Scotts On The Rocks Blog

I’m sure when you heard those words you thought “no salt”… but it’s not “no salt” it’s LOW iodine (so non-iodized salt is fine).  When I first had to do LID there was VERY little on the internet to help me.  My doctor handed me a list of iodine nutrients in foods, it was a copy of a fax of papers that was several pages, yet missing one in the middle.  I’ve tried to find the original publisher but never succeeded.  Here is my list of crazy LID resources… and NOW there is is an LID cookbook (bless her!!);

LID Cookbook by Gourmania

ONCOlink, q&a re: LID

Thyca’s LID cookbook

Thyroid Community re: LID

I spent hours scrolling through websites for information… I’ll spare you a bit of the search as many of these you could follow for hours and get lost.  I looked “LEFT” and “RIGHT” and all the extremes and naturalistic and mainstream.  I offer no warranty regarding the information you find, just a starting point.  As, always, it’s a great idea to talk things over with your doctor… did you get a second opinion?  It’s good to have a lot of information but it’s also an overload.  You need to STOP… take a break and come back.  This list will help you do that too.  [please send me your favorite links if you like and I will add them to the list]

Cancer Curing Protocols by CureZone

Clinical Nuclear Medicine

Food and Drug Administration (look up all your meds, not just thyroid hormones… look up your artificial sweeteners (some of those might just SCARE YOU)… look up vaccines, etc)

HealthNewsFlash medical articles: Thyroid Cancer

National Library of Medicine (NIH): Thyroid Cancer

MyThyroid.com

You might be faced with surgery or just radioactive iodine treatments (RAI).  There are some different options regarding RAI procedures.  Your doctor may ask you to follow a low-iodine diet (keep in mind, this is not low salt… you can have salt… just not iodized salt)… it’s a tricky experience.

One of the options that you may hear, regardless of your low-iodine diet status, is called Thyrogen.  This product has been on again/off again in the US market so keep a watch on it’s current status.  This is a series of shots your receive prior to RAI treatment that allow you to continue to take your thyroid hormones instead of stopping cold turkey (which inevitably sends your system into a shock of sorts… I’ve been there a few times now)  Thyrogen eases the hypothyroid symptoms, if not preventing them entirely.

http://www.thyrogen.com/home/thy_home.asp

A great place to connect with other people that have Thyroid Cancers.  There are literally TONS of resources here, you can get lost.  I started you out on the “questions” page… I’m sure you have plenty:

http://www.thyca.org/questions.htm

You’ve probably heard words like radiation or RAI and along with that, the Low Iodine Diet.  The Thyca website will help you begin to navigate those terms and processes.

Have you been diagnosed with thyroid cancer?  Let’s start with some definitions.  This will help you, help yourself AND help you explain to others:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/thyroid

If you are curious, this is the one I had:  Follicular Carcinoma of the Thyroid

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/278488-overview

or more:

http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid-cancer/thyroid-cancer-follicular-cancer

While there are a LOT of websites out there re: thyroid health, many of the studies, many of the articles, many of the suppositions are by the same circle of pharmaceutical companies, or same authors, etc… You will come across some of the same names on multiple sites.  That said, here’s a pretty good list of Frequently Asked Questions re: thyroid meds.

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/thyroid-drug-faq.htm

I’ve also found that thyroid hormones are sensitive to temperature changes (i.e. bathroom cabinet near shower, or purse left in car, may not be good options).  Some thyroid meds are also sensitive to those scans done by the post office… check with your doctor!  (When I come across the info again, I’ll post it here).