different herbs got rid of lots of stones & I am better, no pain.
Now I’m feeling tired again & are on only 2-3 Iodorals a day so increased to 4 a day, according to what I’ve read.
Should I stay on 4 a day, no fast heart rate yet.
Thanks……janice
Hi just found your site and I purchased iorodal, I plan on starting as soon as I get it. I am hypo and I have taken synthroid for 25 years, it stopped working for me and I started natural thyroid.
I am a little nervous about starting iorodal I have been doing a little research and I wanted to know if it’s true about taking it with selenium; it is said that it works in conjunction,,, like tumeric and black pepper do.
What changes should I look for and how can I avoid the detox situation?
Thank you
“Taking more than you need is not a problem – you just pee out the extra.”
I am no doctor, but I don’t think this is correct when it comes to iodine.
I had bloody stool when I started taking iodine at a higher dose
Hi! I just started taking Iodoral two days ago. The first day I took one 12.5 mg tablet, felt great, except started to get a headache in the early afternoon. The second day (today) I cut it in half. My headache returned this morning, a short while after I took my dose of Iodoral. I thought until I read your remarks that my headache was probably due to bromide detox, but now am wondering if I am taking too much Iodine for me. I weigh 110 lbs, it seems as though I should be taking a safe dose. Any comments?
After 1 month, I an up to 60 mg of Nascents iodine per day divided into 2 doses. So far, I have no headaches and no detox symptoms of any kind. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Sam
Hi Holly – and chance you are on 23andme.com? if so, please sign on and see our exciting results! I think your email there may not be working because I got an odd message, so sending messages to a few Hollys with ancestry comments – hope its you. Look forward to hearing from you (if it is you 🙂 Thanks! ps: I’m also mthfr positive.
I just found out I have a hot nodule. Pretty much everything I read says to stay away from iodine if you have a hot nodule since it starts producing too much thyroid hormone. I too read Brownstein’s books on a thyroid Disorders and that subject wasn’t touched. It is hard to find any helpful info on hot nodules.
I have a big bottle of Lugol’s so I might try it.
I think detox is key. Also I think I will go for 23andMe may help figure out detox pathways.
Hello,
I have two large nodules and more small ones too numerous to count. Not sure if they are hot or cold. All I know is that I have pain when I take iodine and when I don’t take iodine. When I have pain, I also have crazy anxiety. No pain. No anxiety.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Christine
Hi! I have goiter and I’ve been drinking herbal supplements that I believe will help suppress my goiter. (Thyroid care supplement as it says) However, everytime I drink these, i feel that my thyroid gets active too much, thus I feel warm around it, makes my vision blurred for a few seconds and somehow difficult to breathe. Is it a good sign, that my body is catching up with my iodine depletion? Or do I make it worse?
Thanks!
I came across this article after reading & sharing your blog link on my Facebook page! I’m forwarding the link to this article to my Mom who has battled Colitis her entire life! Thank you for sharing the good stuff 🙂
Deonna
Hi I’m thinking on taking iodine and not taking the carbimazole? I am hyper…level of 27. Any thoughts? Chest pains and racing heart at the moment!
My 17 year-old daughter has severe Ulcerative Colitis — it has been resistant to all meds.
Her Thyroid has been low for 2 years, but doctors won’t treat thyroid. She has been
in a UC flare for 14 months now, hospitalized 8 weeks in the last year.
How long into iodine treatment did it take for your UC to go into remission?
My daughter faces surgery soon. I am hoping we have enough time for iodine to start working.
Thank you for posting I know Iodoral has worked for me in the past–cured my cystic breast disease
and reduced my thyroid nodules, but I never know about the bowel connection for my daughter until
I read your blog.
I doubt Iodoral will be enough to treat severe UC. Once a flare gets going, it’s hard to stop. I feel for your daughter and I’m sorry.
Has your daughter tried biologics? Remicade was very effective for me until I built up antibodies to it. Humira can be effective, too. I’m now in a clinical trial for a new drug called tofacitinib (brand name Xeljanz) that has been approved for RA – super-effective, but not yet approved for UC.
Thanks for your response Sheryl. My daughter’s RA improved with methotrexate, but did nothing for her UC.
She suffered severe allergic reaction to the second Remicade infusion and she is now on Humira with little
to no improvement in the 8 weeks since she started it. Entyvio is the last drug in the bag of tricks — if that
doesn’t work — she will have surgery to remove her colon.
She has been wearing magnets over her colon at night and it has greatly reduced the bleeding. When she forgets
to wear them the bleeding comes back, when she wears the magnets the bleeding lessens and has stopped. Not sure how
this works — the diarrhea remains at 11 and sometimes more per day.
Her bouts went from 11 to 6 when we added the iodine, but she has been afraid to up it because of the headaches that
began when she was at 2 12.5 iodorals a day. She is only taking one 12.5 iodoral a day now and she is back to 11 bouts a day.
The headaches are a detox response, as I wrote in my article. They go away.
Did you say your daughter has RA? You are lucky!! Get her on Xeljanz (brand name for Tofacitinib) ASAP. It’s approved for RA, but not yet approved for UC. But it works for UC. I was facing surgery, and now I’m in complete remission. I take 10mg 2x per day.
Hi Sheryl,
I have a multinodular goiter in my right lobe. Did u take just iodorol or other suppliments too?
I had a huge cystic nodule/goitre which filled up with fluid after fine needle aspiration (and measured 2 cm by 4 cm or so). I was having trouble swallowing and was almost considering surgery to remove one side of my thyroid gland even though fine needle came back normal and my TSA levels were also normal. Doctor said it was unlikely I was iodine deficient, but based on some internet research, I started taking iodoral ordered from amazon and within three days, I started to feel much better and could swallow without pain!! For the first week or two, the swelling in my neck was still visible but I have been taking iodoral for about 3-4 weeks now and my nodule has visibly shrunk. I can barely feel it! In addition, I used to suffer from “brain fog” (even though TSA and thyroxine levels were within normal range), however with the iodine supplementation, the brain fog episodes are completely gone. I can think much more clearly. In the past, I also had stomach issues (ulcerative collitis type symptoms) and even went for a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy recently. I hope those issues don’t return. Hearing Sheryl’s story gives me hope. I also hope others will try iodoral before considering surgery.
I took time out out to share my story so i can reach out to someone out there who might need this. My wife was diagnosed with crohn’s disease in 2011. During this times she experienced chronic abdominal pain and cramping she was unable to swallow and she vomited ceaselessly, mouth sores and she had little or no appetite for food. The doctor prescribed several corticosteroids, mesalamine which she used but it became worse by the day. When i went to work in a nearby town i was talking about crohn when Jude told me he know a person who has a cure and that was how i got to know about Dr. Humphrey. I contacted him and explained all to him he told me that he has this very effective herbal medicine that can cure it, i was in shock but i gave a try because i loved my wife so much. He sent me the medication and i gave it to her as instructed within two weeks she was fully okay, we never experienced any side effects and we went to the doctor to confirm and she tested negative to crohn. If you are still suffering do not die in silence, contact him on (humphreyaverado@gmail.com) i am very sure he can help you too.
Hi,
I waa diagnosed with Hashimoto Hypothyroidism about a year ago. I alwYs felt normal, no symptoms except depression, nervousness, weightloss. My TSH level was more than 90. I was shocked and in denial. I am young, just finished college and no family history of Hypothyroidism. I have been on Levoxyl 50 mcg for a year now. Would you recommend taking Iodine supplement after getting my iodone levels checked by doctor? Do you think that would help. Do i have hope or i have to rely on pill for rest of my life?
Thanks in advance.
Hello Sheryl,
I also came across this article seeking more information on cast iron seasoning. I was very shocked to see the information about Iodine and UC. I have suffered with Crohn’s disease for 23 years (diagnosed at 12) I also developed antibodies to Remicade and developed drug induced lupus from it. Since then I have also been diagnosed with RA, Palindromic rheumatism, and Fibromyalgia. Thank you so much for the information, I will be checking into it along with the newer RA drugs you mentioned. I know this is an older thred so hoping you see this message. Also I would love to hear any other experiences you have had. Thanks Again!
Rebecca