Iodine and hair shedding

When browsing the Iodine Facebook groups (there's lots of them), it seems that lots of people often report excessive hair shedding upon starting Iodine- sometimes lasting many months after beginning to take the mineral. Of course, people report hair loss after taking pretty much anything- but there seems to be an undeniable trend in people experiencing lots of shedding from Iodine.

I'm preparing to add Iodine to my protocol and this is making me a little nervous.

That being said, I've browsed a lot of posts on Iodine here and I've not seen one mention of shedding from Iodine. One thing to note is most of the people reporting shedding are middle aged women.

Could this due to elevated levels of TSH causing mast cells to release more PGD2 in the scalp (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9046364/)? If so, would Quercetin / Krill oil be enough to keep this under control and not shed too much?

It appears this has already been addressed actually, my mistake: https://immortalhair.forumotion.com/t2481-iosol-iodine-selenium-and-hair-shedding

However, even if the shedding is mostly from detox- it does seem elevated TSH can still be negative for the hair

Start with salt loading as well as all the co-factors two weeks before you slowly introduce the iodine. You have to do the salt loading protocol correctly to have a benefit.

Atlas wrote:Start with salt loading as well as all the co-factors two weeks before you slowly introduce the iodine. You have to do the salt loading protocol correctly to have a benefit.

Will do, thanks for the response.

Most people don‘t stick to the protocol and get worse because of that. Better safe than sorry .

I've been taking iodine on and off for 20 years now. Within several hundred clients, about 1 out of 100, were quite sensitive.

However, when thinking about starting it. there are co-factors to consider, such as selenium, magnesium.

Then there are type of iodine organic versus inorganic. The inorganic can cause defects (conversion defects) in some people, but that just requires certain nutrients. So for that reason, I personally use the organic forms (Iosol), as opposed to Lugol's.

and most importantly, things that if taken (anti-thyroid drugs), and also drugs with goitrogenic effects, such as SSRI's. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft) are examples of SSRIs that have been found to have goitrogenic effects in some studies. These medications have been reported to potentially increase thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.

Then there is prescription Lithium: Not the sort sometimes mentioned here, that is OTC.

Amiodarone: Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic medication used to treat certain heart rhythm disorders. It contains high levels of iodine and can disrupt thyroid hormone production, leading to both hypo- and hyperthyroidism.

Interferon-alpha: Interferon-alpha is used to treat various conditions, including hepatitis C and certain types of cancer. It can induce autoimmune thyroiditis, resulting in hypothyroidism.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors: Certain tyrosine kinase inhibitors used in cancer treatment, such as sorafenib and sunitinib, have been associated with goitrogenic effects and thyroid dysfunction.

Perchlorate: Perchlorate is not a medication but a chemical compound found in some medications, water sources, and certain foods. It interferes with iodide uptake by the thyroid gland and can disrupt thyroid function.

Antithyroid medications: Drugs such as propylthiouracil (PTU) and methimazole used to treat hyperthyroidism have inherent goitrogenic properties.

Anyway iodine does transiently increase TSH, but only for a period of months and it's not for a bad reason.

CausticSymmetry wrote:I've been taking iodine on and off for 20 years now. Within several hundred clients, about 1 out of 100, were quite sensitive.

However, when thinking about starting it. there are co-factors to consider, such as selenium, magnesium.

Then there are type of iodine organic versus inorganic. The inorganic can cause defects (conversion defects) in some people, but that just requires certain nutrients. So for that reason, I personally use the organic forms (Iosol), as opposed to Lugol's.

and most importantly, things that if taken (anti-thyroid drugs), and also drugs with goitrogenic effects, such as SSRI's. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft) are examples of SSRIs that have been found to have goitrogenic effects in some studies. These medications have been reported to potentially increase thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.

Then there is prescription Lithium: Not the sort sometimes mentioned here, that is OTC.

Amiodarone: Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic medication used to treat certain heart rhythm disorders. It contains high levels of iodine and can disrupt thyroid hormone production, leading to both hypo- and hyperthyroidism.

Interferon-alpha: Interferon-alpha is used to treat various conditions, including hepatitis C and certain types of cancer. It can induce autoimmune thyroiditis, resulting in hypothyroidism.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors: Certain tyrosine kinase inhibitors used in cancer treatment, such as sorafenib and sunitinib, have been associated with goitrogenic effects and thyroid dysfunction.

Perchlorate: Perchlorate is not a medication but a chemical compound found in some medications, water sources, and certain foods. It interferes with iodide uptake by the thyroid gland and can disrupt thyroid function.

Antithyroid medications: Drugs such as propylthiouracil (PTU) and methimazole used to treat hyperthyroidism have inherent goitrogenic properties.

Anyway iodine does transiently increase TSH, but only for a period of months and it's not for a bad reason.

Thanks CS. Those odds are quite encouraging, I'll hop on Iodine once I've gotten over the detox hump with MSM. Already take most of the cofactors I believe and don't take any pharmaceuticals so hopefully should be smooth.

Any thoughts on historical Iodine intakes for groups outside of the Japanese? Would the only peoples who get 10mg + be those who seek out sea vegetables? I believe people in the 50s used to get 5mg copper per day, and I've heard hunter gatherers got upwards of 13mg per day, along with 100mg zinc. I certainly noticed some hair benefits from taking 8mg copper for a few of months- along with smoother skin and better joints.

There's an interesting group on Facebook called 'The Copper Revolution: Healing with Minerals', there seem to be quite a few reports of people getting hair regrowth from copper. I'm not convinced of the safety of some of the doses advocated there though (30mg + copper per day)

I remember people on some website years ago tried making a "hat" made from copper wiring to grow hair. Theory being that copper ions can be absorbed thru the skin of the scalp and promote hair growth. Can't remember anyone got any good results.

shaftless wrote:I remember people on some website years ago tried making a "hat" made from copper wiring to grow hair. Theory being that copper ions can be absorbed thru the skin of the scalp and promote hair growth. Can't remember anyone got any good results.

haha, perhaps this works- on the other hand, a lifetime supply of copper sulphate can be purchased for pennies. This works great for topical application- I saw one guy say he stopped using minox due to the regrowth he got from it.

I prefer to stick with a copper glycinate supplement- I feel excessive topical application will throw off the mineral balance of the scalp. I'd imagine taking copper + eating sufficient animal protein = increased levels of endogenous GHK-Cu peptide production which could explain some of the regrowth people get on copper.

I saw Dave Asprey promoting (as usual) a pillow laced with copper for skin anti-aging benefits. Products like these are a waste of money when copper sulphate is so cheap and effective for topical application