Excess Iodine

[peterg2000]

I had been gargling with Betadine for the last 20 years and finally felt the effects this summer when heart palpitations started !  back then I was bordeline Hyper with a T4 of 21 (22 is the upper limit here ! )  But when I found out the Betadine had high concentrations of Iodine , I stopped taking it , which sent my T4 skyrocketing to 60 ! I had a few occasions of continued arythmias lasting 3-5 hours . I'm on tapazole 45 Mgs in 3 15mg doses !
After 4 weeks at 30 Mg my T4 still didn't go down , which is why I was upped to 45 !

My question is what can I expect as damage to my thyroid or is it possible everything returns to normal ! I stopped the Iodine on August 8 2008 !  They didn't want to do any scan because of the excess Iodine intake .

How long can my thyroid be super charged with Iodine ?

Is there anything food I should stay away from  ?

Any supplements to assist ?    ( however I'm on Coumadin because of the arythmia's )

Thanks

Peter Groves

[peterg2000]

My T4 levels were down in the teens for about a week then shot up to 45 once again sending me to the ER with borderline arythmia !
They said I'd have to get a new scan ASAP and probably be treated with RAI . But I just got back from my scan and my thyroid is normal !

After 30 years of Betadine use , IU guess its will take a while for my thyroid to get back to normal !  I'll give it another try with Tapazole !
I've been feeling pretty decent since my ER visit last Tuesday  even though I've been off the tapazole because of the scan ! But It still feels like my hormone levels are swinging up and down as some days I feel fine and others I feel like I'll get palpitations and I end up getting them !

Other than Graves , what else could be causing my thyroid to act up !
I have no lumps , no trouble swallowing and no pain .  

Peter

[peterg2000]

I'll be seeing my Endo tomorrow , so I'll let you know where my T4 is landed after 2 weeks of 45Mgs! Hopefully the Tapazole can get me back to normal while any remaining excess Iodine disipates !  

Thank you very much for the reply Dr. Lupo !

Pete

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Not sure about the L-carnitine -- no definite benefit to thyroid.

Iodine overload can cause thyroid dysfunction -- but interestingly, excess iodine is sometimes used to slow the thyroid down -- it's a tricky balance.  

sounds like you may have Graves disease or an over-active nodule and the thyroid is over-utilizing all the iodine -- may take a few months to get past that.  You did not mention if you are on amiodarone for the heart (that also has a huge amount of iodine and is notorious for causing thyroid troubles).

Our first choice is to try to control this with tapazole (or sometimes PTU) - if that is not working then definitive treatment is needed.  Often I-131 cannot be given b/c the thyroid will not take up the additional iodine; in these cases, thyroid removal is needed.

Checking thyroid ultrasound and looking at Graves antibodies (TSH-Receptor antibodies) may help determine the underlying thyroid condition that is over-utilizing the iodine.  I-123 uptake would only be helpful if it's normal / elevated.  If low, then cannot exclude a transient thyroiditis, but the time-course of 3-4 months is longer than usual for this.

[peterg2000]

As far as supplements go , the one I would seem to benefit most from is L-Carnitine !
Would you agree ?

Thanks
Peter Groves

[peterg2000]

Forgot to add that I'm 56 and in general good health and I believe I've been using Betadine
for closer to 30 years than 20 !   It was my doctor who told me to use it because I had several bad bouts with Strep throat !  Althogh he might have mentioned not to use it constantly and that little tidbit was forgotten over time !  

The 45Mg dose was for the last 2 weeks !
  
Thanks

Pete