Re: Why would my taking iodine appear to cause me to need MORE Armour thyroid??

[Guest guest]

The fear of going to sleep and not waking up is instinctive

intuition, please heed this - thyroid levels likely too low.

This is serious, especially with the low body temp.

Most hypo PTs need more thyroid than you're taking,

120 mg or more in some cases. Your dr can check your

TSH, free T4 and free T3. TSH needs to be under 2.0,

preferably around 1.0 or a bit lower in a hypo person who is

medicated with thyroid (that is a bit lower than the normal

euthryroid person who will have a TSH around 1.5-1.65).

Free T4 and free T3 are optimal in the upper third of ref range.

There's ref range (not dead), then there's optimal.

It's well known that high iodine can cause hypo or hyper

thyroid, both are possible. When a substance floods the

system, the body may try to expell the excess, or downregulate

receptors to protect itself from overload.

Carol

willis_protocols

[see my Links>Thyroid, Links>Adrenal, Links>Nutrients folders.]

>

> Why would my taking iodine appear to cause me to need MORE Armour

> thyroid?? I was under the impression that iodine would make a

person

> need LESS iodine.

>

> I have been so careful not to take too much Armour because I am

> worried about going into the hyper mode which is terrifying for me.

> (The hyper mode happened once when I had too much coffee, and I

never

> want to experience it again!!)

>

> I am hypothyroid and have always had a low body temperature (96 or

> 97). After I tested quite deficient in iodine from an FFP loading

> test in the fall, I started 50 mg iodine on Dec. 1, taking one day

> off per week to rest my detox organs. I am on 1 1/2 grains (90 mg)

of

> Armour thyroid. I take all of the recommended companion nutrients,

> including Ancient Minerals spray. I do not have nodules (I had an

> ultrasound), but I do not know if I have antibodies.

>

> Because I had been having menopausal hot flashes last month, I

> started in January on some phyto-estrogen products (plant sources)

> which took away my hot flashes completely (Yeah!). I do not use

> progesterone cream, but should I?

>

> Lately my temperatures seem to be getter even lower (95 or 96 F,

even

> during the day) instead of higher, and I feel a little dizzy in the

> evening until I take a little (1/4 grain) of the Armour to take the

> dizzy edge off. The dizziness is scary; one time I told my husband

> that I was afraid to go to sleep because I wanted to be sure that I

> would wake up.

>

> Although it kind of sounds like an adrenal problem to me, my doctor

> suspects a problem in pituitary for some reason. I'm going to see

him

> next week. He's a very good doctor, has used Armour for years,

> trained wih Broda , etc. He is currently reading Dr.

> Brownstein's book on iodine right now, but says he doesn't

understand

> the use of iodine completely yet.

>

> I will ask my doctor about saliva testing, antibodies testing, &

> progesterone cream. I don't want a TSH test because it will

probably

> show up high and I don't want him to be scared for me to use iodine

> because a high TSH is normal for the first 6 months of

> supplementation.

>

> I have already ordered another iodine loading test to see if there

is

> an NIS (symporter) or organification problem with me utilizing the

> iodine. I will take it when it comes.

>

> *Does anyone else have any insight as to why I seem to need MORE

> thyroid?

>

> *Is it OK to take the Armour thyroid at the same time as the

iodine?

> I often do NOT because I worry about a hyper episode from taking

them

> together, so I take the iodine first thing in the morning, and then

> take the Armour thyroid a couple of hours afterward. Is this a

> needless concern? When do others take their iodine & thyroid?

>

> * Does anyone else GAIN weight on iodine? Everyone says they're

> constipated on it and I am too (so I'm now using Vit. C to bowel

> tolerance for constipation). I am gaining weight and am quite

> concerned about that. I do not use the salt pushes because of high

> blood pressure, and the salt was contributing to fluid retention &

> weight gain. I hope my weight settles down, using the potassium

> chloride instead of salt: I'm taking 99mg X 3 in AM, 99mg X 2 in

PM.

>

> Comments from others? Thanks ahead of time. KL

>

[Guest guest]

wouldn't one of the main purposes of being advised to be monitored by

docs while doing iodine supplementation be checking for hypothyroidism

or hyperthyroidism....and adjust Iodoral and/or Armour dose

accordingly? Don't the iodine docs acknowlege that iodine

supplemention can affect thyroid function and tip towards hypo and

hyper?

In your case, it sounds like you are experiencing an increase in hypo

symptoms. Do you have Hashi's?

In those cases where hypo worsens, it seems that folks have needed to

increase Armour and/or decrease iodoral.

Cindi

>

> Why would my taking iodine appear to cause me to need MORE Armour

> thyroid??

[Guest guest]

I want to second this.

I've been there..with the not knowing whether I was going to wake

up...and so dizzy/incapacitated I could not move. this was before I

started on thyroid hormone.

And I agree with Carol that this is a dangerous place to be...and

Free levels needs to be checked.

cindi

>

> The fear of going to sleep and not waking up is instinctive

> intuition, please heed this - thyroid levels likely too low.

> This is serious, especially with the low body temp.

>

> Most hypo PTs need more thyroid than you're taking,

> 120 mg or more in some cases. Your dr can check your

> TSH, free T4 and free T3. TSH needs to be under 2.0,

> preferably around 1.0 or a bit lower in a hypo person who is

> medicated with thyroid (that is a bit lower than the normal

> euthryroid person who will have a TSH around 1.5-1.65).

> Free T4 and free T3 are optimal in the upper third of ref range.

> There's ref range (not dead), then there's optimal.

>

> It's well known that high iodine can cause hypo or hyper

> thyroid, both are possible. When a substance floods the

> system, the body may try to expell the excess, or downregulate

> receptors to protect itself from overload.

>

[Guest guest]

My doctor is not available today. When I see him (possibly tomorrow)

I will request another blood test for antibodies and " free " levels.

I have a phone appointment with Dr. Flechas tonight about this issue

and will report back to you.

Until I can figure out what's going on, I am taking extra 1/4

grain of thyroid every so often - only as needed - just for today. I

am taking my temperature a lot today to monitor my metabolism.

I have ordered another loading test. I will stop iodine completely

for a few days, and then just take a small amount until the loading

test results come back.

Thank you all for your concern. It is a terrifying thing to not know

what to do with low temps, cold hands. ( " If I lay down and rest, will

that make it worse? If I move too much, will it be dangerous? " ) I'll

be in touch.

Thanks,

> >

> > The fear of going to sleep and not waking up is instinctive

> > intuition, please heed this - thyroid levels likely too low.

> > This is serious, especially with the low body temp.

> >

> > Most hypo PTs need more thyroid than you're taking,

> > 120 mg or more in some cases. Your dr can check your

> > TSH, free T4 and free T3. TSH needs to be under 2.0,

> > preferably around 1.0 or a bit lower in a hypo person who is

> > medicated with thyroid (that is a bit lower than the normal

> > euthryroid person who will have a TSH around 1.5-1.65).

> > Free T4 and free T3 are optimal in the upper third of ref range.

> > There's ref range (not dead), then there's optimal.

> >

> > It's well known that high iodine can cause hypo or hyper

> > thyroid, both are possible. When a substance floods the

> > system, the body may try to expell the excess, or downregulate

> > receptors to protect itself from overload.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, I would like to report to you what Dr. Flechas said to me last

night about my low temps in a phone consult. Some others have written

to me that they have experienced something similar, so I would like

to help them by reporting here. His office gave me permission to tell

you what he said. I will do my best to be accurate.

By the way, he is an extremely kind & caring man, and I recommend him

highly to anyone interested in an iodine loading test from FFP labs

(the consult with him is part of the package).

1) Iodine is absolutely NOT causing my low temps. Iodine makes the

metabolism burn hotter, not cooler. He wants me to stay on 50 mg. for

now.

2) He thinks that the rosemary leaf in a product - Estrofactors by

Metagenics - that I was taking for about a month for hot flashes

could have been part of the reason my temps fell lower than normal

the last few weeks. So I am discontinuing that produce for the

present time.

3)He recommended that I take a progesterone cream to balance out the

phyto-estrogens I was taking. I will ask my own doctor in a few days

which one is best for me.

4) I can take thyroid at the same time as iodine. This will help

prevent the light-headedness in the AM after a long night without

thyroid. Before this, I was waiting a couple of hours after the AM

iodine to take thyroid because I was worried about getting hyper in

having them together. I realize now that it is an unnecessary worry.

I took them together today and felt great all morning, no light-

headedness.

5) Dr. Flechas recommended 100 mg DHEA for me. I asked if that was

dangerous being so high, but he said, no, that lupus patients get 130

mg per day with no problems. I asked if it would cause problems with

hormones, and he said no. I took 100 mg DHEA today and feel fantastic.

6) I asked if iodine should cause a weight gain, like I've had. He

said no, the weight gain was probably from the metabolism running too

slow, as shown by the low temps.

7) I asked if the potassium chloride (300 mg AM, 200 mg PM), which I

started a few weeks ago, would have had any effect on my body temp to

make it low. He said no. He said it is safe.

I have been dosing symptomatically as necessary with Armour thyroid,

an extra 1/4 grain at a time, and that has helped some with the low

temps.

That's all or now. Hope this helped somebody. I'll let you any

further chapters to the story.

____________________________________________

> > >

> > > The fear of going to sleep and not waking up is instinctive

> > > intuition, please heed this - thyroid levels likely too low.

> > > This is serious, especially with the low body temp.

> > >

> > > Most hypo PTs need more thyroid than you're taking,

> > > 120 mg or more in some cases. Your dr can check your

> > > TSH, free T4 and free T3. TSH needs to be under 2.0,

> > > preferably around 1.0 or a bit lower in a hypo person who is

> > > medicated with thyroid (that is a bit lower than the normal

> > > euthryroid person who will have a TSH around 1.5-1.65).

> > > Free T4 and free T3 are optimal in the upper third of ref range.

> > > There's ref range (not dead), then there's optimal.

> > >

> > > It's well known that high iodine can cause hypo or hyper

> > > thyroid, both are possible. When a substance floods the

> > > system, the body may try to expell the excess, or downregulate

> > > receptors to protect itself from overload.

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I am thinking now that my low temps are from low blood sugar. I don't

know if it's because of the iodine (50 mg) or not, in my case. I am

not diabetic according to past blood tests, but I am a " protein " type

where I *have* to eat sometimes... if you know what I mean!

I did a search in this group's files and found that there was one

other person that said they thought that their low blood sugar was

because of iodine. Has any one else had a blood sugar episode while

on iodine?

Last night I had another scary bout with temps 93 - 94 F & dizzy.

(That's three days in a row). I did take more Armour which brought my

temps up to 96 so that I could sleep without fear. I am thinking now

that what I am dealing with is low blood sugar because last night I

hadn't eaten for five hours (I stayed up late doing some work &

forgot to eat). The two days before this when I had the low temps was

after several hours of not eating, or not having any protein.

The reason why I mention this on the iodine group is because I am

wondering if anyone thinks it's related to iodine's capacity to

highten a person's sensitivity to all the hormones, including insulin?

Normally, before iodine, I could go from suppertime to breakfast

without eating & without any problem.

I absolutely love how iodine makes me feel in the daytime so I'm not

going to give it up. So I will eat every 3-4 hours with a little

protein at every meal, dose as needed with Armour thyroid, and go to

bed earlier so I don't stress my adrenals any more than I have to.

My doctor is learning about iodine, so we will work on this together

next week when I see him (investigate adrenal stress, blood sugar,

blood tests for Free T3 & T4, etc.)

Thanks to everyone on the iodine group. I have learned so much from

you. My apologies to & the group if anything I said was off

topic. I am new to this group and am learning. Thank you for your

patience.

Bye for now.

> > > >

> > > > The fear of going to sleep and not waking up is instinctive

> > > > intuition, please heed this - thyroid levels likely too low.

> > > > This is serious, especially with the low body temp.

> > > >

> > > > Most hypo PTs need more thyroid than you're taking,

> > > > 120 mg or more in some cases. Your dr can check your

> > > > TSH, free T4 and free T3. TSH needs to be under 2.0,

> > > > preferably around 1.0 or a bit lower in a hypo person who is

> > > > medicated with thyroid (that is a bit lower than the normal

> > > > euthryroid person who will have a TSH around 1.5-1.65).

> > > > Free T4 and free T3 are optimal in the upper third of ref

range.

> > > > There's ref range (not dead), then there's optimal.

> > > >

> > > > It's well known that high iodine can cause hypo or hyper

> > > > thyroid, both are possible. When a substance floods the

> > > > system, the body may try to expell the excess, or downregulate

> > > > receptors to protect itself from overload.

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

In my experience Iodoral, 50mg, caused me to nee about half of the insulin I normally take, so I'd say that it is likely causing your low blood sugar episodes. But your plan sounds like a good one.

----- Original Message -----

From: kathrynlapp

Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 3:13 PM

I am thinking now that my low temps are from low blood sugar. I don't know if it's because of the iodine (50 mg) or not, in my case. I am not diabetic according to past blood tests, but I am a "protein" type where I *have* to eat sometimes... if you know what I mean! <snip for digest courtesy>The reason why I mention this on the iodine group is because I am wondering if anyone thinks it's related to iodine's capacity to highten a person's sensitivity to all the hormones, including insulin?