I took too much iodine, is there anything to do?

[Punchy Kaby]

I started supplementing iodine a couple months ago starting slowly and working my way up to 8 mg a day. I was having some side effects, Mostly grogginess, but not too bad so I decided to push it up to 19 mg which is one drop of the potassium iodide that I am taking. Big mistake, I had a whole lot more energy yesterday and today (the two days I took 19 mg) but now I am wide awake in the middle of the night.

Is there anything I can do to help my body get over this 'rush'? Should I back off to nothing for a few days or should I back off to the 8mg my body was used to? Should I try to eat some goitrogens? I went swimming in a chlorinated pool yesterday, could that have worsened things?

[Punchy Kaby]

I thought I should add that I am taking supporting nutrients b complex, magnesium mostly from Epsom salt baths, selenium, sea salt on some days.

[tanyalynn]

I'd up your nutritional support. If you tolerate oral mag supplements, I'd do that, more vitamin C, and consider a multivit if you're having difficulty with increasing your iodine.

I'd stop the iodine altogether til you feel better, then stick at a dosage that seems manageable... how high do you want to go? Are you looking for specific benefits that you haven't gotten yet? I haven't decided on a supplementation plan for myself yet, I'm winging it, so I'm really interested.

Do you think this is due to overactive thyroid, or insomnia due to lack of mag and/or other nutrients to make melatonin?

[Punchy Kaby]

Thanks for answering Tanyalynn. I am Roughly following the yahoo vitamin k protocol. I have problems with oxalates and the theory behind the vit k protocol is that the thyroid and rest of the body is producing oxalates due to lack of iodine. I also have fatty cysts on several parts of my body and some more general issues. I did not have a specific high dose in mind, I go a lot by feel. The dose suggested on vit k is really high for a loading dose (3 x 19 mg per day) and I never intended to get that high.

I had bad planning too, I quit eating grains a few days before I tried the higher dose of iodine. Quitting grains alone is enough to throw me out of whack and give me an energy buzz. I am feeling a bit anxious during the day and I wonder if it wasn't an anxiety attack last night? I took magnesium and rescue remedy and went to back to a solid sleep after an hour. I took oral magnesium throughout the day as well as extra p5p to make sure I was absorbing it. I need to look at melatonin precursors...although I do have some melatonin in the cabinet.

I also take CLO. I need to look into a multi, there is probably something I am missing. JaneS or someone had mention a good whole foods one on the iodine thread.

[tanyalynn]

Ah, okay. I'm vaguely familiar with the vitamin k yahoo list protocol. I've looked at it more for the fat soluble vitamin dosages since we don't have oxalate problems.

Ah... you should Search Panserbjorne's old posts on iodine and salt flushes, she has a link to a page that discusses it more. It's helpful if bromine is part of the problem with increasing your iodine dosage... basically it's just a lot of sea salt in a glass of water, though the amount and timing are good to read, it helps flush out excess bromine to speed up a person's tolerance of iodine (if they have problems tolerating it). May help with your iodine tolerance, though yeah, big dietary changes can cause their own imbalances for a bit.

Hope you feel back to normal, or better than that, soon.

[JaneS]

Salt flush protocol here: http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/iprotocol.html

I like whole foods B complex from MegaFood but I never bother with multi's as rule, they don't seem to have the right forms that I want. I dont know if MF has a multi or not.

Reportedly epsoms salt baths do NOT provide the body with adequate magnesium b/c its not in the right form. they're great but for sulfate only. I have personally found that to be true, I can tell I'm not getting my mag. levels met by epsoms salts only. I alternate with trandermal mag baths or oil/gel.

[Punchy Kaby]

Thanks JaneS! It's been awhile since I looked at the breastcancer website. I think my symptoms were definitely bromine detox. I have been doing the magnesium oil the past few days and feel a difference. Yesterday, I put in on in the morning and felt like I needed a nap.

Megafoods doesn't say what 'form'(hydroxycobalamin for b12 for instance) the vitamin is in, just that it us from a wholefood.