This is something that I came up with a long time ago, but I am now sharing with you to gain a clearer picture of your health and your thyroid medication. My Thyroid Dose Conversion Calculator is something I developed years back, and my docs at Integrative Health have been using it for just as long – to help patients every single day.
After using it for so long, I thought, why not share it with you? I have put it together to be super simple for you: All you have to do is provide what you are currently taking, and it will show you the conversion for different types.
It is especially cool to use because, even if you were on multiple medications at one time, it can put them all together for you in one handy package. How neat is that?
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Using My Thyroid Dose Conversion Calculator
Let’s start by breaking down what you are going to see as you use the calculator. First, you are going to notice the various brands at hand, including:
- T3 – Cytomel or Liothyronine (or compounded T3)
- T4 – Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, Tirosint (or compounded T4)
- NDT (natural desiccated thyroid) or DTE (desiccated thyroid extract) – WP Thyroid, Nature Throid, Armor Thyroid, NP Thyroid (or generic desiccated thyroid or compounded)
Key Insight: All you have to worry about is putting in what you are currently on, and the calculator will do all the thinking. You will end up with the exact output and equivalencies that you need to see.
Equivalency Clarity
It is important to address this idea of equivalency, and what we mean about it. Why is that? Well, it is because they can sometimes be apples and oranges.
In the case of something like T3 and desiccated thyroid (which has T2, as well), we do our best to equate that to units of T4. That said, people often feel differently from one to the other. This can be in better ways, but often these are ways in which the dosage ranges may not be spot on.
If you were to go from 100 micrograms of T4, you could plug that in and it would reveal that it is equivalent to roughly 1 grain of desiccated thyroid. That in mind, I would typically err on the more cautious side and go with less than that – three-quarters grain, to start.
Clearing Up Conversion Confusion
Whatever you convert, you will want to check and then check again over the course of the next few months. Another important thing to know about desiccated thyroid is that it is expressed in terms of grains – and grains to milligrams are ultimately different from brand to brand.
RLC products, for example, have one grain at 65 milligrams. This is because this particular brand is more exacting about their units. Most other brands, though, will call 1 grain 61 milligrams.
Key Insight: That is why I typically use the term grains, not milligrams, as grains are what count (and because milligrams can vary from brand to brand).
In terms of practical application, I am often asked which thyroid types I am likely to recommend the best. Let me begin with those I do not recommend, though, and that starts with compounded thyroid.
The drawback with compounded thyroid is that it is simply not standardized, which means that the results are not exacting enough to feel confident in the product. Given this, it cannot possibly provide the right benefits for patients on a consistent basis.
I cannot stress enough that standardization is a really big deal for thyroid medicine. We have even seen cases where large margins can be catastrophic. Beyond that, though, small margins can be damaging in their own right
Bottom Line: My favorite would be desiccated thyroid (or desiccated with a little bit of T4). This is the one I recommend the most. In healthy amounts, most folks do well on desiccated thyroid.
Try My Calculator Today
Interested in converting your thyroid dose to get a clearer picture of your health? Please, take a moment and try my new dose conversion calculator today Click Here. Afterward, please feel free to reach out to learn more about what you can do for your health moving forward.
1. Schedule a Thyroid Second Opinion with me, Dr. C, Click Here for Details
2. Download and use my Favorite Recipes Cookbook Here
3. Check out my podcast Medical Myths, Legends, and Fairytales Here
Dr. Alan Glen Christianson (Dr. C) is a Naturopathic Endocrinologist and the author of The NY Times bestselling Adrenal Reset Diet, The Metabolism Reset Diet and The Thyroid Reset Diet.
Dr. C’s gift for figuring out what really works has helped hundreds of thousands of people reverse thyroid disease, lose weight, diabetes, and regain energy. Learn more about the surprising story that started his quest.