Stephanie, from Minnesota, wrote to me stating: “I was wondering if there was a holistic doctor you know and could recommend in or near the Minneapolis area. We are also in the Chicago area often so if there was someone there you would recommend that would be great. Thank you so much. I enjoy reading your monthly newsletter and have gathered a lot of useful info. I was recently tested for iodine deficiency during a physical at the Mayo Clinic. It took me a long time to convince the doctor to run the test as she doesn’t believe there to be a problem in our culture. My test results showed a deficiency. The doctor’s recommendation was to consume more iodized salt and retest in three months. I also have thyroid nodules that were found five years ago and monitored every year. I have concerns about taking an iodine supplement. Any suggestions? Thanks again!”
Dear Stephanie,
Your story, is, unfortunately, all too common. I will go out on a limb and guess that your doctor has never tested anyone for iodine before you requested it. I will also predict that your doctor has never prescribed iodine and has little knowledge of it.
Why do I say that? Asking you to consume more iodized salt is ridiculous. As I wrote in in my books, only 10% of the iodine in iodized salt is available for absorption. Furthermore, iodized salt is a refined product that contains toxic additives such as ferrocyanide.
Furthermore, your doctor feels that our culture does not suffer from iodine deficiency. If you are not testing for it and have never tested for it, how can you say that iodine deficiency is not occurring? I have been testing iodine levels on every single new patient for over 12 years. After testing over 6,000 patients (including my partners patients), I can assure you that iodine deficiency is alive and well in the U.S. Over 95% of the patients in my office have tested low for iodine deficiency. And, the vast majority of those tested have been found to have significantly low iodine levels.
Stephanie, you state that you have a five year history of thyroid nodules. The number one cause of an enlarged thyroid gland, including cysts and nodules, is iodine deficiency. You may be suffering from a long-term iodine deficiency condition.
What do you do? Well, you took the first step—you demanded that your doctor check your iodine levels. Since you have low levels, common sense would dictate that your doctor prescribe iodine for your condition. But, that is unlikely to happen as your doctor is probably suffering from medical iodophobia as well as having little knowledge about how to properly test for and treat with iodine. I say, it is time to find a new health care provider—preferably one who is iodine-knowledgeable.
Generally, you will need to find a holistic health care practitioner to help guide you with iodine supplementation. How can you find such a doctor? The first step is to contact a local compounding pharmacist. They usually know who is prescribing iodine and other natural therapies. If that doesn’t work, you can order your own iodine test from three reputable labs:
- FFP Labs (ffplab.org)
- Hakala Labs (hakalalabs.com)
- Doctor’s Data (http://doctorsdata.com/home.asp)
After you receive your results, ask the lab people to refer you to a practitioner in your area who is testing for iodine.
Having said all that, the most important thing you can do is to educate yourself about iodine. Take a look at my book, Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It, 5th Edition. I wrote it to educate you, the reader, about how important it is to ensure that you maintain optimal iodine levels.
Finally, if you have to ask your doctor numerous times before he/she checks your iodine levels, it is time to find a new one. Remember, you are ultimately in charge of your health care decisions. Your doctor should be working for you, not against you.
Good luck, Stephanie, and keep me posted how you are doing.
DrB
how successful would iodine treatments be in reducing or totally eliminating a tumor wrapped around the spinal cord. It is inoperable due to paralysis risk but it is causing nerve damage
Rosa,
I can’t answer that one.
DrB
I have read online studies that refute your claims of high iodine intake in Japan and in Hokkaido Japan. How does one go about resolving the issues on both sides of this debate. I currently take 100 mgs of iodine/iodide per day but have not had any tsh tests done since beginning this regimen about 1 year ago. I have been hypo-thyroidal for a number of years taking 100 mcg of thyroxine but recently had to minimize my thyroxine because of some heart flutters associated with an a fib condition that was resolved by ablation in 06. Your counsel would be appreciated…Jim
Jim,
I refer you to my book. That is how I refute it.
DrB
I had my iodine level checked (test ordered by my ND) and it was fine. The fact that I live in San Diego, well outside the “goiter belt,” and eat only whole, natural foods prepared at home probably has a lot to do with that. But for many years I have also added about half a teaspoon of dried kelp to my steamed greens before cooking four or five times per week, which is something that others might like to try. It’s easy to do, and so cheap it’s almost free,
I have a question. If you have Hashimotos, can you ever get rid of it or will you always have it?
Judy,
I have two daughters with Hashimoto’s. One now has no sign of it, the other’s antibodies are down 90%. Yes, you can get rid of it with the proper treatment plan.
DrB
In regard to a doctor in the Twin City region, there is a board-certified family practice physician that is really big into integrative type medicine using a holistic approach. He is a D.O. (similar to an MD) and is located in Bloomington, MN. I used to be stationed at an Army Recruiting Center down the hall and he would see Active military for free since he doesn’t accept Tricare. He is also a retired Navy physician. You can read Dr. Kevin Wand’s bio at http://www.midwestwellness.com/about.html
Hope this helps.
Hi Dr Brownstein, Two questions for you.
I have been diagnosed with non primary hypothyroidism. My brother recently had his thyroid surgically removed for Papilary cancer. My mother has 15 thyroid nodules and I believe she may have parathyroid disease but has never been worked up for it. Her TSH levels have all been normal. All of her nodules were negative for cancer. My son has 3 very small thyroid nodules at the age of 17. More recently I have had mildly elevated PTH and high calciulm levels with a sestimibi scan showing 2 parathyroid adenomas. I was wondering if you are aware of cancers of the thyroid being caused indirectly from parathyroid disease?
Also I have had a 25 year extensive workup with several different types of scans for abdominal pain, neck pain and migraines (CT’s, MRI’s, MRCP’s, and x-rays. Recently I was injected with Iodine for the test being done. I may have had iodine injections in the past for some of my testing. Could Iodine injections effect the thyroid as a treatment inadvertently and prevent the proper workup for thyroid cancer or even be beneficial ?
I have yet to read your book on Iodine and I hope these answers are not repetitive.
What about those of us with Hashis? Doesn’t iodine make it worse?
Darin,
During the last 40 years, Hashi’s has been increasing at epidemic rates at the same time that iodine levels have fallen over 50%. Iodine deficiency is associated with Hashi’s. I explain this in more detail in my new edition of the iodine book.
DrB
In addition to my above post, Be your own doctor. Read all you can about thyroid. Get stop the thyroid madness,anything from Broda Barnes. Take your basil temp daily, Check blood pressure and pulse several times a day. Take lots of salt and iodine and I may add you can get desicated thyroid USPS overseas. Go SLOW and you HAVE to monitor your self. We could not find a doc. that would do all that we wanted. We took charge of our lives. Also You have to be nutrified. Youngevity’s minerals are the only way to go. Study, Study, Study
I live in Melbourne Australia and am currently taking about 180 times the RDI for iodine. My doctor vehemently opposes me taking it, but I persist in seeing her even if not to eventually prove to her its effectiveness. I do all the thyroid blood tests to prove to her there is no damage being done to the thyroid as an endocrinologist warned would happen. The list of ailments it has relieved me of is too long to list here and I don’t currently have time. But my question is: ARE THERE ANY IODINE LITERATE PRACTIONERS IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA???? PLEASE!! If anyone knows of even just ONE please let me know through this blog. I am trying to spread the message to others – some of whom do start taking it themselves but they are all in the dark and on their own as I am unable to refer them to an iodine literate practitioner. I am on my own too of course but am fortunate not to have struck any hurdles as there can be when detoxification has unpleasant side effects or other things need to be included to complement the iodine supplementation. I only know of one in Queensland but that’s thousands of miles from Melbourne!
Hello Mary,
I would suggest you contact ACNEM [Australian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine] in Melbourne.
I think you could ask the question that you have asked in your post.
We have a Dr in SA who is a graduate and is Iodine savvy, and was referred by a pathology lab as
she had Iodine Urine Challenge tests done via this lab on a regular basis.
All the best
Hi Judith. Can you please give me the name of the doctor or the lab? Thank you.
Hi I have problems with thyroid could you tell me the doctor who works with iodine in queensland as I live in Brisbane thank you
Trevor
Trevor,
I know the Lucy Rose Clinics are doing good work with thyroid treatment. I have lectured to them many times.
DrB
How does one find a compound pharmacist ? I identify with the post above
Charlene,
You can find a compounding pharmacy by going here: http://www.pccarx.com/contact-us/find-a-compounder/
DrB
We need to take responsibility for our own health. We used Hakala labs and of course have every one of Dr. Brownsteins books. My wife was on 5 grains of desiccated thyroid and I was on 2 1/2 . In a little over 8 months we totally reversed our thyroids. Today we take zero thyroid. I might add that we took all the 90 essential nutrients.