Re: new and want to handle goiter

[Guest guest]

> One other thing: I am only open to natural remedies. It scares me

> when something is 'prescription' but I know that this is sometimes just

> beurocracy (sp?). I don't take any pharmaceuticals and am not even

> sure whether Armour is one or not (I think it's natural, wish I could

> resolve that once and for all).

> Could I up my iodine without testing first? Like with kelp?

> Esmeralda

In the US, Armour requires a prescription. It is available from overseas

sources without a prescription. The main component is dessicated thyroid

from pigs, which is natural for pigs. It's quite similar to the thyroid

hormones that people naturally produce, except the ratios of T3 to T4 differ

a bit from the human ratio. There are also other ingredients that are not

natural, which are called fillers and excipients, and which are added to

facilitate the manufacturing process.

Certain vitamins, minerals, and hormones are required for the body to

produce and metabolize thyroid hormone, iodine being one of them. Sometimes

ensuring you have an adequate supply of these co-requirements is sufficient

to restore normal thyroid levels. If not, there is not substitute for

thyroid replacement, either as dessicated thyroid (most natural and best,

imo) or as a synthetic substitute, such as Synthroid.

You can up your iodine without testing first, but if you are a Hashi's

patient, you need to pay particular attention to how your body is reacting.

Not everyone reacts favorably. The advantage of testing first is that you

have a known baseline which might be helpful in sorting out what follows.

The disadvantage of kelp is that the iodine quantity varies greatly in kelp,

so you don't have a good idea of how much you're getting and how

consistently. Most kelp has been found to be high in arsenic levels, too.

Many Hashi patients react unfavorably to kelp but tolerate Iodoral or

Lugol's well. You may think kelp is better because it's natural, but as a

Hashi's patient I think you're better with synthetic Iodoral. You can

control how much iodine/iodide you're getting, you don't have toxic metals

to deal with, and you don't have plant proteins to confound your tolerance.

Lynn

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the complete and helpful answer. Do you have any

suggestions on what the 'known baseline' would be? Is this symptoms or

something else.

Esmeralda

>

> You can up your iodine without testing first, but if you are a Hashi's

> patient, you need to pay particular attention to how your body is

reacting.

> Not everyone reacts favorably. The advantage of testing first is

that you

> have a known baseline which might be helpful in sorting out what

follows.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your thorough and clear answer. It makes perfect sense.

I have to send for the test. My alternative doc checked me out with

muscle testing but also did the 'patch test' and said I did not need

iodine, so I don't want to go through him as he may be biased (due to

unreliable 'patch test'). So again, thank you,

Esmeralda

> save on express mail. But if I was dealing with a goiter and/or

Hashi's, my

> bias would be to get testing. Having less than ideal thyroid

metabolism

> does do the body wrong.

>

> Lynn

>

>

[Guest guest]

I'm rereading this thread. What is the treatment for faulty NIS? Is

this something that my kinesiologist could do with me (the treatment,

not the testing).

I called the lab to order the test and they haven't called back. Not

a good start..

Esmeralda

>

> Esmeralda,

> The iodine loading test determines how much iodine is excreted in

urine over

> 24 hrs. after consuming an initial Iodoral dose of 50 mg at the

start of the

> test. The test result is calculated as the amount of iodine

> determine if you are one of the people that might have problems

with your

> sodium iodine symporter (NIS). People with a faulty NIS have had

seemingly

> paradoxical results when taking iodine. Their initial iodine

loading test

> showed a higher level than when their test was repeated several

months after

> consistent iodine supplementation. The iodine docs figured out

these people

> had a faulty NIS.

>

> The NIS is the system that transports the iodine/iodide molecule

across the

> cell membrane. A faulty NIS system can be corrected once it's

identified.

> But if you have a faulty NIS system, if you don't do the iodine

loading test

> before supplementing, you can spend months supplementing and not

achieve any

> better iodine sufficiency, and not have any improvement in

symptoms. If you

> don't test first, but supplement for a while, and then take the

iodine

> loading test, and still have so-so results, you won't know if you

have a

> faulty NIS system or just need a higher dose of iodine/iodide. It

takes two

> different iodine loading tests with a course of iodine/iodide

> supplementation inbetween to know if you have a faulty NIS system.

>

> On

> >

> > >

> > > You can up your iodine without testing first, but if you are a

Hashi's

> > > patient, you need to pay particular attention to how your body

is

> > reacting.

> > > Not everyone reacts favorably. The advantage of testing first

is

> > that you

> > > have a known baseline which might be helpful in sorting out what

> > follows.

>