palpitations and rapid heart beat with hypothyroid?

[hcurrie]

hi, my tsh is low normal and my t4 is very low at .54 - i have been getting sudden onsets of a rapid heart beat and lots of palpitations - i am not hashis or graves, endo is still trying to figure out why i am hypo at all..... i am on synthroid 50mcg. these symptoms are not any worse than before i started the medicine so thats not it...i am wondering if anyone else has had these rapid heart rates and palpitations with hypo? also i get really crabby all of a sudden when i get this,  my heart checks out fine at the cardiologist and endo says hypo dont cause heart palps ...

[gimel]

What dosage are you taking daily?  Please post your latest thyroid related tests and their reference ranges, as shown on the lab report.  When you were originally diagnosed as hypothyroid, what was the basis for that diagnosis?  If it was based on test results, please post those old results and ranges if you have them.

[Sealm24]

I too have had hypothyroidism since my daughter was born 9 years ago, my sister has Graves which helped me realize it was probably my thyroid when I started having symptoms of irregular heart beat and really tired, dry skin and constipated. Got on Lexothyroxine 9 years ago and had been fine.  Now the last year I've been having heart palps all the time went to the doctor had ekg done said heart is fine.  Thought since I'm 45 maybe it was peri-menopause but now the last month I've been feeling like I'm getting hyper instead of hypo.  Heart beating out of my chest, can't breath good, anxious, diarrhea for the past month, shaky feeling.  Stop taking my meds for now still feel terrible.  Can't get into the Dr for almost a month Argh.

[VSPrain]

Count me in on the palpitations.  I have Hashi's and have been taking Nature Throid (same as Armour natural dessicated thyroid) for 5 years or so.  It was working really well to control my symptoms and my lab numbers were all very good.  All of a sudden in January I began having pounding palps, fast heart rate, anxiety, insomnia, same as everyone else here.  Like alot of you, I ended up in the ER having a full heart checkup.  They said my heart was fine and it must be stress.  Funny, I didn't feel stressed.  
After doing lots of research, I found out that there are two things that can interfere with your body processing your thyroid medication.  1.  If your cortisol is too low or too high.  Push your dr. for a cortisol saliva test to determine how much cortisol your body is producing at different times of the day.  The blood test does not tell you anything, but that is what most doctors will try to get you to do first.  2.  Low iron/ferritin levels can prevent your body from processing thyroid hormones properly.  Low iron can also cause palpitations!  Hypothyroidism causes malabsorption of nutrients due to low stomach acid, which is why so many people who are hypo are also low on iron and have palpitations.  I am post-menopausal, so was very surprised to learn, after having a full iron panel done, that my ferritin is extremely low as is my iron saturation.  Thank goodness for the people at The Hotze Clinic in Houston.  They actually know this!  I am now on iron supplements and taking low dose cortisol in the morning to correct the problems.  In the meantime, just until my levels are all normal again, they have me taking T3 only (Cytomel).  This seems to be doing the trick.  The palpitations are greatly improved, and I'm sleeping at night again.  I won't be back to normal until my iron is built up again and this does take time.  Just to know that we have a plan is such a relief.
Please do yourself a favor and read the book with the ridiculous title of "Stop The Thyroid Madness" by Janie Bowthorpe, available on Amazon.  It has all the information you need to know about most everything relating to your thyroid, no matter what the problem is.  And no, you're not crazy, you don't need anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds or beta-blockers.
If you can't find a dr. who is knowledgable (good luck with that), at the very least, please press them to do a full iron panel.  This could be the problem for most of you.  I hope this helps someone.  Be well.

[LJMartin]

i have not been diagnosed with anything yet, tho i have been miserable for over three years now with just about every symptom of thyroid problems tho tsh levels are good...tsh level was 1.7 two years ago and now 2.3, tmrrw i go in for t3 and t4 testing...cbc looks great except for eosinophils at 9.9...my mother had her thyroid removed at age 30 when she was PG with me and now finally the Dr i'm going to said that my enlarged heart, high pulse, low bp can be thyroid related...i feel like i have suffered a lot of pain for years and was also told it looks like i had a heart attack at one time...dr now says he will figure out what is wrong and hopefully soon as i dont sleep more than 2 hours a night for the last few months and havent had six straight hours of sleep in over 3 years...i've always been cold, feet and fingers are extremely cold and i live in AZ, extreme fatigue for over two years (ever since i had a complete hyst) depressed, trouble focusing (think i'm getting dementia...lol) low grade fever the last couple of months....almost constant chest pains, dull, aching pain....resting heart rate is always 90-100 and if i walk around the block it goes to 120-130 and stays that way for an hour...can't even take hot showers anymore due to the fact that my heart races to 130 for up to 2-3 hours after...mornings are the worst, takes me all morning to just get up and get going...evenings i feel the best, which is not saying much lately...i used to bike 5-10 miles every day, hike, and now i can barely walk 100 yards without wanting to kill over...in soo much pain and yet EKG shows fine...dr says after the next blood work results time to go to a cardio and find out why my heart is enlarged...just need some relief soon...any suggestions is greatly appreciated...

[Bern3]

Drug interaction especially if you are on Cytomel....check what your using that has been different, especially if it was working prior...

[Bern3]

I'm posting this to help someone else who is having these problems taking synthoid and CYTOMEL...
I found out there was a drug interaction with Cortisone and Cytomel.  It gave me extreme anxiety, heart palpitations, panic attacks within a couple hours after taking meds..  So if you are on any Cortisone like products do not take with Cytomel.  I had to be taken off cytomel and am just on a higher dose of synthroid to correct this, and have been off cortisone product for 2 weeks now.  I cannot believe how much better I feel.  I can't believe Doctors are not aware of this interaction.
Here's the link for more info...interactions w meds...SIDE EFFECTS

Hope this helps someone...you're not crazy!!

http://www.ehealthme.com/drug-interactions-side-effects/Cortisone-Motrin-Cytomel-Synthroid-Growth-Hormone-6019113
What the interaction does is the cortisone increase your cytomel dosage