... but I now think you should know the story. It could be important.
I was away from this forum for a long time, for some good reasons and I missed you all.
One of them being I was very, very sick, the sickest I can recall to ever have been (kidney stone, fibromyalgia et al. considered). I got sick with what looked like a common cold in March, took good care of it with natural means for over 4 weeks; this approach did not work at all, so I was scared enough to take antibiotics (a 14day course) for the first time in 19 years (all other health issues during these 19 years were by and large successfully resolved by natural means). I took Iodine during all this time, no idea how it interacted with the antibiotics, but hey! I’m still here. It never once crossed my mind to stop the Iodine. I was sick enough to have no interest whatsoever in life. I was sick enough to only read about 1% of what I used to. I did not cook or watch TV, did not go anywhere and hardly talked to anyone except my son. I truly thought I was dying (it sure felt like it). It was VERY weird. It was a “bug” that affected everthing from the chest up, while everything from that point down was just fine. I “had” fibromyalgia, so I KNOW what extreme exhaustion and pain is, but trust me, fibro at its worst was not even close to this. My engergy level was very close to zero.
The fact that upon looking in the mirror, I looked my usual self, was very disturbing to me, as I felt like a walking-talking zombie/mummy – and expected to see something along those lines. Fat chance. So most people (including my family doctor – who said it was a “just” a sinus infection), as well as co-workers and boss, did not believe I was sick. (The only person who did was my son, only because he knows me so well; actually, he begged and convinced me to take the much-hated-and-resented antibiotics; 2 months later admitted he did so because he was truly scared of losing me).
Truth be told, I felt MUCH better on the antibiotics (while I was constantly thinking about how many flushes and kidney cleanses I would have to do to get them out of my system) and against my usual bad habit of stopping whatever I’m taking as soon as I feel a tad bit better, I completed all of the bloody 14 days of poison.
I started work again and a week later whatever bug I had, was 70% back, and I now I truly thought I’d be gone in no time. My boss forced me to take 2 weeks vacation (in 2 one-week batches) and that probably saved me, but I hated him for it at the time. I had enough time to linger, lick my wounds, take all kinds of vits and mins and sleep like my turtle. Oh, and Iodine. It worked. Probably all of the above, together. Total healing took a long time, though.
By the end of June/beginning of July, I was almost 100%, went back to the gym slowly and gingerly. It is now Oct and finally I feel normal again. I work full time and commute 1 to 2 hrs/day, go to the gym 2-3 times a week (mostly 3 times), in Sep I started working occasional Saturdays. I now have the energy to do it.
One of my friends, though, who had a bug that generated symptoms very similar to mine (I’m not saying it was the same, I have no way of knowing that), was not so lucky. We work for the same company, but in different locations. Last time I saw her, was at a meeting on March 30. We were both sick and exhausted at that time, so we did not talk much. She died on Apr 23. It was a terrible, terrible situation for all who loved her so. She had 2 children, 17 and 15, and was a wonderful, wonderful person. I know she did not take antibiotics, just OTC stuff. Now that I really think about it, perhaps taking the Iodine and the antibiotics, together, saved my life. I will never know for sure, but it’s a possibility.
I posted a few times during my illness and tried to read the forum, but did it sporadically, whenever I had a bit of energy, so now I have an awful lot of catching up to do. I have some things to share in terms of our Iodine experience (mine and my turtle’s) and will do so whenever I can find the time. I sure am glad to be back!
freya