I kept waking up tired, bloated, and foggy, my labs were "normal." But, heres what finally helped.

I’m not new to thyroid issues - I’ve been on medication for a while, and it did help. But even with meds, something still felt off.

I could sleep 9 hours and wake up feeling like I hadn’t slept at all. My face stayed puffy, my brain felt like it was wrapped in cotton, and my moods were all over the place. Every doctor visit ended the same way: “Your labs look fine.”

Fine… but I didn’t feel fine.

I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to research - give me a reason, and I’ll spend hours going down rabbit holes. And now, I had a reason. The people who were supposed to be helping me weren’t offering much beyond “everything looks normal,” so I decided to help myself.

I started reading every article, every study I could find (I'll leave a few in the comments section). Over and over, I kept seeing hints about a link between vitamin A, iodine, and thyroid function. I’d never heard this from a single doctor before. It wasn’t framed as a miracle cure - just a possible missing piece for people like me.

When I mentioned this to my functional medicine NP, she didn’t roll her eyes or brush it off like others had. She actually listened. Then she did something no one else had done: she helped me build on my research. Together, we created a schedule to support both vitamin A and iodine, alongside the meds I was already taking.

We kept it simple. At first, I tried adding more seaweed and liver to my diet to get both nutrients naturally. It worked for a while, but doing that every single day got… well, unrealistic. We moved to supplements next, but honestly? A handful of pills and Lugol’s iodine every day just wasn’t for me. Then I came across a simple spray version with both in one - way easier to stick to daily without overthinking it. I made a few other changes - swapped seed oils for whole eggs, avocado, and grass-fed meat… waited an hour before coffee… got 10 minutes of morning sunlight… kept a symptom journal.

It wasn’t instant. But over the next 90 days, mornings stopped feeling like quicksand. My brain fog lifted. My energy came back - not all at once, but enough to feel like “me” again. My cycle even regulated for the first time in years.

If you’ve been told you’re “fine” but know something’s wrong - you’re not crazy. Sometimes you just need the right missing piece… and someone willing to help you find it.