The Iodine Crisis

iodine-crisis-jacketI read The Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow yesterday and was so impressed, I can barely put it into words.  I’m absolutely convinced my wife and I are iodine deficient.  This is a book every woman who doesn’t want to get breast cancer or a mastectomy should read and probably every man with chronic health issues.

In the book, you will read about many people who solved their chronic health problems with 50 mg a day of iodine. I was supplementing with one drop of liquid potassium iodide containing 75 mcg a day.  The dropper bottle I have contains 480 drops —  so I would need  to drink about 1.5 of these bottles a day to get that 50 mg.

I actually did drink half a bottle yesterday (17mg) and half a bottle today and Amazon will deliver Iodoral and Lugol’s next week so that I can continue my titration starting lower.

For those readers curious about what Andy Cutler says about iodine, here’s an excerpt from this post where Andy response to the statement “The fact that Andy doesn’t mention iodine doesn’t mean that it is not useful supplement”:

Correct. I did NOT write a bible. I wrote a book.  What Hazel says above is the generally received wisdom in the alternative medicine community what iodine does. Most of it appears to be accurate.

But, he also says a lot more about iodine and you’ll want to read the whole thread before deciding for yourself. If you do take iodine, check out the FAQ and  companion nutrient list on CureZone!

Thanks to Tara and Viking Ex-Pat at MercOver for bringing this valuable book to my attention. The iodine story reminds me a lot of the story told by Dr. Klenner’s work in Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C and the singular Safe Uses of Cortisol by William Jeffries. All three tell the story of essential tools that MDs have forgotten how to use because there’s no money in promoting or prescribing them.

UPDATE: Want to see my temperature graph?  Check it out –  my body temperature is normalizing!

71 thoughts to “The Iodine Crisis”

  1. Hi Eric…glad you had success with the iodine! I am MTHFR hetero for A1298. I’m wondering how safe it is for people with MTHFR issues to take large amounts of the cofactors, the B2 and B3. I guess for b2 we should take the R5p which is the active form…concerned about the higher levels of niacin. I can’t find much info for the iodine protocol for people with MTHFR…all the protocols simply say take the ATP cofactors, B2 & B3. Any insight? Thanks!

    1. Hi Kim, you raise a good point. I think if you’re going to take significant amounts of niacin you should take it at night and make sure you’re getting lots of methyl donors. A lecithin supplement might be a good idea. And if you think your methylation could be deficient, then mfolate and mb12 too.

      However, I’m not sure whether the no-flush niacin absorbs methyl donors the way the regular niacin does. I suspect it doesn’t in which case, there’s not much to worry about…

      1. Thanks so much!! I started on iodine about three weeks ago. I’d already been doing the cofactors (except the high dose b2/b3) for quite some time. I’ve been good about taking my hydroxy b12 and folate too. I’m doing great so far!! No issues with the b2/b3. Currently at 3 drops orally and 2 drops topically of the 5%.

  2. Can you please tell me where Andy Cutler criticises Abraham and Brownstein for their research? I can only find his support of it….

  3. I had some mixed results with high doses(>50mg). Did seem to have some good detox properties. I’ve seen several things that suggest that the bigger problem people have is mild or worse acidosis, which iodine is likely to make worse(many people are hypothyroid because it reduces acid production). Iodide was probably an ancient antioxidant, I don’t see much benefit to lugols over KI.

  4. hi I am fairly new to all of this… but now on the path. I read through all of these comments and was wondering if I could hear a bit of progress updates seeing that the the last post is 2 yrs old now

    1. I only take 12 mg a day now and don’t bother checking my temperatures anymore because I’m always very warm in the evenings – seems to be connected to methylation support also…

  5. I am taking 50 mg of iodine (8 drops of Lugol’s 5%) from one month and still my temp was not increased. It still 35.9 C at wake up and average 36.4 C along the day. I also taking 200 mcg of selenium.

  6. In the yahoo frequent dose chelation group, Andy Cutler warns against following the high dose iodine protocol promoted by Brownstein and Abraham and blasts them for their garbage research.

  7. Eric,
    Did you check 24 hour urine for iodine?
    I check it seem my 24 hour urine level is high, so i am not taking any Iodine.
    Susan MercuryTrouble

    1. hi Susan, I haven’t done that – I don’t do much testing anymore. Just navigating by reactions… I’m sure it would show high iodine but there are some things that need penetrating doses in my opinion. I know that I have a long way to go with my methylation support, probably six more months of titrating up. But undoubtedly my urine would show high levels.

  8. Eric, these Iodine doses you are talking about and taking are huge. Way above the daily recommended allowance. I have been taking Iodine drops for about 2 yrs now. 2-3 drops most days of the week. I was put on them by my CFS doctor after a hair analysis test showed zero Iodine and also another mineral ratio I think Ca/K was way out of whack and indicated hypothyroidism. I would say I felt worse for many months after first taking the drops. I think I worked it to about 3mg a day. The times I have tried to double the dose it would feel (and I would also look it) like I was hyperthyroid. I had more energy no doubt about it but I could not think straight. I could not stay on 6 drops a day feeling so stressed out & anxious, let alone taking ten times the amount that you talk about here.  Isn’t that a sign that I’m taking too much when I swing over to hyperthyroid?

    1. hi Sam, are you measuring your body temperature? I think that’s the first step. You mention “the times I have tried to double the dose”… That’s something I would never do myself. I only increased my doses very slowly and even then it give me headaches on the days I increased. Are you taking the iodine cofactors?

      1. Eric.No I m not measuring my body temperature. I never really feel cold like hypothyroid case. In fact I had good cold tolerance and poor heat tolerance. With the later I think I am possibly solving this with Methylation protocol I started up again recently. Very good outcome if it sticks, but that’s for another msg.  I dont have a thermometer around and been too tired to really be consciousnesses when it came to monitoring aspects of my health.
        I was originally put on 1-2 drops per day by my CFS doc, but nothing really happened that I could specifically tie back to the Iodine, except my health went down hill around this time. I was on Vit D3 high dose and pyroluria treatment as well.
        I started it up a few months ago and was taking 2 drops a day but never really noticed much then 3 drops. I was also doing coffee enemas at the time for detox, and when I added the drops (3-4) to that, wow then I noticed the really hyper effect, Yeh I know its somewhat an irregular method of ingestion. lol. Why the effect should be so much more pronounced via that way I don’t know.
        I have a new bottle of Iodine now. Lugols solution (10% Pot Iodide/5% Iodine), and I am taking 6 drops as part of a loading phase. It seems to help me with energy + cognition but nothing dramatic as per when I did it with the coffee enemas. Its a little hard to isolate its effect now as I am doing Fredds Methylation protocol and also focusing on making my body more alkaline (it has low ph to my surprise as I eat plenty of veges and not too much on meat/bread). I think 6 drops is a fair dose, so maybe I am adjusting to it better now.
        Thanks for your reply.

  9. Ok im waiting on it to come in but in the mean time is the niacin in my multivitamin depleting the methylcobalamin and defeating its purpose and also the vit c in my multivitamin depleting it as well.

    1. The amounts you would find in a multi are going to be so small, they’re irrelevant. Furthermore, you will be titrating up the B12s, so you will eventually get the amount you need based on how you feel which will overcome any small amount of antagonist in the multivitamin…

  10. Oh and I was taking 3 of my multi not 6…i just know methylfolate is a must when taking methylcobalamin in order to not createca methyl trap so I wanted to be sure the methylfolate in my multi is enough and absorbed since it has vit c as well and thought that vitc depleted methylcobalamin and methylfolate? 
     

  11. So I have been taking half of a 1000mcg sublingual methylcobalamin.  Then I know I need to add methylfolate but is it enough that its in my multi by Thorne Basic Nutrients lll  or do I need a separate one?  I read that vit c cancels out the methyfolate so they are both in the multi so what should I do next?  And how much more methylcobalamin should I take?  I guess I need a separate methylfolate too?  

    1. The one that most people tolerate well and get much benefit from is adb12/dibencozide. Try taking 1/8 tablet every day of the source naturals brand.

      Be very careful with the methylfolate. I would not add any more yet…

  12. Ok im sorry its just so overwhelming and im a bit confused.  But, I have been taking Thorne Basic Nutrients lll multivitamin that contains the right kind of Bs and I got them before I knew that I needed the sublingual to really absorb it but for the past e days I have had really bad insomnia and like really alert all day and night so I am wondering if my body is absorbing it and its too much?  I hate feeling like this and dont feel normal at all.  What can I do?
     

    1. Well, that’s the problem with multivitamins – if you’re sensitive to one ingredient, you don’t have any way to reduce that one thing, or to know which one it is… Some people have a problem with choline (I’m one of them). and if you are sensitive which, it seems you are based on this experience, you’ll need to start with smaller amounts.

      How many of these capsules did you take and at what time of day? If you took six of them, you may want to start with just one capsule first thing in the morning. That might solve the problem. If not, you probably want to start with just 1/8 tablet of adb12/dibencozide and nothing else…

  13. What is hydroxocobalamin, do I need that?  Oes taking /8th of abd12 every two weeks stay the same or do I increase it and how much methylcobalamin do I take evryday? The whole tablet?  Also do I need to take methylfolate with th8se as well?

    1. I believe hydroxocobalamin is an inactive form of b12. The 1/8 tablet of ADB12 is an amount appropriate for taking daily. You do not need to take methylfolate with the other stuff to get started. You’re asking so many questions and apparently not reading much on your own so, I’m uncomfortable laying out a plan for you that involves taking multiple things at once. If you want advice, I don’t mind giving it but only one step at a time. If you want to take one eighth tablet of source naturals adb12 each day, try that and let me know how it goes. I’ll suggest the next thing after you’ve done that for a few days…

  14. Hi Eric,
     
    Just reading through your B12 information, thankyou so much for putting all this together it’s fantasic. I’ve tried 500mcg of B12 on a few occasions but everytime I have to have a long break as I have quite strong reactions. I hope to be able to get started with it at some point though.
    In relation to the iodine I too had quite a reaction to it like Tara. I only did a patch test using 1100mcg (which disappeared in 1/2hr) and I had all the symptoms of a bromine detox. As with the B12 I would like to try again at some point.
    I’m wondering if it is okay to undergo a B12 protocol and iodine protocol at the same time? However like you say the B3 contradicts!
     

    1. I did do the iodine titration and B12 startup at the same time and did have reactions from both. So yes it’s possible, you just need to make sure not to make b12 increases and iodine at the same time. And, you want to start with very small amounts. If you don’t tolerate 500 mcg, you may want to try 125 mcg. Or even safer, start with 1/8 tablet dibencozide instead.

      1. According to Yasko, based on my 23andme results I should take a mixture of Methyl B12 and Hydroxy B12.  I’ve not tried both forms together yet, maybe tomorrow if I’m feeling brave! I tried the Hydroxy about a week ago and it made me really angry for a couple of days. When I tried the Methyl prior to this it gave me instant brain fog and was really intense mentally, racing thoughts and delirium. I think a small dose is in order.
         
        Maybe if I get in a good place with either the B12 or iodine I can then add in the remainder.

        1. For anyone that has been ill for years, these protocols have to be followed slowly and it takes a lot of time! I guess the fact that you got angry after taking hydroxy means you convert easily to active forms. Sounds like you are on the right track with small doses…

          1. It is a slow a slow painful process for sure! Thankyou for your input. Wishing you well…
             

    1. “Just had my second temperature reading at 98.6°F!”

      The second one is almost the best, since it is difficult to really belive the first one…..

      Iodine can really be a miracle and my guess it that literally millions of people are eating thyroid meds that they don’t need. But with all the bromide and flouride around, many people get detox reactions if they start iodine and then they conclude that it is something bad. And our dear friends in the medical profession are only to happy to keep people scared of iodine. Lots of money to be made from pills and cancer operations! Also, I have a feeling that the almost unreal number of obese people in the US is linked to the massive use of bromide and flouride.  

      Anyway, I am now almost done with day 5 and it was a walk in the park. No sfx what so ever and the sun finally came out here so I worked in the garden most of the day.

      Are you still on round? New record for you (number of days)?

      1. You’re right about not believing the first high reading, I sort of ignored it. But now with the trend headed up so reliably, I’m convinced!

        Yeah, healthcare (and food industry) in the US is a really obscene situation.

        Awesome that you had no side effects! I also love to garden although I don’t really do it anymore because of my fatigue and sensitivity to sun. Used to do bonsai also. It’s funny but the other day I thought how people like me are almost like bonsai’s – all twisted up and stunted by their health problems.

        I’m still on round, and will stop tomorrow at day seven. Going well and something strange happened yesterday which I’m going to blog about now:)

  15. Hi Eric and group,
    It’s wonderful to hear your reports in experimenting with iodine-dosing amounts and/or the companion nutrients.
    As you’ve found, the salt loading strategy really can knock away most detox symptoms.
    I wanted to add, that if anyone is just starting iodine, try to find an online IQ test and take it as a baseline. So many people have reported the profound neurological component of iodine therapy that a test may be helful in tracking progress. Not that the IQ test is valuable in itself for showing your intelligence, but it may show some of the PROGRESS of detoxing metals and toxins as well as nourishing your brain with iodine.
    Continued success to the community you have found,
    Lynne Farrow
    The Iodine Crisis: What You Don’t Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life

    1. Thanks Lynne, I increased my iodine this morning to 25 mg and am looking forward to getting up to 50! Thinking I will try the salt push every time I do an increase…

    2. Hi Lynne.  I want to thank you for all the work you’ve done with iodine research, and for sharing it with all of us, but I do have one large suggestion I’d like to make…

      It would be nice if there were more talk and support out there for those that aren’t tolerating iodine.  I tried one drop each of 2% Lugol’s, on two separate occasions, and had awful reactions both times.  I know that it is said that the worse your reactions, the more you need it, but for me, the reactions I had are not something that salt flushing can alleviate. 

      The second time I tried it, especially, I ended up with a high fever, seizure-like symptoms, and I could barely walk for 24 hours.  It was awful and scary.  You can read more about it, if you wish, on my blog:  http://mercover.wordpress.com/
      I have emailed with a few other people privately, off the Yahoo Iodine list, as each of us have tried bringing up this topic on the list, but with no real response.  Others have said there seems to be not much room for doubt on the list.  I am not the only one who’s had severe reactions to the iodine and not been able to tolerate it.  It seems that others who are chemically sensitive have great issues. 

      I think this is something that should be discussed for those getting into iodine.  As I am learning, and also talking to others who have both chelated and used iodine, a couple have said that things go much, much better if you chelate prior to doing the iodine protocol.  And this makes sense, eliminating the greatest source of mercury from the body, with iodine cleaning up the residuals in the thyroid.
      Anyway, point being, I would have loved to have more information and support, being someone who’s extremely chemically sensitive, as to what to expect, and more importantly, that some of us aren’t ready for iodine.  Too much detoxing stress on the liver, too many mobilized chemicals in the bloodstream, are a nightmare for those of us with MCS. 

      Again, thanks for all you’ve done, and I sincerely hope others out there in my position have more information and support when they’re thinking about trying iodine.

      1. Hi Tara,
         
        Thanks so much for your thoughts. I’m sorry you’ve had a tough time. Early on in the Iodine Movement I noticed that many doctors and patients expected iodine takers to tough it out beginning at a 50 mg dosage. I argued that the salt loading protocol be essential and that starting slowly was important or high doses would drive away the people who needed iodine most. I tried to make it clear in my book. But I didn’t. 

        Apparently, starting “slowly” has many interpretations. In the revised edition of The Iodine Crisis I’ll be addressing SLOW dosing for those who are sensitive for whatever reason. People who are sensitive cannot even tolerate one drop of Lugol’s applied to the heel in the morning. On our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/309122002556036/ and other online forums I frequent, I make sure people like you get attention and create a system to tolerate iodine. You are not alone.

        Please look at my page on heel dosing. http://www.lynnefarrow.net/sensitive
        Since you had a bad experience, I expect you are hesitant to try again while detoxing mercury. But it may make the detox process easier because you are strengthening the adrenals and thyroid at the same time.

        Best of luck,
        Lynne

        1. Thanks, Lynne.  I really appreciate your feedback.  Iodine is definitely still a part of my long-term plan, but as you suspected, I am definitely hesitant to try another drop at this point.  I will definitely read up on the heel dosing, and make another attempt in another 6 months or so, after another 20-30 rounds of chelation.  I’ll be happy to report how it goes.  Thanks again for providing support and direction.
          Warmest regards,
          Tara

  16. I am about to venture into this experiment myself since i read Lynn’s book this week.  thanks for sharing your story.  will be checking back in to see how you go. all the best!

    1. Let me know what happens Emily:)

      It’s going well for my wife and I so far. I’ll be increasing again soon to 23 mg…

  17. ” I’m guessing you’re limiting quantities now?”

    Very good guess! I have done several coconut oil fasts over the past 2 years. I like it because it has very strong anti candida effects and also I never feel hungry. The downside is that I get something that you are very familiar with: insomnia. My thinking is that it drives up cortisol. The way around it seems to be to take one high protein meal close to bedtime, combined with a fairly high dose (300 mg) PS. So that is what I do and the rest of the day is only coconut oil, in total about 100 grams a day.

    I think that what happened is that when I started detox, with lots of supplements, chelation and iodine, my elimination system probably got overloaded and some toxins got stored in fat tissue, diluted with water. The weight gain was so fast (20 pounds in a month) that I strongly suspect that a lot of it is water. So I am hoping that at some point the weight will come off as fast as it came on. But all attempts have failed over the past 18 months, so we will just have to see…

    1. hmmm, Coconut oil fasting doesn’t sound too healthy. But, I would probably do it myself if I could tolerate it but I would have gastritis in one hour! What else have you tried?

  18. I boosted my Iodine up by 3 mg or so a couple days ago and got the ‘frontal headache’ again. Now I can see it is pretty reliable when I increase dose, and I’m being convinced this is the bromide headache – so I’ve been converted somewhat to the ‘detox thinking’ on this… I’m also using it topically so getting substantially more than the 16 mg I take orally.

    Interesting to read about Mesentery painting on cure zone. People seem to believe it has different effects when used topically. I can’t say.

    But I can tell you is I didn’t sleep well at all last night because of the headache and a sharp pain in my side/abdomen on the left side which I can’t identify. Seems muscular but comes and goes. As I lay there half-asleep at 4 AM I also had a brief calf cramp and thought maybe I needed more potassium, but now midday that seems unlikely.

     

    1. The frontal lobe headache is something that I am familiar with. I also get it sometimes when hiking iodine doses. In my case, it tends to go away if I do a salt push.

      The pain in the left side may be something that I also get. But it is not really on the abdomen but rather on the outside of the ribs. Maybe it is different from yours? I think that mine is very much related to bromide detox (the timing fits) but I have no idea what it is that hurts…. Sometimes I also get it on the right side, but that sort of makes more sense, since one can assume that it is related to the liver. Then again, who knows…

      Right now, I am doing high dose iodine again (180 mg) combined with a very hard diet to try to lose some weight. I put on about 20 pounds when I started my detox and so far it has been impossible to get rid of. But it is looking promising this time! I have done a week and will try for a month. 

      1. I’ll try the salt thing if it happens during the day, but in the evening it would be counterproductive because too much water makes it hard to stay asleep. Fortunately, it seems the headaches happen on the first day or two after increasing iodine and then they are over:) Also they are often short-lived.

        The sharp pain I had was below the ribs about an inch and is also gone. I think it was muscular, but as you say who knows!

        What is your diet like? I remember you said you follow Atkins? I’m guessing you’re limiting quantities now?

        This morning I thought I may be gaining weight too, after thinking I was losing for a while. It might just be that the summer is here and whenever I’m more active, I have to eat a lot more to support the extra activity. Or it could be the extra cortisol I’m taking now.

      2. Viking, I’ll be curious to hear more about the diet and weight loss.  I’m finally coming to peace with what seems to be an impossible side effect to control…  I had mentioned previously how I, too, gained 20 pounds within the first 7 weeks of chelation. 

        I literally felt myself ballooning up within the first few days on my first round.  I seem to deflate and flush a bit out every now and then, some mornings I wake up and it seems less.  But then it also comes back in a few hours again…  I keep thinking of the saying:  “The solution to pollution is dilution.”  That our bodies are diluting the toxins as they come out, and as we’ve read from bromide detox, often the rate at which we’re detoxing is too fast for our kidneys to filter.  The result is toxins trapped in our cells, leading to water retention and bloat. 

        I think chelation is similar to bromide detox or any other detox, for that matter.  I can’t say for sure, but this is the best understanding I’ve come to at this point.  I strongly suspect that once I get all the HM’s and other garbage out, my body won’t need to bloat up like it has been.  Either at that point, when I’m emptied out, or when I stop chelating, my hunch is that my weight will go back to where it was when I started chelating.  It has to, since I’m eating the same bland veggies and organic chicken I was back then!    😉  

        I’m at least glad to know you’ve experienced this too — it isn’t something that comes up in the FDC forum, and it bothers me on a daily basis.  Anyway, keep us posted with how you’re feeling eating differently.

    2. Eric,
      You don’t think the frontal headache, and side pains, is mercury being mobilized? Would that explain why the pain dissipates in a day or two? (The mercury being redisributed.) I thought iodine mobilized mercury.
      Just a question, I don’t know. I’d hope it would simply be bromide detox. I guess that may explain it, if it goes away with salt.

      1. Deanna, I really have no way of knowing what caused those headaches but I can say that I get very similar symptoms from chelation, methylation and iodine. Fortunately, I’ve been on a steady dose of iodine for many months and don’t experience any more side effects that I’m aware of from the iodine…

  19. Great that you like “Interactions between selenium and iodine”.

    For me, it is a bit like AI, i.e. I really, really like it, but I don’t fully understand it……

    Some general observations:
    I feel that you are in many ways in a similar situation to me 12-18 months ago. Because of this, I would really like to help if I can. But it is difficult to help anybody when all you really have are you personal experiences. To be honest, I felt a bit guilty when you had strong reaction to the B12 protocol that I proposed. So again, please regard all my advice and views as something that worked for me and that may or may not work for anybody else.
     
     

    1. I’m glad you feel I’m in a similar situation to you, just a year and a half behind – that is motivational for me! when I have doubts about the direction I’m going I go through this tired old loop, analyzing all the signs and I always come back to the same conclusion – heavy metals, Mercury, lead, the Barium and Thallium they had me drink when I started getting CT scans etc. but it’s hard to go on logic alone…

      reading ‘interactions between selenium and iodine’ gave me more confidence in my decision to increase supplementation for my wife and I (also noted the mention of pancreatitis which afflicts a friend of mine that I am helping). of course I know I need to pay attention and watch out for reactions and it’s nobody’s responsibility but mine. as for the reaction I had with the b12, you shouldn’t give it a second thought. it actually made me feel good once I understood how common it was and that Freddd considers it a sign of healing. I always want to know where the limits lie. and now, I want to push back up near to that line.

      exploring methylation has been one of the most important happenings for me side-by-side with heavy metals and I’m nothing but grateful for your assistance! iodine also has tremendous potential for both my wife and I. made me crazy for years that I did not know how to help my wife (in spite of so much health knowledge) beyond diet changes.

      that reminds me, was wondering if your temperatures were low and if so, at what point they corrected? whether you attribute that to chelation or iodine? my temperatures have not budged yet. need to start measuring them at the same time every day too:)

      1. “if your temperatures were low and if so, at what point they corrected?”

        Yes, I always had low temp (36.0 -36.5) and very cold feet. This is now almost 100% gone and my temp seems to be bang on 37.0 and my feet are warm. As I have mentioned, the only time I get problems in this regard are in the first days on round, but that also seems to be going away.

        Right now, it feels like I may be moving up one more level in temp. Some of the people on high dose Iodine say that they have gotten up to steady temps around 37.2-37.4 and that it is a very good feeling. These periods of feeling very warm that I have been getting lately may be a sign that this is starting to happen.
        I have been up to 37.2 a few times, but not in a stable way.

        As to the timing, I would say that it happened gradually over about 6-9 months. It started with short periods of feeling warm and then gradually the periods became longer. It was quite interesting with my feet. After being cold for many, many years, all of a sudden I would get 10-15 minutes of really warm feet. Then it would be an hour, then a day. Now it is almost the reverse, i.e. they are warm all the time and then they can suddenly get cold for 15 minutes. 

        “whether you attribute that to chelation or iodine? ”

        Well….It’s very much a guessing game, but my view is that iodine has been the most important factor in my case when it comes to temp. Chelation helps, mainly by gradually cleaning out the parts of the brain that regulates the thyroid. Regarding dose, I have been on 50 mg iodoral most of the time, i.e. about 18 months by now. During the last month I also tried 14 days on 180 mg (50 mg iodoral + 130 mg KI). I used this pill:
         http://www.iherb.com/Life-Extension-Potassium-Iodide-Tablets-130-mg-14-Tablets/4402

        I liked it and think I will do another 14 days soon. After that, I may try 14 days of 310 mg i.e. 1 iodoral and 2 KI pills. As you may have seen in the discussions on Tara’s blog, I think that I have a fair amount of bromide and I do seem to get meaningful detox reactions from the iodine. 

        For selenium, I take one of these per day:
        http://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-Selenium-Yeast-Free-200-mcg-180-Vcaps/818

        1. thanks for the additional details Viking! I’m especially glad to hear that it started with brief warm periods because I do get those about an hour after my evening dose (I split my dose morning and evening). am wondering if I only experience the warm feeling in the evening because that’s also when I take the niacinamide. anyhow, I’ll take the warm feelings as a sign I’m on the right path and will be increasing my iodine soon!

          I really hope iodine does detox us because we are so surrounded by chemicals and would be sunk without reliable detox mechanisms. instead of giving my kids iodine orally, I’m painting tattoos on their stomachs with iodoral which is very entertaining for them.

          also painting iodine on my toes when they itch at night. seems to work.

          -e

  20. by the way, my wife started getting colder after bumping up to 12.5 mg iodine. I went back and reread everything about Hashimoto’s (which she has) and it looks like she’s not getting enough selenium.  I had misunderstood the issue and was giving her less selenium instead of more. So sorry sweetheart! Going to increase her selenium to 400 mcg from 100 mcg…

      1. Thanks Viking, this was very good reading especially “Interactions between selenium and iodine” at http://www.greenwillowtree.com/Page.bok?file=selenium.iodine.html – now I’m certain I’m on the right track. Interesting to see other benefits of selenium too:

        Selenium also performs other important roles in the body. The most important of these is probably as its role as the body’s best antioxidant (anti-peroxidant). It performs this role as part of glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx or GPX). As part of GPX, selenium prevents lipids and fats from being peroxidized (oxidized), which literally means that it prevents fats from going rancid (this can be seen on your skin as “age spots” or “liver spots” (autopsies show that skin “liver spots” are accompanied by similar spots of peroxidized fats in the liver.) Therefore selenium protects all of the cellular membranes, which are made up of fats, from peroxidation. Peroxidation of cellular membranes reduces the ability of the membrane to pass nutrients including minerals and vitamins, so selenium deficiency is the first step toward developing the many problems caused by nutrient deficiencies.

        Joel Wallach considers a selenium deficiency combined with high intake of vegetable oils (salad dressings, margarine, cooking oils) as the “quickest route to a heart attack and cancer.” It seems that the body uses a lot of selenium to protect the fats from peroxidation. Polyunsaturated fats which are hydrogenated or heated become the same as rancid fats and large amounts of selenium are then needed to protect the body. Consumption of these dietary fats can thus lead to a selenium deficiency.

        Selenium is also essential for the production of estrogen sulfotranserfase which is the enzyme which breaks down estrogen. A deficiency of selenium can thus lead to excessive amounts of estrogen, which may depress thyroid function, and also upset the progesterone-estrogen balance.

        Wallach also lists other effects of selenium deficiency: anemia (red blood cell fragility), fatigue, muscular weakness, myalgia (muscle pain), muscular dystrophy (white muscle disease in animals), cardiomyopathy (sudden death in athletes), heart palpitations, irregular heartbeat, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, Lou Gehrig’s and Parkinson’s diseases (mercury toxicity), Alzheimer’s Disease (high intake of vegetable oil), sudden infant death syndrome (and possibly “breathlessness” in adults, jj), cancer, multiple sclerosis, and sickle cell anemia.

  21. I took half of my 12.5 mg iodoral on waking this morning along with 125 mg of inositol hexanicotinate (and 3 mg dibencozide) but it creates too much fatigue/grogginess. Inositol hexanicotinate is a form of niacin and one of the recommended cofactors for iodine. Tomorrow I will try without the inositol and take 250 mg inositol hexanicotinate with my evening iodine…

    Niacin is also an antagonist to methylation so it’s a bit confusing!

  22. I bumped up to 12.5 mg divided in half at breakfast and lunch several days ago. I was chewing them up and taking with a weak vitamin C solution.  So probably some of the iodine was getting converted to iodide. Today, I did a salt push and took one 12.5 mg iodoral without chewing it.  90 minutes later, I have a bit of a headache so I think I will start splitting them in half again and separate them at breakfast and dinner…

  23. Here you can take a look at the book (basic supps at page 133-134)

    http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZG9glNfif5YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=amalgam+illness&source=bl&ots=15D8TuRkS_&sig=DJx1sHVq0NECTCNvBB7KKLUEbMw&hl=en&ei=5oQqTd35M5GOvQPIgKXgBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=symptomns&f=false

    You can buy it here:

    http://www.noamalgam.com/

    That is Dr. Cutler’s own page and it worked fine for me.

    have you found the Onibasu page? If not, have a look at the wiki:

    http://onibasu.com/wiki/Cutler_protocol

    and the search function for FDC and AMC:

    http://onibasu.com/

    1. Thanks Viking! Google shows a large portion of the book although not pages 133 and 134… I have looked at the other sources for supplement info and tried to select what appeared to be the core supplements. Will try to increase my C for sure but iodine first:)

      1. There is some overlap between core supps for Iodine and Chelation, magnesium and C being two of them… For chelation, the bare minimum are C, E, magnesium, and zinc. Don’t chelate without meeting or exceeding the mimimum recommendations.

  24. That was fast!

    I live in Europe and is still wating for the book to be available at Amazon UK.

    For your info, I started on 6.5 mg (i.e. half a small Iodoral) per day and then slowly went up to 50 mg over about one month and since then I have mostly stayed on that dose, with the exeption of some weeks on 100 mg.

    Since you live in the US, I think that you need to really watch out for detox reactions, since there is a lot of flouride and bromide around, but I assume that that is covered in the book. We are about the same age and I am also a father of two kids (both on Iodine, nowadays!), and will follow your updates with great interest.

    Reading your other posts, I notice that you do DSMA and ALA. Like me, you removed your fillings many years ago, so your body burden of mercury should be very low. Are you sure that you need the DSMA? I choose to go with ALA only since I am very afraid that DSMA may make candida worse. For me, that works fine, but we are all different.

    1. I got the Kindle version… I should probably start at 6.5 also but I am impetuous! How much do you give your kids?

      It looks like I have more lead than mercury and lots of other toxic metals also and the DMSA gives me lots of energy, so I’m happy to use it 😀

      1. Ok, if you have lead, I get it with the DSMA. Just remember that it can really “feed” candida.

        Also, I understand how you think about the supps (from the other post), but I would really recommend that you get the Cutler book. Parts of it are difficult to understand (for me at least) but I felt that I learnt alot anyway and later during the process, I have gone back to it over and over again and that has been really helpful. Please remember to be VERY careful with chelating when you are taking such low doses of supps. There are many reports on the FDC group about people “crashing”, and I would say that you are very much in the risk zone.

        I also had problems tolerating some supps (mainly loose stools and palpitions/rapid heartbeat) but it sort of worked to slowly build up over about a month and this included a fair amount of trial and error.. But it was very rewarding, because I felt alot better as soon as I was on the full supps. This was done before starting chelation and may be one reason why I have had few difficulties since. But again, we are all different and just because something works for me does not mean that it is right for anybody else.

        Finally, I give 6 mg (half one small Iodoral) to my 12 year old and 12.5 mg to my 15 year old.

        1. Thanks Viking, I’ve held off buying the Cutler book because I’m spending so much money on my detox in other areas but I will put it on the to-do list! Noticed on the Iodoral site that they say something like “Iodoral provides a similar amount of iodine to what the average Japanese consumes daily.” and that just makes a lot of sense. I’m going to start my kids too.

  25. You waste no time, do you? 😉 Congrats. Thanks for sharing your review. Interesting about needing to drink a good bottle of your current stuff. The 85 mg of Potassium Iodate a naturopath put me on I think is good for next to nothing… I’m going to order Lugol’s 2% today, hoping to snag the book as well.

    From what little I’ve read so far, I’m pretty darn convinced that Iodine should be right up there with Chelation in terms of their ‘recovery power.’ I’m hopeful. Very hopeful…

    Let me know how you start out, and how you up your doses. It’ll be nice to have someone to compare notes with.

    And Boulder, huh? Great place. I lived in Arvada/Westminster in 2004 and made the trip to Boulder a few times. Loved it. It’s just too bad they don’t know about iodine 😉

    1. Yes, I am obsessed… somehow I got the Kindle version of the book for $.99, but now it looks like the price is $9.99, not sure how that happened. I will keep you posted and I plan to start at 12.5 mg. I was really surprised that not even Pharmaca had a useful iodine supplement. They told me that to compound it they would need a prescription because people use iodine to make methamphetamine. But that’s no excuse for not selling Iodoral or Lugol’s.

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