I've been going to a naturopathic doctor who isn't a supplement-pusher. I'm so glad. She doesn't suggest things very often, and then she suggests other ways to get it. She also has affordable prices on things. She's also been to at least one Brownstein lecture / workshop (other Iodine specialists were there, too). And I've added her to the breastcancerchoices.org practitioner list.

I haven't done the loading test yet, because I didn't do one before starting the supplementation to establish a baseline. We decided to do one this summer, after several months of fairly steady Iodoral use. My usage is off & on. I keep track of it on a calendar. Basically, I do several days of 2-4 Iodoral (I would do 4 consistently, but I take 2 at a time, and sometimes I forget a "dose"). Then, I take a day or two off. I'm not good at taking pills, so I'm not consistent with this. However, I don't notice any significant side effects anymore. I have a good liquid selenium & magnesium supplement from this doctor and am using my own vitamin C, Sea Salt , etc. Oh, and I'm supplementing because I know I've had great exposure to bromine & fluorine (thanks, Flonase and Mountain Dew and flour!).

With this doctor, I've had a nutritional analysis using blood. I was low on zinc, like I suspect so many people are. My crappy store-bought zinc apparently wasn't cutting it, because I'd been using that for months. I also have fructose sensitivity, which doesn't surprise me, given how sick to my stomach a little too much Sugar can make me (I can eat whole fruits just fine). I'm low on antioxidants and oleic acid, so I'm working on those with food and additional vitamin E and the other supplemental vitamins & minerals I've mentioned. I'm sure there was some other deficiency I'm missing...on some stuff, I was barely into the normal range, though. This was done with live blood...the antioxidant test is cool...they throw oxygen at your blood until it can't resist it anymore.

I got a urine-based heavy metals test. I know (and she knows) to take this with a grain of salt...who knows what all is stored in the body that isn't coming out in the urine regularly or whatever. I was going to do EDTA-provoked urine testing, but I took one of those pills and felt light-headed. I did 24 hour collection instead. The metals that showed up are aluminum (highest), mercury, and then much smaller amounts of nickel and arsenic. Woo hoo! Oh, I refrained from all supplementation, including no iodine, for 48 hours before my 24 hour urine collection. I know the Iodine could still be pushing stuff out for a long time after stopping, though.

I'm going to proceed with her slow metals detox (which I think is a low oral dose of EDTA or something similar + replacement of minerals), plus a slow detox she's calling "drainage." It is all fairly inexpensive. I'll be re-tested in several months...who knows what other metals might show up at that time. It will start with something that is going to clear out the kidneys, bowels, etc...making sure everything is "moving" before this slow detox starts. I imagine this will be something herbal.

Overall, I'm feeling like I've made lots of progress with the iodine. I'll continue the Iodine during all of this. I know I could handle all of this on my own, but I like the idea of having someone measure & monitor some of this process. My impulse generally is to do too much, then get freaked out, worry over whether I'm going too fast or not fast enough, etc...I can use some guidance :) Then again, I'm always disobeying orders...she said I should take only 2 Iodoral a day, but I'm taking 4 and could probably stand a lot more. I'll let her know this in several months :)

I've also started jogging and incorporating a lot more exercise into my day. My thyroid is feeling a lot more "regulated," but it helps that we're moving out of winter so I don't get so chilly :) The exercise definitely helps warm me up, of course. I'll bet it's extremely good for brain fog, though I've had that less often now than several months ago.

The only thing that sucks is that just when I think my pimples are down to barely noticeable, I break out around my mouth again. Grr!

The good stuff, from having taken iodine off & on for many months now: my fat IS softer, my energy is slowly improving, my digestion is improving, I'm calmer and better at handling stress and at slowing down & taking breaks when I need to. I live in a desert climate, but I think my skin is better in spite of all this dryness. Then again, less frequent hand washing, shorter showers, skin brushing, coconut oil on my face, not washing my face with soap, and a diet rich in good fats helps :) No flax oil, though.

We've had a nasty barrage of pollen. Every wildflower everywhere is in bloom. On top of the city pollution. I've had a little allergy sneezing, but nothing like most people around here.

OH, I didn't get one single illness this winter. No cold, no flu...I encountered sickos everywhere but caught nothing. Then again, we were doing homemade Colloidal Silver and sucking it down for a while there.

You may remember my cat getting a tumor on her toe...gave her CS and put iodine on her foot...then we found out she was severely constipated...gave the cat ENEMAS, for crying out loud, to break up the hardened fecal impaction when the milk of magnesia wasn't working...lots of butter & laxotone (I know it's petroleum-based, but I didn't know what else to do)...she was not eating & vomiting all that time...then one day the mother of all hairballs came out. When she was eating again, I put nux vomica in her food, even a little milk thistle here & there (this is in Nature's Variety raw venison medallions)...now her digestion is so awesome, she's eating more than before and not gaining weight. Well, I hope that's not parasites...she's had Humaworm's pet worm before. She looks healthier than ever, though. I'm just glad our other cat didn't have any problems. I even did a little psyllium & extra water in their food to cleanse them. Yes, I continue to feed the cats butter on occasion. They love it. And I will always give them the Lugol's-in-water option.