RonB / GeorgeN.

Hi RonB and GeorgeN.
Not wishing to high-jack Elemc’s post I will reply with this new post and as always I will throw in other stuff as well that others may find of interest.
RonB. I hear what you say about test don’t guess which is a sensible way to go about these things however I am just into this iodine thing and not too worried about any re-action from taking three drops of this Sea Kelp which gives about 800mcg of iodine per drop so 2.4mg total per day, a miniscule amount. I will obviously stop if I notice anything amiss.

Unless I am reading things wrong the American (I’m British) RDA for iodine is 125mcg for men and 250mcg per day so I am taking around 20 times more iodine than recommended. Now in Japan there are women there who take in around 12,500 mcg of iodine via their diet every day so that is 50 times the RDA limit with no problem whatsoever. By all accounts breast cancer is very rare in these women possibly because the female breast is second in the pecking order when the body starts sharing out the available iodine, the thyroid takes total priority. With the thyroid being closely responsible for a smooth heartbeat it does raise the question of how much iodine is really needed to keep that smooth heartbeat. My guess, and it is a guess, is that the RDA is way too low much the same as the RDA for Vitamin C is a paltry 90mg a day or similar which just about keeps you from getting scurvy the deadly illness suffered by sailors many years ago.

Linus Pauling the American Scientist famous for his Vit C writings used to take up to 18,000mg Vita min C a day with no problem. He did say we should take around 2000 to 4000mg a day as a maintenance dose again 40 to 50 times the RDA. I have taken 10,000mg a day at one stage but now I am down to the 2000mg to 4000 mg per day. An interesting note is that humans along with the Great Apes, Fruit Bats, Guinea pigs and one or two other smaller animals are the only ones that cannot make our own bodily Vitamin C, all other plant and life forms in the world produce their own. Gorillas take in approx. 4000mg of Vit C a day thru their diet so my money is on that the RDA of Vit C 90mg a day is ridiculously low for humans. Maybe the same is with Iodine as some docs have provided patients with 50mg per day – 200 times the RDA - with mainly excellent results.
I fully go along with your observation that we possibly need to take in iodised salt again as salt has been demonized for years with the result that many people stopped using salt and therefore losing one of the populations main source of iodine. Add to this major loss of iodine from salt there is the unbelievable fact that at one stage iodine was removed from all baked products in the western world and replaced with BROMIDE!!!!!!! Apparently the UK and other countries have now stopped this practice but the USA still uses bromide instead of iodine in the baking of bread. As I understand it – and I have only started looking into these things - Bromide then competes with any iodine in the thyroid.

Well Ron I am just breaking into this iodine thing and just using this post to hopefully get people checking out the iodine connection. Many people have been helped via this BB by taking Magnesium, Potassium and Taurine – The Big Three – and its very possible others may find help via iodine.
Glad to hear you are still doing well after a visit to Bordeaux it helps to encourage others to take the plunge when they are starting to waver.

George N. Thanks for your post and the links from Jackie/William and also good to see you are still with the BB. So many have come and gone, even me.
I, like many others have seen my TSH results at the many hospital visits I have endured during my clash with Afib and like most others I never questioned those results which said all was fine.
I am in rock solid NSR since I got over the first few weeks of my last ablation in Bordeaux for Left Atrial Flutter which was almost certainly a result of damages caused during the successful ablation for Atrial Fibrillation by Professor Hocini. I cannot thank Bordeaux enough and also this BB which introduce Bordeaux to me. I would have been well on the way to having a pacemaker put in at the advice of the medical profession if I had not come across the BB.
I know how much you believe in the benefits of supplementation to keep you out of AF but unfortunately that did not work in my case hence the ablation however I will take this opportunity to pass on a little supplement success story.

I started working in Manila the Philippines just over a year ago for a western company employing around 15 expats in a predominant Filipino work force. During that year every one of the expats have had to take time off for recurring bouts of ‘flu’ with 6 or 7 having to be hospitalized for pneumonia and one guy travelling back to UK for ‘better’ treatment. At almost 65 I have not even had a cough during this last year with no time off ill at all even though I walk amongst the sick on a daily basis ;-). I put this all down to the high dose Vit C powder that I put in 2 litre of Natural Philippine Spring Water which has a pH of 7. I fortify the water with Baking Soda NOT Baking powder to make the ph 8.5. I also take 200mg of Carlson Chelated Magnesium and 500mg of potassium. Now this hasn't gone unnoticed by my work mates and many of them have tried to follow my example - even bought Vit C and Lysine via Han's iHerb connection - but they all fall by the wayside because they cannot stick to a protocol for more than a week.

I trust you are well and still giving the young uns a run for their money on the skiing slopes.
Barry G.

Repeating for emphasis:
"but they all fall by the wayside because they cannot stick to a protocol for more than a week."

PeggyM

The founder of this site Hans Larsen worked with Linus Pauling I believe.

Mark

Hello Barry - Good to hear from you. Regarding iodine requirements for the body, there is a group of doctors doing research and incorporating findings into practice, then reporting on patient outomes. It's much higher than microgram doses.

The names are Abraham, G.E., Flechas, J.D., Hakala, J.C and you can find a list of Iodine Research results at this link
[www.optimox.com] A colleague, David Brownstein, MD, has written the book, Iodine - Why You Need it - Why You Can't Live Without it.

My favorite Iodine book is by Lynn Farrow... The Iodine Crisis: What You Don't Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life - You can use the Look Inside feature at the Amazon website. [www.amazon.com]

My personal experience with iodine supplementation at doses varying from 6.25 milligrams to double that, have eliminated half of the thyroid nodules that formed as a result of iodine deficiency and (with time) I eliminated my need to use the natural Armour Thyroid Hormone after a long struggle with hypothyroidism. I had to push to do the Optimox iodine challenge testing which did show I was somewhat low in iodine. None of my endocrinologists (3) bothered to check iodine levels. Never even asked if I used iodized salt!

Afibbers should still be cautious about salt (sodium) as a source of iodine.... as sodium competes with potassium which definitely is a detrimental factor for those prone to arrhythmia.

I totally agree with you about the value of taking plenty of vitamin C on a daily basis as a preventive aid as well as keep one's body and arteries free of inflammation that causes arterial plaque.

I'm glad you are doing so well.

Jackie

Barry,

when you are ready to venture a bit beyond the 800mcg a day of kelp based iodine which is generally a weaker source, I know you can get Ioderol tablets via Iherb.com from our vitamin store link above. It is made by Optimox Iodoral tablets

It comes in both 12.5mg and 50mg tablets which can be broken in half. The formula is exactly the same as liquid Lugols formula with each 12.5mg tablet equal to two drops of Lugols. the 12.5 mg tablets which is the one to order ( the 50mg if only for high dose therapy for periods of time or for use just prior to a 24 hour urine iodine test as a loading dose).

Each 12.5mg tablet has 5mg of Iodine and 7.5mg of Potassium iodide ( or potassium iodide salt) and this is the tried and true formula most iodine research has been conducted with.

Start slow with one half tablet for a week or even two if you show any detox reactions at all like a fast HR, sweating, or other signs of possible thyroid excess which is almost always really just a detox reaction when halide ions have bound to iodine receptors which is very common unfortunately. Those halide ions can displace iodine and when you give a large enough dose at first of Iodine it can then knock off too much of the halide, such as bromine, chlorine, fluoride etc, and cause a real herxheimer reaction that can make you feel lousy.

Just increase the dose slowly as you seem to be aware already, and you should be able to get up to around two to even three full Iodoral tablets over six months or so. Then, maintain typically for 6 months this high dose protocol before gradually tapering down to around 1 Iodoral or even 0.5 tablets of Iodoral per day as ongoing maintenance once your iodine intracellular stores are well restored. Some people do better with a full two tablets a day as long term maintenance so its an individual thing how much it takes to sustain better thyroid function.

Using sufficient liquid lugols soaked in a large cotton swab and then applied liberally both labially and vaginally for women is an almost 100% cure for uterine and breast fibroids as well.

This almost always helps to some degree hypothyroid symptoms and very often will raise your Free T3 and Free T4 levels as well.

Hope that helps in addition to all the good info from George, Jackie and William

Shannon

Hi Jackie, thanks for your post and also I am a bit shocked that you have had to have another ablation, hope all is going well. I knew without doubt that either you or George N would have posted about iodine previously so I was looking forward to your input.

I am interested in the iodine angle with regards to Afib which I came across by chance and will be looking into it much closer by checking out the guys/gal you have mentioned in your post. The fact that Amiodarone is apparently the strongest anti- arrhythmic drug out there and yet its prime component seems to be iodine cannot be just a coincidence so I will be doing some reading up on the topic. May I ask if you specifically tried an iodine protocol to stop Afib prior to your first ablation. Unbelievable that your docs pre Afib never asked about your iodine intake.

Hi Shannon.

If I remember correctly you had just had an ablation when I was last reading the BB so I don't know how you have fared since, though you appear to have been giving plenty of sound advice to the BB.
I'm sure I will be taking larger doses of iodine in the future after I finish off these Kelp drops which I have just received from iHerb. Has I have no specific plan on what to take and how much I will copy and paste your post for use farther down the line and as you have guessed I will monitor and adjust as necessary.
I have now no need to take additional iodine with regards to Afib but it all makes sense to ensure we all get enough of this stuff and hopefully some one out there with AF will be writing in soon saying that iodine supplementation has stopped their Afib miseries.
Could I also ask if you tried a specific iodine protocol to stop Afib prior to your abalation.

Thanks again,

Barry G.

Thank you Barry for your good wishes and your comments. Unfortunately, I did not try the higher dose iodine supplements prior to my '03 ablation although microgram amounts were included in the thyroid support supplement that I was taking at the time. The microgram dose was just too minor to make any significant difference. Had I known then, what I know now.....

As for no doctors being interested in iodine levels... that's just the typical mindset of the endocrinologists that I've seen over a long period of time. I even had to press the testing issue with my Functional Medicine MD who is typically sharp about everything else. My iodine deficiency story dates back to my mid-twenties when I had obvious iodine deficiency symptoms that were not exclusively hypothyroid related which included symptoms for PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), uterine fibroids and polycystic breast disease that all resulted in tramautic surgeries but still didn't address the hypothyroidism. I also had fibromyalgia which is helped with the addition of iodine. It was even suggested to remove my thyroid or at least the thyroid gland nodules when those surfaced... but by then, I was adamant that no one was going to remove another body part no matter what!

Just to emphasize the nodule situation... After a year of aggressively increasing iodine intake, I had my routine annual ultrasound of the thyroid gland nodules because they tend to turn malignant with time...so the scan is important. The results showed several had shrunk in size and also that several had totally disappeared. When I expressed excitement about my success, the (new) endocrinologist looked puzzled. When I told her about the iodine supplements, she just shrugged and looked at me in a strange way. I felt like doing a victory dance.

As for Amiodarone (called the drug of last resort), everyone should read about the adverse effects before ever considering its use. [www.drugs.com]

I agree with your comment about iodine optimization serving to keep us healthy. That along with optimizing vitamin D3 intake beyond the smaller standard dosing has allowed me 13 years without a cold and 14 years without flu (I don't get flu shots) and I am out with the public on a daily basis. Amazing what supporting the immune system can accomplish.

I certainly wish you well, Barry... and hope that you'll continue to check in with us periodically to share your wisdom.

Jackie

Barry, it sounds like things are going good for you. That's nice to hear, another Bordeaux ablatee that is still NSR. I too now visit the board only occasionally to do some reading and catch up a bit since my ablation with Hocini 2.5 years ago.

I'm glad to see that Jackie added in the need for Vit D3 as part of immune supporting protocol. I just thought I,d throw in the caution for anyone who wants to try High C protocol to be aware of their ferritin levels. Vit C increases absorption levels of iron so if one is a hemochromatosis sufferer or just has high iron levels they should be very careful supplementing Vit C.

Cheers

Adrian

Re "if you tried a specific iodine protocol to stop Afib prior to ablation."

I also had an ablation about 2 years ago now and I did try Iodine before that.. I used Iodoral, Lugols or KI for 6 months and I did not detect any AF during that period BUT it (AF beast) came back with a vengeance.. I was very disappointed as I thought somehow that Iodine was going to work. Of course it might for you..

As Shannon says, Iodoral 12.5mg tablets have 5mg of Iodine and 7.5mg of Potassium iodide. I either took one of those a day or I took a higher dose of Potassium Iodide tablets containing 30mg of KI.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2014 05:49PM by afhound99.