Iodine

[justinekno]

Has anyone heard of women taking Iodine for breast pain? I read in the book, Insights to Lyme Treatments" that many female Lyme patients are low in Iodine. My dr suggested taking Iodine (kelp) for breast pain although she had not heard of the Lyme connection (she is not my LLMD). I'm wondering if there is a blood test to check for Iodine levels? My dr did say you have to be really careful and not take more than 500 mcg because it can disrupt thryoid function.

Edited November 1, 2010 by justinekno

[NewBeginnings]

This has been an ongoing problem for me. I have tried oral iodine and reacted very badly to it. I have found that by rubbing a quarter size amount of iodine on my skin each night, it reduces the pain significantly by morning.

 

 

Quote from the site I read it on: http://www.womentowomen.com/breasthealth/breastpain.aspx

 

"Topical (meaning used on the skin, not taken by mouth) iodine can be bought over the counter in the grocery or drugstore, usually for less than a dollar. Apply it in a quarter-sized area once a night on the breast until the brown spot persists overnight, or for one month. I will admit I cannot explain exactly how this works, but the iodine seems to adjust the hormones just enough to keep the swelling down, or perhaps it is treating some subclinical virus or bacteria. Most of our diets today do not have the same amount of iodine in them that our ancestors’ did. This use of iodine does not seem to impair thyroid function."

[justinekno]

Interesting. My dr (breast surgeon) said that it is amazing but for some women it really works. Maybe the kelp capsules would be easier to take than straight oral iodine? Just thinking out loud. I wonder how many mcg's a small dot would be.

 

This has been an ongoing problem for me. I have tried oral iodine and reacted very badly to it. I have found that by rubbing a quarter size amount of iodine on my skin each night, it reduces the pain significantly by morning.

 

 

Quote from the site I read it on: http://www.womentowomen.com/breasthealth/breastpain.aspx

 

"Topical (meaning used on the skin, not taken by mouth) iodine can be bought over the counter in the grocery or drugstore, usually for less than a dollar. Apply it in a quarter-sized area once a night on the breast until the brown spot persists overnight, or for one month. I will admit I cannot explain exactly how this works, but the iodine seems to adjust the hormones just enough to keep the swelling down, or perhaps it is treating some subclinical virus or bacteria. Most of our diets today do not have the same amount of iodine in them that our ancestors did. This use of iodine does not seem to impair thyroid function."

Edited November 1, 2010 by justinekno

[MichaelTampa]

I can't speak to breast pain or anything like that, but, thyroid function is easily compromised with lyme disease, and supplementing with iodine will be an excellent idea for many with lyme. Agree one should be a little careful with it as it can affect thyroid function. So muscle testing really can be a great idea.

 

One excellent brand is Iodoral, it is used by many in the "alternative" medical field. My MD recommended this brand and sold it to me, and my acupuncturist also sells it. There may be one or two other brands with similar dosages and formulas, and they may be fine. But, there are plenty of other iodine supplements that are simply too low to be really helpful. Iodoral comes in tablets of 50mg and 12.5mg, and I initially needed 50mg per day and after a month worked down to 12.5mg per day. The USRDA for ioding is very low, in micrograms, but it is not realistically enough for most. Iodoral's literature points out that in Japan people do eat more like 12.5mg per day of iodine, from all the seafood.

[cobbiemommy]

I don't believe there is a blood test. DS's LLMD had him do an Iodine Urine Test. He took four capsules (of what I can't remember), took a baseline urine test and then collected urine for 24 hours and recorded output and then put a representative sample in to be analyzed. Don't have results till next week. Ask your LLMD, they should know.

Cobbie

[JuliaFaith]

The comments on iodine usage here are very interesting. We had our first ND appt. for lyme a few weeks ago and she is doing thyroid testing, which makes sense now. Also, my ds is using a nebulizer with Tri-Quench (iodine) to breath in every night for Mico./mold and maybe Babesia. My son has not been diagnosed with anything yet so she is treating until she knows more. It sounds like there are many uses for Iodine.