just before my diagnosis, i went on a cruise to the bahamas and had diarrhea for nearly a month afterwards. looking back, it was probably due to the high amount of seafood/shellfish and possibly iodinated salted food i ate on the cruise. so, now i'd like to start following a low iodine diet, but i don't want to get crazy strict about it either.

however, my husband needs to follow a low cholesterol diet.

i know seafood/shellfish is high in iodine and should be avoided. but are there any fish that are low in iodine AND high in omega-3 fatty acids? i've been searching online and the only thing i could find is that freshwater fish, like trout & carp, may have the least iodine of all fish…but i still can't confirm if they are high in good fats….although i read that trout may be a good fatty fish. Are there any others besides this one fish?

HI, welcome to this great forum. You'll find some good friends who have posted recently who are also planning to conceive. You'll probably hear from them.
Well, your hypothesis about the causal relationship of eating seafood on a cruise and having diarrhea, may possible be a faulty assumption. I'd entertain it as a possibility. Having seafood is not associated with loose stools. A greater possibility is the usual food contamination at some point, similar to traveler's diarrhea. BUt the important thing is that I don't think you should base your thinking and planning of what you eat around this experience.
And we absolute need iodine in our life, and so do our thyroids. So glad you are not going crazy with this.

I hope the facilitators weigh in on this with some good references. But, generally speaking, there are times before certain scans and tests when low iodine diet is recommended.

I think you can eat sensibly, along with your husband. Maybe a dietitian can help you with a low cholesterol diet, but there should also be some reliable references from the American Dietetic Association.

I really don't think you need to focus on a low iodine diet for yourself, but I am planning on Kimberly or Bobbi providing good information for you, rather than just my opinion.

Where are you in your treatment? Taking ATD'? Beta blockers? Are you seeing an endocrinologist? That is another very good resource for you to ask about diet.
Shirley

Hi Shirley! thx for your response!

i did think about a possible infection, similar to traveler's diarrhea…but those usually resolve in 2 weeks or so and mine had been going on 3 weeks+. also, later i realized that the diarrhea was a hyperthyroid symptom of mine. when i finally got diagnosed and started on PTU, my symptoms would improve but symptoms like palpitations and esp the diarrhea, would come back about 6-7 hours after my last PTU dose. the hyperthyroidism was “breaking through” my PTU dose so my doctor shortened the interval of my dose while also increasing the dose, so instead of twice a day it was changed to 3x/day.

so, those breakthrough symptoms got me thinking about the diarrhea i had after the cruise….I was just thinking that the inadvertent increased iodine consumption during the trip may have caused/allowed my body to make more thyroxine hormone resulting in me becoming more hyperthyroid, resulting in more hyperthyroid symptoms like diarrhea, increased frequency of stool, etc. of course, i could have just developed the diarrhea anyways from the then undiagnosed graves' disease taking it's natural course and it was just coincidental that i went on a cruise when my symptoms got worse. but looking back, i had symptoms for quite some time, 6 months or so, but they got significantly worse or enhanced after the cruise. for example, i had also lost most of my weight in the 2 months after the cruise, when prior to the cruise, i had just lost a little bit over the previous 6 months.

I am seeing an endocrinologist and I'm on propranolol 10mg 3x/day, as well as PTU. i am not one to think that diet alone could change anything. that i know would be dangerous. my doctor did tell me that a low iodine diet would help me; she initiated this info herself; mostly saying to avoid seafood and seaweed. and this recommendation was knowing she was NOT going to order any uptake scan on me (because she didn't feel it was necessary because she didn't feel any nodules in my neck). i know a LID (low iodine diet) is usually recommended especially in the weeks before an uptake scan is done.

it's just that, fish is kind of hard to avoid because my husband is eating it almost every other day to improve his good cholesterol (HDL). i don't want to have a no iodine diet or really even a very low iodine diet….i'm just not sure if having fish 3-4x / week would increase the iodine in my diet way more than i should given that i have graves'….so that's why i was thinking that a low-iodine diet to compensate for the high amount of iodine i was getting in the fish would even things out in any way. i don't want to sabotage my husband's diet and he doesn't want to sabotage mine, so i'm trying to find something that can help the both of us. i'm getting sick of just chicken. husband is having limited red meat at this time to reduce his cholesterol.

anyways, i did think about us both seeing a dietician together. that's probably the way to go. i'll let everyone know what he/she says. in the meantime, any other suggestions/ideas out there about fishes low in iodine but ample in omega-3 fatty acids?

Have you looked into Chia seed oil? It supplies Omega 3,6,and 9 with no iodine.

Hello - Here is some general info from the National Institutes of Health on Iodine, although I do not have a good source that lists iodine content along with Omega-3 content.

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following links, you will need to use your browser's “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-HealthProfessional/ [ods.od.nih.gov]

It sounds like the meeting with the nutritionist would be a good idea to help come up with some menu plans that will balance nutritional needs for both yourself and your husband.

In terms of the general low iodine diet, here is some info from ThyCa:

http://www.thyca.org/rai.htm#diet [thyca.org]

Take care!