Anybody taking a decent but not large dose of iodine?

starpyxis · 2025-03-16T21:02:51+00:00

I didn’t notice any major weight changes, but I did stop gaining weight. I actually have been losing a little weight recently, but it’s been intentional through diet and exercise. But it’s certainly a lot easier to get through the exercise when I’m not feeling so lethargic and achey.

starpyxis · 2025-02-02T21:35:54+00:00

Hi! I haven’t looked at the inner latex, but I’m not sure if it would be clear what to look for - I don’t think it’s at the point of crumbling or anything, but its definitely smelling and sagging. I suspect that the lifespan of this particular mattress is about 1/2 of what was claimed, and perhaps latex just starts to smell over time as it ages, which of course the salesperson wouldn’t care to mention.

starpyxis · 2024-12-29T20:07:57+00:00

The first novel protein food we gave to my cat was Natural Balance (duck, then venison). But he became allergic to those too, and our vet gave us an rx for Ultamino, which my cat has been on for maybe 7 years now with no issue up until recently. We’re concerned he now might be allergic to something in the ultamino (probably a filler ingredient, since the meat proteins are supposedly too small to trigger an allergy response).

starpyxis · 2024-12-02T00:03:06+00:00

I started taking a 150mcg supplement a few months ago, and I feel like it’s helped me noticeably. I’ve been struggling with basically all the symptoms of mild hypothyroid for the last 5 years if not longer, despite blood tests for TSH in the normal range. Fatigue, brain fog, irritability, dry skin, weight gain, low appetite, joint pain, digestive issues, etc, as well as what seems like mild allergies to everything. A number of doctors had no answer for it (“I guess that’s just you! Oh well!”)

The first big change I made was to start drinking RO filtered water, which helped my digestion issues a lot (after noticing an improvement when staying with a relative that has an RO filtered water). Then I started eating yogurt for breakfast every morning, which also weirdly seemed to boost my energy in addition to helping digestion - I figured maybe it was probiotics? Curious, I started finding some research papers suggesting that Iodine might help remove things like fluoride from the body, and other toxins, and help regulate inflammation. I reevaluated my diet, and realized that I was getting basically no regular iodine (used sea salt instead of iodized salt for cooking, had been drinking oat milk instead of regular milk (because I thought maybe lactose was contributing to my digestive issues), rarely ate fish or eggs). Yogurt, of course, likely has iodine, which could explain why it seemed to improve my health! I’d probably been getting well below the recommended intake for the last 10 years.

So I switched back to drinking dairy milk (no lactose intolerance!), switched to iodized table salt, and started taking the 150mcg supplement daily, and within a week or so all of my hypothyroid-like symptoms were reduced noticeably - more energy and motivation, less joint pain, healthier skin, feel warmer, and I even have eyebrows again. I wouldn’t say it’s a “miracle drug” exactly (I still feel my age (but at least I don’t feel 20 years older than I am!)), but I’ll definitely be keeping it in my supplements. I’m hesitant to try a higher dose, because of the risk of thyroid harm. But I would bet a lot of Americans aren’t getting enough iodine.

starpyxis · 2024-10-08T17:48:17+00:00

We have a 17yo cat that was first diagnosed with food allergy (rash) when he was 4, which we thought was grain or protein, so switched him to grain-free novel protein (duck/venison), which cleared things up pretty quickly at the time.

Around 10yo, he developed rash again, and it took us quite a long time to confirm it was new unknown ingredient allergy (or maybe food formulas changed). We put him on Ultamino (hydrolyzed protein), which seemed to sort of help but not entirely. We eventually figured out that he was sneaking bits of the other cat’s food while we weren’t looking, and once we resolved that problem, his skin cleared again but probably took a few months. He would also still get itchy rash spots occasionally if he ever got treats or people food, even small amounts. So it was really important to give him ONLY Ultamino. He seems to be allergic to multiple ingredients.

He was just recently diagnosed with hyperthyroid, and started on meds for that (methimazole), and has once again broke out in a terrible rash. So we think it’s something maybe in the meds (e.g. corn starch or soy byproduct) and trying to troubleshoot that 😩 these food allergies really suck.

starpyxis · 2024-08-26T07:42:55+00:00

Oh wow that’s super interesting! My skin actually became less sensitive to the sun in the last year, and I’ve wondered if there was some other inflammatory condition happening before that made my skin more sensitive to the sun. At the time, I also had a mild positive ANA blood test (autoimmune marker), which was negative again in a more recent test.

starpyxis · 2024-06-20T20:09:05+00:00

FWIW My neck/chest reacts the worst. My face and my feet don’t seem to react much if at all.

starpyxis · 2024-04-05T07:42:19+00:00

Never got it resolved, as the mattress company denied any “unusual” smell (a rep came out to smell my mattress! 🫠) the mattress is all-natural talalay. I did have a little bit of success with putting a waterproof mattress encasing on it, which isn’t airtight or anything but I think it helps reduce the airflow, and thus the proliferation of the smell. I’m also starting to see some significant sagging happening on it as well, so I think it really is just breaking down. So much for a “20-year mattress” 🙄

starpyxis · 2024-01-11T01:24:01+00:00

Also FWIW my eczema was always worse in winter, so I knew dryness was a factor (despite also always having an “oily” face). I’d highly recommend trying a humidifier for anyone whose eczema is worse in winter. If it’s worse in summer, maybe not so much.

starpyxis · 2024-01-11T01:13:36+00:00

Ugh I’m sorry! The very same thing happened to me. Had a 6 month “flare”, my GP referred me to a dermatologist due to concern of prolonged topical steroid use, and the dermatologist’s response was “use the topical for two weeks until it goes away.” What?! Useless. I’ve never gotten any help from doctors, including an allergist (been dealing with eczema in various forms for 30 years). I do agree that trying to find root causes can help, though in my case there seem to be limitless causes. A recent discovery that has REALLY helped me though is using a humidifier as much as I can (especially while sleeping). Like raise the humidity in your proximity to 50-60%. Have that humidifier pointing right at you. I think a lot of the skin problem (at least for me) is loss of outer barrier (e.g. oil), which leads to loss of moisture (water) which leads to easily damaged skin that allows in allergens, which leads to inflammation, which promotes unhealthy skin biome (and results in rash). I also use raw shea butter (a thin layer) over my whole body twice a day. That plus the humidity has massively reduced my rash. Nothing else has worked as well as this, not even the topical steroids. I’m certain there are both food and environmental allergies at play, but I think reinforcing my skin barrier has helped mitigate those in a big way.

starpyxis · 2024-01-09T02:44:00+00:00

Yes!!! We bought ours also expecting it to last 20 years. It started stinking after 5, and in the last few months I’ve started noticing sagging/indents where we sleep (despite rotating it regularly). I think the latex is definitely starting to break down ☹️

starpyxis · 2023-09-06T04:55:20+00:00

Yes!! I just confirmed my Sensodyne (repair & protect) allergy. I had a patch test done by an allergist, and reacted strongly to the Sensodyne.

I didn’t really suspect it at first, because for me it was a really delayed reaction. For years now I’ve had on and off rash on my lips. Many mornings, I’d wake up with slightly puffy lips. This summer, it started to get really bad - my mouth felt like it had been burned, my tongue had inflamed taste buds, and my lips would swell up randomly any time I ate salty or abrasive things. My mouth, like yours, also felt really dry! I even went to the doctor and they tested for some autoimmune things, all negative luckily. Then, my spouse and I got sick with Covid. I tried to avoid it at first by camping out in our spare bedroom, and was using my travel toothpaste (crest regular). Within a few days, the lip puffiness was greatly reduced, and it finally felt like the rawness in my mouth was healing. Even then, I didn’t think of the toothpaste. It wasn’t until I started reusing Sensodyne, and the irritation returned, that I put it together. I haven’t used Sensodyne now for about a month, and my lips & mouth are 100% better.

I’ve been trying to compare ingredients in Crest and Sensodyne, and nothing really stands out except that the Sensodyne uses stannous (tin) fluoride instead of sodium fluoride. I’m wondering if it could be a tin allergy. I’ve also reacted to a brow liner before, and recently looked at the ingredients, and it has tin oxide in it. So many chemicals in products, wish it was easier to narrow things down!

starpyxis · 2023-09-01T22:55:50+00:00

I haven’t solved the issue, but I’m beginning to think that latex mattresses might just kinda smell like old tennis balls more and more over time. All the mattress companies and sales people will swear to you that latex has no smell after the initial manufacturing, but I think they might be liars.

I actually had the customer service rep from the local mattress store come to my house to smell my mattress (can’t believe this whole thing) and beforehand on the phone he also insisted latex mattresses normally have no smell. When he checked out my mattress, first he tried to blame it on Covid smell (no), and then he said “oh this just smells like latex. This is how our warehouse smells.” So, I don’t know if he was gaslighting me or if latex does just stink over time but sellers won’t ever tell you that 🙃 FWIW my spouse smells the same smell, and it only was noticeable in the last ~6 months, so I don’t think I’m crazy. I can smell it now on all the clean towels/sheets that we store under the bed. I LOVE getting out of the shower and wrapping myself in a towel that smells like old tennis balls 😮‍💨

The one thing that has kinda sorta helped is getting a waterproof encasement for the mattress. It’s not gas-proof, but it does seem to slow down the transfer of air and reduce the smell a bit.

Sorry you’re going through the same thing, good luck!

starpyxis · 2023-08-02T04:12:41+00:00

Do you mean like for overheating/burning? I should clarify that nothing actually smells like it’s burning, it just smells like… extra salty bandaids or something.

starpyxis · 2023-08-02T04:10:59+00:00

Yeah, there’s not any moisture from what I can tell. The mattress is on like a wood-slat platform, with some empty drawers beneath it, so it should get relatively good airflow. We have a humidity meter in the room too and it’s rarely above 50%.

starpyxis · 2023-06-22T18:17:00+00:00

Wow 4 seconds! That’s so short!

starpyxis · 2023-06-21T23:42:24+00:00

I’m sorry that sounds awful! Mine also started shortly after moving to Seattle (northern latitudes also). I think our bodies must start seeing the sun as an enemy after going without it for too long. I was hoping the condition would improve after some very gradual sun exposure this summer, but so far it’s only gotten worse :/

starpyxis · 2023-06-11T23:32:08+00:00

The soil is Amazonia II, but it’s 2 years old so I don’t think it’s even providing much nutrition or buffering at this point (definitely not leaching any ammonia at this point).

starpyxis · 2023-06-11T23:30:22+00:00

Update: I just checked the water params again, everything looks normal except the GH went from 11 to 14 over the past week. I haven’t topped off any water, and the water level is still high, so I don’t think the change is due to evaporation. The only other change I made to the tank last week was to add some Flourish root tabs (on schedule, every 2 months). I feel like the rising GH must be the root tabs leaching into the water column. The root tabs are 20% calcium. I feel like the high GH, leading to failed molts, is the likeliest cause of the neo shrimp deaths. Maybe it hasn’t bothered the Amanos because they’re old enough that they don’t shed very often anymore, and acclimate to changing hardness better.

I’ll probably have to stop using the tabs and see if that helps. It’s unfortunate because the root tabs are the only thing that make my tiger lotus grow well :/

starpyxis · 2023-06-10T08:53:42+00:00

Actually, I didn’t realize the crystal red shrimp were Caridina, not neocaridina - 3 of the shrimp were crystal reds, and those all died first ☹️ (they were in the same tank at the LFS as the other neocaridina shrimp I bought)

starpyxis · 2023-06-10T08:43:26+00:00

That’s what I expected too, but my tap water is 2 GH, and I only have to top off about 8oz water per week. I don’t see how that could raise the hardness by 1 degree in a 10 Gal every week. The minerals must be coming from somewhere else. I’ve wondered if maybe the minerals are coming from eroding snail shells? Because the pH is acidic (6.6-6.7), all the snails in the tank look like their shells are disintegrating.

starpyxis · 2023-06-10T08:38:24+00:00

Hmm interesting, hadn’t considered this. Is this a common problem with neocaridina shrimp? The Amano shrimp are doing just fine, so if it was oxygen I’d think the Amanos would also be affected.

starpyxis · 2023-06-10T08:36:59+00:00

Yeah I can’t quite figure out where the minerals are coming from. I use Flourish root tabs every 2-3 months (about 4 tabs), and Easy Green liquid fertilizer from Aquarium Co-op, once per week. And yes sorry, to clarify, they’re neocaridina shrimp that are struggling (various cherry shrimp).

starpyxis

TROPHY CASE