Iodine to the Rescue
Thanks again for all your progressive work. It has really made such a difference for me! My story started about one year ago. I began to feel anxious and jittery and knew that I had gained weight but just figured that’s what happens when you get close to 40. I blamed most of my symptoms on stress because I had the proverbial ‘when it rains it pours’ kind of stress; death of my father, teenage child in trouble, adoption of a foster child, running my own business, husband starting new career after surgery, etc… I had already been diagnosed with adenomyosis and I would sometimes cramp and bleed on the spot if I gave a very hard adjustment aside the normal ‘think I’m going to die today on my period pain’. I knew it wasn’t a fix but out of survival and upon my OB/GYN’s suggestion I had the uterine ablation performed.
It was after this that the symptoms really started kicking in. I would go weeks on end with getting only 3 -4 hours of sleep per night because I would wake up at 2 or 3 and could not go back to sleep. I went to work diligently on my adrenals and took in all that Dr. Wilson had to say about adrenal fatigue. I started doing lectures on the topic for patients because I saw how much it had helped me. I cleaned up my diet and went to exercising every day. Still, something wasn’t right, I noticed my hair was thinning (already having fine and thin hair –motivating factor), and my mind was working so much slower than it usually does. I had many internal thoughts of ‘so this is what Alzheimer’s and ADHD really feel like’. I used to joke about having Alzheimer’s (family hx) and say ‘well, I won’t remember that I don’t remember.’ Well, that’s a lie and there’s nothing that makes you feel more disconnected from everyone and everything that to have such foggy thinking and not be able to remember simple things. Some days I couldn’t come up with words that I normally say everyday. I have a whole new respect for what those poor patients have to go through.Anyway, I knew all my hormones were off, and suspected estrogen dominance but I wanted to start with the basics first. I went to an MD friend of mine and she told me that she was sure that I was just ‘tuned in’ to my body but she didn’t figure me for a thyroid patient. (5’ 7” 140 pounds then.) She called me back later and told me that my thyroid was dead. (TSH – 12.1, Free T4 .72, Free T3 2.8, Thyroid Peroxidase -562 and Thyroglobulin – 111.0) She put me on Armour thyroid and told me to take Iodine. (I had an iodine product at my office) I was so glad to find out that I wasn’t crazy and there was something that would make sense of all my symptoms and now a simple answer- Armour Thyroid…wrong!
After a few days of the thyroid med it felt like I was carrying two of me around. It took me twice as much effort to get half as much done. My heart felt like it was the live well of a pro fisherman and the bass was not happy to be there. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they woke me up in the hospital telling me that I had had a heart attack. (I really thought I was going to pass out when I got up to talk to you that day at the seminar, just the change from sitting to standing and walking was almost too much!)
I have always been accused of being ADHD because I am so active and for a month, my stationary places were on the couch or the bed as soon as I got home from work. I honestly didn’t care what happened to me, my family or my clinic. I have never been in that state before, but I can tell you that I don’t think you can live in that state long.
I ended up at one of your seminars to learn more about Thyroid. As you began to get a little deeper into the topic we had a break and I came to pick your brain. I explained it as quickly as I could that I have terrible fatigue since taking Armour. You said to take Iodine and explained why it had to be Iodine with Iodide or it wouldn’t work. I got some Iodoral on a Monday night and by Wednesday I could tell a major difference. It was like some one ‘flipped a switch’ for me. It took about 2 weeks for me to stop carrying around the extra person but my foggy mind and memory cleared up quickly. Meanwhile I had signed up with a lab to have the 24 hour urine iodine loading test done. When I got the results it showed that I was clearing 99%. At first I am taken back by the number because I knew that you wanted 90% excretion and then Charles went on to explain that I was likely not taking up little to no iodine into the cells and most was being excreted pointing toward a symporter defect. (Actually a rare disorder 1 out 2000) The good news is that 3G of Vitamin C and 100mg of Riboflavin have been shown to help the problem. He did mention that salt was very important and I can tell you that however gross this may sound but salt water green tea in the morning is like 2 cups of coffee for me- clears the cobwebs.
I recently had lab work done again I guess really 2 months after starting armour. TSH is now down to 0.2 (she told me to skip one dose a week b/c I may not need that much. On one grain /day) and free T4 has come up to 0.92 and Free T3 is up to 3.7. I do feel so much better. My heart is so much happier than it was just a month ago. I did show her my iodine test and she was so blown away, she was on the phone that day to learn more and have herself tested. (She herself is a thyroid patient and works a lot in the holistic area) I know she was frustrated not being able to help. What does she say with a 12.1 TSH – ok don’t take the thyroid medicine? When I told her how the ‘right iodine’ was like a switch, she listened but I don’t think she thought much of it, until I showed her the results of the iodine test she began thinking, how many others could have this same problem? I just told her, I have learned a lot from this guy.
Anyway, I will have another iodine test performed in about 3 months and see where I am then. Regardless, I feel better (off the couch and in the garden again – I grow great tomatoes) and I am ready to start looking at hormones now and see what imbalances lie there. Just by symptoms alone, I can tell you that they are better right now than they were just 2 months ago or even a year ago. It’s probably why I ended up with the adenomyosis to begin with. Urgh.
