Palpitations only at night

[chel 81]

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a fast heart rate/palpitations while being hypothyroid? The weird thing is that they come on for the most part only at night and wake me up between 2 and 4 am. Then when I take my Armour and cytomel in the morning my heart rate slows down for me to sleep a few hours. I've read that TSH is at it's peak at night- could that be what causes this? I'm wondering if the higher TSH is causing my body to produce too much thyroid at night thus the fast heart rate and when I take my meds my body senses it doesn't need to produce it's own and that's  why my heart rate goes down. It is really scary sometimes and I don't know if I should be looking at something else. I would think if I was overstimulated from my meds that I would have the symptoms all the time not just at night.
Anyone else just experience this at night?  

[chel 81]

I know that low VIT D can cause people to have low energy as a symptom of thyroid disease but I'm not sure what else it affects. It might be something to look into to see if it does make palps worse. I'm going to try adding it to my daily vitamin pack and see if it helps.
I've had a lot of leg pains over the last year myself since my thyroid went out. I'm not sure if it is just due to the huge weight gain I've experienced or not but fibromyalgia and hypothyroidism can cause muscle aches. At one point when I was extremely hypo my body was hard as a rock as if I was flexing my muscles but even in areas that were not muscle. If someone so much as lightly tapped my arm it felt as if they were punching me. When I got off the synthroid and switched back to Armour that subsided so I think it was just b/c of being extremely hypo. Maybe the quinine was aggrevating your heart. With palps it seems like there are so many triggers- caffeine, alcohol, sugar... maybe quinine has something that causes it too.
That's so interesting that you said the juice helps reduce your palps and anxiety too. I eat fruit every night a few hours before bed and drink plenty of water or drink some oj and it definitely keeps the palps from coming on or at least lessens them. I'm wondering if there is something to that?

[chel 81]

Peggy- hypothyroid runs in my family too. I have 2 grandparents, 2 aunts, and my sister that are all hypo. But each reacts differently to different meds. My grandfather does great on Synthroid and so does one of my aunts but the rest of us don't. Both my sister and I experienced horrible panic attacks while on it and my grandmother has never been able to regulate her thyroid since she was switched from Thyrolar to Synthroid quite a few years back. My husbands grandmother also had lots of problems after she switched from Armour to Synthroid. I think each person is just so different and the problem is that so many docs think everyone is the same but we're not. I guess the only way to find out though is to try it. Have you tried a lot of different meds? You said earlier you went hyper was that on the Synthroid or another med? I know some people have symptoms of being hyper when their dose is increased too quickly- I've definitely been there myself but when I back off and slowly raise I find I don't have the symptoms anymore. I'm still trying to get through w/out having these palps at night but I have had a few days w/out them since I started lowering the t4 and slowly raising my t3.
From my own experience and from what I have seen and heard from my family members who have gone through this hypothyoidism and depression/mood swings go hand in hand. That was one of the first things I noticed when I started feeling tired and everything. I've had to fire more docs than I can count because they want to diagnose hypothyroid patients as being depressed instead of treating their thyroid problem. So many patients are told nothing is wrong with them except they are just depressed and should go on antidepressants. From what I've read thyroid hormones reach almost every part of the body including the brain and when their isn't enough thyroid hormone it can make people depressed. Especially when you add that to the list of symptoms the typical hypothyroid patient has to go through (weight gain, hair loss, extreme fatigue etc etc etc) it's no wonder a person would be depressed!

[jmbirds]

palpations been there ...my cardio said i have an extra heart beat? my dad is missing a beat? herititary?  i was just dx with LOW vit D so was this causeing my palpations?  having alot of leg pain and muscle spasms like a RLS so i drank tonic water with quinine  at nite 4 oz  did this trip my heart with my goiter condition? i stopped caffeine after 5 pm stopped the tonic water   started to drink PROPEL  gatorade and LEMON water  real lemons and started drinking pomagranet juice 100 % natural  my anxiety is down palpatations gone for now  just a thought to share  jmbirds

[peggy64]

Chel, I have been doing the same thing with vitamins and herbs and am really not seeing any difference. I have been adding magnesium, and about 5-6 grams a day of vit. c. I read that that is good for the adrenal glands.

What I don't understand is I have 7 people in my family with thyroid disease, and they take their SYnthroid and have not had the issues that I have had.   Maybe synthroid is the way to go....You just don't know what to do.

Have you done any research on emotions and hypothyroidism? It is very interesting and very intriguing as well?

[chel 81]

I'm so glad I'm not in this alone but wish you didn't have to go through it too. I never had this before until I became extremely hypo and had to start a different med than before. I have been feeling a little better this last week and actually slept through the night for a week straight- I think my longest to date yeah!

I have the same thing MK whenever I have any caffeine. I had to give up my chocolate addiction almost a year ago- can't EVER have it and am on basically a no sugar and no salt diet (only sugar from fruit seems to not cause problems- actually can calm my heart). I've been on B Vitamins and Magnesium along with other Vitamins too but not seeing much difference in my heart palps but still take them since doc says it's good for the heart (I have a low voltage EKG).

I think you are both right in that it is through more the meds being adjusted because if I change mine by only very very small amounts I notice a big difference in how my heart reacts. My only problem is that if I go too low to get rid of the heart palps I end up with breathing problems so it always seems to be a balance of getting right in the middle which seems almost impossible at times.

Hope you both are able to get this resolved too. Thanks for your help:-)

[peggy64]

Thanks MK!

[MKlacza]

I too have experienced the palps.. before all this mess and occassionally now. They are subsiding.

I am sure that our palps are due to our thyroid mess with the adjusting to the meds, BUT people do get PVC's as they are called for no rhyme or reason too..

They heart hiccups as my cardio calls them. I had them terribly with both pregnancies in my first trimester. They have triggers as well.

When I drink caffeine they are there or when I eat a large meal or lay on my left side.  I just want to let you know that they can happen regardless of the meds, but I'm sure in this case the meds and adjusting could be the issue or like AR and Stella said maybe lack of mag or vitamin B...

Peg...with you, lack of rest, they can be worse. Go to the heart rhythm forum and you will talk to many ppl with this.. I do and it helps me!!

[peggy64]

Hi chel,
I just saw your post and I can relate. I have been having heart palps, anxiety, and it seems to occur mostly at night.

I went hyper recently, so now I am having to wait for all that to get out of my system. Being patient is not an easy thing to do. I have gotten so sick, that all I can do is lay around.

I have been doing research to see what causes this, and I have not come up with anything yet.

Hope you are doing better..........Peggy