Anyone experience one? I am starting a new protocol for my thyroid because what I've been doing is no longer effective. There is a small possibility of a reaction called a "thyroid storm." I've "googled" it and yes, of course it all sounds very nasty and trip-to-the-ER, and possibly deathish. My doctor tells me that's in very extreme cases, but my dosage of iodine will be so small and so diluted that a thyroid storm is very unlikely.

Just looking for some anecdotal info.

Thanks!

I have Hashimoto's and iodine made me very hyper, but I know others for whom it did necessitate a trip to the ER, one of whom did have thyroid storm.

And, yes, it's serious. I am an ER nurse and once had a patient who was brought in for severe respiratory distress. She continued to deteriorate, was put on a ventilator, and eventually died. Turns out she was having a thyroid storm. Nothing to fool around with.

What dose are you being put on? Have you had your thyroid antibodies checked? Because it seems that those of us who have elevated antibodies (hashimoto's autoimmune thyroid disease) are particularly prone to adverse reactions from iodine. There are hundreds of studies on PubMed that show iodine causing and exacerbating hashi's.

Were you ever on an Rx thyroid med and if so which one? Do you have any recent thyroid labs along with the lab ranges?

Sariah - thanks for taking the time. I am currently on 112 mcg of generic levoxyl.

Results from 2 weeks ago as follows (while on the above med):

Thyroxine (T4) Free, Direct, S: 1.11 Ref. Range of 0.61 - 1.76
TSH: .681 ref. Range of 0.450 - 4.500

Basal body temp: average for 2 weeks is 97.1 - 97.2 (my doc subcribes to the Dr. Broda Barnes protocol of measuring ancillary BBT)

Re the iodine: one drop in 4 oz shot glass of water. Then take 1 teaspoon in the a.m. and 1 teaspoon in the p.m.

As for your ER pt. in a storm - yep, I've been reading horror stories like that one and am really afraid.

Marrin, YES I have had one! Thought I would die!
Your TSH is low!
Wish I could write more about it today but having a peri melt down >will try again later!

Marrin,
While your TSH and free T4 looks good, it's the T3 that is the active thyroid hormone, and without labs you don't know if your T3 is at a good level. Having a low T3 can cause all your symptoms.

But so can low ferritin. If you've not had that tested, I highly recommend you do so.

Actually, the way you are taking the iodine is quite safe, except I would dilute it even further. There are iodine forums out there that advocate doses hundreds of times higher than what you will take, and they refuse to believe it can cause problems because many seem to be able to take it with no problem. They get quite militant about it, and get rude whenever one of us would would share the side effects we had with the iodine, and they would say "you must not be doing something right, or you need to support your adrenals, or your ferritin is too low, etc" even though we all had done those things. So please be careful of any advice you get on some of these iodine groups.

Stay with a low dose for at least a month before you decide to increase it so that you your body has adequate time to assimilate it. Increasing doses too quickly can have the same delayed effect as increasing thyroid med doses too quickly.

Another thing, levoxyl (and all synthetics) only contain T4. Armour and NatureThroid contain T4 and T3 and most people find that they feel so much better on it. In fact, I would guess that the reason your thyroid med isn't working well is because you are not converting the T4 to T3. I have yet to meet anyone who has felt well on a synthetic, and even if they initially feel well, eventually they feel hypo again yet the doc won't give them Armour or add a T3-only med (Cytomel).

If your doc won't give you Armour, beg for a small dose of Cytomel to add to the levoxyl. Many who must be on synthetics find this helps a lot.

Thanks again Sariah - I feel a little better about starting this. The bottle I have is Iosol and contains 153 mcg per teaspoon. I think I will dilute further.

Whoa I never heard of this Thyroid Storm before! I am also taking that Levoxyl but didn't know iodine was also used for this. Geez that sounds freaky.

Snow - how soon after dose did you feel symptoms? I have just taken first dose and nothing so far, but I don't want to go through this gorgeous Sunday anticipating a "storm."

Actually my storm wasn't cause from iodine, I don't think you shall worry to much. I had a large dose of rai for thyroid cancer and never had no symptoms at all. Never hear of being dosed at home.

Well, I am still here. I further diluted the dose since I am a big, fat chicken. Oddly enough once the hypochondria dissapted and I relaxed, I did feel a tiny bit more peppy. Of course that could be due to my supplements finally starting to kick in or my 4lbs weight loss, or my blood sugar stabilizing over the last couple of days. <shrug>

I've a tsh question. I've been looking up the normal ranges online and the more i look the more i am confused.....mine is 0.61 with the lab range stating 0.45-4.50 as normal, so i suppose mine is near the lower normal part. should it be higher? also at 0.61 would i feel any symptoms?

my vitamin d is 22 which the lab report said is insufficient area, the doctor said all bloodwork is "normal"...but i have been addiing vitamin d3 supplements and walking outside w/o sunscreen (i'm not fond of much dairy other than some cheese here and there). i plan on having bloodwork done again in 2 wks.

That TSH could be fine for you, it depends on how you feel. Are you currently on thyroid meds? You can get a more clear picture if you test the FREE T3 and FREE T4. Some people feel fine with a TSH that low, some feel hyper. TSH is only part of the picture.

Sariah,

Thank you for your reply. I'll ask for the tests you mentioned on the next visit. No, I do not take thyroid medications. By hyper, do you mean anxiety type of hyper or can't sit still kind of hyper? I would say I could sit for days and not desire to move. Anxiety like butterflies in the stomach type is what I have lately.