Dosing NTH (Natural Thyroid Hormone) Safely and Effectively
NOTE: 1 grain = 60mg, 1/2 grain = 30mg, 1/4 grain = 15mg
The official dosing instructions for Armour can be found at the Armour website. These are some helpful tips based on people's experiences:
If you've been on no thyroid meds yet, most people do best starting off with a very small dose and increasing it in small increments every 2-3 weeks as hypo symptoms return or new ones arise. This is of course while working with your doctor. Remember that it can take some time for the T4 in NTH to build up in your system. It seems that the majority of people posting seem to reach their optimal dose in the 3-5 grain range, but you may be different.
If you've been on synthetic T4, talk to your doctor about weaning off of it as you add in NTH.
While some people seem to do fine with a once-daily dose of NTH, most seem to feel better dividing the dose, because T3 has a short half-life. A typical way to do it would be morning, lunchtime, midafternoon, and bedtime--but you should talk to your doctor about figuring out what you think works best for you.
Many of us prefer to take Armour sublingually in order to:
- absorb the same amount at each dose
- be able to swallow food & supplements without needing an empty stomach
- preserve the effectiveness of calcitonin (which may be destroyed by stomach acid and is ncessary to preserve the integrity of our bones)
If you're going to swallow your Armour, it needs to be on an empty stomach&emdash;at least an hour before eating and 3 hours after eating.