


Effective Treatment Protocols for Hypothyroid and Hyperthyroid Disease

Story at-a-glance -

  • Dr. Jonathan Wright, a pioneer in natural medicine, recommend that women take about 6 mg of iodine per day, and men about 3 mg per day to protect their thyroid and breast health
  • Another principal cause of hypothyroidism is related to elevated reverse T3 levels, which can become elevated in response to heavy metal toxicity. In such cases, successful treatment must include detoxification
  • Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) can be successfully and quickly reversed with a treatment protocol using Lugol’s iodine and lithium

By Dr. Mercola




Secondly, many people simply aren't getting enough iodine in their diet to begin with. The amount you get from iodized salt is just barely enough to prevent you from getting a goiter.


"It's very well-known that lead and cadmium interfere with testosterone production," Dr. Wright says. "What's not so well-known is that reverse T3 is stimulated by toxic metals, so up it goes.


How Much Iodine Do You Need for Thyroid Health?



"Oddly enough, he didn't publicize [his publications] much until he retired from the University of Southern California. But after that, he came out with a wonderful website,, where you can read a lot of stuff for free," Dr. Wright says.


Oddly enough, in 1829, Dr. Lugol put together a combination of iodine and iodide. Two drops of that stuff equals exactly to 12.5 milligrams. How did Dr. Lugol know? We don't know. But it works so well for people ever since 1829 that it's still available (with a prescription) as Lugol's iodine...

Usually, in my practice, I'll say, 'One drop of Lugol's, which is six milligrams; six and a quarter.' Or for the guys, who don't have as much massive breast tissue, let's stay with three milligrams. [To] prevent cancer, I want more than three milligrams for the ladies."


Iodine Helps Protect Breast Health Too...

From Dr. Wright's experience, there are no adverse effects from taking upwards of 12.5 mg of iodine per day, and in some cases higher amounts may benefit more than your thyroid. There's compelling research suggesting that iodine is equally important for breast health, and that iodine – not iodide – combines with a lipid to form molecules that actually kill breast cancer cells.

"Breasts are big sponges for iodine," Dr. Wright notes. "Not iodide so much; that's the thyroid gland. But if you have enough iodine, why, those molecules are just sitting there ready waiting to kill new breast cancer cells!"

According to Dr. Wright, iodine is also crucial for other breast-related problems, such as fibrocystic breast disease, for which iodine works nearly every time. Interestingly, for severe cases, it's recommended to swab the entire cervix with iodine.

"For bad cases, you got to work with your doctor. Get the iodine swab done," Dr. Wright says. "The worse the fibrocystic breast disease is, the more treatment it takes. But that one, I can almost give a money-back guarantee... because I never would have to give you your money back."


Good Sources of Iodine


Another concern is the potential radiation issue from the Fukushima reactor, which has contaminated much of the Japanese seaweed. So make sure you look at the source of your seaweed. Try to get it from the Norwegian Coast or as far away from Japan as you can get. While manufacturers have not started labeling their products as "radiation-free," you could simply check the bottle with a Geiger counter before taking it.

Dr. Wright's Thyroid Program


This test stems from the work of Dr. Broda Barnes back in the '30s and '40s. Dr. Barnes found that if the temperature was low, it was a reliable indication of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroid). "These days, with all the other things going on, I find that sign useful in some people but not in others," Dr. Wright says. "But I do want it for everybody."


According to Dr. Wright, the TSH level doesn't really become a valuable indicator of hypothyroidism unless it's high, say around 5 or 10. Thyroid therapy has been around since the 1890s, and until the TSH test became the norm, the average dose of thyroid given was almost exactly twice what the average dose became when everybody started paying attention to the lab test rather than the clinical signs. Dr. St. John O'Reilly recommends basing the diagnosis on the physical exam and the Free T3 level instead, which is the protocol Dr. Wright follows in his clinic.

"The Free T3 is, of course, the free hormone, not the one bound up on the thyroid globulin, where it's temporarily inactive," Dr. Wright explains. "The Free T3 is the one that helps us to burn energy; it's the active hormone. The Free T4 is waiting to become active, but it's not active yet. It signals back to the TSH. But the Free T3 doesn't signal back to the TSH as much as the Free T4 does."

Meanwhile, the T4 is the type of thyroid replacement that is typically and traditionally given by almost every conventional physician. In my experience, it's one of the primary ways you can differentiate between a natural medicine physician and a traditional conventional physician: the type of thyroid replacement they prescribe.

Complicating Matters: Autoimmune Thyroid

Unfortunately, most people who end up on thyroid hormone replacement are placed on synthetic thyroid hormone, again, typically T4, commonly prescribed under the brand names Synthroid or Levothroid. Traditional doctors almost always prescribe this, and anyone who doesn't prescribe it is oftentimes severely criticized, and may even be called before their state medical board.


"In the whole thyroid are all the things that nature and creation put into whole thyroid. That's what we should be using unless you happen to have an autoimmune problem. Many people with... Hashimoto's disease... make antibodies to thyroid. If you're making antibodies to thyroid, I'm not sure that we should be putting in whole thyroid right away... because there is a small chance – it's not a large chance – that we're going to stimulate more antibody formation," he says.


The Role of Heavy Metal Toxicity


"Some people get these efficiently out of their bodies within 10 to 15 chelation treatments. There are other people, particularly those who lived in major metropolitan areas all their lives, where it takes 30 or 40 chelation treatments to pull out all the toxic metals," he notes. "When doing that, you have to make sure you're seeing a doctor who follows the procedure put out by the American Board of Chelation Therapy (ABCT).


In the meantime, while you're trying to clear these toxic metal stores to bring the reverse T3 down, opinions are mixed on whether you should be treated with thyroid medication or not. Some believe it's beneficial to add in regular T3, but if the chelation rectifies your reverse T3 level, then by adding regular T3, you may simply end up with too much free T3. Others recommend waiting until the chelation is done to reevaluate, and if needed, put you on whole thyroid later on, provided you don't have a family history of autoimmune disease or have Hashimoto's.

"It simply takes the doctor's judgment and skill in deciding which way to go," Dr. Wright says.

Eliminating Heavy Metals Requires Special Care



One option that can help minimize the loss of crucial microminerals is to use chelating suppositories. They will still pull out minerals from your system, but you don't have to worry about it nullifying the nutritional value of the food you just ate, which is a concern anytime you take an oral chelating agent. One drawback is that it takes a bit longer. "I've seen some people who have to do rectal suppository stuff for a couple of years to get all their toxic metals out," he says. "And yes, we check their normal minerals fairly routinely, every couple of months, just to make sure it's not being overdone that way."

Recommended Types of Thyroid Medications


  • Armour thyroid
  • Nature-Throid
  • Westhroid


"We've all heard of muscle testing. We don't have to employ that, but some doctors are very skilled at it," Dr. Wright says. "We use other sorts of compatibility testing to check for energy flow in the acupuncture meridians and how it's impaired or not impaired by certain types of thyroid. We'll go with the one that's compatible with that individual. But we do respect if people say, 'Look, I've heard that Westhroid and Nature-Throid are half the price of Armour Thyroid. Let's stick with those if we can.' We do respect that."

As for fine-tuning the dose, there are a wide variety of symptoms that can help you gauge whether you're getting enough of a dose—or help you determine whether you might have a thyroid problem to begin with. To learn more, Dr. Wright suggests picking up Dr. David Brownstein's book Overcoming Thyroid, Dr. Mark Starr's book Hypothyroidism Type 2: The Epidemic, or Dr. Ridha Arem's book The Thyroid Solution. All of these books contain checklists of symptoms to look out for.

If you're on thyroid hormone replacement, two key signals that you're taking too much are excessive sweating and rapid heartbeat or heart palpitations. If you get either of those symptoms, you're getting too much thyroid, and you need to cut back on the dose.

It's also worth noting that in some cases, if you're borderline hypothyroid, you may only need an iodine supplement rather than a thyroid hormone replacement. "Some people ask that very question. They're close enough to normal and they say, 'I could feel a little better. My test could be a little better. But can I just try some iodine?' They try and sometimes it succeeds. That's another option. Sometimes you could normalize with nothing more."

Treating Overactive Thyroid






Take Control of Your Thyroid Health


Iodine is the key to a healthy thyroid, and if you're not getting enough from your diet (in the form of seafood), you'd be well advised to consider taking a supplement, ideally a high-quality seaweed supplement (be sure to check its source to avoid potential radioactive contamination), or other iodine-containing whole food supplement.