Does tylenol and acetominophin have iodine in them

hypodude

no iodine in Tylenol. Read the ingredients list of anything you take, including meds....it will say on the bottle. Thankfully, iodine is not that popular as an additive except in some bread products, vitamin supplements and of course, salt.

djleanna

This is likely a stupid question. Is iodine not good for the thyroid?

hypodude

Its not stupid. Iodine is absolutely necessary for the Thyroid to work properly. Its one of thyroid hormones main ingredients if you will. Goiter can be a result of not enough iodine and hypothyroid can be from too much...your thyroid is essentially an iodine sponge. That's why they use radioactive iodine, or RAI to kill your thyroid when your hyper. Your thyroid absorbs that nuclear iodine which then kills the gland basically. I think the number is somthing like 30% of all iodine in the entire body is found in the thyroid.

Do a search on google for "iodine and thyroid" and you'll find some very interesting stuff.

djleanna

I remember about 10 years ago, when I had a lump on my thyroid, a friend told me that her mom had an enlarged thyroid and that she put iodine dressings on her neck and after a while the swelling went down and that she did not require any treatment. What do you think about that?

Also I live on the Atlantic coast and we have a lot of dulse available here. Dulse is an edible seaweed that many of us in Atlantic Canada like. It is loaded with natural iodine and I know the Endo does not like it if a person has been eating dulse if they are doing an iodine uptake (I think that is what it's called) x-ray of the thyroid because it messes up the test. Because of the availability of it here, it is a question they ask before they do the test.

So if I'm hyper, I'm thinking it would be a healthy thing for me to eat dulse. What are your thoughts? You likely would not like it. It takes an acquired taste. It tastes very salty. Yum

LynnHan

I've been confused on this issue too. I live in the Great Lakes area...and It's known as "the Goiter belt"....but? I'm rather confused? I've never asked my own Dr. about this, but, then again, she's never TOLD me anything EITHER! (or about soy, etc!) THANK GOODNESS FOR THESE FORUMS!!!!

So? I don't know IF I should have some, or NOT!? Do they "test" to see if you should?
Lynn

Meep

Actually, I am sure that hypodude made a typo. Generally speaking, an in an ideal world, If you are hypo, Iodine would help. Too much Iodine could make you go hyper. SO, it is possible that you eating dulse all the time could contribute to or could be the cause of you being mildly hyperthyroid. NOW we may be getting somewhere on why your labs are like they are.

Here's a my rundown on the effects of Iodine on thyroid disorders.

If you are Iodine deficient and hypo, adding iodine to your diet may correct your hypo condition IF you are not also selenium deficient.

If you are hypo, Selenium deficient and Iodine deficient, taking Iodine without supplementing Selenium, could cause your hypo sympoms to worsen, but taking proper amounts of both could correct the hypothyroidism.

If you are thyroid healthy and take Iodine, you could possibly go hyper (is this you, DJLeanna? ).

If you are hyper and take Iodine, you could go more hyper, but too much iodine can inhibit thyroid function in some people.

__________________
Danny

I am not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV...

LynnHan

Meep? How do you find out IF your Iodine deficient? Test? I've added Selenium, due to reading how it could be beneficial. BUT AGAIN... this is ME treating ME based on reading, and I don't have ANY guidance from my Dr. And when I ask her, I feel I end up with a "non" answer. Drives me nuts. (yes, I'm going to be changing Dr.s in the near future!)

I even started to take Iodine drops, but, I take them for a bit, but AGAIN because I am UNSURE, I quit. I plan on asking this very question to the compounding pharmist too...but, meanwhile...should I just be asking for tests for that as well?

Thanks in advance Meep! I don't know what we'd do without you! (not to exclude others either! ~ Meep your so informative! Thanks!

hypodude

Meep and others....

I read somewhere that the treatment for Thyroid Storm, which as you know is basically an overload of Thyroid hormone is iodine treatment, therefore, I concluded that a large quantity of Iodine can make you Hypo if you are in fact Hyper, no?

I think the theory is something like this....your thyroid soaks up iodine to create the T's...iodine is a main component of either T3 or T4 (I forget which). Iodine in conjunction with Tyrosine create thyroid hormone. Now with a normal goiter and hypo patient that DOES NOT have enough iodine, like in 3rd. world countries, their necks swell up fat due to a lack of iodine in an effort to produce more hormone. Adding iodine for them, will in fact shrink their goiter and essentially make them more hyper than they were previously.

Perhaps this would explain better and you guys can make sense of this. I got this form a web site regarding Thyroid Storm Emergency Treatment:

Treatment directed against the thyroid gland

Inhibition of thyroid hormone synthesis

- propylthiouracil is the drug-of-choice

- the drug is given po, because no parenteral form is available (can be given per NGT or rectally)

- loading dose of propylthiouracil = 600 - 1000 mg, and then 200 - 250 mg every 4 hours

- methimazole is an alternative, but propylthiouracil has the advantage of also blocking peripheral conversion of T4 to T3

- methimazole dose = 20mg every 4 hours (120mg per day)

- contra-indications to these drugs include a history of previous hepatotoxicity or agranulocytosis secondary to the use of thionamides

Inhibition of release of pre-formed thyroid hormone

- iodine preperations po are the drugs-of-choice

- Lugol's solution - 30 drops per day in three-to-four divided doses

or

Saturated solution of potassium iodide (SSKI) - 5 drops every 6 hours

or

Ipodate (orografin) = 1- 3 g per day (ipodate also blocks the peripheral conversion of T4 to T3)

- iodide preperations must be given 1 - 2 hours after the administration of thionamides, because they may increase the production and release of thyroid hormone from the unblocked thyroid gland => aggravation of thyroid storm

hypodude

With regard to testing for iodine, I heard what I constued as an Old Wives Tale and I did not try this myself, but I read, you take a 2" circle in marker on your arm or something and add a few drops of iodine and if you soak it up within an hour or two, you can be iodine deficient. If it takes 4 or 5 hours to soak in, you are ok. Personally, I do not hold any weight to this and would not try this but its worth looking into to see if this can possibly hold any water.

God, I think about all the times I used to use iodine and baby oil at the beach when I was younger....If it can soak like that through the skin, that's probably how I burned out my Thyroid.

djleanna

Well that is a good theory but I'm afraid I don't really eat dulse much. I ate it more as a child. I like it and if I thought it would help, I would eat it regularly. It is readily available and inexpensive so it would be worth a try but I really don't think I've ever eaten enough at any one time to hurt my thyroid. I understand that if I were Hypo this would be worth a try but not with my Hyper condition. Thanks

djleanna

Hey Meep and Hypodude,
I just received my copy of Thyroid for Dummies. Great book! Interestingly in chapter 3 he mentions kelp, which dulse is, containing iodine and that it should be avoided by those of us with hyperthyroid problems because it could cause the production of more hormone.