Iodine – the medical scapegoat

A regular client of mine recently informed me that he’d been diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism by his doctor.

Hyperthyroidism (aka over-active thyroid function, or Thyrotoxicosis) means that the Thyroid is producing too much Thyroid hormone, therefore speeding up the various systems within the body.

Symptoms may include: nervousness, anxiety, irritability, increased perspiration, heat intolerance, heart racing, hand tremors and frequent bowel movements may occur (diarrhoea is common).

Among other natural therapies, this client of mine receives high dose iodine. Now, as you may know, I’ve written four articles about this mineral, and I’ve made no secret of the fact that iodine therapy is controversial.

So as you can probably imagine, the news of my client’s diagnosis nearly caused me to exhibit the symptoms of Hyperthyroidism myself… as I braced, and waited for the Endocrinologist to (unfairly and inevitably) blame my client’s condition all on my high-dose iodine therapy, and on well, me.😬🥵💩

My client has been with me since 12 July 2017.
He has been on Lugol’s since 31 January 2020.
During this time he’s had four repeats of this mineral.
He believes high dose iodine helps with his sleep and his energy levels — which is why I kept providing repeats, and monitoring his Thyroid via blood work. (His last Lugol’s repeat was 5 August 2022.)

In October 2022 he contracted a ‘bad’ respiratory virus. (The whole family had it.)

From this time he began to experience marked lethargy, weight loss (5kg), and heart palpitations.

In late October 2022 he was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism.

In early November 2022 the doctor prescribed the standard medication for this over-active Thyroid function:

Carbimazole
10mg 2x daily — an anti-thyroid hormone
Propranolol
10mg 3x daily — a beta blocker to calm the heart.

The doctor also referred my client to an Endocrinologist for further investigation in early February 2023.

I also told my client to come off Lugol’s as his body wouldn’t support this mineral because his Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) was too low at this time.

My client weaned himself off these medications over a couple of months because he was feeling so much better — and because he didn’t have a repeat script (and didn’t want to take more drugs).

He’s been feeling well ever since — no rebound affects — and he’s put the weight back on, and he’s back doing his physical activities. He’s no longer exhibiting any overt signs of Hyperthyroidism.

To me, the obvious correlation/conclusion was right there! It was a clear case of (post viral) silent Thyroiditis (inflammation of the Thyroid brought on by an immune challenge; the respiratory virus). This was particularly because his condition was self limiting; this type of Thyroiditis generally only lasts for 2–5 months.

Unfortunately, the Endocrinologist saw things a little differently to me…

Here are some extracts from his report.

Note: I italicised one sentence for much needed emphasis.

“There are several diagnostic possibilities, although it is most likely that it was iodine induced. What is unusual is the delay in its onset given the fact that he has been on iodine supplementation for a few years.”

(Hmm, funny that.🤦‍♀️)

“Other possibilities include: (post viral) silent Thyroiditis, Graves’ disease,  and toxic nodular disease…”

It would seem this hormone specialist, had made up his mind before even checking for Graves’ disease — which is the most common cause of Hyperthyroidism. (It later transpired that my client didn’t have this auto-immune disease after having his blood work finally checked for this antibody.)

The specialist also decided his ‘likely’ diagnosis without asking my client how much iodine he actually takes, or without testing for iodine in his urine. Where was his proof?

FYI: If it were toxic nodular disease my client and I would have found that out very quickly after he started taking high dose iodine therapy. Because iodine really pisses off a toxic/hot nodule 🤬

(I have actually used high dose iodine, with the client’s consent, to prove that they had a toxic/hot nodule that was going undetected by modern medicine, which was why she perpetually had a low TSH reading.)