Body Scan--B-6

Are you doing the Low Iodine Diet? This can be very, very important to ensure your dietary iodine does not 'block' the uptake of either our scan doses of I-131, or treatment doses. The difference can be a 'false negative' - it is worth your time and effort.

You should be - for 14 days prior to swallowing your scan dose (7 days minimum of absolutely no mistakes - the 2 weeks usually ensures that). Here is a link to the diet, and also a newly published book which helps with it:
http://www.thyca.org/ThyCaCookbook.pdf
http://www.yourhealthpress.com/book_lidcookbook.html

With the above said, you should not, for the last 2 weeks before taking your scan dose, and until 48 hours after your treatment dose (if it is required - stay on the diet until the doc says 'yes or no' for a treatment dose), avoid all multivitamins and supplements.

Many of these contain iodine - sometimes in large amounts, and regulations do not require that they include iodine as a listed item. It is better/safer to just stop taking them for this short period of time.

The exception to this is if you have parathyroid problems - you must continue to take your calcium, of course, but make sure it is calcium citrate instead of calcium from seashell sources (tums are ok - many others are not).

Hope this helps. Unless a doctor has prescribed supplements as a medical necessity, it is much safer to just stop them for the 2-3 weeks or so until your scan and/or treatment doses are finished.

If prescribed, of course, always check with your doctor first before changing or stopping any medication.