So apparently iodine's the new folic acid...

[Smokering]

I got my BFP yesterday at a midwife's clinic, and she asked if I was taking folic acid, to which I smugly said "Yup!" - and then she said "OK, and do you know about iodine? That's a new one".

I hadn't heard of iodine supplementation, but apparently most women are low in it, it's essential for brain development, and it's almost impossible to get an adequate supply from dietary sources. So I got a small bottle of pills.

Has anyone else heard of this? I mentioned it to SIL, who's 20 weeks pregnant, and they didn't mention it to her - so either it's a very new protocol, or... I dunno! I wonder if NZ soil is particularly iodine-deficient?

[WifeofAnt]

I used iodized sea salt... does that count?

[Ellen Griswold]

I've never heard of this. And congratulations!

[~Demeter~]

My doctor had me on Iodoral, not necessarily for the pregnancy but for my own health (breast and otherwise). We are deficient in iodine because of white flours and stuff like that, the bromine (is it bromine.. or bromide???) in the flour (and processed foods) takes over for the iodine. Or something to that effect... I"m tired, lol, so not fully capable of forming an intelligent statement.

As for iodine while pregnant, around 12ish weeks a lot of women have an increased craving for salt (iodine) because the baby's thyroid is developing at that time and it's totally necessary for the thyroid.

[macandcheese]

Ack—now I'm paranoid. I get probably close to no iodine. We use sea salt that's not iodized, and I don't eat much seafood. Boo.

ETA: Dr. Google informs me that dairy product and soy products have a decent iodine content. Panic averted!

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

How much to take? I know my prenatal has the standard amount.

[Smokering]

Sorry - I didn't mean to make anyone panic!

Doesn't natural (unrefined) salt have naturally-occurring iodine in it anyway? Maybe it's just trace amounts...

My little pills are 150 mcg, one per day. The little factoid sheet I got said that it is very hard to get adequate iodine from diet alone. Then again, it was one of those bland little government-issue pamphlets, so I don't necessarily trust it. I eat a LOT of eggs and more fish and Swiss chard than I imagine the average Kiwi diet contains. According to the sheet pregnant women should try to eat iodine-rich foods AND take the tablets (which is my approach to folic acid too)...

Meh. I dunno. Just thought it was interesting. My SIL wasn't recommended it from the very same practice, so maybe the government's just started instituting it - if it weren't for the pamphlet I'd have been tempted to think it was just a quirk of this particular midwife.

ETA: It sounds like the dose in my pills can't hurt, at any rate - the suggested upper tolerance limit for pregnant women over 19 is 1,100mcg. Way over the daily dosage.

ETA again: If anyone's interested, the info here seems quite good. Apparently iodine is recommended in the case of multiple miscarriages.

[L&K'smommie]

I started taking iodine for thyroid support about 2 weeks before I got my BFP. I called my ANP and she said to continue taking it. SO I am...plus Selenium as well. She gave me a book to read on Iodine...I'll have to find the name of it again. She said most women are deficient.

[mom61508]

I agree that iodine is absolutely essential especially during pregnancy BUT I would be extremely cautious of how much I took during pregnancy as to much can cause detoxification. There's no set amount on that it depends on the person.

I use real sea salt which has a very small amount but to get more I use Maine Coast kelp granules seaveg.com whole foods also carries it now I believe. It's been heavy metal tested so that's why I like this brand. It's tasteless so you can easily sprinkle it on food. Iodoral IMO is to strong to start during pregnancy. Also If you have thyroid issues make sure you get your antibodies checked to rule out hashimotos because to much iodine can cause a thyroid flare. I've researched this a lot

[clutterbug]

Huh, that's really interesting. My dad has been undergoing treatments for thyroid cancer for a couple of years...once a year he has the treatment, and he has to diet for a couple of weeks beforehand to get his iodine levels very low. He can barely eat ANYTHING on that diet...so I guess it's not something I thought was hard to get through food. I wonder if my multivitamin has some in it...

[IdentityCrisisMama]

My prenatal as 150 mcg.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

Originally Posted by L&K'smommie

I started taking iodine for thyroid support about 2 weeks before I got my BFP. I called my ANP and she said to continue taking it. SO I am...plus Selenium as well. She gave me a book to read on Iodine...I'll have to find the name of it again. She said most women are deficient.

so did I! I was really nervous to continue taking it, I started my prenatals that have 150mcg, plus i began taking about 400mcg in pill form from kelp, right around when i concieved, and we have been trying for a long time. I got nervous about taking so much though and only took the extra 400mcg every other day for a couple weeks after my bfp, and then stopped taking it and am now trying to eat more seafood now, plus the 150mcg from the prenatal. I do use iodized sea salt in cooking as well, but from what i understand a lot of prepackaged stuff doesn't have iodized salt, which may be the cause for the deficit in many people. I know I was on a very low salt vegan diet for about 5 months while ttc, which may have lowered my iodine levels, but I gave that up a couple months before conceiving.

[AFWife]

This is interesting because MIL told me she knew a woman that tried for YEARS to get pregnant and couldn't...she went in for a full blood panel and found out she was low in iodine. They put her on a supplement and she conceived in a few months.

[HRJ]

I would be careful with iodine during PG - you CAN take too much and it can be harmful to the baby.

My OB had me on Ioderol before PG b/c of fibrocystic breasts. He is very cool - does bioidentical hormone balancing and told me to take querecetin for interstitial cystitis. He also puts his patients on Optivite to help them conceive. He is all for vitamin D supplementation as well (his limit is 4000 units a day). But he took me off the Ioderol when I got my positive pregnancy test b/c it was too much and could harm the baby.

My acupuncturist agreed that you should take a really good prenatal vitamin that has some iodine in it (and she's very into kelp), but she agreed to stop the Ioderal and that you can take too much.

[Lady Lilya]

You can also have some detox reactions when you start on iodine. Most people I know had some intense response to it. They found they had to work up to the full dose over weeks to keep the symptoms manageable. (When I tried iodine, i didn't get any symptoms until i was at a pretty large dose and my poop looked dark greenish for a few days.)

Anyway, it can't be ESSENTIAL to brain development, because my DS has a brain, and a pretty decent one at that, and I didn't sup with iodine until years after he was born.

[Karamom]

I thought I read somewhere on MDC that is you have fluoridated water you will need more iodine.

[Smokering]

NZ does have fluoridated water, sadly.

Ioderol is what I'm on. How is it too much? It's way below the RDA - is it in some particularly noxious form, or...?

[HRJ]

Originally Posted by Smokering

NZ does have fluoridated water, sadly.

Ioderol is what I'm on. How is it too much? It's way below the RDA - is it in some particularly noxious form, or...?

I would have to ask my acupuncturist again what the limit is. But both my acupuncturist and my OB who put me on Ioderal for fibrocystic breast disease(who is very laid back and told me to take querecetin while PG and also does the bioidentical hormones) said it was not okay to take Ioderal while PG.