Ok, so I have these multi-vitamins that have 150 mcg of iodine in them (the 100% of the RDA)
I have been taking them since the beginning of the month, but from googling it I am not sure if I should keep taking them? Some things say that iodine is necessary to have but others say it is a bad idea to supplement them when you have Hashimoto's...but for some it works/helps?
I do have a goiter and I am taking 75 mcg of Levothyroxine.
Should I stop taking them and find new vitamins or would they be ok to continue to take?

I doubt there's enough in your multi to worry about. Sometimes people take mega-doses and that's what gets worrisome.

Thanks. It is the 100% of the RDA but not more...and I only take 1 pill. I was thinking of taking it for a while then getting my levels checked to see if it is making things worse or better...but my doctor's appointment isn't until December so I can't ask her advice...

I have Hashimotos and my doctor has me supplement with iodine, Vitamin D and Vitamin C. My antibodies have fallen quite a bit since doing this regimen. I take 4 grains of Armour a day.

Wow, really! From what I read iodine is supposed to send your antibodies crazy!
Did you experience dry skin from it? I think the iodine is not working for me...right now I have really bad dry skin all over my neck and legs...despite moisturizing on a daily basis (I use bath & body works and have used it since last Christmas so it is not that)
And I also got my period again...and I should not have my period since I had it 2 weeks ago...

The dry skin is from the thyroid problem, not the iodine. It doesn't sound like you are properly medicated.

I had very dry skin, but when I went on Armour, that symptom went away. When I was on Levothyroxine NONE of my symptoms went away.

From what I have read, people who have Graves antibodies should not take iodine. Iodine helps people convert T4 to T3 (the energy component of thyroid). Since you are taking a T4 only drug, you need to convert it to T3 in order to have energy.

The thyroid is closely tied to the female hormones. Without enough thyroid hormones the body will shut down the female hormones in order to keep everything else functioning (heart, etc), so your body is probably just reacting to the extra female hormones it is experiencing since the thyroid isn't pulling them down.

Well I called the doctor's office and told them about my dry skin symptoms and they asked the doctor...she said my blood tests were normal and that I should stop using my moisturizer and use another brand she suggested...
I take Levothyroxine but keep hearing about Armour...I want to try the T3 but have no idea how to get that...
Plus my doc is my GP not an Endo (I need to figure out how to get an Endo first?)

There is a yahoo group for thyroid problems with a "top docs" list. You can ask questions of the members or give them your lab results and they will give suggestions. Some of them are so knowledgable about their disease because they've been fighting to try and feel better for years. Also there is a site called about.com site for thyroid issues and you will find a wealth of information there. Try searching for them as there is a lot of helpful information.

Call your doctor again and ask for a copy of the lab reports. I always get a copy because it is your medical history. Saying you are "in the normal range" is akin to saying you're near NYC when in New York State.

You could drive a bus through those ranges. Most labs still call a TSH level of .5-5 normal when even the endocrinology society has lowered those to .3-3.

If your doctor only did tests for TSH, T3 and T4 that will not tell you much. The TSH test is only the beginning. She should have tested for FREE T3 and FREE T4, but if she doesn't know how to read the tests then she probably didn't do them.

You need to find a doctor that will treat to symptoms and the dry skin is a symptom. An endo isn't necessarily the doctor that will help you. Some top docs are Naturepaths or GPs. Ask at your pharmacy to see what doctors in your area prescribe "dessicated pig's thyroid" or call a compounding pharmacy and ask.

Do you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis? When they did your labs did they test for antibodies?

When I was initially diagnosed, I didn't even know that I had Hashimotos. That was how well it was explained to me! I didn't even know that most of all the symptoms I was having were related to the thyroid problem. So do your homework, read all that you can, search the internet so that you are atleast or more informed about your disease than your doctor.

I thought that this was just a small problem, but it is bigger than you think. Hashimotos is an autoimmune disease and if it isn't controlled it can lead to other autoimmune diseases. Thyroid problems also effect your heart muscle and other muscles. I'm not trying to scare you, but the dry skin is the least of your worries, but it is an indicator that you are not properly medicated. I often wonder how much damage has been done to my health because this went undiagnosed for so long.

Your doctor can also add T3 to your T4. It is called Cytomel and it may help with energy issues. You may not be converting the T4 to T3.

I hope this helps.

Thanks!
Yes I do have Hashimoto's disease. I think she does check Free T3 and Free T4 and not just TSH.
I was diagnosed in January, I had a horrible cold. Well actually it had been for a while. First my ear hurt and the first doctor told me I had arthritis and that is why (I am 23 and my ear has arthritis, ok) then they gave me allergy medicine and always told me that my ears were not infected.
Well my cold was worse in January and so I went again to the docs. For some reason she wanted a blood test to check for Cholestrol and also ran the thyroid test too and I was hypo...
So I have asked her so many things and it doesn't seem to help...first I asked if I could eat soy products because I did alot of searching on the Internet...she had never heard about soy being bad just don't take it with my meds of course. Well in summer my hair was shedding and my neck hurt alot...well she had no idea why my hair sheds...she upped my meds though and arranged an appointment for an ultrasound...I have a goiter. I got a call that a goiter is what I had...but what to do about the pain, hoarse voice ect?They don't tell me!
So I was thinking about finding a new doc or one who adjusts my meds well...I am not sure but from what I read if you have Hashis they keep upping your meds to keep antibodies low? And they said my levels were normal from the beginning of last month, but that was the second week and my dry skin happened at the end of November...so couldn't my thyroid have...weakened?

When I was first diagnosed, my levels changed all the time and of course my doctor said they were fine because I was in the RANGE. I could tell that I wasn't medicated properly because my depression would come back full force and I really never got rid of any of the other symptoms. I never got rid of my dry skin and I lost a ton of hair on synthroid (Levoxyl).

I slept better, but never had any energy. I belonged to another "low carb" group and read all about my disease in the "thyroid" section. That is how I found the top docs list and found my wonderful family physician. I travel to another state to see him, but I haven't felt this good in years.

Join a yahoo group and find a top doc near you. You will probably never feel any better if you have to fight with your doctor to be medicated and if they don't really know all the symptoms of your disease. Hair shedding is one of the symptoms of a thyroid problem and it is very common, so it isn't really that obscure. Your doctor should know this.

Research your disease and you will probably find a lot of the things that are happening to you are probably due to your disease, things that you wouldn't even think of. You need to be in charge of your health. Think of a doctor as just another service you pay for. If your not happy with the service then seek another doctor. You have the right to feel good and you won't feel good until you are properly medicated. You are young and I wouldn't want to waste my twenties trying to feel normal. Who knows, you've probably been sick for more years than you know, so you probably don't even know what good feels like.

Your voice won't get better and the pain won't go away until the goiter goes down and it may never go down on the synthetic hormones. Please find yourself a doctor who prescribes Armour. It saved my life.