Feeling Heartbeat With Normal Pulse - Thyroid Meds

dream77

Yes with too much sythroid I felt jittery, shaky, nervous,, my eyes would be shifty and couldn't focus and my heartbeat was faster than usual.
Those were typical signs I needed to go easy on the synthroid

jrose1358

Hi! I'm not sure I have any insight but I have been experiencing the same thing recently. I have been on 100 synthroid and 60 armour. Dropped the armour and started having the heavy heartbeat just as you described. Dropped the synthroid to 75, still feeling heavy hearbeat. Dropped it to 50 and heartbeat settled down but now am tired and foggy. Added 1/4 grain armour back in and have been feeling pretty good. I go back in for labs in a month so we will see. Anyway, it seems that my body needs the little bit of extra T3 to keep the heart normal and the energy up - but not too much or the heart goes nuts. I think it is just a matter of tweaking which is such a pain and requres so much patience. I'll let you know what happens and good luck. Hope you get it worked out. Keep me posted. I am so interested in what you find out because it may help me as well. jrose

mauz

Same here had to dropp the Armour back to 60mg but still having a hard time with it.
I hate the heart problems, soooo scary !!


jrose did you dropp all the Armour and than added back 1/4 grain?
I will give it a few more weeks on the Armour and if I don't feel better I will switch to Levo.
Maybe Armour doesn't work for everybody.

jrose1358

Yep - I dropped the armour completely for about 3 weeks and slowly dropped the synthroid till my heartbeat settled down. I find now, though, that I need a little bit of the T3 that armour provides back because of tiredness and fogginess so, right now (I hate to admit this), I am splitting an armour into 1/4ths and taking 1/4 pill every day. I know that you really can't reliably split armour but it does seem to be working and I will "fess up" when I go back to the doc. (I figure that every 8 days I am getting two full armours and so I am eventually taking the whole pills, right?) He will probably tell me to continue taking the 50 mcg of synthroid and prescrible a "legal" 1/4 grain of armour. (He is kind of used to me experimenting even though it drives him nuts). rebel jrose

Liz1900

Liz1900

Hi,

My dosage has been reduced since December from 135 to 120 to 90 and still heart racing. Don't feel bad - I reduced mine to 75 about 2 1/2 weeks ago because I couldn't stand it. After 2 weeks and seeing how I felt - I called and told my doctor. I have been cutting my 90 mg tab in half although there is no score on it and taking it with two 15 tablets to make up 75 mg. My doctor said it was fine as long as I felt better. I think it is a guessing game - this whole thing and I haven't had blood work since Jan 17th - and was 6 weeks this week - but since I changed it myself - have to wait a few more weeks. I still think I am getting too much - I do feel better physically except I feel my heart beating - I was asking in my post does anyone feel their heart beating but not having rapid palpitations? Mine seems to be a normal number compared to what it was before - but I still feel it. When I first reduced to 75 mg. I didn't, but it started up last week. So, probably still too much.....it is beyond frustrating and I feel like I could jump out of my skin at times.

Liz

mauz

I think for some of us the T3 in the Armour is just too much.
I am thinking about doing the same, dropping to 1/2 Armour and adding some T4.
My T4 is dropping more and more and my T3 is getting higher.
Like you said jrose it takes some experimenting and my doctor is also open to it.
Liz I think you probably right and the Armour is still too high and yes I also feel my heart beating heavy, no palps and no racing.
Why don't you dropp to 60 mg and see how you feel in a few days.
The T3 in the Armour is short acting so you should feel better in 2 days.
You can always add some T4 later on if you need too.
Hope you feel better soon !!

jrose1358

This discussion is incredibly liberating. I have felt like I am a closet pill splitter. Glad to know others do it too! I know what you mean about feeling your heart. Mine was doing that big time (not more rapidly, just harder). Since I lowered the synthroid, not so much. I mostly notice it in the evening. I am going to talk to my doc about it when I go in. I will keep you posted. jrose

Liz1900

Liz1900

Hi Mauz,

The only reason I have hesitated in dropping the dosage to 60 is because I have only a couple more weeks until blood work. It was the 6 week point this week from when the doctor dropped my dosage from 120 to 90. I dropped it myself 2 1/2 weeks ago to 75 which makes me wait longer for blood work - doctor says 4-6 weeks - at least 5. If I change to 60 for a few days and it helps - then won't that mess up my blood work if I am not on 60 for 4-6 weeks? I have been on Armour for 40 years with no problem until Dec 2007 when the heart palpitations started and this is not resolved.

Thanks to everyone for their input - this is great to know I am not totally stressing out and making my heart feel like this.

Thanks,
Liz

mauz

Liz,
Could it be that your thyroid recovered a little ?
Did you add any new supplements ?
I would ask my doctor to do a lab test asap.
The T3 in the Armour is fast acting after 10 hours half of it is gone.
the T4 will take longer to adjust.
At least you know if you are getting too much T3 without waiting 5 weeks.

jrose1358

Mauz

I think that is an interesting thought about maybe the thyroid recovering a bit. I think it is odd myself that Liz and I can cruise along for a long time and then whammo - we start getting hyper seemingly out of the blue. In my case - I decided to lose 10 lbs and recently discovered that I am developing bone loss in my hips. Soooo - I went on a very healthy diet of fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, and dairy and have been taking my supplements religiously. I was also found to be vitamin D deficient and so am on a mega dose of Vit D also. That combined with a new personal trainer for exercise leaves me wondering if I am maybe treating my thyroid a little better. Perhaps it is getting some things it was missing?!? I don't know, but, like I said, it is odd to suddenly be going hyper.

mauz

I am also low in Vitamin D and I take supplements.
See if your Vitamins contain Iodine, it affects the thryoid.
I bet your change in diet and exercise has helped your thyroid.
Keep up the good work !!

one more question, do you have Hashimoto ?

jrose1358

Wow. Didn't know that the D can contain iodine. It is prescription so might take a little investigating. Worth checking out! I am on 50,0000 IU per week. I do know that when I started taking it, my energy level sky-rocketed. I don't know if there is a Vit D/thyroid connection.

You know, I have no idea if I have Hashi's. I was diagnosed hypoT back in 1987 and have been fine with a few minor adjustments over the years. Never even heard about hashi's until this board. Can you have hashi's and not know it for years and then have it flare up? Never been specifically aware of being tested for it. Do you have hashi's Liz?