Potassium iodide is also not recommended for people with dermatitis herpetiformis and hypocomplementemic vasculitis – conditions that are linked to a risk of iodine sensitivity.There have been some reports of potassium iodide treatment causing swelling of the parotid gland (one of the three glands that secrete saliva), due to its stimulatory effects on saliva production.A saturated solution of KI (SSKI) is typically given orally in adult doses several times a day (5 drops of SSKI assumed to be 1⁄3 mL) for thyroid blockade (to prevent the thyroid from excreting thyroid hormone) and occasionally this dose is also used, when iodide is used as an expectorant (the total dose is about one gram KI per day for an adult). The anti-radioiodine doses used for 131I uptake blockade are lower, and range downward from 100  mg a day for an adult, to less than this for children (see table). All of these doses should be compared with the far lower dose of iodine needed in normal nutrition, which is only 150 μg per day (150 micrograms, not milligrams). At maximal doses, and sometimes at much lower doses, side effects of iodide used for medical reasons, in doses of 1000 times the normal nutritional need, may include: acne, loss of appetite, or upset stomach (especially during the first several days, as the body adjusts to the medication).
Through this reaction, iodine is used in redox titrations. Aqueous KI3, "Lugols solution", is used as a disinfectant and as an etchant for gold surfaces.