Any Iodine At All?

[Hopeful1950]

Hi all,

I have been getting new little blisters almost every day and it is likely due to the fact that I didn't know that eggs have fairly high amounts of iodine in them. I love eggs!

We need 150 mcg of iodine a day.

QUESTION #1. Does anyone know how long we can go with no or very low iodine intake without negative health consequences?

QUESTION #2. Would it be possible to spread out a person's intake over an entire day to get small amounts many times a day to meed the minimum requirement without aggravating the DH? Or is it a cumulative thing...ie if you get over a certain amount in a specific time period you are going to blister whether you spread it out or not.

I am terrified of ending up with a thyroid problem so was thinking that maybe I could get the iodine in very small amounts many times a day safely. Anyone have any insight with this?

Thanks a million.

[itchy]

Hopeful1950, I'm with you, worrying about the thyroid problem, though many here seem to avoid iodine for a while without problems. My grandmother, who was raised in the US midwest and Canadian west at the turn of the previous century had a large goiter due to iodine deficiency (before they started adding iodine to table salt).

I suspect that if you are still forming blisters you may be still getting too much gluten, though that isn't certain either.

My DH has been on a steady plane of improvement for the last couple of months, and although I've experimented with adding and removing seafood from my diet, I haven't noticed any effect at all from that. Here in the UK, iodine isn't added to table salt, so far as I can tell.

What really made the difference was when I got even more strict with gluten in my diet. (Frustratingly, I also noticed that new blisters CAN form even though the general condition is getting better).

[eatmeat4good]

Hopeful1950- You pose excellent questions.

I wonder too.

I avoid iodine and hope to until my sores heal, but I sure don't want to cause another problem.

I have been avoiding eggs for a long time thinking I'm reacting to them but not sure why.

Today I had no time and was hungry and ate 2 eggs.

Tonight my sores hurt.

It cannot be gluten. I don't eat any grains or processed food.

Sure hope someone knows what the answer to your 2 questions are. A few of us need to know.

[hnybny91]

I didn't know about the egg / iodine connection either! Could be why I still get sores because I eat two eggs several times a week.

[Hopeful1950]

Thanks everybody. I hope some more folks weigh in on this.

I don't eat anything that I don't prepare myself so I don't think it's gluten. I'm "over the top" when it comes to avoiding it. I've even made the dog gluten-free! My husband thinks I have developed OCD because when he comes home I meet him at the door with a wipey and make him clean his hands. I carry wipeys everywhere with me to clean my hands after I have touched things that could possibly have gluten on them.

Let's strain our brains...ANOTHER QUESTION: How exactly do the antibodies clear from the skin? Do they have to blister to be gone? Do they die? Are they reabsorbed by the body?

If they have to blister to be gone, then I'd like to have an anesthesiologist put me to sleep, give me a bunch of iodine, make them all blister, then wake me up when it is over and the itching and the blisters are gone!

[rosetapper23]

As for how long you can go without causing health issues, all I can say is that that I ate NO iodine (except small amounts found in vegetables, tuna, and eggs) for 16 years...and then I developed Hashimoto's. I can't say that my thyroid condition was caused by lack of iodine, but I suspect that that might be the case.

As for iodine in eggs, I've read that the amount of iodine varies with what the chickens have been fed. You might try looking for a local farm that raises chickens on organic food. We have our own chickens (fed only organic), and their eggs don't seem to contain enough iodine to cause me any problems. Just a suggestion.....

[GlutenFreeManna]

I was told by someone on this board that as long as you are gluten free iodine will not CAUSE new outbreaks of DH. It just irritates DH if you have active blisters. The DH should go away after a few months of a strict gluten-free diet. I avoided iodine for about 6 months before I learned that I didn't need to anymore. My DH rash is gone and has not come back and I added iodidezed salt just fine. So if you are still having an active outbreak, you probably won't be hurt to avoid iodide for a month as long as you add it back in later when the DH is gone. ****Of course I'm not a DR, just relating what I read here so check with your doctor if you are concerned about cutting it out for a short time****

[hnybny91]

Thanks everybody. I hope some more folks weigh in on this.

I don't eat anything that I don't prepare myself so I don't think it's gluten. I'm "over the top" when it comes to avoiding it. I've even made the dog gluten-free! My husband thinks I have developed OCD because when he comes home I meet him at the door with a wipey and make him clean his hands. I carry wipeys everywhere with me to clean my hands after I have touched things that could possibly have gluten on them.

Let's strain our brains...ANOTHER QUESTION: How exactly do the antibodies clear from the skin? Do they have to blister to be gone? Do they die? Are they reabsorbed by the body?

If they have to blister to be gone, then I'd like to have an anesthesiologist put me to sleep, give me a bunch of iodine, make them all blister, then wake me up when it is over and the itching and the blisters are gone!

Have you checked the wipes for wheat? I just discovered the other day that my hand sanitizer has wheat in it!

[dilettantesteph]

It's something I wondered about too. My son gets what we think is DH, but it hasn't been tested. We have a diet of mainly unprocessed foods and sea salt and live in the goiter belt. A friend started taking iodine with good results so we decided to go for it. We must have been very deficient because at first it was like we were high on life. The iodine made us feel terrific. It did not give my son what we think is DH. Now we take iodine every day and while we don't get high anymore, we feel generally a lot better. When my son gets "DH" from accidental gluten contamination, it still goes away at the same rate.