Tammy
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Iodine protocol and B12
- Thread starter richarduklon
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Tammy
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Just to clarify.........I was talking about specially formulated supplements. I for one would not just go for any liquid form of iodine nor any form of iodine without researching the source of the iodine......how it is formulated, etc. I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone going out and getting an over the counter liquid iodine used for skin scrapes etc, and take it internally!
whodathunkit
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@Tammy: No, I meant MILLIGRAM. I was taking 100 MG of iodine per day for nearly a year (maybe over a year, can't exactly remember now) and obviously, I DID NOT DIE. After I chelated and detoxed, I had nothing but GOOD EFFECTS FROM IODINE. I've heard a lot of stories like mine. Iodine is frequently used to cure painful fibroids in the breast, and there is some evidence it can work for uterine fibroids. Uterine fibroids is why I was taking the gigantic dosage. It helped but didn't cure, so I cut back the gigantic dosage when I seemed to have reached a peak efficacy for that problem. Iodine kills bacteria, so too much for too long can have an effect on the gut. That's another reason I cut back.
Yes, iodine solution can be caustic. That 20mg/drop solution I used to use will burn your skin and should not be used as a topical. But if you take a few drops in a capsule, with a glass of water, it's fine. Further, Lugol's in the lower concentrations (5% or 2%) has been used for decades to disinfect cuts and scrapes. When I was a kid Lugol's was the go-to for disinfection. It burned like all hell so we were all glad when Bactine came out and became the norm for disinfecting our skinned knees and stubbed toes, but nobody every died from putting iodine on an open wound (even if they might pass out from the pain
). Quite the opposite, in fact. It prevented a lot of infection and blood poisoning.
I do agree with you that buying iodine from a random seller on ebay is probably not a good idea. But good liquid iodine from a reputable seller (J. Crow is my current favorite) or tablets branded as Iodoral is just fine. It's also fine to put the same high-quality Lugol's solution on your cuts that you ingest as a nutritional supplement. Human race has a long history of eating the same things they use for medicine. Garlic and alcohol are both good cases in point.
As noted above (and I can't stress this enough) most people have too many other metals and toxins in their body to have a good reaction with iodine right off the bat. This is why mainstream is so down on it now. People take it, get sick, and blame the iodine. But it's not the iodine. It's the other stuff stored in tissues that iodine stirs up and helps mobilize for excretion, like bromide and mercury. The worse your reaction, the larger your toxin load. I had a pretty bad reaction when I first tried it, and had to chelate and do a very clean diet for several months before I was able to tolerate it. But once I was able to take it, I noticed benefits almost immediately. And again, all my thyroid hormone values improved.
Iodine is necessary for us to be healthy. The RDA for iodine is only what's necessary to prevent goiter or death. RDA says nothing about how much we need for optimal health. Because of all the seaweed they eat, Japanese people on a traditional ethnic Japanese diet regularly take in *at least* 12.5 mg/day of iodine, and some communities have been studied and found to take in much more, closer to or exceeding my gigantic dosage. Japanese on an ethnic diet are also much healthier than Americans. IMO that's pretty good evidence that iodine is not "poison".
Interestingly, you pretty much can't get Lugol's/iodine in drugstores any more. You can get iodine's cousin, betadine, but that stuff IS poisonous and should not be taken internally. Even though betadine and iodine are about the same color, and can both be used for disinfection, they are vastly different substances and shouldn't be confused.
Also worth noting is that mainstream believes a lot of the same things about iodine that they believe about folate, methylcobalamin, and other things that we know around PR to be very safe and effective. But a lot of people get sick and have reactions to folate, mB12, LCF, etc., when they first start taking them. They can get extreme potassium deficiency which can really harm them. There is a period of detox and tweaking the regimen with other necessary nutrients, and then many find they can take them and feel better for it. This is pretty much the case with iodine. But mainstream would have us believe that the first reaction means these things are bad for us. That's not the case.
Bottom line is that iodine is NOT the scary beast mainstream medical establishment has made it out to be. But if everyone wants to buy into that, it's fine with me. If you don't want to take iodine, or don't want to take it beyond a certain dose, please don't. I'm not exhorting *anyone* who doesn't want to take iodine to start doing it.
But I hope no one expects me me not to share my own experience with iodine just because they happen to think it's "poison". I don't share that belief, and that ain't gonna happen.
Yes, iodine solution can be caustic. That 20mg/drop solution I used to use will burn your skin and should not be used as a topical. But if you take a few drops in a capsule, with a glass of water, it's fine. Further, Lugol's in the lower concentrations (5% or 2%) has been used for decades to disinfect cuts and scrapes. When I was a kid Lugol's was the go-to for disinfection. It burned like all hell so we were all glad when Bactine came out and became the norm for disinfecting our skinned knees and stubbed toes, but nobody every died from putting iodine on an open wound (even if they might pass out from the pain
). Quite the opposite, in fact. It prevented a lot of infection and blood poisoning.I do agree with you that buying iodine from a random seller on ebay is probably not a good idea. But good liquid iodine from a reputable seller (J. Crow is my current favorite) or tablets branded as Iodoral is just fine. It's also fine to put the same high-quality Lugol's solution on your cuts that you ingest as a nutritional supplement. Human race has a long history of eating the same things they use for medicine. Garlic and alcohol are both good cases in point.
As noted above (and I can't stress this enough) most people have too many other metals and toxins in their body to have a good reaction with iodine right off the bat. This is why mainstream is so down on it now. People take it, get sick, and blame the iodine. But it's not the iodine. It's the other stuff stored in tissues that iodine stirs up and helps mobilize for excretion, like bromide and mercury. The worse your reaction, the larger your toxin load. I had a pretty bad reaction when I first tried it, and had to chelate and do a very clean diet for several months before I was able to tolerate it. But once I was able to take it, I noticed benefits almost immediately. And again, all my thyroid hormone values improved.
Iodine is necessary for us to be healthy. The RDA for iodine is only what's necessary to prevent goiter or death. RDA says nothing about how much we need for optimal health. Because of all the seaweed they eat, Japanese people on a traditional ethnic Japanese diet regularly take in *at least* 12.5 mg/day of iodine, and some communities have been studied and found to take in much more, closer to or exceeding my gigantic dosage. Japanese on an ethnic diet are also much healthier than Americans. IMO that's pretty good evidence that iodine is not "poison".
Interestingly, you pretty much can't get Lugol's/iodine in drugstores any more. You can get iodine's cousin, betadine, but that stuff IS poisonous and should not be taken internally. Even though betadine and iodine are about the same color, and can both be used for disinfection, they are vastly different substances and shouldn't be confused.
Also worth noting is that mainstream believes a lot of the same things about iodine that they believe about folate, methylcobalamin, and other things that we know around PR to be very safe and effective. But a lot of people get sick and have reactions to folate, mB12, LCF, etc., when they first start taking them. They can get extreme potassium deficiency which can really harm them. There is a period of detox and tweaking the regimen with other necessary nutrients, and then many find they can take them and feel better for it. This is pretty much the case with iodine. But mainstream would have us believe that the first reaction means these things are bad for us. That's not the case.
Bottom line is that iodine is NOT the scary beast mainstream medical establishment has made it out to be. But if everyone wants to buy into that, it's fine with me. If you don't want to take iodine, or don't want to take it beyond a certain dose, please don't. I'm not exhorting *anyone* who doesn't want to take iodine to start doing it.
But I hope no one expects me me not to share my own experience with iodine just because they happen to think it's "poison". I don't share that belief, and that ain't gonna happen.
Tammy
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@whodathunkit........personally............I'm glad you shared your experience with Iodine and really glad it made a difference.
whodathunkit
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Thanks, @Tammy. I appreciate that, and apologize if I came off a little flinty. I have gotten "beat up" in the past over my "heretical" views about iodine, so am a little sensitive about it. I firmly believe everyone is entitled to their own views, but making blanket statements that cater to mainstream dogma but aren't true shouldn't go unchallenged. Heretics are the ones that change the world, after all.
There's a lot of heretics around PR.
There's a lot of heretics around PR.
Once again, I'll try to state this very clearly in 1. 2. 3. fashion.
1. I'm not talking about supplements.
2. The posters at the beginning of this thread mentioned liquid iodine called "Lugol's"
3. Lugol's iodine is something you find in a lab. It's toxic.
4. If some Newbie google's "Lugol's Iodine" it comes up with bottles of the stuff on eBay which are highly toxic, poison.
5. Some such eBay sellers are selling this item for people interested in talking iodine and recommending they "drop it on their skin"
6. If someone gets confused and drinks it, they will probably die.
7. I though this was worth a mention on this thread. That is, to stop someone dying by mistake.
1. I'm not talking about supplements.
2. The posters at the beginning of this thread mentioned liquid iodine called "Lugol's"
3. Lugol's iodine is something you find in a lab. It's toxic.
4. If some Newbie google's "Lugol's Iodine" it comes up with bottles of the stuff on eBay which are highly toxic, poison.
5. Some such eBay sellers are selling this item for people interested in talking iodine and recommending they "drop it on their skin"
6. If someone gets confused and drinks it, they will probably die.
7. I though this was worth a mention on this thread. That is, to stop someone dying by mistake.
whodathunkit
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To be clear, I *am* talking about Lugol's solution.
Like most things, Lugol's needs to be handled correctly, but it perfectly safe as long as common sense is used. I have taken Lugol's and other much, much stronger liquid iodine supplements for years, up to 100mg/day. I am not dead yet. Possibly some people regret that, but I don't.
Quite the opposite of dying, Lugol's and other iodine supplements I've used have vastly improved my health.
My opinion is that the good Lugol's can do outweighs any remote possibility of someone "getting confused" and dying because they chugged a bunch of it. I give the vast majority of my fellow humans more credit than that. At the very least, I believe people will act in their own self-interest and stop chugging because Lugol's tastes like hell, even if they did happen to be "confused" enough to not realize too much of it can hurt them. After all, death by Lugol's is not something we hear about on the newsfrequently ever.
Read this entire thread for more info about how Lugol's can be safely taken internally or handled in general.
I do agree with Coolie that Lugol's from a random seller on ebay is probably best avoided. But from a reputable seller (like J. Crow, which is what I use), Lugol's solution is quite safe.
Coolie is entitled to his opinion, but I am posting another rebuttal because he is speaking in needlessly dire absolutes which do not reconcile at all with my personal experience or the experience of anyone I know, and these dire warnings could scare people needlessly away from a good source of an essential mineral necessary for life.
While I do know people that have had bad reactions to iodine (including me, when I first started taking it) of the hundred or so people I know that take it or have taken it, NO ONE has ever died.
Like most things, Lugol's needs to be handled correctly, but it perfectly safe as long as common sense is used. I have taken Lugol's and other much, much stronger liquid iodine supplements for years, up to 100mg/day. I am not dead yet. Possibly some people regret that, but I don't.
Quite the opposite of dying, Lugol's and other iodine supplements I've used have vastly improved my health.
My opinion is that the good Lugol's can do outweighs any remote possibility of someone "getting confused" and dying because they chugged a bunch of it. I give the vast majority of my fellow humans more credit than that. At the very least, I believe people will act in their own self-interest and stop chugging because Lugol's tastes like hell, even if they did happen to be "confused" enough to not realize too much of it can hurt them. After all, death by Lugol's is not something we hear about on the news
Read this entire thread for more info about how Lugol's can be safely taken internally or handled in general.
I do agree with Coolie that Lugol's from a random seller on ebay is probably best avoided. But from a reputable seller (like J. Crow, which is what I use), Lugol's solution is quite safe.
Coolie is entitled to his opinion, but I am posting another rebuttal because he is speaking in needlessly dire absolutes which do not reconcile at all with my personal experience or the experience of anyone I know, and these dire warnings could scare people needlessly away from a good source of an essential mineral necessary for life.
While I do know people that have had bad reactions to iodine (including me, when I first started taking it) of the hundred or so people I know that take it or have taken it, NO ONE has ever died.
I took Lugol's 5% (50mg) for something under a year before I got sidetracked by Fredds protocol. Recently my psoriasis flared and I went back to my notes. I resumed the Lugol's and am bumping it up a bit. I strongly believe there is a synergy between these protocols. Note that iodine is being used by practitioners, too. I am fairly robust compared to most on these forums, and have had few side effects with anything I've experimented with, but I concur with whodathunkit, the sides are more likely to be the cause of any discomfort than the iodine itself. Comparing the side effects of iodine with those of any or all of the "medicines" my husband has been treated with is revealing. His road started with statins and has gone downhill since. Really, look at the sheets you get with prescription medicine--meaning our doctors consider them safe to give to sick people-- hundreds of possibilities like seizure, anaphylactic shock, suicidal thoughts, Ed, and on and on and on. I look at 'folk' remedies a lot differently now, things like iodine that has been used safely for thousands of years. I'd drink the whole bottle before taking one tablet of Lipitor.
South
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@Coolie, I think your replies are wholly inappropriate. Clearly the poster you are accusing of "selling iodine" is not selling it - he/she even stated there are many on the market and he/she simply buys whatever form is available at the time. The word "Lugols" isn't one brand lining the pockets of one company. It is a form/dose of iodine.
If you would simply google iodine and RDA you will see that even the extremely conservative United States FDA has a minimum daily requirement for humans. Really. Bottles sold with skulls and crossbones on them may have extremely strong doses. Anything taken in excess can kill you -even water. That doesn't make the smaller, REQUIRED doses "poisin".
Critterina
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As with anything else, the poison is in the dose. Even too much oxygen in the air we breathe can be poisonous (at about 30% if I remember right.) Lead is the only naturally occurring element that is not necessary for life; most of them are required in stardust quantities.
Hip
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Both Lugol's iodine and tincture of iodine are safe to take internally, provided of course you dose correctly, and don't have autoimmune Hashimoto's thyroiditis which iodine can worsen.
These liquid forms have the same ingredients as the Iodoral brand iodine tablets.
However, do not take povidone-iodine internally, as this can be toxic.†
These liquid forms have the same ingredients as the Iodoral brand iodine tablets.
However, do not take povidone-iodine internally, as this can be toxic.†
Zensational
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This thread is very helpful. I recently started taking sea kelp tablets, 150mcg. I had tried kelp and various iodine supplements before but without much effect and since I am slightly hypothyroid, I decided to take two on the 150mcg kelp tablets. The first day I felt fabulous, as if I had a complete recovery from CFS/ME. I was full of energy and vitality.
Restful restorative sleep has always been a big issue for me. That night my sleep was somewhat agitated so I lowered the dose to one150mg of kelp the next day. Still feeling great. For several days that went on until I felt exhausted and could no longer take the product.
So, what I have deduced from this forum is that I went about it all wrong.
I should probably note that I have not used fluoride toothpaste for years and have used the mineral "boron" to detox my pineal gland from fluoride. Having said that, I do realize that we are getting fluoride in other ways.
Where can I get a protocol for proper detoxing using iodine?
Restful restorative sleep has always been a big issue for me. That night my sleep was somewhat agitated so I lowered the dose to one150mg of kelp the next day. Still feeling great. For several days that went on until I felt exhausted and could no longer take the product.
So, what I have deduced from this forum is that I went about it all wrong.
I should probably note that I have not used fluoride toothpaste for years and have used the mineral "boron" to detox my pineal gland from fluoride. Having said that, I do realize that we are getting fluoride in other ways.
Where can I get a protocol for proper detoxing using iodine?
whodathunkit
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@Zensational, you probably need to do some chelation first to move harmful/overabundant heavy metals out of your system, even before you take iodine. Iodine mobilizes mercury and other elements from the halide family like bromide (found abundantly in commercial baked goods) as well as fluoride. But there are gentler ways to remove a lot of these from your body before you take iodine. I think one reason iodine can be so problematic is that it has a beneficial effect on thyroid function, and if your thyroid is "revving up" while you're trying to detox a big load of stuff, it causes more problems than just detoxing alone. My first initial reaction to iodine was very similar to yours (in particular the cumulative problems with sleep and rest over the first week), but the problems resolved after a couple rounds of chelation with other things. After chelation, taking iodine went pretty smoothly.
Search "chelation" on this forum. Also you can search Google. There's a few good ways you can go about it, and it just requires a bit of studying and writing down a protocol you think might be good for you. Things I found most helpful were humifulvate, modified citrus pectin, alpha lipoic acid (be careful with this), and DMSA (also be careful with this). Another thing I found helpful was boosting my glutathione levels by combining N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), glutamine, and glycine. But NAC and glutamine cause a lot of people problems around here so be careful. I couldn't take NAC until I chelated a bit, myself.
Adding extra salt ("salt loading"),magnesium, and selenium also helped with the sides from chelation and iodine. I required quite a bit extra of especially salt and magnesium, until things evened out.
HTH. Good luck!
Search "chelation" on this forum. Also you can search Google. There's a few good ways you can go about it, and it just requires a bit of studying and writing down a protocol you think might be good for you. Things I found most helpful were humifulvate, modified citrus pectin, alpha lipoic acid (be careful with this), and DMSA (also be careful with this). Another thing I found helpful was boosting my glutathione levels by combining N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), glutamine, and glycine. But NAC and glutamine cause a lot of people problems around here so be careful. I couldn't take NAC until I chelated a bit, myself.
Adding extra salt ("salt loading"),magnesium, and selenium also helped with the sides from chelation and iodine. I required quite a bit extra of especially salt and magnesium, until things evened out.
HTH. Good luck!
Zensational
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Thanks,
I have actually 19 IV chelations done by a naturopathic doctor for heavy metals including, mercury and lead. I would have hoped that would have been enough. My veins are not in good shape and I don't think they can take any more IV's. I have a hard time getting bloodwork done.
I will research the humifulvate, modified citrus pectin, alpha lipoic acid, and DMSA and NAC, glutamine, and glycine.
I have actually 19 IV chelations done by a naturopathic doctor for heavy metals including, mercury and lead. I would have hoped that would have been enough. My veins are not in good shape and I don't think they can take any more IV's. I have a hard time getting bloodwork done.
I will research the humifulvate, modified citrus pectin, alpha lipoic acid, and DMSA and NAC, glutamine, and glycine.
whodathunkit
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Well, you may be lacking iodine co-factors like salt, magnesium, and selenium. Lack of co-factors can also cause sides. You might try taking a little iodine again, but also increasing the co-factors. I salted all my water for a long time (still often do, for adrenal issues) and was also taking about 600mg/day Mg. Every other day I would take an extra 200mcg of selenium.
If your kidney function is good, that is.
If your kidney function is good, that is.
Zensational
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So I have CFS/ME and am hypothyroid but not on medication. I have been taking Lugols Iodine supplement and at first I felt great, but it impaired my sleep, which is already fragile. I added the Iodine Co-Factors and did salt loading and that seemed to help some. But after 4 days of that I was exhausted from not sleeping well.
I seem to remember someone saying that we should pulse iodine, taking it for a few days and then off for a few days.
I believe it is detoxing halides from my system, but it feels like it is raising my cortisol levels.
Has anyone else had experience with this?
I seem to remember someone saying that we should pulse iodine, taking it for a few days and then off for a few days.
I believe it is detoxing halides from my system, but it feels like it is raising my cortisol levels.
Has anyone else had experience with this?
Tammy
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The way I took iodine.......(I took nascent,detoxified iodine) is to take some drops first thing in the morning in water for 4 days on 3 days off for about 6 weeks then took two weeks off and started the cycle again. The reason I believe in pulsing is because you don't want your thyroid to always rely on the iodine as I feel it would get "lazy" for lack of a better term.
Zensational
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So did taking the iodine for 4 days create sleep problem/anxiety for you?
Tammy
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No............but the iodine I take may be different acting than yours and you may be taking a different dosage than I did. The days you do take the iodine............I would not include any other supplements like sea salt, kelp, etc. Do you get any heart palpitations with iodine intake?
Zensational
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So not sea salt the days I'm taking iodine. I thought I was supposed to do the salt on the days of the iodine to support adrenals. Yes, I get heart palpitations with iodine but I get them without it as well. With iodine it's more like a hyper feeling. I even got up at midnight and ran in place for quite a while and did some yoga stretches and that helped some. I guess I'll just have to try some different things.
Interesting that my husband is having the same problem as me.