RESUMO
Effective thyroid replacement therapy may be elusive to some patients, and compounding pharmacists have an opportunity to deliver more effective therapy. Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics 12th edition states that the body usually secretes T4:T3 in an 11:1 ratio but cautions against pursuing combined thyroid replacement due to the short halflife of T3 that necessitates multiple daily dosing; no commercial availability and lack of benefit were shown in trials. Commercial combinations of T4/T3 such as Armour Thyroid and Nature-Throid have a 4.22:1 T4:T3 ratio. Applying the same concept as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, compounding pharmacists can deliver an 11:1 ratio using a commercial T4 product and taking into account oral bioavailability of each entity. The short half-life of T3 can be remedied by taking the patient's daily T3 dose and dividing it into two slow-release capsules to be dosed every 12 hours.