I was told to take iodine while pregnant - Germany

hey ladies i'm 8 weeks and my dr. told me to take jodid. her reasoning was "take it so the babys head doesnt grow to big because of our elevation" what the HELL is that about? i looked up jodid and its for hyperthyroid! i really dont feel comfortable taking someting thats going to alter my childs growth! has anyone else heard of this!?!?

Havn't you seen all those kids with giant heads wandering around? Did you think they were aliens?

seriously, I should get some of this for my girlfriend when she's pregnant, my head's fucking huge

A quick google search shows absolutely no link between a Drug called Jodid, Pregnancy and elevation.
In fact, some of the links I found had negative things to say about Jodid during Pregnancy (Its also taken for heart conditions).
Sounds like typical German foolishness/myth. I wouldn't take it, but its your body/kid so do as you want.

Update: Seems Jodid (Hexal Jodid) is the commercial name of the drug, which is actually a form of POTASSIUM IODIDE.

Drugsafety.Com has this to say

Seems like it can also cause problems long after use, esp. during breast feeding. Click the above link and scroll down..

I used to take the Hexal Jodid but that's because I was suffering from not enough iodine in Munich. Foreigners from different geographical surroundings often get it. Have a blood test taken to see what your levels are like.

thanks everyone! i think im going to go to a diff. dr.

Yeah, iodine is just Jod.

Absolutely get a different doctor! How awful to suggest altering your babies natural growth!?

I'd report her.

Never heard the Bavarian saying "so viel nutzen wie ein Kropf" ?
Bavaria has traditionally a low natural take up of iodine and many people used idoised salt to increase it.

It's distance from the sea and the resulting diet that increases goitre, called "Derbyshire Neck" in the UK.

Use normal amounts of iodized salt, take folic acid and report that stupid quack of a doctor now!

I was told the same thing here, but only after giving birth, not during the pregnancy. I was told to take it for as long as I nursed my child. And yes, he also cited the elevation. My response also was WTF???

As said earlier iodine is in short supply here, hence the Allgauer goitre being prevalent in earlier years, your Doc was only trying to give good advice.

Iodine is very important for the baby - if you don't use much salt at home, it may be worth your while taking a supplement. If you get a multivitamin, make sure it is one that it suitable for pregnant women as it shouldn't contain vitamin A. The issue is hypothyroidism (i.e. an underactive thyroid, which can cause a child to have development problems). I suffered from hyperthyroidism before my pregnancy so was told to avoid iodine but as soon as I got pregnant I took an iodine-containing supplement.

My doctor advised me to switch to Jodsalz while I was pregnant in Munich.

If the doc is older, many German women had a goiter (enlarged thyroid) in the past from low iodine levels, so this is their frame of reference. Honestly it is hard with modern processed food to not get enough iodine.

http://phoenity.com/diseases/images/thyroid_enlargement.jpg