Too much exercise?

[oldie]

after a heavy session aerobics and gym my BP was 183/99 pulse 92. Can this damage my heart? I'm 85, one stent 2010, I can do 5kms bike and gym  and  be sick -  nausea, anxiety belly ache, body malaise, pre syncope drop down fatigue
in the same day and cannot identify the cause. Medicines: Rhythmol 150, Coreg 6.5, aspirin, levothyroxine .75, Crestor 10 alternate days. But how about that 183/99? (in 15 mins it was down to 122/71  p77. Am I asking for trouble?

[achillea]

It looks as though no one has ever explained hypothyroidism to you.  It would be a good idea to google that term. After reading a few articles, you will understand that the TSH value does not wreck the thyroid; it is a number that tells you how well the thyroid is functioning, and yours was just plodding along in a very pokey way.  It was not making enough thyroid hormone to keep your metabolism working at the right speed.

While amiodarone can cause either hyper- or hypothyroidism, this occurs in only between 3% and 4% of the people who take it.  It is possible that you may have developed hypothryoidism independently, because it is pretty common in older folks, and is thought to be an autoimmune disorder.  What triggers the body's 'decision' to attack the thyroid is not really known, but the treatment for many long years now has been synthetic or natural thryroid hormone, the very thing the body is crying out for with that relatively high TSH.

Now, endocrinology is a specialty just as cardiology is.  Both are complicated subjects, and disorders of thyroid function are normally treated by thyroid specialists for the same reason that we normally go to cardiologists for heart treatment.

I strongly suggest that you make an appointment with an endocrinologist to talk about how your thyroid is functioning, why you are taking Levothyroxine, about its effects, and about the likelihood that amiodarone did or did not cause your thyroid to shut down.  Investigation of that last bit will tell you whether you can ever stop taking Levothyroxine or not.

[oldie]

thank you. I'm following your advice on interactions. Somehow my anser to you got into a separate  forum sddressed to Smartipants. It has been taken up by Ed34 who is expert. I take Levo because in 2007 a cardio put me on amiodarone and made no checks for 15 months. My TSH went up to 38. It was brought to normal by another cardio in three months. But the docs never say I can now quit. That TSH 38 wrecked my thyroid for ever???

[oldie]

i missed this somehow. Thank you. Curiously only yessterday i started an               alternate day regime to reduce dosage of propafenone and Coreg. I still get good hours every day but almost every day I have to leave the family and table at meals and hide. I have to hold on not to fade out. It's stressing them out. It's stil the same with the cardios. They have nothing to say about these syptoms once I have told them I have no chest pain. Four years getting nowhere and not one full night's sleep without hot sweats

[achillea]

You might have to wear a monitor for more than 24 hours to catch erratic phenomena.

However, your doc seems to be actively treating you for some kind of diagnosed arrhythmia, since you are taking Rhythmol and Coreg as well.  

Rhythmol is pretty serious and is capable of causing not only the symptoms you describe, but also new and different arrhythmias from what you started with.  It can cause Q-T prolongation.

In addition, if you look around on the internet at PubMed articles, there is some some serious advice *against* prescribing both Rhythmol and Coreg at the same time.  They can interact and have an additive effect.

I would suggest you google something like "Propafenone Carvedilol Interaction" and then have a heart-to-heart talk (so to speak) with your doc about exactly why you are taking these two drugs?

Finally, I have to wonder why you have been prescribed Levothyroxine.  This drug, although necessary in those whose thyroids are actually pooping out, can also affect heart rhythm.  

In sum, you are taking at least three drugs that can affect your heart rhythm. This really needs to be discussed, for--given the info you have provided--it seems kind of redundant and maybe risky in a person over 65.

[oldie]

Thank you. I forgot to say I had a 24hr Holter two months ago which showed paroxysmal supravetricular taquicardia . But I can't believe it totally because I never feel the supposed 100 to 150 pulse rate and it never shows on my BP measure machine. I'm foxed

[achillea]

"in 15 mins it was down to 122/71  p77"

Ye gods, you are amazing, is what!  

However, if you want to check your recovery rate, take your pulse and BP immediately after exercise and then again *two minutes* later.  In general, the faster your heart rate drops back to normal, the fitter you are.  There are charts that help you assess how fit the ticker is relative to your age.  Just google something like "heart rate recovery."

But it sounds to me as though you're doing really well, since your heart rate gets back to normal before even 30 minutes has passed.  Wow.

The occasional mystifying fatigue you experience, though, might be due to an intermittent heartbeat or BP abnormality, for you are describing some of the symptoms of a sharp drop in BP.  You might want to ask your doc for maybe a Holter monitor to wear long enough to see if you are having any funny rhythms.

For example, as time has gone by, I have developed a tendency towards bigeminy, and if this occurs while I am exercising hard, I sometimes feel a pukey sensation like yours, and I simply have to lower the intensity of what I am doing.  My cardiologist has gone over my Holter results in this situation, and reassures me that the irregularity, although a nuisance, is benign.