Topic: Has anyone heard of taking iodine for BC?

Deb,

Your chiropractor is really up to date. The Breast Cancer Choices organization has been reviewing all the research on iodine for breast cancer on their website for several years and has summarized the info.

www.breastcancerchoices.org/iodine

You can even get reimbursed for your iodine test if you are a breast cancer patient if you participate in their database of breast cancer patients taking iodine. www.breastcancerchoices.org/iproject

I have been taking 50 mg of Iodoral for a while now. You can google around and see that iodine deficiency started 30 years ago when they took the iodine out of flour. And everybody got on a low salt kick.

Good luck!

Anom 

It how they process our salt.  They process out the iodine and also out of many other things.  Do the research there is facts to back this up.  Also research thyroid disease and/or bc. They are find a direct connection.

Flalady

Has anyone had their iodine levels checked by there PCP?  So many of us are finally getting our Vitamin D levels checked but many this is another test we should inquire about?  I know none of these tests were offered to me unless I specifically asked for them and they are not done by my oncologist.  I had to go to my PCP and ask for Vitamin D and cholesterol to be checked.

Althea,

My earlier message to you did not go through.

The answer is, I felt the Iodoral (50 mg) kick in within 90 minutes. I must have been really depleted. A woman wrote an article in First Magazine this week saying the same thing about her experience with Iodoral tho I gather that is not the norm. It doesn't hit everybody so powerfully. My brain just "woke up" and I had ambition.

 I believe what they say about it boosting IQ but I thought that was only in Third World countries. Hah! My brain must have been in the Third World. I have been using uniodized seasalt since I can remember. :(

My one regret is that I didn't have this iodine info 30 years ago.

 Anom

My PCP started me on Iodoral when my mammogram showed a suspicion of BC along with OncoPLEX (sulforaphane glucosinolate) which is a Broccoli seed extract.  The tumor went within a week or two from being hard to soft and not painful.  Japanese women eat a lot of Kelp and fish, which contains iodine and they have a very low incidence of breast and cervical cancer. She recommends 50 mg per day of Iodoral if you have BC. Before the biopsy I was taking half that amount. It also has a connection to prostrate cancer by the way.

Thanks, Carol.  I think the Lugol's sounds like the best way to go. It has been tested and used for years.  I have have my thyroid checked many times and the test always comes back OK.  But, I've read somewhere that thyroid problems can be hard to diagnose.  There are other tests but I cannot remember what they are.  Does anyone know?

In researching iodine supplements for fibrocystic breast tissue and BC prevention, I've also seen reference to iodine being given to people accidently exposed to radiation.  I'm wondering about supplementation for patients who have received radiation treatment.  Has anyone been told that iodine might help reduce the effects of the radiation?

anom, that is such a wonderful result you got from the Iodoral!  I'm so envious.  It's a liquid, right?  Is it tolerable?  ghastly?  tasty?  

Several of my messages have not gone through. Will someone please explain if I am on mederated status or something?

I'm so glad this thread got started...I've just finished 6 rounds of TC chemo and want my body to heal, not be bombarded with more drugs, i.e. Tamoxifen.  I've found lots of encouraging info about iodine also (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2452979 is just from July of this year) and am pretty resolved to going that route and "Just Saying No" to Tamox.  Has anyone else done this?? 

I had heard that taking one Iodoral tablet daily was good....but that's not nearly 50 mg, right?  I'm currently looking for a dr. who will work with me on this approach, as my onc. and my surgeon both are stuck in the Tamox rut and look at me like I have a death wish for not wanting to take it. 

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Dr. Bernard Eskin said publicly at a medical conference that iodine in the right dose was at least as good as Tamoxifen or Arimidex but that it is illegal to recommend AGAINST THE "STANDARD OF CARE."

You can look him up in pubmed.com or google him. He has been publishing studies forever.

Anom

(Said no to Tamox and Arimidex)

i'm estrogen/progesterone positive and am currently on Xeloda.  i'm a bit wary of taking things containing anti-oxidents whilst on Xeloda, is the iodine contraidictory to Xeloda????

Has anyone experienced an increase in hot flashes when taking iodine?  I'm taking one Iodoral tablet every other day, and on those days I'm definitely having a lot more hot flashes.  I guess my poor thyroid is confused....maybe I'll hold off on the iodine and let it recover from chemo! 

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gymgirl,

You can take the Iodine Loading Test and consult an Iodine Literate Practitioner for interpretation as to why your thyroid is creating nodules. Both the breasts and thyroid need iodine.

My thyroid tests always came out normal despite low temps, constipation and dry flaky skin. If I skip iodine for a week, the dry skin comes back. My mother also had dry flaky skin so for years I was told the condition was "just hereditary" and to use hand lotion. Hah!

I don't know if thyroid conditions can be hereditary. All I know is that the low thyroid symptoms went away on iodine. Some other women who have taken iodine for their breasts report other changes in skin, mood, energy, cholesterol, fibromyalgia, etc. There is an online Iodine Discussion Group on Yahoo with 2,000 members. If you join, you may get some answers. A number of the members suffered from various complaints: thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer, Graves Disease, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and various breast conditions which were helped by iodine. You can read the first-person documentation in the group archives if you are a member.  http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/iodine/

Dr. David Brownstein wrote an excellent, easy to read book on iodine which discusses the thyroid as well as breasts. See www.drbrownstein.com

Good luck!

anom

anomdenet,

Thanks for the good leads. Yes, I have dry, flaky skin too. I'll check out the site and the book. I can't help but feel that all these symptoms are related.

cp,

I'd like to get my vit D level tested too. I just had an annual physical with my family dr. and this never came up. Geuss I'll have to go back and ask for it. And this is probably related too! Even though I've been researching for over a year, I'm always learning something new. I"ve never had a stress test either - good luck on yours.