Dosage Help (Erfa)

[MoaningLisa]

I'm currently on 4 grains of Nature-Throid. Would like to try Erfa after these in case they're even better. I'm confused about the dosage though. How many mg of Erfa should I take to replace 200mg of Levothyroxine please?

Thanks in advance.

[Jazzw]

4 grains of ERFA is the same as 4 grains of Nature Throid. I have to confess I'm not sure why you're asking about Levo if you're already on Nature Throid...

[MoaningLisa in reply to Jazzw]

Thanks. Because the packaging doesn't say 'grains' on it, it just says mg, so I need to know how many mg is equal to 4 grains of NT or 200mg of levo.

[Jazzw in reply to MoaningLisa]

Ah, I see. Well, 4 grains of NDT (or 4 x 60/65mg tablets) is actually equivalent to 400mcg of Levo. That's why I got confused!

Erfa comes in 60mg tablets, I think, each one containing 8mcg of liothyronine and 35mcg of levothyroxine. So it's actually slightly weaker than Nature Throid and Armour.

[shaws Administrator]

I switched from Erfa to Nature Throid which suited me better but sometimes what suits one doesn't always suit another.

[Clutter]

MoaningLisa, 1 grain of NatureThroid and Erfa is equivalent to 75-100mcg Levothyroxine.

[MoaningLisa in reply to Clutter]

Thanks

[Spareribs in reply to MoaningLisa]

ML there's a bit of a debate as to the 'potency' of piggy thyroid - I think it depends per person.

NDT contains both T4/T3 & more but strictly speaking it's usually 38mcg T4 & 9mcg T3 which =75 mcg T4 but being natural & 'bio-available' it could be more like 100mcg 'synthetic' Levo to some people, not bad to err on the low side with T3.

Don't you feel well enough on Nature-throid to want to try Erfa?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Desiccated thyroid products are sold in grains - which are 60 or 65 milligrams. Some use the word "grain"; some say "nnn milligrams". There is little practical difference between 60 and 65 milligrams - because the makes vary a bit one to another anyway.

You are making a rod for your own back trying to bring levothyroxine into the picture. 200 micrograms of levothyroxine could be somewhere around 2 or 3 grains (120 to 195 milligrams) of desiccated thyroid. But that means nothing in the context of changing from one make to another of desiccated thyroid.

Four grains of Nature-Throid would be about four 60 mg Erfa tablets - or two 125 mg tablets. Though you might need to go up or down a little bit to get to your sweet spot.

Rod

[MoaningLisa in reply to helvella]

Thank you

[faith63]

I would be very careful when switching to Erfa. It has so much less fillers than Naturthroid..i went extremely hyper when switching from Armour to Erfa.. Terribly overmedicated on very little. Ended up in the hospital, start low!!!

[MoaningLisa in reply to faith63]

Thank you, will bear that in mind!

[Davenham21]

Hi all I was on 200mg Levo,now was put on EFRA 120mg

[Davenham21 in reply to Davenham21]

Also I had palpitations,hot flushes,a sore throat,is this normal

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Davenham21]

You might be better off posting a brand new post explaining your situation. Things like who has switched you and why.

For clarity, levothyroxine is usually measured in micrograms (mcg) and desiccated thyrin in milligrams (mg) or grains.

[Davenham21]

Rock hi all, I had a txt over 10yrs ago due to Graves' disease,anyway, I've been on Levo 200mg per day I wasn't feeling well on that and I was back n too the Drs, I have read much about my condition and finally got my GP to send me to a specialist,for me to trial NDT anyway I was given 120mg of EFRA Thyroid to take once per day, this gave me palpitations hot flushes,sore throat, I have halved this dose to have 30mg in the morning and 30mg at least 8 hrs later,I take vit D vit B12 complex iron with vit C, the palpitations are much less but the hot flushes still happen,I only started the EFRA on 26th sept...any first hand experience advice please

[moosmom]

look up Thyroid Conveesion Chart. It is available on .pdf format. Very useful

[moosmom in reply to moosmom]

oops i meant Thyroid Conversion Chart