Iodine link to fibrocystic dx

Rosemary, I take several capsules a day. I also bought dried seaweed from the same company and add it to soups, stews and any other foods it can be hidden in, but mostly small amounts.

I didn't find any mention on whether NatureSpiritHerbs tests for heavy metals, just that the Japanese seaweed has been shown to be heavily contaminated. I think I should ask them directly. 

oops! Rosemary I hope it was not too bad.  It's Breastcancerchoices.com Sorry

Flalady

PS I did not have to do the arm test. I just looked where they do my port that I'm still using.  When I started it was gone in only one hour.

FloridaLady,

Not sure if that is the site.

>>I think I must be getting denser, Althea if your tsh number is 6.4, you should be at no higher than 3.3 for todays standards.  They want to drop that even further to 2.0-2.5.  Why aren't you getting treated? <<

I'd like to know the same thing!!!!  First of all, I don't understand why my oncologist doesn't show interest in this since radiation is notorious for knocking thyroids off kilter.  Second of all, I had to go to my internist with bloodwork that my gynecologist ordered.  Thank goodness I have a gyn who knew to run a TSH test.  But to get treated, I have to visit my internist.  So I did.  My cholesteral was also high. 

It seemed like all the focus was on my cholesterol.  I was told to exercise more and follow a lowfat diet.  Get tested again in a month.   In the meantime I learn more about thyroid and figure out that two different labs, my gyn, my onc, and my internist are all using the OLD normal range of .35 to 5.5.  The new range is .3 to 3.0.  Why do we know this and THEY DON'T? 

I've been reading a couple of message boards of thyroid patients, and it seems like getting treatment for thyroid problems requires a bigass crowbar.  I don't know why doctors would rather allow their patients to suffer than prescribe treatment.  One woman reported having complaints for YEARS about her thyroid until it eventually grew around her carotid arteries, at which time the doctor said, oh, too late to do anything now, it's too dangerous to operate.  I've been ambivalent about my internist whom I've seen maybe 4 or 5 times in 18 months.  Now I'm feeling rather ticked and I'm a hissy fit ready to happen.  

It was this morning that I learned about the iodine test.  I think I followed the instructions correctly.  Get some iodine solution.  Saturate a cotton ball and then swab a circle two inches in diameter on the fleshy part of your arm. If you have sufficient levels of iodine in your system, that iodine will take 8 hours to be absorbed into your skin.  My circle was gone in two hours.  

Ok, I just talked to the chiropractor again just now.  He said chlorinated water (ours is very heavy with it in this community) uses the same receptors as iodine.  Every time I bathe, the chemicals in the water dominates the absorption of the receptors.  This can be balanced by taking iodine supplements.  In a week, I will conduct the test again to see how long the iodine takes to absorb into my skin.  This is quick, painless and cheap.  Now that's the kind of medical testing I like!  

I will definitely keep ya'll posted on how this goes.  I can go with my baseball bat to the internist at a later date if the iodine route doesn't get my thyroid back into balance.  

Althea,

I just got some info for you.  My husband had his thyroid test taken and had to see the Dr. about it today.  Good timing eh.  Anyway, the Dr. said the lab that does the workup has scoring from .5-5 and they are taking into account the new standard.  So for that lab, he came back normal. 

Which leads me to think, WHY AREN'T they scoring or doing a more sensitive test so it can show .5-3 to be in the normal range?  Do I believe they are using the the new standard when they show results .5-5?  I'll answer that, NO.   He was close enough to 3 for me not to be concerned.  For you, I don't think so.  You know what you know and feel.  One of the signs of hypo IS having high cholesterol. 

Thanks anomdenet for the test info.  I've been taking iodine so I'll take a few days off and do the skin test first then on to the others if I need them. 

Rosemary, the sea veggie blend I take is 600 mg per capsule. It includes:

Wakame (brown)

Kombu (brown)

Sea Fern (?)

Grapestone (red)

Iridea (red)

Brown species are blended with Red in a 2:1 ratio. 

Ryan Drum, PhD, who has a couple of papers on thyroid health & sea weed on the naturespiritherbs.com site, says Maine & California kelps have about 1,000-2,000 ppm of iodine. (Those from Iceland  have 8000 ppm, Norway kelps have 4000 ppm.) He recommends 3-5 grams a day of 'a good powdered kelp'.

Anomdenet, That's what I was hoping to hear.  Taking iodine might be the real answer for me.  If not, then on to the real testing for thyroid problems.  I have so many symptoms for hypo, I could be the poster child. 

Thanks Kris, I just bought the iodine drops, and I'll see how that goes first. 

I just talked to James Jungwirth at NatureSpiritHerbs. He had his seaweed tested for total heavy metals (about a year ago) and the test came back in the 'good' range--<20 ppm of total heavy metals.

They harvest along the coast about halfway between Portland and San Francisco--as he said 'not alot going on there, mostly park land.'  

He also recommended that those with thyroid issues check out the two new papers posted on his web page.....

Anomdenet, the resources I checked said kelp contains 0.1-0.8% iodine based on dry weight. That would mean 1 capsule of 600 mg could have anywhere from 0.6 to 4.8 mg of iodine. I used two sources, both said the Japanese get about 12 mg of iodine a day in their daily diet and NSH says 3-5 capsules of the sea vegetable blend I take is recommended to provide about 12 mg (clearly it could be as high as 24 mg if 0.8% iodine is the norm & you take 5 capsules). The company said iodine levels in the kelps can vary month to month.

http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/Canada/HealthInformation/Encyclopedias/Kelp.htm 

Not many doctors make treatment decisions that differ from those recommended by the lab tests--and some of you have seen old reference numbers on your lab tests--but, one way to help determine hypothyroidism is to take your basal body temp every day for a week or two. If it's low, you may have undiagnosed hypothyroid.

Do it this way: keep a thermometer next to the bed. When you first wake, put the thermometer into your armpit to take the reading. After getting the reading, you can get up. Don't take the temp if you've been awake & lying in bed for hours--it should be on first wakening.

If your temp is consistently at 97.6 or lower, it could be a sign of hypothyroidism.

Here's a counter point: this test is often used by complementary and alt med doctors. Some believe it's useless. One website says this:

 http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroidbasicsthyroid101/a/5lies_2.htm

Use of basal body temperature is controversial, however, and even those practitioners who use the test caution that it should be part of an overall approach, and not solely relied upon. Holistic thyroid expert Dr. Richard Shames has said: [blockquote]For those who have already been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, the basal temperature test is an additional piece of observational measurement that helps determine whether a person is on the right medicine and/or the right dose, along with considering the response to medication, physical signs (especially ankle reflexes and skin temperature), and blood test results...Temperature testing, however, is not infallible, and -- like any other test -- should never be used alone to rule in or rule out a thyroid condition, or to dictate therapy. This is simply a good piece of information that should be used wisely.[/blockquote] 

***

But if you already feel you have many signs of the condition, it certainly couldn't hurt to try your own test.

The same website mentioned above also published this on subclinical hypothyroidism:

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/symptomsproblems/a/heartrisk.htm 

 Hypothyroidism Relationship to Heart Disease and Cardiac Problems

February 2000 -- "Older women with subclinical hypothyroidism were almost twice as likely as women without this condition to have blockages in the aorta. They were also twice as likely to have had heart attacks."

According to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a slightly underactive thyroid -- the condition known as subclinical hypothyroidism -- is a major heart disease risk for older women. In the Dutch study, which is being called "The Rotterdam Study," it was found that older women with subclinical hypothyroidism were almost twice as likely as women without this condition to have blockages in the aorta. They were also twice as likely to have had heart attacks.

This common condition, which frequently has no obvious symptoms for patients, and no observable symptoms for doctors, is a strong risk factor for both hardening of the arteries and heart attacks in older women.

Subclinical hypothyroidism is detectable by a blood test, known as the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) test. For the purposes of this study, subclinical hypothyroidism was defined as a TSH level greater than 4.0 mU/L in the presence of a normal free thyroxine (Free T4) level. Clinical hypothyroidism was defined as a TSH level greater than 4.0 mU/L and a decreased free thyroxine level.

BlindedB and FloridaL, this is great information.

Hypothyroid patients are very vulnerable to breast cancer-- and then radiation and chemo makes it worse.

Dr. Bernard Eskin feels 80% of all breast cancers have origins in the thyroid.

How do we make more breast cancer patients aware of this? Iodine or thyroid status must impact on recurrence.

3 milligrams seems high because we are told that our daily dose should be 150 micrograms.  But that dose won't heal anything.  It's just a maintenance dose.  

If you think you are deficient you'll need a bit higher dose at first to get you right.  You'll have to pay close attention to your body to feel things that are changing for the better, then start down towards a maintenance dose that works for you.  Also, you can take the pill every other day at first so you don't go too far past the 1100 mcg's.

I read Dr. Derry on the skin swab test.  He said it was useless for assessing our iodine deficiency status.

This is research on Iodine:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17956159?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Thank you anomdenet for the link.  I feel certain I read the other day that excess iodine is simply excreted through urine. 

The link you provided reiterates that, so I feel comforted somewhat.  Perhaps I need to read it again, but I didn't see in

there the statement about old thinking saying 6 milligrams or

more was toxic.  Where does that come from, do you know?  And who came up with 1,100 mcg being the threshhold? 

Considering I have supplements of 3mg, the level of 1,100 seems very conservative. 

I suppose I should've been taking notes on where I've been reading.  The USDA daily recommended amount of iodine is

150mcg.  Dont recall where I read it.  I did read what

the mayo clinic has to say about this.  My notes say that to treat a deficiency, take .3 to 1 mL three to four times

daily of 'strong' iodine.  I'm not sure what

strong iodine is, unless it's the 100% version of

what we buy at the store for topical use which is a 3% or 10% solution.  And I don't know what a mL is.   

I also don't understand how iodine can be toxic if excess amounts are excreted through urine. 

Can anyone explain that one to me? 

Well, I was adding carriage returns to try and get rid of the horizontal scroll.  Not sure it helped much 

>>Over the last 2 decades, iodine was replaced by bromine in the bread making process.

Bromine blocks thyroid function and may interfere with the anticancer effect of iodine on the
breast (4). Now, the risk for breast cancer is 1 in 8 and increasing 1% per year (7).<<

 

This is from the breastcancerchoices site.  I didn't know iodine was ever part of the bread making process and I didn't know bromine was either.  I've been trying to convince myself for a long time to start making my own bread again.  Maybe this will be the impetus I need to get it done.   

Here's another paper on iodine.  This one says the Japanese don't really eat as much iodine as they're being given credit for:

http://www.townsendletter.com/AugSept2005/gabyiodine0805.htm

Keep reading the paper.  "In studies that have specifically looked at iodine intake among Japanese people, the mean dietary intake (estimated from urinary iodine excretion) was in the range of 330 to 500 mcg per day,^7,8 which is at least 25-fold lower than 13.8 mg per day."