Heart Palpitations

[Sc00ter1808]

Hello Doc, I have a question and was wondering how serious heart palpitations are regarding to low TSH due to too much synthroid?  Right now I am deployed to Iraq and before I left I told my Doc that I was experienceing the same symptoms that I was having before he lowered my dose the first time over a year ago wich was 187mcg.  He didnt want to drop me and to only take a 1/2 a pill on Sundays. Well I forgot my meds before I deployed and had to drop my dosage from .137 to .125 wich was the only one they had close to my original dose which was a big relief.   Now I am getting the palpitations back and a lot more frequent and where I am located we dont have the means to check my TSH to see what it is now.  I am getting a little concerned about it.  Do most docs get overly concerned about this?  I do work in the medical field in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman and I do have a General medical doctor I work with over here and I want to let him know what he needs to do since he is not specialized.  I had a TT PapCan Jan 07.   I was also wondering could the heat be causing this as well?    The heat has been around 110-115 over here and granted I am in air conditioning most of the time I do have to walk from place to place and I do exercise mostly at dusk since its cooler then.  I have heard that heat could be a cause of this.  I do know that I have experienced a fast heart rate when I am trying to rest or when I wake up I notice it.  My last lab completed on Feb 08 my TSH was 0.02.

Again, since I do not have a endo doc here and have to rely on my general medical officer, what would you think I should do at this point.  I am not returning back state side until the end of Oct.

I really appreciate your time in this matter.

Scott

[ChitChatNine]

ScOOter and I had our surgeries within days of ea. other and both had Pap Ca ... I am so glad you got onto the forum ScOOter and WELCOME BACK to the Thyroid Communities!!!!

Cheryl  (partial thyroidectomy 1/07)

[hypogirl80]

After many years of Synthroid, blood tests, many other tests, several endos, etc. now I am pretty much take care my thyroid problem myself. after all these years, my body knows how much I need to increase or decrease the meds. doctors or blood tests can tell you if you are in the normal range or not, but your body has the final say. everyone is different, I have to be at very low TSH and high T3 and T4 to feel healthy, all my numbers are outside of normal range. but that is me. If I follow the doctors advise and try to get my blood test result into the normal range, I'll have all kinds of problems.  Currently, my health is excellent even my blood tests are not normal (10% outside of the normal range, does not off too much) . All I am trying to tell you is try to increase or decrease the supplements yourself by a small amount each week until you (your body) feel fine. I do + or - 25 mcg per week, I am sure you will find the correct amount.  and use blood test as a reference only, LISTEN  to your body...  

[Sc00ter1808]

Thanks for the reply Doc.  My thyroglobulin is at 0.02. and initially my endo provider told me he wants me to be at 0.1 to 0.5.  I am not sure why he didnt decrease my meds before I left because of the problems of not having  a lab to check in case problems like this arise.  He told me to cut a tablet in half but told him the conditions where I am at are not clean enough to do this due to all the sand and dust we have here.  Especially we have been having a lot of sand storms here.

However,  I will see if I can get to the closest hospital we have that has the ability to do a TSH to see where I am at and then go from there.  If I can and my TSH is still that Low what would you recommend I tell my GMO that I work for to do?  Decrease 1 tab until I get back stateside and get back with my Endo provider or decrease another dose?
Thanks again!
Scott

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Low TSH can cause palpitations -- this may be further aggravated by heat/?stress.  But certainly a TSH of 0.02 can stimulate the heart.  With the papillary cancer, the TSH should be kept low, but how low depends on the severity of the cancer.  0.02 may be too low -- would usually keep most papCA patients who are >1yr post initial rx at 0.2-0.5, unless there is evidence of persistence (ie, high thyroglobulin).  So with that in mind, decreasing the dose by 1/2 to 1 tablet per week may be reasonable and is unlikely to cause a cancer problem and may help with the palpitations.

[Sc00ter1808]

I forgot to mention I am 39 years old, 6 foot and 189lbs.  If this help you.
Thank you again for your assistance.

Scott