Here's my Io journey update:

I won a Fulbright award and went to Latvia to teach jazz at their top conservatory. I had been to Europe many times on tour but had never been to eastern Europe so it was eye opening.

I took a half bottle of lugols with me but that didn't last long. Sea vegetables are not a hot item in Latvia so I knew I was in for trouble :-)

Latvians eat REALLY well and are a pretty healthy lot (thank god for their awesome kefir, yogurt and traditional sauerkraut) but due to their former Soviet status I would say that their envirronment is pretty well f@cked,. Cleaning my apartment was interesting as there were always these huge black dust bunnies that just appeared out of nowhere, and the Baltic sea where most of the fish came from is not exactly pristine.

I did go mad for a spring tonic called berzu sula, or birch juice. Drank about 2 liters a day for the 3 weeks it was in season and felt great! So much so that I want to go back to my upstate NY homeland and grab all the sap I can get before it gets boiled down into maple syrup.

Anyway, came home and after some time, got back on iodine. My detox and herx was like I never had done Io therapy before. Bromine seemed to be the worst culprit. I had that weird chemical odor under (strangely) my right armpit mostly. Also skin rashes and the typical Bromine conical blocked pore.

I guess this is all to say that Iodine therapy is not something you can do for a while and then you're done. It's part of a food group you need for survival and if you're not getting it from the soil your food is grown on or the paltry amount added to commercial salt, then there you are.

It's taken a year for me to get right again and although iodine is not the only factor, it's been a big one.

OT, but if anyone is intrested in life in Riga, I wrote a blog post (with pictures!:-)

http://jazzmediapress.com/AnneFarnsworth/random-thoughts-on-riga/

Cheers and blessing to you all, Miss Cast