Feeling ridiculously good on Iodine - any risk?

Hi CS (and others). I have what is probably a strange question for you about iodine. I've been using Lugols 5% for about 3 weeks (2-3 drops) and am feeling ridiculously good. I notice this most when training. I have more energy to the point where it is ridiculous. I am extremely fit for my age (47) and in my younger days was at one point the best in the world in a sport that requires a high level of both strength and endurance. I am very attuned to my level of performance and fitness and can honestly say since about 2 weeks after starting Lugols I suddenly find myself with the same "engine" for high level training that I had 10-15 years ago. I mean I have worked hard to keep myself in shape over the years but this sudden ability to do aerobic, anaerobic and power work at a really high level is much more than I expected.

My question is can I be feeling too good? Am I hurting myself - potentially going hyper thyroid? Honestly I love feeling so great. In the last year or so I have not felt 100% and this has roughly corresponded to my noticing hair loss. I also have noticed my eyebrows thinning at the outer edges which seems to be a sign of hypothyroidism. Other common symptoms aren't apparent. Just a general feeling of my usual energy lacking a bit. Blood work did not show any thyroid issues but I am aware from all the information here that sometimes hypothyroid is low level and doesn't show on blood work. I thought I would try lugols as there seemed to be no risky downside. However it seems so ridiculously different now I am wondering if it can possibly be too much and actually harmful.

huli - First, that is my experience. I say that because lot's of people here take lugols at high dose without any problem, thinking of jdp for ex.
All i can say is that i strated lugol with between 12,5 and 25 mg a day, and felt like you great for one month, then suddenly dry hairs, fatigue etc....
Perhaps i have adrenals issues and as many scientists say, the first month we experience hyperthyroids, and then if adrenal are weak, bam, you get adrenals symptoms.
This is why when any problem suspected either thyroid or adrenals, you must in first instance suport your adrenals. Then go with iodine for ex to support thyroid.
It's a very tricky part, thyroid and adrenal are sort of balanced ones. When one is down the other's up....
I think the best way is to suport both with natural product and reasonably.

When i say reasonnably, that means knowing yourself and hearing what you say. When you are afraid that you're doing too much, that perhaps means you are taking too much, like dope. up THEN down.
I mean, iodine is good for the body. sea is good. But one element above the others DO NOT EXIST, even magnesium. it's a lure.

So, be careful with iodine. you are not here to treat a cancer on a 3 or 6 months regimen.
You are here to have a long run regimen.

From my experience, i tappered down iodine, and take let's say 3drops a day of iosol ( 1,8 X3 = 6 approx a day) Which remains a lot to me. i skip days often.
I agree it isn't a lot to DETOX, to help remove bromine, but after that ? As i say, using iodine in a 3 or 6 months window is a thing, but as a long run i really feel it isn't.

And i'm not talking here about selenium and other co factor to take with that perhaps other people here will advice to take. Each time a SINGLE ELEMENT is VITAL, we realiez that it needs co factors.
Yeah, nature is like that, nature did not give human the opportunity to make our own Vit C, so what ? is this a reason to take 4 gr a day for our life ?
i love sea, i'm a fish and would like to live in the sea ! has anyone have a supp that can make me breathe in the water ? because there's a new supp on iherb that proves to maximise 30% my breathing, is it worth a shot ?
I mean sometimes i feel like natural supps are used and prescribed as a drug...or as doctors...or as naturopaths....

Listen to our bodies. But it's very hard when one of the main goal is HAIR, besides a better health, lifespan, eternal life ( no !!! i wanna die man!! but at 106 with all my healthy hairs and chicks on my side on a lonely island bathed in the pacific !.... )

I love irony... don't hate me.

Hey Europe, I pretty much think the same way as you which is why I am not necessarily celebrating that it makes me feel great but wondering what is happening to the balance in my body that I may have to pay for in some other way. FWIW I have also been supporting adrenals with a 1x/day Nutricology adrenal complex for a while so maybe I am feeling better as a result of that. I think I am going to cut back on the lugols and see how little iodine I can take and still feel decent. I have no intention of mega dosing on anything to try and detox. I have no compelling reason to think that is necessary at this time. I got into doing all this for my hair but really I am into it for life. I hope to have a long, healthy, active life regardless of whether or not there is hair on my head along for the ride.

One of the Iodine doctors (Flechas?) has mentioned that it wasn't until using 6.25 mg or more of Lugol's is when benefits appeared in his patients.

If you guys are worried about any possible ill effects from Iodine supplementation then I'd recommend Nascent Iodine. It contains much smaller amounts of Iodine (doesn't contain any Iodide though) than Lugol's but is much much more I guess you'd say useable to your body.

The curezone guys use and recommend Magnascent. I don't have experience with that one but the one from here http://www.puremagoil.com/magnascentiodine.htm


As for any possibility of hyperthyroidism .... make sure you take selenium as "selenomethionine." When the Japanese are consuming 12.5 - 100+ mg of Iodine per day from seaweed, the seaweed also contains selenomethionine which has a balancing effect and protective effect on your thyroid. I posted a good article previously on this but I can't find it right now. I doubt selenomethionine is required at small doses but at high doses it would be IMO.

huli,

in my opinion the thyroid these concerning men is overrated.
Don't concentrate too much on thyroid problems.
Women are suffering much more from (hyper)thyroid problems as men.

From my point of view the only exception is diffuse thinning.
'Normal' men hairloss pattern is MPB.
Are you thinning diffuse?

This is the Iodine I plan to try. It is supposed to be superior to others and requires a much lower dose for the same benefit. Just throwing this out there for those interested.

http://www.magnascent.com/

Europe--

I agree. It is possible to fuck yourself up with naturals, although it less likely and not on the same scale as with RX.

Crusher - Thinning diffuse in mpb area. I suppose possible low grade hypothyroid as there are thyroid issues in my family.

jdp - Thanks. Taking SeleNext and eat lots of brazil nuts. Should that meet the selenium demands?

Gibson, expensive!!!!!

huli - I've taken mega doses of iodine. Intially the effects that are experienced can range quite a bit. Part of the problem is that some lose confidence quickly while the body is going through processes that take a long time to resolve.

To make matters more confusing that is that depending on what you read, you're going to hear a lot of misinformation.

Iodine is one of the safest minerals on the planet. It helps remove fluroide, bromide, mercury, and many other toxic metals.

Iodine helps convert T4 into T3, the more active thyroid hormone. Iodine drives the energy mechanism within cells.

FEAR = False expectation appearing to be real.

CS - Thanks for your reassurance. I am not taking excessive amounts now so I guess I will just continue on with it and enjoy the benefits I seem to be experiencing.

You know finding my hair was thinning has been a real education with regards to my general health and aging. I certainly have always stayed fit but wouldn't have been as vigilant about my health and learning as much about anti-aging had I not found this site. My dad died at 52 of a heart attack when I was 15. I remember at the time deciding that I wasn't just training for my sport but for life. I've spent more than 30 years committed to that. I am sure the information I am gathering here form you and others is going to make that commitment even more successful in the long run. Thanks again.

huli - With respect to cardiovascular disease I can mention some more good news about iodine. It's really the only reliable means of smoothing out atrial fibrillation, which is a common heart condition today where the upper chambers of the heart quiver, and cause an irregular heart beat.

Also, iodine reduces the activity of lipoprotein(a), not only this is huge in heart disease, it's important to lower this for hair loss as well.

Iodine can also prevent excess clotting, which is critical to prevent hypercoagulation, a factor that I strongly believe also shares a place in heart and hair loss factors.

some more info:

http://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1275461

http://www.magnascent.com/Nascent.htm

Gibson and others :
That has been already mentionned but IOSOL :
http://www.iherb.com/Iosol-Formula-II-1-fl-oz-30-ml/4785?at=0

contains 1,8 mg of iodine per drop.
but it also contains iodide as Ammonium iodide :

Glycerine (vegetable), Iodine, Ammonium Iodide.

But we do not know in proportion...

Just to get sure for the iosol users that we have iodine and iodide as jdp and others recommend....

plus, regardin selenium, i got a couple of swanson's bottle left :

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SWU067/ItemDetail

impossible to know if that is an organic form from selenomethionine . Somebody knows ?


Selenium is a trace mineral required for the manufacture of vital enzymes, including glutathione peroxidase, the body's premier antioxidant enzyme. Present in all body tissues, selenium is most concentrated in the kidneys, liver, spleen, pancreas, and testes. Supplemental forms of selenium include inorganic salts, such as sodium selenite, and organic forms such as selenomethionine and selenium-rich yeast.

Until we get another study that put on light other interactions ( selenium iodine zinc copper for ex) :
and that is not FEAR, that is knowledge.
And knowledge we must be aware. because that is just knowledga until another knowledge takes place.


http://www.ithyroid.com/iodine.htm

This result is made worse by another phenomenon which hasn't been thoroughly studied: a selenium deficiency causes an iodine deficiency to get worse. This may be a protective adaptation by the body to limit the damage caused to the thyroid when selenium is deficient and iodine is adequate. Let's examine this part of the interaction.

We've all heard that many doctors tell hypo patients, especially those with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, not to take iodine because it can aggravate their condition. The reason seems to be that selenium protects the thyroid gland from oxidative damage and this damage can increase significantly if iodine is supplemented. Taking iodine will increase thyroid hormone production and the production of H2O2 which damages the thyroidal cells. The lack of selenium prevents GPX from being able to protect the cells from this oxidative damage. While I doubt if most doctors realize why iodine should be restricted (it certainly seemed counter-intuitive to me at first), they have learned through experience that iodine can increase the thyroid damage in Hashimoto's. The information that selenium should be supplemented along with iodine is so new that most of them are unaware of it.

Here's what we have: Studies have shown that if iodine is low, selenium must also be kept low to prevent the hypothyroidism from becoming worse (from increased DI-I and T4 depletion, as explained above.) So if both minerals are low, then the person is hypo and gets a goiter, but the damage to the thyroid is kept to a minimum. More severe problems happen when either selenium or iodine is high and the other is low. If selenium is high and iodine low, then T4 to T3 to T2 conversion is accelerated without T4 being replenished, leading to a worsening of the hypoT. If iodine is high and selenium is low, then H2O2 is not degraded by GPX. Since H2O2 drives the thyroid hormone production, then the thyroid over-produces thyroid hormone (Grave's hyperthyroidism), the thyroid is damaged from the oxidation by the H2O2, and the end result is that the damaged thyroid ultimately decreases activity and hypothyroidism results (Hashimoto's thyroiditis). This could explain the observed progression of Grave's to Hashimoto's.

If a selenium deficiency causes an iodine deficiency, leaving you both selenium and iodine deficient, and supplementing with either selenium or iodine causes severe problems, then the only solution is to supplement both selenium and iodine simultaneously and gradually. Even then you could experience an immediate boost (from increased conversion of T4 to T3) with a subsequent letdown (lack of T4 production because of insufficient iodine or other necessary nutrient). You have to be prepared to ride out the tough times and continue increasing the selenium and iodine until those two deficiencies are corrected and the respective metabolic pathways are back working properly.

Everything that I've read about selenium indicates that it is absolutely essential for proper functioning of the thyroid. A deficiency of selenium may lead to either hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. I've always wondered if high intake of selenium can lead to hyperthyroidism and finally found someone who did the experiment. They found that a high intake of selenium will not increase T4 production and lead to hyperthyroidism.

If a person has hyperT, then it looks like taking selenium without iodine will result in a decrease in production of T4 (although there may be an initial transient increase in T4 to T3 conversion and hence higher T3). I would suggest to start with a small amount of selenium methionine (about 50 mcg) and gradually increase it. I cannot see any way that thyroid function can be normalized without selenium.

For hypos the important message is that a selenium deficiency may cause an iodine deficiency, so that even though you are taking iodine you may not be assimilating it unless selenium is also being taken. This would explain how people can have iodine deficiencies even though salt and many foods have iodine added. Supplement with both iodine and selenium. I would recommend starting with 100 mcg of selenium and one kelp tablet and gradually work up to 400-600 mcg of selenium and 2-4 tablets of kelp.

While I've found research on the interactions of iodine and selenium, there are two other minerals which need to be studied for their interactions with these two: zinc and copper. I found one study which examined the complex interactions of selenium, iodine, and zinc (there are interactions), but none which have looked at all four minerals in a 4 X 4 factorial design. Now that would be an interesting study! Hopefully someone will do that soon.

I think one lesson from studying the interactions of selenium and iodine is that the interrelationships between minerals are very complicated. Supplementing with one or two can cause further problems. You have to make sure that you correct every deficiency. Health is built from a chain of nutrients and, like a chain, health cannot be accomplished if one nutrient is missing. Sometimes it's complicated putting the chain back together without running into problems (like supplementing with either selenium or iodine, but not both), but every deficiency has to be corrected

What would be the difference btn ammonium iodide in IOSOL and Potassium Iodide in Lugol's? Same efficacy so Iosol can be an equally fine option?