Hello Nicole. Nice to meet you. A very warm welcome to the forum from me too.

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https://holy-lance.blogspot.com

I was trying to remember what my doc said about iodine...
Breast tissue requires a lot of iodine... some naturopathic folk think there is a link between breast cancer and iodine deficient states. Iodine applied topically can eliminate breast pain caused by hormonal swings.

Of course estrogens affect breast tissue... and there has been a reported link between increased breast cancer and estrogen supplemention, although not with the bio-identical estrogens... so that is why i think she wants be on iodine... to cover bases..

At that time when I was having similar symptoms to you I also found a cyst on my thyroid. I could feel it on the outside with my hand. I went to the same doc and she had me have an ultrasound of the thyroid which revealed 2 cysts, the one I felt and a more internal one. I went to a thyroid specialist and he confirmed that they were benign cysts, but might get bigger, and if they bothered me he could remove them.

This is when I found out about iodine. I wasn't taking hormones yet, that to be some years down the road. I started taking Lugols iodine in rather large dosages for a couple of months. My symptoms of anxiety and heart palpitaitons went away along with the cyst. I can no longer feel it like I could before.. It was so extreme that if I bent my neck back you could see it poking out. Its not there anymore. No, I haven't bothered to have another ultrasound.

Right at that time is about when my doc started to prescribe Lugols iodine to her patients. She was learning as I was. As time went by we shared Lugols stories.. She said she was aware of cases of breast cancer cured with lugols iodine alone... but I dont know the dosage or any other details. For some serious disease cases Lugols dosages can be very high... like 200 to 900 drops a day.... This certainly would require physician monitoring by a doc that understands iodine supplementation.

If you are not supplementing with lugols you should look into it. Some people use nascient iodine.. but seems more practitioners use Lugols.. seems the potassium iodide covers more theraputic ground than the nascient iodine. Most Americans are deficient...and all women in one study who had breast cancer were iodine deficient. Remember, hypothyroidism is at epidemic levels at our nation.

Also, I recommend a thyroid hormone level check at 4 to 6 weeks after starting as a very few people do not tolerate iodine supplementation well. It can also cause skin rash for a while in some and this is throught to be a bromide detox, not an allergic reaction.

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this quote from that progesterone site says it all and it corresponds with what the leading iodine expert docs say:

Iodine deficiency is very common in America. Iodine deficiency is even worse in Western Europe and especially in the UK. By some estimates, iodine deficiency may exist in above 95% of the American population. Severe iodine deficiency results in goiter (an enlargement of the thyroid gland). Iodine exists in seawater. Because the Great Lakes Region was made be a large glacier scraping out the Great Lakes, the soil in that region is devoid of iodine. At the turn of the century, there was a large population in the Great Lakes region that had goiters because of the iodine deficiency. Iodized salt was implemented and decreased goiters in the Great Lakes region. However, the amount of iodine in the salt is just enough to stave off goiters. The amount of iodine is not enough. In addition, we are all poisoned by fluoride and bromine. The fluoride and bromine poisons the thyroid hormone and displaces the iodine with fluoride and bromine rendering the thyroid hormone useless.
The thyroid hormone appears to be normal on the thyroid test. But since iodine in the thyroid hormone is replaced by bromine and fluoride, the thyroid hormone does NOT work. Taking 10-50 mg of iodine (I2) and iodide (I-) is able to push out the bromine and fluoride restoring normal function of the thyroid gland.

Iodine deficiency seems to make the Estrogen Dominance Worse. I do not understand why this is so, yet. Taking iodine seems to make uterine fibroids disappear better, and reduce endometriosis pain. Why? I do not know, yet.

Arrow,
Thanks, so much, for this information on iodine and for sharing your own experience. I am going into see my NP tomorrow for my yearly exam. I will definitely talk to her about the iodine. Do you ingest the iodine or use it topically?

Frank, thank you for the tip on the DGL licorice. Do you know if taking a capsule is as effective as the chewable tablet. I really don't like the taste of licorice. So, a capsule, if it's just as effective, would be better to me.

I also just started taking fenugreek seed capsules. I'm hoping that will be helpful.

Thanks for all of the helpful information.

Nicole