Most hypothyroid fibromyalgia patients respond only to 200-to-400 micrograms of T4 (0.2-to-0.4 milligrams). Few patients benefit from the 100-to-200 micrograms of T4 that most clinicians unjustifiably restrict them to. Some writers state that your dosage, one grain (65 mg), of desiccated thyroid provides the equivalent of 80 micrograms of T4. [Actually, desiccated thyroid contains both T4 and T3. For example, one grain of Johnson's desiccated thyroid contains 38 micrograms of T4 and 9 micrograms of T3. T3 is often reported to be four times more potent than T4. Thus, in terms of potency, the 9 micrograms of T3 is roughly equivalent to 36 micrograms of T4 (9 x 4=36). So it could be argued that the total potency of the thyroid hormone in one grain of Johnson's desiccated thyroid is equivalent to about 74 micrograms of T4 (38 micrograms from T4 + 36 micrograms from T3 = the potency equivalent of 74 micrograms of T4).]

From this consideration, one might assume that to benefit from Armour thyroid, a patient must take enough to equal the potency of 200-to-400 micrograms of T4. If this were true, it would be necessary to take between 2½ to 5 tablets of Armour per day. (2½ tablets would have a potency roughly equivalent to 200 micrograms of T4; 5 tablets would have a potency roughly equivalent to 400 micrograms of T4.) But this assumption would be incorrect. Most hypothyroid fibromyalgia patients improve on lower dosages of Armour than this. The likely explanation is that the potency of the T3 in the Amour is actually equivalent to more than four times the potency of T4. Some recent publications suggest that T3 may be 10 times more potent than T4.

A patient's effective dosage must be determined on an individual basis...
http://www.drlowe.com/QandA/askdrlowe/desicatd.htm

Vel, i mange år gikk jeg på 100 µg Levaxin og mindre. I fjor og første halvdel i år har jeg forsøkt høyere dose thyroxin, det meste jeg kunne tåle uten å bli hyper, var ca 137,5 mikrogram Lev og 10 mikrogram Lio om dagen (T4/T3). Ikke på noe tidspunkt ble smertene mindre...

Så da blir det spennende å se om det er mer thyroxin som skal til, og om kroppen da vil tolerere høyere doser via naturlig thyroxin, og/eller om Armour er mer potent til å hjelpe på smerter enn syntetisk T4/T3 er. På 1 1/4 Grain har det hittil ikke skjedd noen forskjell. Står vel ikke noe om hvor lenge man skal stå på en dose før en evt merker noe på smertene...?