Every night for oh, the past 2 or 3 weeks or so I've had difficulty falling asleep because my heart feels like it's going to pound it's way out of my chest! It's maddening. :( I KNOW it's not anxiety, and I know it's likely not because I'm overmedicated (i'm on 30mg of Armour for my underactive thyroid, and have been for, 6 weeks or so)

Last night was particularly bad. I REALLY just wanted to go to sleep. I was so tired - it was midnight and my eyes were closing, but my heart was pounding so hard I couldn't fall asleep. I was actually kind of scared..

My pulse wasn't any faster than usual, but my entire body was throbbing with my heartbeat. There was no pain involved at all either.. otherwise I probably would have headed to the ER..

*sigh* Please someone reassure me here - It's pretty scary when your heart beats that hard. I'm 24 years old and It just seems very bizarre to me to even think I might have a heart problem.

The strange thing is that when I would sit up in bed last night, my heart would actually stop pounding as hard.. :confused: That really seems backwards to me. :confused:

My next doctors appointment is June 13th, and I do plan to mention this to her when we go over my next round of thyroid labs..


Thanks everybody - this is kinda scary :( :confused:

I know how you feel..except my problems ended up going further. But to reassure you...First of all..when you focus on your heart you will definitely take more notice of it beating. My suggestion first of all..is to cut out all caffine..including chocolate and soda. You say your heartrate hasnt gone up and there is no pain..my guess is that you may be developing a small murmur or palpatations..in which case you'll see on these boards that many of us live with. Should you start experiencing pain...then it is definitely worth inquiring about from a cardiologist..otherwise...definitely..cu t out caffine..if you smoke..quit..stay as active as possible and dont worry about it..oh yeah! Most of all...stress!!! try to stay as stress free as possible. Trust me..I found out the hard way. Keep us informed. Bless you

I've been going through rapid HR episodes for about 2 months now and along with that is that darned pounding feeling. It's usually more noticeable at night when lying down but have noticed at other times also. I'm still trying to figure out why I'm having this (in other words eliminating everything down to anxiety), but I'm not typically an anxious person.

One thing I was screened for was thyroid (which was okay), so I'd definitely mention it at your next visit. Maybe you need your medication adjusted.

Every night for oh, the past 2 or 3 weeks or so I've had difficulty falling asleep because my heart feels like it's going to pound it's way out of my chest! It's maddening. :( I KNOW it's not anxiety, and I know it's likely not because I'm overmedicated (i'm on 30mg of Armour for my underactive thyroid, and have been for, 6 weeks or so)

Sounds like you might be having a reaction to the Armour. This can mean that the dose is too strong, or that you are eating or drinking something that is interacting with the Armour.

From www.amourthyroid.com:

"If you experience chest pain, increased pulse rate, palpitations, excessive sweating, heat intolerance, or nervousness, please consult your doctor immediately; your dose may need to be adjusted."

beerzoids - Yes, I'm aware of the side effects of too much Armour.. It's one thing I pay close attention to, as I don't want myself to become hyperthyroid. I have none of those side effects you listed. My heart simply beats hard. It's not increasing my pulse rate, my chest doesn't hurt, I'm not sweating (infact I'm usually quite cold), I'm not nervous - most of the time when it happens, I'm barely awake.. It's hardly an anxiety attack (I've had those, this isn't even close)

I take my Armour first thing in the morning when I wake up - and I'm pretty sure it's not an absorbtion issue (at least anything I can control) I don't eat or drink anything an hour before or an hour after my meds - giving them plenty of time to absorb.. and it's a really tiny pill, so it should dissolve rather quickly.

If anything I think I might need an *increase* in my meds. I was fine on this dose of the Armour for 5 weeks or so.. which is about as long as my body needs to adjust to it..

*sigh* I don't know. Last night I was fine.. the night before I was a wreck. We'll see what tonight brings I guess..

I have none of those side effects you listed. My heart simply beats hard.

Buts....... the side effects state: "If you experience chest pain, increased pulse rate, palpitations, "

That means, to me, that people on Armour might experience problems with the way that their heart beats. In other words, the "possible" side effects of "increased pulse rate and palpitations" imply that Armour could have an effect on the heart. Everyone is different, has differences in metabolism, environment, lifestyle and diet. I was just trying to connect the dots.

But, at the same time, you have a valid point. You might be correct that, since you are not experiencing the exact symptoms listed, that your heart related symptoms might not be the Armour.

I'll be interesting what your doctor decides to do on June 13th.

I don't eat or drink anything an hour before or an hour after my meds - giving them plenty of time to absorb.. and it's a really tiny pill, so it should dissolve rather quickly.

Do you feel that it could be something that you eat or drink two hours before or after taking the Armour?

At any rate, best of luck to you, and I hope that you soon find out what is causing those hard heart beats. :wave:

You have a point - and I am a bit worried about it being the Armour. I'd rather not switch meds if I don't have to :rolleyes: *hopefully* it's just my body needing something else.... hopefully.

Well considering I take the pills when I first wake up, I'm not eating or drinking anything beforehand for a good 8+ hours. And honestly, I can't wait 2 hours after taking the Armour - an hour is hard as it is, and actually what my doctor recommended.. usually too, if I don't get something in my stomach within an hour or two of waking up (if even just tea or a piece of fruit) I get some pretty nasty headaches.

This is so much fun! :rolleyes: :nono:

Thanks for the advice - I do appreciate it! :wave:

And honestly, I can't wait 2 hours after taking the Armour - an hour is hard as it is, and actually what my doctor recommended.. usually too, if I don't get something in my stomach within an hour or two of waking up (if even just tea or a piece of fruit) I get some pretty nasty headaches.

I am on several heart meds. If I eat any foods or drinks containing "calcium" within 2½ hours of taking my meds, I will experience hours of hard pounding. But there are a lot of foods that either have low quantities of calcium or none, so it is not a huge problem for me. Your problem probably has nothing to do with calcium. I just posted this as an example.

I looked up Armour. The article says that Armour appear to increase catabolism of vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Hmmmm!? Even though that might effect how long blood clots, it doesn't seem to be related to heart pounding.

So..... I read further. It also says that initiating thyroid replacement therapy may cause increases in insulin or oral hypoglycemic requirements, and that the effects seen are poorly understood.

That could be related to your hard beating problems. If I consume too many carbohydrates, I will have all kinds of heart related problems, because my system doesn't tolerate carbs too well.

I wonder if Armour might be causing you a similar problem. I don't know. I am just throwing out some stuff for you to think about. The article says that the effects caused by ArmourThyroid on insulin handling are poorly understood. That means to me that there are more questions than there are answers.

Once again, regards, and best of luck! :wave:

ah yes, calcium.. Calcium hinders the ability for the body to absorb thyroid medicine. That is one thing I try to avoid eating/drinking until around lunch time. I usually even wait to take my multivitamin until around 2 - just to be safe.

My doc did take me off "bad carbs" (white breads, potatoes, rice, white flour.. etc) and I've been doing pretty well with that - occasionally I'll have something that has one of those in it - but it's not a main staple in my diet anymore... yay for whole grains! (I'm still getting used to it..) I'll hafta watch if too many of the bad carbs causes my heart to start pounding. Hm.

Those are all interesting things to think about. I'll hafta toss them around in my head for a while. Last night I was ok too.. hmmm...

I too have pounding heart beat. I wake up from sleep with pounding heart beat that I can feel in my heart and neck area.
I have automatic blood pressure meter and the readings are 120/80 pul80 when I'm getting this pounding heart beat, so it is not any different from my normal reading, which is very confusing.

the pounding heart beat is just stronger beat, not faster or skipping.

not taking any medication at the moment, any idea?

I too have pounding heart beat. I wake up from sleep with pounding heart beat that I can feel in my heart and neck area.
I have automatic blood pressure meter and the readings are 120/80 pul80 when I'm getting this pounding heart beat, so it is not any different from my normal reading, which is very confusing.

the pounding heart beat is just stronger beat, not faster or skipping.

not taking any medication at the moment, any idea?

The pounding heartbeat is something that I have been fighting for many years. Even though I have significantly reduced the occurrences, I still can get the pounding at any time, but mostly at night.

Most of the time, I can link my episodes of heart pounding to allergies, either from foods, or to pollens, or to some chemical that I came into contact with.

The bed is the worst place for allergies. As I became more and more sensitive, I found out that I could not lie down in bed without my heart pounding. I sleep in a leather recliner and this has significantly reduced my problems with heart pounding. Sounds a little extreme, but I feel much better the next day, and have much more energy. Plus...... once I'm asleep, I don't care where I am lying.