transferring from Armour to synthetic T4/T3 combo - conversion rates?

[Bluemallers]

I’ve been given a trial of levo and T3 by an endocrinologist. I am currently on 2 grains of armour although I stupidly told the Endo I was on 1.5 grains by mistake. She is starting me on 100mcg of thyroxine plus two doses of 10mcg of T3 (morning and afternoon). I’m now worried this won’t be enough and I’ll feel undermedicated, as she was basing this on 1.5 grains. What are your thoughts on this dosage? On the armour bottle it says it contains 76 mcg of levo and 18 mcg of t3, so this implies she has given me the right dose, but equivalency charts online say that 2 grains is closer to 200mcg of t4. So I am very confused. Any clarity much appreciated.

[greygoose]

Ignore the equivalency charts. They are trying to give a T3 value to T4 and you just can't do that. It's comparing apple to pears because T3 and T4 are not the same thing and a lot depends on how well you absorb and convert.

Rather compare the amounts of T4 and T3 individually. Your were taking 76 mcg of levo and 18 mcg of t3, and now she's giving you 100mcg of thyroxine plus two doses of 10mcg of T3. So you have a decent increase in T4 and a very slight increase in T3. It should be fine.

[radd]

Bluemallers,

Because of the way thyroid hormone enzymes (deiodinases) work, when we take T4 & T3 combo meds we get more than we medicate. Therefore, the manufacturers of NDT claim 1 grain to be ‘bio-equivalent’ to 100mcg T4, although the reality is users would say it is less. My experience puts 1 grain at about 88mcgT4 (so 2 grains at 176mcg T4).

Therefore, this has worked in your favour as you won't be as under- medicated as you thought. Your new synthetic 100mcg T4 + 20mcg T3 is roughly equivalent to 160mcg T4 and a good starting dose, although agree you might need further titivation as could remain slightly under.

[humanbean]

You might find the reference to Armour on this page of some use :

stopthethyroidmadness.com/a...