Heart palpitations while being hypothyroid?

Posted , 4 users are following.

Hi, I'd like to ask if any of you had palpitations while being hypothyroid. My latest blood test showed a TSH of 24 and FT4 below the normal lower limit.

At times I am very tired and still, my heart is beating faster than normal (as if my body is struggling to keep me awake). Overall, I sleep longer than normal.

This is my first time posting a question on this forum. I was diagnosed with autoimmune hyperthyroidism in 2015 and I had a relapse in January this year. My endocrinologist prescribed antithyroid medication and apparently, my dose was too high. It has been reduced a few days back. In the past, I have experienced a raised resting heart rate while being hyperthyroid but I am bit confused right now as I assumed the heart slows down while being hypothyroid. 

 

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    That is a very high TSH. It should be below 4. Are you sure it’s correct? If it is, it’s hard to understand why your doctor would reduce the medication. I assume you are taking Levothyroxine?
    • Posted

      Until a few days ago I was taking 20 mg Carbimazole per day. This is an antithyroid medication meant to reduce the production of Thyroxine. In January my TSH was <0.03 mU/L and my FT4 32.1 pmol/L.

  • Posted

    So you are now hypothyroid, and the Carbimazole dose has been reduced, so that makes sense. However the change in meds can take weeks to work, so do not expect change in a few days.
  • Posted

    You are still a Graves person undergoing treatment. Your doctor made you hypo via meds. Something that might've taken many years even decades in a Hashi person to become. If you were a Hashi hypo person with your TSH and FT4 I doubt there would be any palpations unless they were overtreated w thyroid meds. So give it time, uou had TSI antibodies pouring out thyroid hormones when you had a relapse which wasnt too long ago.

  • Posted

    When I was first dxd w Hashis....a lot later than ppl these days my TSH.was 65. I wouldve welcomed a panic attack just to feel up. I.had panic attacks in my 20s that scared me but they subsided. In my mid30s I was dxd and the Synthroid I barely felt it slowly got rid of my symptoms BUT never have the energy levels of others and rxd stims just to get things done and off the couch. In my 20s this kind of med was the last thing I.wanted. Make use of your nervous energy put it to use or a least walk it out. Its all about thyroid hormones pouring out it should.level off. ...ask your doctor or watch or read hyper to.hypo stories like yours on youtube and online. Your story very common.

  • Posted

    Boy, I remember exactly what you describe, your heartbeat goes up and you become very tired (I was never sure what came first). The periods would last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. Full battery of heart tests - negative for heart problems. Autoimmune hypothyroidism with TSH of 4 to 5 (today TSH is 1.5 to 2.0)., the heart beat would rise to 125 resting and the SPO2 would fall into the high 80’s. What I didn’t realize at the time was that there were many autoimmune diseases associated with autoimmune hypothyroidism and these other diseases could create something called autonomic dysfunction i.e. they screwed with the heartbeat, blood pressure, etc. It turns out I had myasthenia gravis and when it was finally treated the heart “palpitations” went away. Boy, was I lucky to stumble onto an endo who was able to look at the chaos in my record and say this is not thyroid disease and send me to a neurologist. You might keep this in mind.

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