HI kittykat! Thought you were on Armour? Wasn't working for you? If you read my post to seniors you can see I am having trouble too...and Lady50 is off it as well. Well since T3 is about 4 times the potency of T4, yes, I would lower the T4 a bit. The T4 also converts to T3 but will not do as much as the direct T3. T3 is the active hormone, the one the body is using so giving it directly...bet you will feel results of that in a few days and full results, I hear, in about two weeks. For T4 to get out of your system (the reduced amount) will take, I hear, 4-6 weeks...the same amount of time it take to get into the system...but everyone is different. No doubt you will have an adjustment period.
I am at Armour 3/4 grain, plan to reduce to 1/2 and add in some T4....blood tests showed that on 3/4 my FT3 high and FT4 low...no doubt I will also have an adjustment period as well...ugh...we will go though it together! Pixiek
I am on the synthetic meds so here is how I added the t3. I upped my synthroid ( t4) on the same day but started on only 5mcgs of t3 ..................it really upped my t3 fast. I did not lower my t4, but I am in a totally different situation as I have no thyroid. Just be careful with it. and watch your pulse.............
let us know how you do, there are many of us here trying out new med combos
I was up to 3 grains and then the shakes started, also had bad insomnia and short of breath. Cut back my armour and started sea salt, but the symptoms would not go away. After a few months of waiting I went back to t-4 only (125mg). I thought about taking both the t-4 and the armour (in a small amount) because the armour helped alot with my leg stiffness and my once a week bowel movements.
kk
Sorry to hear your still having problems--Best of luck!
Boy, do I feel stupid!! Just read your post to the seniors, if I had read that first it would have answered all my questions!!! Now I'm debating whether or not to just add some of my thyroid -s to my t-4,instead of just adding the straight t-3. I HATE making deceisions.
The best person to help with Armour conversion is Lady or Midwest..............perhaps if you entitle a thread to them.....................
I am not sure what to do. I am in my own battle with decisions since I have recently had my thyroid removed. What ever you do, do it slow and remember to back off if you feel heart palps.
One good suggestion I got from my surgeon is to use a bp cuff at home and if your pressure starts to go up it can be a first sign to back down..............just a hint.
Just crazy me again. If I was to take 1grain armour and 100mcg of t-4 would that be a close match to my current dose of 125mcg t-4?
kk
Hi, I hate making choices too! And you have to WAIT SO LONG to see if you made the right one or not!!!!!!UGH!!!!
Well, on another board, I was able to do conversion for you. 1 grain of Armour is 38mcg of T4 and 9 mcg of T3 (which makes the T3 19% of your meds intake.) Since T3 is 4 times stronger than T4 the TOTAL T4 is about 74mcg. So one grain is 74mcg of T4. With this you know exactly how much is T3 and T4 and how much the total equivaltent T4 is.
In my case, I think I have too much T3 and not enough T4 in my system so I am doing 1/2 grain armour (T4 39mcg, T3 4.5 and 10% then is T3, and total T4 equivalent is (I forgot mcg.) and also I will add 20mcg of synthroid get a total equilvant of 57mcg of T4. So basically 1/2 Armour plus 20 synthroid = 57mcg of T4.
It gets complicated and who knows if all these tiny adjustments will make any difference...ugh! If this doesn't work I may go to synthrid and cytomel as you can make more tiny adjustments in the varying amounts...but since I am already on Armour, thought I would try that first... still have to do my liver detox...maybe that will help a bit! hope this helps! Pixiek
Oh, KK, I am so sorry! I didn't do the math, just coppied it from another site...Lord, I could not do math now! I am so brain fogged I left the gas on the stove on (good thing hubby was home), ran a bath with the plug not in, made effort to drop of dry cleaning early AM so I could pick it up in the PM and forgot, I forget what I am doing the moment I am doing it...it has gotten really, really bad lately! I tend to get a little relief towards evening, however...just a little...please do let us know what you do and how it goes for you...maybe it will be me next! Pixiek
Re: Adding t-3 
Ha!
