The RDA is 150 mcg/day. On one side ppl say that’s all you need and more will worsen your hypothyroidism and (very few) on the other side say you need 35-50 mg/day (Ksman was {is?} one of them).
So which protocol should one follow?
Oh yeah… Hi y’all, new guy here. 
If KSman advocated it, you should almost certainly not do it. You probably don’t need iodine, and it certainly won’t do anything more than act as a crutch.
This should be stickied
I hear you. I mentioned Ksman because idoine searches here lead to his posts mostly and his input on the matter seem to be the only more thorough “guide”.
Dr. Brownstein is another advocate of high iodine intake and he’s prominent in this area.
IDK, I’m trying to make an informed decision but there doesn’t seem to be much information.
I want to cure my hypothyroidism by seeing what works before throwing in the towel and starting levothyroxine which, ironically, is a cruch as well, albeit a more serious one.
There is no cure for hypothyroidism at the moment. Some people have grown a lovely large lump of a thyroid from some of KSman’s advice. A permanent one.
I was actually going to edit the “cure” but I figured what I was trying to say was clear.
Anyway, what are my options besides levothyroxine? And where are the studies that show 30-50mg/idone being harmful/counterproductive?
I’m in the belief if you need more of something, add it to your diet, but supplements in my opinion are for those that would otherwise become deficient without the supplentemt.
So if you are shortchanged on iodine, use iodized salt in your cooking. If that fails, then supplement.
I had to do just that with possatuim because adding it to my diet was a failure.
What are your actual labs? What leads you to conclude that you are hypothyroid? Let’s start there.
I’m with hardartey - are you actually hypo, or do you just feel like crap?
Iodine is a necessary nutrient that your body requires to produce thyroid hormones. You need to also supplement Selenium when taking iodine. You don’t need a lot of either one.
Iodine at 200-500mcg daily is sufficient. Selenium should be in the form of Selenomethionine, dosed at 100-200mcg daily.
The Iodized salt is worthless. Get a Kelp supplement or pure iodine supplement. You could get Lugol’s Iodine as that contains both Iodine and Potassium Iodide. They serve different purposes in the body.
Aha. I guess the experts from the WHO are wrong then.
'Two RCTs, 6 non-RCTs, 20 quasi-experimental studies, 16 cohort studies, 42 multiple cross-sectional studies, and 3 studies with mixed designs were included.
This review showed that iodized salt has a large effect on reducing the risk of goitre, cretinism, low cognitive function and iodine deficiency. ’
https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/micronutrients/effect_safety_saltiodization/en/
Where there folks in here who were actually hurt by KSman? Thyroid lumps?
TSH
5.34 [0.4 - 7.0]
FT3
2.0 [2.15 - 6.47]
FT4
7.0 [8.5 - 25.75]
Didn’t test for antibodies this time but a few years ago I did, when I discovered I was subclinical hypo.
I was already on decline without it being due to antibodies (like you can see from the results below), so I’m pretty sure it’s not now either.
TSH
4.54 [0.27 - 4.20]
FT3
3.6 [2.0 - 4.4]
FT4
1.24 [0.93 - 1.70]
Anti-Tg
0.48 [0.00 - 4.11]
Anti-TPO
0.00 [0.00 - 5.61]
But that’s the thing though. The purpose of those studies were for what you listed (goitre, cretinism, low cognitive function and iodine deficiency [how do you determine iodine deficiency anyway - no goitre?]).
It is “what is the right dosage to prevent those things (namely goitre)?” That was the frame, not "what is the optimal dosage of iodine for all around well being AND to keep t3 at the right levels (which automatically means all around well being). But then again, you could also ask, what determines the right level of t3?
The studies’ aim were not to reverse or prevent hypothyroidism. They were mostly to prevent goitre.
Also, could you link those studies you mentioned if you don’t mind? Google is not pulling them up. Or maybe I’m entering the wrong search phrases.
That is my understanding, and he was less than sympathetic to their plight.
So you’re hypo. You don’t know if it’s Graves or something else at the moment. There is a very small amount of iodine needed to provide normal function, and you are most likely getting more than that. So the question is, do you want to take iodine every day, or Levoxythrine? Either was it’s still something every day, and either way you are probably going to end up on Levoxythrine at some point. The Levox is actually going to let your body proceed pretty much normally, doing it’s own conversion and using it as it needs it. Iodine is a little like adding nitrous to a bad engine when you go supraphysiological.
Wow! Thats crazy. I should start reading about that fiasco.
Haha funny you gave that Nos supra anology. I own a nos (and turbo) supra. Crazy. It’s a good engine though 
Is Levo to treat thyroid considered like testosterone to testicles, in that the body will shut down its own production? If so, is there an HCG equivalent?
It is a little suppressive, not like test.
Anyone else?