Hi Everyone...I've been reading around on this forum lately because I was suspecting that I may have been having a reaction to the Iodine that I started taking in hopes of helping resolve some dense breast tissue and cysts. I started taking it about a month and a half ago at anywhere between 3 mg to 9 mg daily (I didn't know anything about detox reactions to it at this time). After a few days or a week I began to get so tired I could hardly stand it and ended up with a huge underground zit on my face that left a big scar. I stopped taking it altogether with a resolve to do some research first. I am taking a lot of supplements (all whole food and herbs) right now to support female hormone balance and immune function, but I had an intuitive hit that it was the Iodine that was causing a problem.

I decided to start taking it again after returning from vacation and took it three days in a row on Mon-Wed this week. I took half of a Prolamine Iodine tablet from Standard Process, which would be 1.5 mg of Iodine. I figured at such a low dose I may not need to do the salt flushing, companion nutrients, etc. I am rethinking that because last night I went from feeling just fine to having severe shaking/chills and a fever around 100-102 and difficulty breathing with chest tightness and severe neck and shoulder tightness and pain throughout my spine. Needless to say, I was completely freaked out and ended up in the ER last night. The chest tightness and difficulty breathing is what really sent me over the edge. To top it all off, I was irritable and completely irrational in dealing with my boyfriend regarding going to the hospital. All tests at the hospital returned normal, except for an elevated white blood cell count (20,000). The doctor wants me to return today, but I'm not sure I should because I feel like it may be a detox reaction. I already feel like I may have been overreacting, but when you have the sensation of not being able to breathe, things start to get pretty real:)

I would love to know if this is a typical detox reaction at such a low dose. I've stumbled across a few people mentioning flu-like symptoms, etc. But this seemed a little intense. I don't want to brush off the doctor either, because if there is something wrong (other than being completely iodine deficient and full of poisons), I obviously want to know that. If it helps, I do have a history of fatigue, joint pain, allergies and emotional difficulties (depression, anxiety, irritability) and general burnout. All of these have fluctuated throughout the years with my level of care, but lately my moods were much better comparatively speaking and my pain level have been down because I take plenty of herbs and fish oil to relieve it.

Thanks so much for all your help. Sorry for the long post...