Roku was the answer.

This is about iodine and low thyroid (hypothyroidism).  Before my actual post, I want to provide a little of the backstory:

My normal body temperature is about 97.2.  Really.  I also have chronic tinnitus, super-thin eyebrows and no half-moons on my fingers. (I have them on my thumbs.) In the past 15 years, I’ve put on weight; thank heavens I was really thin before that. However, when I reduce my calories to shed some pounds, I actually gain wait… often a lot of it.  All are classic signs of low thyroid.

Around 1990, when my thyroid levels were tested, I was low enough to be described as hypothyroid. My doctor was opposed to synthetic thyroid medications unless there’s no alternative, so he recommended a hefty daily dose of kelp.

I’ve been using kelp, off & on, ever since.  For me, it helps reduce anxiety, the constant sense of feeling chilled, and — as a side benefit — it’s eliminated the false positives in my mammograms.

The following is my post, edited from an email I sent to someone in my family who may have inherited the thyroid issues.  I began by describing my experiences with a Reiki practitioner at Fiverr.  Then, I said this:

A few days later, she wrote to me and said she was prompted to recommend Lugol’s oil to me. She was rubbing some on her thigh so it was gradually absorbed, and she was getting good results.

I looked it up, saw that Lugol’s is used to improve iodine levels for low thyroid (she knew zero about my thyroid stuff… all I told her was that I was having a tooth out) and ordered some.

Well, the iodine in it turns your skin orange. I remembered the Tincture of Iodine stains as a kid, when iodine was what every parent used on scrapes & scratches that kids get… it’s an antiseptic.  (Soon, Bactine replaced iodine as the first aid treatment of choice.)

So, the Lugol’s oil stained my skin.  However, unlike my childhood memories of iodine stains, the stain almost vanished in about an hour.

I decided to research Lugol’s and find out how to use it. (Rubbing it on your skin is just one option.)

I landed at http://misslizzy.me/blog/category/iodine and then at http://www.jcrows.com/hypothyroidism.html . (The Lugol’s that I bought is the J. Crow product.)  A whole lot of that startled me, big time.

I don’t have everything on the lists like http://www.suite101.com/content/hypothyroid-symptoms-and-remedies-a21270 , but enough… in addition to having the well-documented low body temp.  (I’m also seeing lots of aches-and-pains stuff with low thyroid: http://www.tinnitusformula.com/qtimes/2008/04/thyroid.aspx  and — even more extreme — http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic/ … which is a hypochondriac’s dream list.  However, I most recognize the symptoms at Miss Lizzy’s blog, which relate to adrenal issues as well as thyroid.)

So, I ran out to the store and bought some Tincture of Iodine, to do the patch test.   Walgreen’s was sold out (is this a fad?) but I found a bottle in the pharmacy section of Shaw’s grocery store for $1.99.

Here’s the patch test info: http://naturalhealthtechniques.com/healingtechniquesiodine-patch-test.htm  I wanted to follow the real test, to be sure that the “vanishing” Lugol’s stain wasn’t different or a fluke… just in case.

Also, from Iodine Remedies Secrets from the Sea, by Mary Jo Fahey (PDF).

“The iodine patch test is a do-it-yourself test that involves painting a 2 inch X 2 inch square on the skin. This test is thought to identify an iodine deficiency in people who see their iodine patch disappear or lighten after 10 hours.”

I took a shower yesterday afternoon, then did the patch test.  In three hours, the stain had faded almost completely.  In five hours, I could just barely tell where the patch was.  This morning, it’s vanished completely.

So, yeah… iodine.

But here’s the weird part: I was watching TV after my shower, and about a hour later, I started worrying about the TV. I had to keep turning the volume down because it seemed to get louder & louder.  Finally, it reached a reasonable level and stayed there, and I went to the kitchen… and the refrigerator hum was really loud.

It was the tinnitus.  It had nearly gone away.

(It had almost entirely stopped before, too, when I tried a gluten-free diet.  However, the benefits of that diet didn’t outweigh the inconveniences so — after two months off gluten — I chose a low-gluten diet, figuring that I’ll live with the ringing.)

Then, the apartment started feeling hot… not unusual on the third floor of our building, on an early September day.  So, I checked the thermostat… and it was only 70 degrees.  My body temperature was rising.

And then I was in the bathroom, checking the iodine patch in the (different-colored) light there.  I glanced in the mirror and was amazed.  The bags under my eyes, and the puffiness under my chin… they were far less noticeable than usual.

This morning, the tinnitus is mostly (but not entirely) back and so is some of the face puffiness… but I learned that blood goes through the thyroid every 17 minutes, so it’s reasonable that I’ve used up most or all of yesterday’s iodine boost.

Slight back-track…

When I was on the modified gluten-free diet earlier this year, I’d noticed that I could eat my own baked goods later in the day and not have such a severe “speed” effect.  It didn’t make much sense to me, but I decided there must be another factor in the commercial baked goods.

Well, when I read the info about the bromine-thyroid connection (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/thyroid-health_b_472953.html is just one), I was astonished.  See, I’ve always preferred to bake with King Arthur’s flour. Their slogan is “never bromated.”

That may be why I’m relatively okay with my own baked goods, but not commercial products.

So, anyway…

If you’ve had any doubts about thyroid issues, iodine deficiency, or related symptoms, the iodine patch test is probably worth trying.

Here’s the odd coincidence. I bought Bragg’s vinegar in the health food section of Hannaford’s, a couple of weeks ago.  I couldn’t figure out why I thought that was a good idea, but I tend to pay attention to those kinds of promptings.  It turns out it’s part of the Dr. Jarvis treatment involving Lugol’s oil.  Weird.

If you’re interested in Dr. Jarvis’ other research and discoveries, including his work with thyroid issues, see his folk medicine book.

See larger image Folk Medicine: A New England Almanac of Natural Health Care from a Noted Vermont Country Doctor (Paperback) By (author) D.C. Jarvis M.D. List Price: $15.00 USD New From: $7.95 In Stock Used from: $5.30 In Stock Release date March 1, 1995.