Palipatations coming and going

[Sallykins]

I have been experiencing palipatations for about 7-1/2 years.  Monitors show PAC and PVC.  PAC's are sharp thumps, while the PVC's feel like my heart is jumping up into by throat and flipping over.  Multiple PVC's tend to feel like a flutter and are accompanied by  light headedness.  I had regular tests (stress, echo, stress-echo, etc.) in 2005, Cardiologists said everything looked normal (even good).  I have an inordinate fear of these things, the fear typically causes my heart to race near 180 when I have a lot of these.  How can I control the fear.  I am 48 year old Female on HRT (which helps diminish the palps), no smoking, drinking, or drugs.  My only vice is tea and a sweet tooth.  I am probably 20-30 lbs over weight but trying to loose it.  Excercise often brings on the palps, but 6 months of monitored excercise produced no palps, go figure ???  Any help with this problem would be appreciated.

[lazydog]

Thyroid disease can cause heart palps and pounding.  I complained of palps for 11 years before getting a diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Note world standard now for TSH test is .03 to 3.0.  Ensure you get a copy for yourself and check it out.  Many labs use old range and docs tell you your thyroid is "normal".  Ha....not.
...Julia

[godfatherInNj]

Hi. I'm a 56 yr old male. Since 4/08 I have had 3 stress tests, 4 stents to add to my other 3 stents. I really don't feel much better now than I did a year ago. I now have angine which I first got the day after I had 3 stents put in. Recently, I've been experiencing palipatations like in my upper chest and throat. I asked my Dr. to run a thyroid test on my blood work seeing everyone on my mom's side of the family is either on meds for it or had it removed and are on meds for the rest of their lives. She said it came back normal. I don't really know what to do next. Is my Dr. not putting in the effort to help me, or am I just asking for too much..    thank you, mike

[lazydog]

Oh, we've all been told we're "normal"!!!!  Did the doctor give you a copy of the results or give you the numbers of the results?  Rule #1 with thyroid - get a copy of the results for yourself because there are so many of us who have been told "normal" and years (many suffering years) later we finally get an abnormal result.  The new range for the standard (cr*p) TSH test is 0.5 to 5.0.  The international range is now 0.3 to 3.0.  Many gp's don't realise and just go by the lab results which means normal aint normal.  Also any TSH above 2.5 is suspect and should probably be treated.  Go back to your doc and ask for a copy of the results.  Go to a site such as stopthethyroidmadness and check out the results.  Any of the thyroid member sites will show you how many of us have been told normal - when thyroid not normal.  I even had an abnormal - over 5.0 and doc said "your thyroid test is borderline, come back in 6 months but I would expect that it will then be within normal range".  So 2 years later I had it done again.  More normal (but still 4.5) than the previous, so I was told "normal".  6 years later TSH was off the scale and I was the walking dead with more symptoms than my gp could handle!!!!  Don't let them brush you off with "normal".  Get the facts and check them out for yourself before you lose more years of your life.
...Julia

[lazydog]

If there is a family history of thyroid disease then it is almost certainly Hashimoto's the autoimmune thyroid disease.  In this case you should have your thyroid antibodies tested which will determine if you definitely have thyroid disease.  If you have Hashimoto's then the TSH will be lower than those who have the non-autoimmune thyroid disease.
...Julia

[guessagain]

That's why I call myself guessagain, I see a phychiatrist for chonic depression, several times, she sort of rolls her eyes a little looks over everything I take for that. She says, we have to start looking for something physical, she can't treat the thyroid, so I'm going to the doctor, no, it's normal, all labs are fine. OK, more pills for depression. Once I was over 6 but it went back to just over 5, so I'm good to go. It's in the labs range. 3 years later and still doing the pills. Then I wind up in the hospital with bad chest pains, do all the testing, doc says my TSH was a little high but didn't think that was it. I go home and have anouth much smaller event, but stay home. I go for the follow up, more labs, holter, then I get told I had some premature contractions, a couple of times it was speeding up.
The lab results were TSH level of 10.85. Great, after all this time. I see people on these sites talking about 1 and 2 I've never been close to that. Friends have joked with me and said I'm not normal, now I have to tell them they've been right all along.