Palps, high blood pressure..only when trying to fall asleep

[StarryNight23]

I'm an overweight 23 y/o female with a strong family history of heart disease and high cholesterol but no family history of high blood pressure.

I just posted this on the Heart forum. Almost every night for the last 3 1/2 months I have been experiencing heart palpitations when I try to fall asleep. Sometimes it doesnt progress to full out palps but every night I at least experience chest flutters, fast hard pulse in my neck and just an overall feeling of jumpiness. I'm not anxious as I fall asleep, actually the complete opposite. The moment I start to feel very tired and I get relaxed and feel like I am about to doze off, my pulse starts racing and my whole body feels restless. It also sometimes feels like I'm struggling to breathe. Its a sensation I can only compare to being smothered or drowning almost. When I take my blood pressure at night after one of these episodes, its always high usually around 140/something in the late 80s or early 90's and my heart rate is elevated too. Any other time during the day my blood pressure is usually 125/65 but only at night as I'm about to doze off does it rise drastically. I never experience rapid or irregular heart beat during the day during my normal activities either. And if I wake up during the middle of the night, I'm able to fall back alseep with no problems. Its just the first initial time I lay down to go to bed that I have these problems.

I went to the emergency room twice in 2 days in August because I thought I was having a heart attack (unrelated to everything I just said but I was experiencing other frightening symptoms such as extreme fatigue, chest/arm pains, shortness of breath, dizziness and a few others that lasted for over a week and has come back occasionally over the last couple of months) And then about a month after my visits to the ER I started having these issues with the heart palps at night. I was cleared by both hospitals and when I went to see my doctor last week, she didnt seem to think anything was wrong with me either. I told my doctor about everything and was given a holter monitor for 24 hours but of course didnt experience any symptoms while I was wearing it (I'm still hoping something was caught without me knowing it) I had blood taken because she wanted to test my cholesterol and thyroid but I havent gotten the results of my blood work or the holter yet.  I had chest xrays in both hospitals and EKG's and ECG's and just had another when I was at the doctors last week but everything came back normal. I asked if I could be sent for an echocardiogram but she didnt think that was necessery because she didnt hear any clicks or murmurs when she was listening to my heart.

Also, I'm not sure if this is in any way related but for the last few weeks I have noticed that my eyes seem very bloodshot. I have allergies so I was assuming that had something to do with it for a while but my eyes havent been watery or itchy or irritated. Eye drops have absolutely no effect when that's something that has always helped. Some days its so bad that people ask me if I'm okay because it looks like I've been crying. Also, my left eyelid has been twitching throughout the day, every day for the last 2 weeks. Could that have something to do with my blood pressure or possibly thyroid? It's only elevated at night for brief periods. Usually I have to get up and watch tv or read before I can try to go back to bed because just ignoring the palps seems to make it worse.  This just happened to me moments ago which is what prompted me to start this post. I was very tired, layed down to go to bed and for almost 2 hours I was struggling to fall asleep because my heart was pounding, I was having some trouble breathing normally and my body was very jumpy. My blood pressure was 138/92. Now after sitting here at the computer for a few minutes I feel completely fine again and my blood pressure is back to normal. I usually stay well hydrated and rarely if ever have caffine and I try to have a fairly low sodium diet so I'm not sure if diet is the culprit here. What could be causing this?? I guess I'll have a better idea when my blood work comes back but I just wanted to know ahead of time if this all sounds like it could possibly be my thyroid thats causing all of this or maybe something else that I havent even thought of.

[Barb135]

You've attached to a thread that's almost 8 yrs old and the previous posters are no longer active on the forum, so it's very unlikely you will get a response.

Your situation would get much more attention if you would post a new thread of your own, listing your symptoms, current thyroid lab results, with reference ranges and anything else you think might be helpful.  

[Sara_livy]

Hi StarryNight23.. I'm an currently experiencing these symptoms to a tee! Did you find out what was causing it?

[StarryNight23]

I'm not sure what labs the doctor ran. She just left a message on my machine when I wasnt home yesterday afternoon. I'm going to make an appointment after the holidays to discuss things more in detail and I'll definitely find out which labs they ran.

I don't know what exact tests were run in the hospital back in August, but when my doctor was looking over the results she did say that my blood sugar was good. You're right about seeing a cardiologist. I think that's my next step at this point. A lot of family and friends seem to think I'm blowing this out of proportion and I'm just stressed and have anxiety "without even realizing it" and pretty much, I'm just being a hypochondriac. I know for sure that isnt the case, hopefully someone will be able to tell me what's wrong because I really can't stand this anymore.

Thanks for all of your replies everyone!

[strawberri]

have u had your Blood sugar checked, I know when mine is high it aggrvates my Mitral valve prolapse. I think it causes a stress on my body that is deep and internal, kinda strane but I have those symptoms when MY bs is to high. Anexity usually causes shakes also. I have had all this iwht my Adrenal tumor. It is a side effect of the tumor secreting to much something..i think u should see a cardio dr. Let them figure figure this out, good luck, and let us know about your results.. it might help someone else..

[utahmomma]

It wouldn't hurt to see if you have an autoimmune thyroid condition brewing.  Do you know what labs your doctor ran?  If it was just TSH that isn't enough.  You need T4, T3 and antibodies for a complete picture.

[StarryNight23]

My doctor called me today with my lab results and she told me my thyroid is completely normal. Would asking for a complete thyroid panel be worth it if whatever test they already did came back fine? I'm kind of relieved to hear that it came back okay but I just don't understand how all of these tests are coming back completely normal when I've been feeling the way I've been feeling for so long. Oh also my cholesterol is good and the holter results were normal too. She said my heart rate was a little fast and a little slow at times but she assured me that's totally normal and there were no arrhythmias .

[utahmomma]

Ask your doctor to run a complete thyroid panel.  It's just another tube or two of blood and it wouldn't hurt to find out.

[StarryNight23]

Thanks for writing back so fast. I do try to take my mind off of it as much as possible and it does work sometimes, but I seem to be constantly reminded because these symptoms just creep up on me so often. I'm trying not to freak myself out too much but lately I've definitely been thinking of the worst scenerios which definitely isnt helping the anxiety at all. I do suffer from insomnia and from I know, I have ever since I was little. I'll try the herbal tea and reading more in the meantime. I'll definitely post agin when my lab results come back. Hopefully it will be soon!

[ifupleze]

These are all symptoms of thyroid,  low or high.   Sounds like anxiety (one of my symptoms) to me which is a common symptom along with insomnia. Wait for labs to come back and ask MD to RX something for your anxiety.  It will also help with the insomnia and palpitations.  Try not to worry, it only makes it worse.  Read to keep your mind off it, if possible.  Try some herbal tea at night.  They  have different kinds for anxiety, insomnia and relaxation.  Sorry I can't be more helpful right now.  When your labs come back, post again and we will see what more advice can be given.