Iodine Overdose?

[mellowjello]

Help please! My Dr. prescribed Iodoral for low iodine levels, and like an idiot, I started today with a whole tablet!!!

I am now dazed, woozy, very out of it (feel drugged), and short of breath. It feels like I need to breathe, but I have to actively will my lungs to inflate and deflate to get enough air.

I am obviously stopping the Iodoral for now, and I've asked Dr. for Lugol's instead so that when I restart I can dilute the dose to ramp up slowly. Any advice in the meantime is much appreciated. I am kind of afraid to go to bed, but feel like maybe I'm overreacting to call the ER.

I think I might be reacting to getting so much potassium at once too, so I am sipping (Real Salt) salt water.

[tanyalynn]

It can mobilize stuff, different stuff for different people (bromide, heavy metals, maybe other stuff?). So stuff to support detox pathways, magnesium, vitamin C (maybe a lot more than you're used to taking), maybe a B complex, maybe B12 (have you already supplemented B12 and you're fine with it? Not often, but occasionally people have issues when they start B12, but if you didn't have issues before, I'd expect now to be fine and helpful). Epsom salt bath, for both the mag and the sulfate.

It's discussed more in The Iodine thread, more nutrients to help with that.

Hope you feel better soon!

eta: salt flushes are one of the things that can help in the longer-term (not sure about acute, but I don't think it would hurt), not for the sodium-potassium balance so much but I _think_ for the chloride side of it... let me see if I can find those links... go down a bit, this page describes it

http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/iprotocol.html

[MyLilPwny]

Wow, I took 1 tablet of Iodoral per day for about a year and I never noticed any symptoms. I thought that one tablet wasn't that much.

[dairy2dogs]

I was feeling horrible yesterday from increasing my Iodoral from 1/2 tablet to a whole. I did 2 salt flushes and they really helped. I took 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt in a half cup water followed by 20 oz of filtered water. I did it twice yesterday. I'm feeling good today.

I hope you feel better. BTW, I agree its probably not the iodine itself causing you to feel sick but more likely the bromide/heavy metal detox it induces.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by ThereseReich

Wow, I took 1 tablet of Iodoral per day for about a year and I never noticed any symptoms. I thought that one tablet wasn't that much.

That's the funny thing, I was the same way. I don't think it correlates strongly with overall health, it's just a very specific thing (and maybe more bromide than heavy metals).

[mellowjello]

Thank you all, I am feeling much better today. I followed Tanya's advice and took some mag, C, B12, and also some milk thistle and my multi for good measure. Within a few hours breathing was much better and this morning I feel pretty much back to normal. Whew! That wasn't fun.

[Panserbjorne]

no fun! Some people don't react if their thyroid is scarred, if they don't have a ton of bromine etc. I know I started with 4 pills and no reaction. However I have worked with many people who couldn't tolerate half a pill. For them supporting detox pathways, using drainage remedies and salt flushes did the trick.

[mellowjello]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

For them supporting detox pathways, using drainage remedies and salt flushes did the trick.

What do you use for drainage remedies?

[Panserbjorne]

I generally use UNDA numbers rather than single dose remedies.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

no fun! Some people don't react if their thyroid is scarred, if they don't have a ton of bromine etc. I know I started with 4 pills and no reaction. However I have worked with many people who couldn't tolerate half a pill. For them supporting detox pathways, using drainage remedies and salt flushes did the trick.

How about having mild reactions to 75 mcg/day?
Nope. No toxicity problems here.

[Panserbjorne]

oh MAN, JR!!!! Yikes! Do you have a new remedy yet?!

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

oh MAN, JR!!!! Yikes! Do you have a new remedy yet?!

No. I'm holding out until after my thyroid lab is run on Monday. It came back low last month.

[Panserbjorne]

Many hugs and much love until then!!!

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

no fun! Some people don't react if their thyroid is scarred, if they don't have a ton of bromine etc. I know I started with 4 pills and no reaction. However I have worked with many people who couldn't tolerate half a pill. For them supporting detox pathways, using drainage remedies and salt flushes did the trick.

You keep saying that and I keep ignoring it. Lalalalalalalala I'm hoping for the low-bromide part instead.

But, _why_ would a scarred thyroid = no bad reaction to iodine? Wait, do you mean "no reaction" or "no bad reaction"? I'm in the no-bad-reaction camp, subtle good stuff at the beginning. Could one have too much bromide but not feel anything if other stuff (thyroid, whatever else is possible) was messed up?

Sorry, I've been curious for ages.

[Panserbjorne]

apparently there is both the no bad reaction and the no reaction. I had no bad reaction...but I had been raw for awhile and likely had less of a dietary issue when it comes to bromine. However I do still wonder about scarring as a possibility.

There are been doctors that have utilized vitamin E to reduce the scarring on the gland and then people DO experience a reaction. In fact it is also recognized that vitamin E allows the gland to use far more of the iodine/iodide.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

apparently there is both the no bad reaction and the no reaction. I had no bad reaction...but I had been raw for awhile and likely had less of a dietary issue when it comes to bromine. However I do still wonder about scarring as a possibility.

There are been doctors that have utilized vitamin E to reduce the scarring on the gland and then people DO experience a reaction. In fact it is also recognized that vitamin E allows the gland to use far more of the iodine/iodide.

hmmmm.
I take vitamin E (bc my diet tends to be deficient). I wonder if increasing C would help somewhat (since it recycles E)? Although maybe where I'm running short is B3, since it's the only one in the quartet (selenium, E, C and B3) that I'm not presently supplementing separately. (eta: technically it's a quintet since glutathione's in there too but..)

[Panserbjorne]

It sounds like you have a wonderful handle on things! At some point it is trial and error because all of what we *know* (or think we know) doesn't apply with different variables. You have your head wrapped around the process so you can certainly tweak and see what happens.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

It sounds like you have a wonderful handle on things! At some point it is trial and error because all of what we *know* (or think we know) doesn't apply with different variables. You have your head wrapped around the process so you can certainly tweak and see what happens.

Well, my thought process is this: if my body is having an increased demand of E bc I increased iodine/iodide and it is using them to rebuild, I need to increase my E support. Vitamin C recycles E, but it is in turn recycled by glutathione which is recycled using b3 and selenium. I'm pretty sure my glutathione has HUGE demands already (and is fairly difficult to supp), so that might be the best thing to support. If nothing else, it may help with the detox by decreasing the burden elsewhere. (Just throwing this out for my logic to be independently appraised. )

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

apparently there is both the no bad reaction and the no reaction. I had no bad reaction...but I had been raw for awhile and likely had less of a dietary issue when it comes to bromine. However I do still wonder about scarring as a possibility.

There are been doctors that have utilized vitamin E to reduce the scarring on the gland and then people DO experience a reaction. In fact it is also recognized that vitamin E allows the gland to use far more of the iodine/iodide.

I wonder if scarring isn't the first stage on the way to nodules?

By scarring could this be what's known as a symporter defect? Where the iodine cannot get in and therefore a person might look like they have just fine iodine stores by high amounts on their iodine urine test. But really it's just not getting in.
www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-13/IOD_13.htm
www.optimox.com/pics/Iodine/IOD-11/IOD_11.htm

Congrats on hanging out your shingle! Post a pic of yourself on the About page!

[JaneS]

OP,

Celtic Sea Salt has about 10x more minerals than Real Salt so you might consider switching. It is more expensive but you are getting more nutrients, there is reason why the iodine researchers rec this brand.