Nuthin wrong with a wig, get one. If Iodine makes the hair fall out of your wig, I'd be real concerned.

Have you researched serrapeptace for cysts?
i've heard good things about it.

There are many people who take thyroid medication in various forms while on iodine. I switched from Armour to Naturethroid to ERFA due to last year's shortages of natural dessicated thyroid.

I'd recommend that you check out the Iodine Yahoo Group. Steph, the moderator, is very knowledgeable about thyroid meds and iodine. The group is very active.

I'm not sure there was much point getting bloodwork done a week into Iodine supplementation. Iodine can cause an initial transitory spike in TSH that can last for 6 months or so. It doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Plus, it's going to take a while for your body to adjust and heal. It's not going to happen overnight.

Did you get bloodwork done before you started iodine? Would need to see Free T3 and Free T4 plus lab ranges.

You definitely need selenium for the thyroid along with your iodine plus the other companion supplements.

Don't feel hopeless!

Now is the time to become informed:) Hypothyroid is very serious, often goes hand in hand with PCOS and needs to be treated. Untreated hypothyroid can lead to a variety of other ills including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, HAIR LOSS is a symptom of hypo...

Is armour the *best* way to treat hypo? According to all that I've read recently...yes. It's far superior to synthetic thyroid meds. A website that you NEED to become acquainted with is http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com


Have you listened to the Dr. Mark Starr audio yet? You really need to do that too, it's here:

//www.curezone.org/ig/f.asp?f=1723


Also, get Dr. Mark Starr's book, "Hypothyroidism, Type 2- The Epidemic".

Here are pics of people with hypothyroid, before and after being treated with armour:

//www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1593315#i


//www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1593753#i


BTW, in Dr. Starr's book he mentions 3 reasons for hair loss in women, those reasons are:

~3 reasons for hair loss in women.

A) low thyroid

B) overgrowth of candida. Candida overgrowth because candida protects body from mercury. He recommend the Kaufman antifungal diet:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevanceran...



C) Low iron levels. Have ferritin levels checked- should be at least 60.

Now, IMO you could muck about with herbs and diet and try this and try that, but armour has been proven, over time, to be very effective in treating hypothyroid. You should absolutely discover WHY you are hypothyroid, that can be due to a variety of factors including Iodine deficiency, fluoride and bromide toxicity, heavy metals, chemicals, plastics, hormonal disruptors, and of course poor diet(refined foods, excess carbs). And ADDRESS those factors! Don't just depend on the armour to make it all right.

The theory behind dietary and herbal approaches is to support thyroid function without having to "depend" on a glandular like armour. If your thyroid is already so overburdened though, I think you NEED armour.

Much of Doctor Starr's book is based on the work of Dr. Broda Barnes. Dr. Barnes had success after success after success treating patients with armour. Here's a link to the website of the Dr. Broda Barnes foundation:

http://www.brodabarnes.org/


Educate yourself dearie:) A prescription for armour is not a cause to feel hopeless, it's a cause to feel hopeFUL.

ad from 1922~

Just another perspective. Dr. Flechas (one of the Iodine docs) has stated that taking thyroid meds interferes with Iodine absorption. You can find a written interview with him here just search Dr. Flechas questions and answers. I have taken every thyroid med combination to no avail so Iodine feels like my last hope. I was able to wean off of meds. However, if you haven't tried desiccated thyroid and you are really suffering and can't wait to see what the iodine is going to do-I would probably try it. There are lots of people especially over on Yahoo iodine group saying they take both and that they work synergistically. My plan is to see what iodine does for me first (however I can mostly tolerate the hypo stuff probably as I have been hypo all my life) and then if it's not enough add in some meds.

Oh, just another thought since I asked this same exact question on both forums and got some good responses from people. One person suggested that because of all of the fluctuation in thyroid function while on Iodine supplementation especially in the beginning that trying to adjusted thyroid dose could be confusing. In my experience, I agree with this so far as I have been swinging between hypo and hyper for the past three months although starting to stabilize a little bit now. I have Hashimoto's though and this may plan a part.