Excessively High Iodine Levels. Help!

[Kaktos]

I recently got my urine iodine tested and it was found to be extremely high, at 3698 ug/g Crt, and 3427 ug/L. The reference interval for this iodine test is 70-530, so I'm way over.

I'm more or less certain that supplementation with lugol's iodine drops are the cause. I've been using it on and off for a couple years, and for the past 2-3 months I've been taking one drop every day. Very stupid, I realize now. I've basically been poisoning myself.

Now that I've stopped supplementing, I'm wondering how long it will take for my levels to normalize? I've read multiple sources that claim that "more than 90% of ingested iodine is excreted in the urine within 24-48 hours" (Effect of salt reduction on iodine status assessed by 24 hour urinary iodine excretion in children and their families in northern China: a substudy of a cluster randomised controlled trial) (Iodine). Does that mean that my iodine levels would be normal now that I haven't supplemented in over a week? My GP seemed to think that it could take months to normalize.

I'm also wondering if there's anything I can do in the meantime to bring my levels down as quickly as possible? Should I avoid foods that are high in iodine like oysters, eggs, and dairy? Or are they drops in the ocean as far as what got me here?

Any information and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

Are you having symptoms? If not, ignore it, it'll go down eventually.

 

[peep]

IMO that’s just normal if you’re testing something you are currently supplementing.
Take zinc and get your blood zinc tested after, your results will be way too high.

 

[Kaktos]

Are you having symptoms? If not, ignore it, it'll go down eventually.

I’ve gained weight this year, which I had put down to less exercise with the gyms closing. My sleep has been a little worse this year as well. I also noticed chest pains in the left side of my chest a couple weeks ago, although my heart seems to be normal in all the standard tests I did last week. A recent blood test found my TSH had shot up to 3 compared to 1.8 this time last year also. But interestingly free T3 and T4 were also at the high end of the reference range. Don’t know about rT3 though.