How many here are taking 15-50 mg a day of iodine? This sounds like a huge amount(over 100 times the RDA). Some say such huge amounts of iodine helps detox from heavy metals.

http://www.iodine4health.com/special/metals/abraham_metals.htm

Others claim that such huge doses taken long term might adversely affect the thyroid,while others say such huge doses are good short term for those who are iodine deficient, but should not be taken longer term. My AM temperature taken orally is often 96.5-97 degrees, and my diet has been thyroid deficient, so I might want to take 15-25 mg a day, however I am not sure for how long I should take it. Kelp might have high levels of arsenic and other toxic metals, so those who want high doses of iodine should not use kelp. They should take either Iodoral(12.5 mg iodine each tablet), potassium iodide tablets(Source Naturals makes 32.5 mg ones), or Lugol's solution. What are your thoughts about this? You can find these supplements on Amazon.com

I don't know JK, I tend to err on the side of caution and not overdo the iodine, but I make sure i"m getting the recommended about and more. I think the RDA is about 150 mcg a day, which isn't that much. It's the bare minimum I think.

I make sure I get this from my ordinary supplement containing around 100 mcg, iodised salt (which I use because it helps) and sometimes added diluted lugol's iodine. Which I think is about 100 mcg a drop. I take a few drops, but find I don't tend to need it as the salt and the supplement seem to be providing enough.

Natural salt does not contain enough iodine for those from areas already deficient in it. It contains a bit, but will not be able to cover a person if they are from an area like mine. Because of this, we have had epidemics before of iodine deficiency and corresponding thyroid problems as a result, which were remedied by iodised salt and iodine added to bread.

Unfortunately, as time wore on, people who were being told 'salt is bad" either went off it altogether, or changed to natural ocean sea salt, with all intentions of improving health. Yet the body requires salt! And certainly natural ocean sea salt is excellent. Problem is, in my country? You see the downside. We're already low in iodine.

So couple that with the fact they later took iodine out of bread and replaced it with bromide and then we started having issues again. I hear they have gone back to putting iodine in bread. I hope this is true. I don't get bread, so I don't know!

I eventually went back to iodised salt because the natural sea salt, good as it was in every other way, was severely lacking in iodine and the consequences were pretty disastrous. I got to such a point of barely being able to function. And that's saying something since I"m not well the rest of the time anyway.

So for me, simply the re-addition of iodised salt and a basic vitamin/mineral supplement containing iodine made a difference with DAYS. Or even a day.

I do not know the consequences of overdosing on iodine. I assume the body takes what it needs and excretes the rest. How efficient that is? I don't know and is there a point that it can be harmful to where the body isn't able to eliminate so much of the extra? I don't know for certain.

Mercury binds to iodine rendering it useless, so mercury toxic people need more, much like the situation with magnesium.

Oh, and zinc, and selenium, and insulin, and cysteine...

We (the elite) hate Iodine......

Replacing the elements that mercury blocks/displaces can precipitate a metal detox reaction. I've had this before from simply replacing minerals and antioxidants but also iodine and perhaps moreso because it apparently detoxes other things too like bromide. When I first starting taking drops of iodine, the reaction was dramatic. I had to stop and take a break and then start again on less and even then I had reactions.

I had to do this too with High Iodone Kombu, I detoxed so much I had to take a few breaks in the weeks I took it.

I was planning on buying kelp and celtic sea salt from here:

http://www.celticseasalt.com/

Reason is because I am using infrared sauna and a book I read said to replace minerals with sea salt and kelp. so what should I do? is there no good kelp brand? or how can i replace what kelp was gonna benefit cheaply?

It seems that sea salt might have a lot of minerals in it and i was looking forward to kelp maybe helping with iodine becasue i know i'm deficient. I'm profoundly exhausted all the time and since i was even young. I was gonna put the sea salt in my water to replenish minerals lost and hopefully make progress on deficiencies.

Shawn, mercury screws up mineral transport...so as long as you have a lot of mercury in you, your mineral status will be off. Meaning that even if you get enough minerals in your diet/supplements...you won't have the proper amount in your cells...you will have either too much or too little.

Sea Salt really doesn't supply that many minerals, but does supply trace minerals well, as well as support the adrenals.

Be careful with the sauna...its easy to over do it when you have mercury poisoning.

I have a couple goals

1. replace minerals lost from using an infrared sauna

2. try a good iodine supplement to support my thyroid because both my adrenals and thyroid are exhausted

like i said above, i was told to use sea salt and kelp to replace minerals lost with sauna. so does anyone know of the most nutritionally dense and clean (w/o other crap in them) brands to accomplish this? what about correcting a iodine deficiency?

apparently i won't make any progress with excreting metals if my thyroid and adrenals don't get stronger. i'm eating a lot of protein and staying away from sugars and trying to keep it low carb. i hope it's healing me somehow although i don't know it.

hope it's alright i ask for advice here cuz there is just too much information that i can't wrap my head around.

Seriously I tried a lot of things (kelp, herbs, minerals, vitamins) to support adrenals and thyroid and finally tried glandulars and they were way more effective. 'Adrenal Cortex Extract' by Nutricology and a Thyroid Glandular called 'Raw Thyroid' by Natural Sources.

I would really try glandulars if I were you. The ones listed above are both made from New Zealand free range bovine that aren't treated with hormones or anything like that.

The raw thyroid nearly instantly raises my oral temperature from 97 degrees to 98.6 and it makes me feel a lot better...whereas kelp and iodine give me symptoms and actually make me feel colder for whatever reason.

thanks for the advice gdawson. i looked those up and at this point and time, i just don't know if i can afford those two supplements. getting those nutrients in me consistely at an affordable cost would be much better than what i'm doing now with them which is nothing.

you said to take it easy with the saunas. was that because of how it can deplete nutrients and all?

"The raw thyroid nearly instantly raises my oral temperature from 97 degrees to 98.6 and it makes me feel a lot better...whereas kelp and iodine give me symptoms and actually make me feel colder for whatever reason."

Perhaps the high iodine dosage is causing bromine, florine, and other heavy metal detoxification?

http://www.iodine4health.com/special/metals/abraham_metals.htm

Yes, JK, that is what I think its doing. I do like iodine, I just only dose 200-400% RDI per day...otherwise I wake up in the middle of the night and can be too cold to fall back asleep easily.

I personally think I am better off doing low dose iodine while I chelate with ALA. Once I remove so much mercury my body will be better able to handle the higher doses of Iodine and the toxins it brings up.

Sean, I know those supplements aren't cheap but please try them sometime. They can make a big difference really quickly in how you feel and you may realize that they really are worth it.

Also, I said take it easy with the sauna because it is stressful on the adrenals & it depletes minerals. I did one every day at one point and I think I made my adrenals worse because of it.

I wonder if DMSA and ALA chelate iodine to any degree, or if they don't affect iodine.

I really don't think they do chelate iodine in any amount. They don't even chelate zinc to a significant extent based on studies. I think thats what makes them so useful is that they really don't bind to valuable minerals but seem very attracted to Mercury, Lead, Arsenic, Etc...

It's the action of chelation that may deplete minerals apparently, due to the stress/movement of mercury and interrupted sleep. The chelators themselves do not have any significant depleting effect on minerals - at least according to Cutler.

I used to feel exhaused from chelating and agree that it is important to supplement vitamins/minerals regularly, regardless of active chelating or not. That plus the diet to support the body's immunity, reduce excessive yeast levels and help the body absorb nutrients properly. Without the diet in place, vitamins/minerals were not very effective as I was so sick I was unable to ultilise them. Candida and excess toxins I dare say were the culprits.

Bex you mention Diet alot, yes it is important but each is different, what diet are you talking no carbs? That can be bad over time correct? Some can handle this and that better than others, while you or me might not be able to. I guess one should mould a diet around what they can tolerate and keep it balanced, but that Candida diet is not for everyone correct? I can't get on it, nor when I don't get on it does it bother me that much, I can still eat things I guess you can't and even drink beer! I agree diet is very important and MINERALS are of the upmost imortant as well, then chelating later correct? Some are not strong enough to do it like you right now and me at times (I admit I am not ready for it YET), but like you said diet first and minerals and then Candida IMO, then CHELATE, thats the way I would try and do it anyways.

I am here to help, talk to me.

Hi Sean,

I mention diet alot because it's a foundation to work from which many people disregard as though it's a side issue. Everybody is different, but can you tell me anybody that doesn't benefit from improving their diet? In that respect, I'd say everybody without exception benefits from consuming healthy foods and eliminating the that which lowers immunity and increases toxicity.

All foods have carbohydrates. Even protein/fats contain energy. If anything, overdoing high carbodyrate food may raise blood sugar levels and yeast aren't usually too fussy where they gain their sugars from and may have no problem thriving on either. There is no way a person can eliminate carbohydrates, but a person can reduce them. That's all I have done basically. I still consume raw nuts, yoghurt, etc and I consume vegetables, meat, eggs, good fats. I just dont' venture onto grains or fruits because of the reactions. If other people do well on them? That's good. People can adjust the diet according to their needs.

It's not about a 'candida diet' as such, it's about consuming foods that support/build immunity. The side effect of good food is the body gets back into better balance and so does yeast. Consuming sugars/glutens etc are often a big problem in toxic people, particularly mercury poisoning. Eliminating such foods can make a significant impact. If such people can still consume fruits, non gluten grain etc, that is a good thing. If they require a more strict regime, fine. Whatever works.

You may get away with not having to concentrate on your diet as much as other people. However, without a diet in place, no amount of supplements made a difference to me because I was too sick to gain benefit from them, nor could I absorb nutrients properly. Once I got on a proper diet and my yeast problem was reduced, I was able to once again gain goodness from food and supplements and utilise them.

It's not about being strong enough to do the diet. The whole point is doing the diet so one can hopefully get stronger. I was bedridden most of the time before doing this diet. I had no choice but to do the diet, because I was not functioning otherwise. Then I was able to gain a bit more strength and then help myself further by getting supplements and chelating. Before the diet, at one point I was so bad that I could not even take DMSA. AFter diet? I was able to use DMSA.

I have not just mentioned diet on these forums Sean. If you read my posts, I have mentioned other things also. However, as I see other people mentioning the other stuff, I tend to remind people about diets, as new people enter this forum, they may benefit from this as I have.

I am still trying to recover from the assault caused by the probiotics. It just goes to show how different we all are. Some benefit from probiotics, I was hurt by it. Sometimes I feel I might be getting better, but other times I go down again. I will not be taking them again I don't think, at least not under these circumstances. Antifungals can also be risky. These are often potent herbs/bacteria that maybe far too much for a person to handle, particularly in one go. That's why I find diet is probably the safest to start with, or even continue with. I'd not touch antifungals or probiotics unless a person is in a position to handle them. I think they are too potent for those too toxic like myself (IMO). May work well for some though, so I'm not disputing that.

Some people are so weakened and ill, that they cannot even chelate properly. Changing their diet may start to strengthen them enough to where they can begin addressing the underlying problem. Be it mercury, or something else. It's a mistake in my opinion to ignore the diet. One of the top biologic dentists here who has dealt with mercury toxic patients for many years, refuses to remove the amalgams from his toxic patients until they change their diets and treat their candida and bring down their toxicity levels before pushing the body into detoxing mercury.

A body already overwhelmed by candida and it's related toxins, is often not in any position to be pushed into a mercury detox plan. It's a catch 22 situation. Sometimes in trying to detox mercury when a body is already battling yeast toxins, can cause a backfire effect as the gut and liver are often so overwhelmed by candida and it's toxins, that they cannot efficiently eliminate the metals. However, once you bring diet onboard and treat yeast, this can take a tremendous load off the immune system/gut/liver.

When the person is in a better position to detox, the dentist goes further with the treatment plan. He removes amalgams when the patient is in a position to handle the increase exposure of mercury. Though he gives full protection, certain increase in exposure may not be completely avoidable.

Of course, if mercury is the culprit for why a person is unable to keep yeast in balance, then the mercury MUST be addressed. In the meantime though, it still takes a load off to aid the body in reducing at least the worst of yeast overgrowth. it is not abnormal for yeast to overgrow in the presence of toxic metals either and some may feel there is a certain benefit to this and maybe a protective mechanism. It is not certain. However, because of lowered/poisoned immunity, this already overgrown yeast readily gets out of control and begins to become an illness in and of itself. Feeding it further with sugars/glutens/yeast in the diet can turn an already precarious situation into a nightmare (as in my case and many others).

^^^ Yes Bex diet and treat yeast! I am not talking antifungals though or something to suppress symptoms and the day you go off or cheat it's back ten fold and there to haunt you again! I am talking looking into something to knock this stuff out! Cream of tartar from Dr. Wong I have been reading about or Oxygen from Dr. Whiting which can be seen on youtube under Candida. I know Diet is very important, I am too much of an idiot to get on as strict one and better myself so I suffer from symptoms as well as not so great health. I have my faults too or I would not be here like you. Thanks for your reply and support me in my research! It could help us both.

Hi Sean,

Well, there is no real cure except restoring immunity. Yeast is meant to be there (but in balance). It is about restoring the immunity so it can do it's job better and keep yeast at healthy levels. Easier said than done, if the underlying problem is not so easily cured or dealt with (or even understood).

People who are searching for a way to wipe out yeast maybe disappointed. If the diet has not been adjusted to both build immunity and deny overgrown yeast what it requires to thrive at high levels, they'll be wasting their time. I know I've already repeated this umpteen times, so I'm sure you don't need to hear it again.

Somebody on here tried to do a short cut method and simply use strong antifungal agents and I think without the diet in place or they didn't pay much attention to it. At first, it seemed to work, until later when and as far as I know, they were back here disappointed.

No true professional that I know of treats their candida patients without a proper diet regime and if they do? I'd be very suspicious.

I still think it's the safest and healthiest way and has been for me.

My doctor gave me baking soda recently Sean. But I am no longer taking it. I did not like my response to it and though it maybe "die off", I'm thinking it may not be. There are different theories about dealing with yeast. Baking soda may cause overdosing of sodium and somebody I know who took it wound up severely mineral deficient. They said they will not take it again. One article I read mentioned how yeast thrive in an over alkaline environment and baking soda is suppose to promote alkalinity.

Though one lady who is I think an expert on candida, does not really believe in the acid/alkaline theories and believes the body will balance that itself. She does believe that baking soda is an antifungal, but she says it depletes essential minerals and does not recommend it's use.

Not sure what it did to me, but the day I used it, I was miserable that night. again could have been die off, but it felt more like the opposite to me....could be wrong though. Let me know how it goes for you if you try the stuff.

Just a note, Andy says yeast will always flourish while certain hormones are out of balance. Mercury builds up in all of the endocrine glands which produce hormones and disrupts the production of them. So if this is true, the only real cure to yeast is getting mercury out via ALA.

It makes sense though...at one time when my hormones when balanced I could eat massive amounts of carbs with no problem. Now I can only handle the carbs found in raw milk, but can't tolerate any sugars or grains...and only a little bit of fruit.

True, but it will also flourish in cases of immune suppression/challenge - and mercury is not the only culprit for that. There are plenty of other problems out there that can cause a devastated health condition and corresponding yeast imbalance.

I'm going to try ALA soon anyway.

Yeah, at one point I was still able to eat high carb foods, even with amalgams in my teeth. Though I realised I was unable to consume sugar, wheat/gluten and yeast. Everything else was ok for me.

But later after amalgam removal and chelation, I was noticing that cheats on my diet were becoming eaiser to recover from. Though I still had to be careful to some extent, because I was still poisoned.

Only after the later problems I got from viral infection etc, did I get so much worse and need to be on a really low carb diet. I can't eat any fruit, grains, milk/cream, high carb vegetables. Things are way worse nowadays.

Just wanted to mention I have a very strong immunity when it comes to bacteria and viruses...I just don't seem to get sick, but when it comes to yeast I can't tolerate any carbs, besides a little fruit and the carbs in raw dairy. Anything else makes me feel off and fatigued...yet even if I eat carbs, I can go day after day feeling low and eating more carbs but my immunity still stays up when it comes to bacteria and viruses. So in my case its separate from my immunity which makes me think its some hormonal imbalance like Andy says.

Candida causes autoimmune disorders Bex, so why would getting rid of alot of it and rebulding healthy bacteria jack up the immune system and help all itself? Wouldn't you get better then and your immune system be better? If you got it from antibiotics that killed off the healthy and allowed the other to get out of balance and therefore your immune system is effected from that correct? Candida is a secondary effect I know, but Antibiotics or steroids causing it would therefore make your yeast grow out of proportiong as opposed to good and your immune system supressed then too right? I think there is no cure, but you can get it in check and get it back your balance, therefore your immune system will function better. I talked to Dr Whiting who has studied this for 20 years and asked him tons of questions, he says there is so much disinformation on the internet about Candida on message boards and so on, like the metals causing it and the things to get rid of it, he says the only way he has seen in his studies of conquering it are buffered Oral Oxygen, in his studies thats the only thing that has worked. Is he right? He knows more than me so I will take his word for it and believe there is disinformation about it on the net and truths being blown outta proportion. Antifungals are like the diet, they supress symptoms of it and the day and hour you go off of them it will be back ten fold or adjust to the antifungal over time and therefore rendering it useless over time, it adapts (Smart buggers). I would not suggest Antifungals all the time, truly could whipe out good bacteria too and innefective long term. Baking Soda is a short term alkalizer of the body, like you said I would not use that long term nor trust in that to kill off Candida. I am looking into the Oxygen now and doing more research on this, I have come far and see things that work and don't wrok, from personal or talking to Dr. Whiting on the phone etc. He even says like you said we all have Candida, yes there is a purpose for it, when that gets out of balance like you said the trouble begins, whatever the cause my have been. It seems you can't handle a whole lot, I have the problems with certain things too and it flairs it up and I feel nuts, I understand your points there.

I am not preaching at you just telling you my studies Bex, I hope you can read what I just wrote and understand where I am coming from.