Bobbi
My bit of unsolicited advice is this: take the synthroid first and expect it to work. The vast majority of us who had our thyroids removed live well on synthroid type replacement products alone. And these products are much, much safer for the body than adding a jolt of T3. I was one of the people who listened to all the internet mumblings about needing additional T3. And even though I was on a minimal dose of it, for only about a year or two, it eventually — not right away, but eventually — made me thyrotoxic and the blood tests showed nasty elevations of T3. And now there are funky heart waves on EKGs that raise doctor’s eyebrows.
So, it isn’t worth it. Don’t assume your doc is a stick-in-the-mud because he/she doesn’t want to experiment with Armour or Cytomel first. They KNOW that T4 replacement works without the extra jeapardy for the vast majority of patients.