<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> About a year after I was diagnosed and found to have CD I was found to have hypo thyroidism. The physician prescribed a form of L-Thyroxin/Synthrroid released under the brand name Levothroid. I have been taking this over 5 years with no effect on my CD. It is listed in prescription lists I have seen [such as the one from Stokes Pharmacy] as gluten free and the pharmacist indicates that it is appropriate for those with CD. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is no iodine in Synthroid. It is a pure natural hormone, only. Why should she need iodine suplement more than we get naturally in ordinary food? Ask her to clarify this with her doctors. Good luck. Thyroid cancer alone is bad enough. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been taking Synthoid for many, many years. It is gf. Call the company that manufacturers it regarding iodine. I bet it doesn't have any in it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please check with a well known doctor. I have DH and have been told that it is the iodine that interacts with the IGA antigen that causes the eruptions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, have her talk to her Doctor about dessicated thyroid which is thyroid from pigs and shouldn't have any additives. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have your mother see Dr. Steven Schneider at RWJ Medical Center in New Brunswick. He is one of the top endocrinologists in the state and would answer your questions. If your mom could see him it would even be better. Call 732-235-7224. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >In reply: I took Synthroid for ten years and had to have the strength >altered up and down constantly I am now taking Levoxyl which keeps >me on an even keel and costs only 1/3 as much as Synthroid. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > From my own experience, sensitivity to iodine is strictly topical... You >need to ingest some to survive.... Unless people can state otherwise on >this I don't think there is a problem with ingesting it... only when it >comes into contact with the skin... > >I have been on this list for about four years. When I first began to read >the posts we would notice a newly diagnosed Celiac ( or DH ) person every >now and then. Now it seems like there is some one new on the list every >day, maybe not quite that often. This is good, it indicates that the >medical profession is finally waking up a bit. But along with this there >is also a lot of missinformation from spectulation about our disease. I >have noticed this lately in reguard to DH. The following statement is a direct quote from the following. "Coeliac Disease" Edited by Michael N. Marsh and Published by Blackwell Scientific Publications Chapter 4 page 100 Titled Iodine and Iodides "It is an interesting yet unexplained observation that potassium iodide, whether taken orally or applied the skin, will induce lesions of DH in the previously uninvolved skin. In fact, the potassium iodide patch was often used to diagnose DH before the introduction of more specific tests. The clinical response to iodides is not seen in patients whose rash is controlled by dapsone or a gluten-free diet, even though IgA is still present in the skin. The response is also negative in patients in spontaneous remission despite the presence of IgA deposits in the skin. The skin lesions produced by iodides in DH patients are identical to the spontaneous eruption. It would appear that in some way, iodides lower the threshold for activation of the final inflammatory pathways responsible for the production of a DH lesion. This could possibly involve complement activation or the production of chemical mediators. Dapsone appears to have the opposite effect to iodides. It does not seem to influence complement deposition or activation, but more likely inhibits the synthesis, or activity of, chemical mediators involved in production of the lesion." I would also add that when I was diagnosed I tried to find a list of foods and their amount of iodine. I was unsuccessful, but I did get an answer from someone who worked in a celiac clinic that stated that iodine is in almost everything. Items particularly high in iodine are seafood, ocean fish, kelp, and eggyolks. As far as I have been able to find out iodine is not harmful to our bodies, however it can cause lesions. This post is meant to be informative and not argumentative. I hope that this helps some one. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please get a second opinion for your Mum. Removal is not the only answer. I am on the www.paleodiet.com list and there are many people there who have cured their cancers by only eating REAL food nothing refined. Refined food is what caused the cancer in the first place. These people eat only fresh meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. No refined grains, sugar, oils, or dairy. They are well now and their cancers have disappeared. Please visit the paleodiet site and join the list before the organ is taken out. Doctors do this procedure because that is what they learned to do at school. The drug companies support operations because they will be supplying the hormone synthroid to the patients for the rest of their lives. Please try something else first. Go to a naturopathic doctor. Remember Hippocrates said let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.