Graves/tachycardia

[Krnhim]

I was diagnosed with Graves disease last year and it's taken 12 months to finally get my thyroid levels right on medication (Carbimazole).  I'm on a minimal dose of 2.5 mg.  However, starting about a month ago, I began experiencing the irregular heartbeat with some fluttering and racing (especially at night) that I had when I was first diagnosed.  I just came back from the doctor today and my thyroid levels are all in the normal range, so my doctor said that it can't possibly be caused by my thyroid.  But I never had this problem before I developed Graves, so I'm wondering if the levels are telling the whole story.  Should I look into having tests on my heart or just ignore it?

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

If the thyroid levels are normal, then this may be unrelated.  I assume you didn't stop a heart medication recently that you had been on when you were diagnosed w/ Graves as this seems to be a new problem - sometimes stopping betablockers will cause a return of tachycardia.  It's worthwhile checking the heart out to make sure there is now a separate issue from the Graves.

[GravesGirl]

HI! What dose did you start on? What are your labs now? Don't take normal for an answer, get a copy!  Did you take the dose everyday? Did you skip doses? Maybe you are heading hyper again but it hasn't showed on your labs yet, or you're in the high range of free T's and your body isn't comfortable with it, your freeT-3 may be too high, when mine was, I felt this too. Make sure you have another lab if this keeps up, unless you are just feeling the dose change down to 2.5 now, how long have you been on this dose again?