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Heart Palpitations with hypo previous thread HELP!

I posted a few days ago regarding the high tsh 18 and low range ft3 and ft4. Just before starting the synthroid I was beginning to experience sporadic heart palpitations again. I started on low dose of .25 mcg at 12 midnight (lowest dose possible and was pretty palp free all day with the exception of a few at night, then I woke up at 12 to take my meds and noticed I was having quite a few palps in the middle of the night which coincided with the time I took the meds the night before. I took the synthroid and within an hour they slowed to a stop. I am wondering if perhaps this is not enough and I am running out of thyroxine early or if I just need to build more in my system. I was thinking that if I add another half tablet in the evening I may avoid the heart palpitations in the middle of the night syndrome. They scare the daylight out of me!
I originally took armor for about 5 years and begin to have heart palps in April. I was coming back with low end tsh levels back then 10 and 5 but the more armor I added the more severe my anxiety and panic attacks. I tried to switch to synthroid in April but I think I was overlapping meds with armor and anxiety was too hard to handle, I was having way too many panic attacks and thought that I was becoming hyper. I then decided to discontinue all meds and to retest in three weeks to find out where I was. Unfortunately I found out I was running a TSH of 18 on Monday. I really don't want palps. Is it advisable to try to increase my synthroid to get more thyroxine or just be patient with the lowest dose possibe. I have to add that my palps are not generally with a fast heart rate but rather with a very slow rate 60 bpm or lower. Please advice somebody!
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213044 tn?1236527460
Cortisol saliva tests are NOT looked on favorably by most doctors, and that can be a problem.

You have three choices there. Have your doctor run a cortisol stimulation test, which will detect major adrenal problems, or find a holistic doctor and take your chances that he is not a quack. Or buy a test kit and go down the bumpy road of treating yourself.

A half grain of Armour is about 50mcg of Synthroid. Maybe you need to up your meds. I don't know. I read a lot of posts by people who have to ramp up slowly to the proper dose. I've always just been thrown on a full dose or pulled off a full dose or thrown back on a full dose. For me it doesn't seem to be a problem.

I say that, sitting here at ten in the morning with a robe on resting from my shower and waiting to get dressed as I have chest discomfort and palpitations.

So I don't know how much stock you should put in my advice or opinions.

This is what I would do to transition from taking your pill at night to taking it in the morning. Take it about 9PM instead of midnight, and then take it again the next morning. Then stick to mornings.

That's what I would do. If anyone has a better suggestion, listen to them. I am certainly no expert.
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Avatar universal
In relationship to the first question I was taking .5 grain Armor and as I indicated I was fine for 5 years. Toward the end I did try to break my dosage into two but it appeared to me that all I was doing was spreading around the palpitations because before splitting I just had the palpitations in the morning.
I thought that cortisone saliva tests were not recognized by most doctors. Where would I go to get one and what do I do If I need treatment for low adrenal?
Question 2.
This one is my fault. I was having difficulty sleeping because I was worried that I was so hypoT that I took my first med at midnight. I just happened to get up. Your right though. Now I have a problem. If I had palps last night at about 12 midnight, which by the way were gone within an hour of taking my synthroid, how do I avoid taking it again at 12 midnight tonight if I wake up with another episode of palps? On the other hand how am I going to sleep if I have to medicate at 12 midnight now?
I did have a cardio stress test two weeks at the time this started everything was okay. I just had a holter and echocardiagram on Tuesday but this was before I start taking the synthroid again and I had a few episodes but nothing major.
I do take magnesium iotonic natural calm and supplement and use just enough to avoid the trots. My cardio doctor said that as long as I stay under the daily recommended values I wont overdose or need testing. If I try to get closer to the recommended daily values I get diarrhea.  Never heard of a b12 connection. I'll go buy some sublingual today.
Thanks for the info on the Synthroid. It would appear that all I have to do is figure out how to delay my synthroid supplement to early morning to help avoid heart palpitations at 12. Any recommendations?  
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213044 tn?1236527460
You are going to have palpitations until your hormones are stable. It is one of the symptoms that hangs on the longest, it seems.

Try taking your Synthroid first thing in the morning.

25mcg is almost nothing, theraputically. What dose of Armour were you on a few months before you switched? What dose was working fairly well? Maybe you need a lot more Synthroid to get you balanced.

Synthroid takes six weeks to come up to full strength in your body, although you will notice effects of taking it after only a few days or a week.

Stella is right about the adrenal issue. If your adrenals need support, it can make it difficult to take thyroid meds. You can get amplified negative reactions, and that might be what is going on.

If you're taking Synthroid, you can get by with just a TSH or a TSH and a Free T4 as far as tests while you are trying to find the right dosage. When you get closer to a TSH of 1.0 or 2.0, then looking at your Free T3 also will help.

Taking magnesium may be a good idea, but I would get tested for a deficiency first. It is  heavy metal, and you need it, but you don't need to have too much of it floating around. You may be geting plenty already if you take a multi-vitamin.

You could check for deficiencies in Selenium, Vitamin D, and iron while you're at it.  
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393685 tn?1425812522
Always great to speak to anothe person in education. I am a 12 month school secretary at a school and I wish you a well deserved summer break.

OK a couple of things.

HypoT will cause panic and anxiety . These conditions can bring on the heart palps whether hypo or hyper. So the panic may be an issue to your palps and not meds.

Another senerio - with not being consistant with your meds to determine a proper TSH level with you the longer your hypoT sticks around the more out of balance your body becomes and other hormone glands also are effected which takes away from your thyroid meds working. My thought here could be adrenal fatigue. To start get a cortisol check to see if you are on the low end in the morning - that may be why Armour cause you so many problems. You may have slight adrennal issues with your symptoms so I suggest a 24 hr cortisol saliva test. PUSH for that.

Armour is meant to be taken throughout the day. Splitting dosages to spread out the free T3 as our bodies would do normally.

Another thought - why at midnight do you take your meds? This is not good to have to wake your self up and distribute medication. First - Synthroid is a T4 med only and popping a pill at midnight won't take those heart palps away - right away. If you choose to continue to be on Synthroid you need to change around your times. A morning dosages each day- this way your body will have the daytime to convert the T4 meds into the T3 and diminish towards the evening so you can sleep better. Once the routine of taking the T4 meds is in place ( which may take a week to regulate) you may find things better on the heart palp and anxiety problems.

You also may be defiecent in Vit B12 and magnesium. these are supplemets that hypoT patients spill out and do not absorb in the body without supplementing. You may want to get on a magnesium 250mg at night before bed- takes about two weeks - but once that starts absorbing - the palps and anxiety also slows.

Lastly - you need regular thyroid testing right now to track your levels and symptoms. I suggest getting tested every four weeks right now until you are at a TSH for you - NOT just a number. DO NOT test T's for thyroid. ONLY FREE T'3 and FREE T4's are of value to us.

I would however ask to have your doctor to get a stress test done on your cardio system. Just to be sure nothing else is going on. It is well known if a patient is NOT in a euthryoid state and jumps around for a long time between hyper and hypo - it will effect heart function.

Alot to look at here - but I believe one of these situations I listed above may solve some issues for you. You just have to figure out with your doctor which one.
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Avatar universal
Sorry, I forgot to add something. It is now 3:00 oclock and although the palps are gone I have insomnia. Ive read somewhere that Klonopin reduces your serum levels of T3 and T4 so although I would love to take a tranquilizer to help me through this time I'm afraid of the worsening of my thyroid condition. Fortuntaley I'm a teacher and out of session in the summer. I'll try to catch up on my sleep tomorrow.

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