Heart Arrythmias From Thyroid Med

[gertie]

Do any of you that take thyroid med have a problem keeping your heart regulated? I have Hashimoto's but I know those with hyper also have this problem. If I take the Armour dose that my doc prescribes my heart goes from feeling like it is going to burst, to the feeling it has stopped, then to irregular beats. It got so out of control last night I took 1/2 dose of Ativan to help me relax. I can't take enough Armour to treat my thyroid w/o messing up the rest of my body. Since I've already tried synthetic drugs the Armour is my last hope. I've tried splitting the dose & taking a.m. & p.m. but the pm dose sends me over the edge. I will have to go back to 1/2 dose as doc suggested but I know I will never have any energy at this dose. Thanks.

[futurehope]

Do any of you that take thyroid med have a problem keeping your heart regulated? I have Hashimoto's but I know those with hyper also have this problem. If I take the Armour dose that my doc prescribes my heart goes from feeling like it is going to burst, to the feeling it has stopped, then to irregular beats. It got so out of control last night I took 1/2 dose of Ativan to help me relax. I can't take enough Armour to treat my thyroid w/o messing up the rest of my body. Since I've already tried synthetic drugs the Armour is my last hope. I've tried splitting the dose & taking a.m. & p.m. but the pm dose sends me over the edge. I will have to go back to 1/2 dose as doc suggested but I know I will never have any energy at this dose. Thanks.

Oh my. I'm going through it myself right now with my increased synthroid. I feel more alert, awake, but I'm exhausted from my over 90 resting heartrate and I do NOT want to go back to feeling like a walking dead person like I was when I was hypo a few weeks back. Having POTS is definitely making this a challenge.

We're in this together. It stinks. I know. I'm right with you.

[Maxine]

I'm so sorry your both going though this. It really stinks that things the help one thing can cause problems with other health conditions.

I've got hashmotos, but found out by accident when a doc ran blood work because tyroid conditions run in my family.

Synthroid was prescribed at the lowest dose of .25 in 1995. I'm now on .75. I have not noticed any side affect, and when the dose was increased I didn't notice anything then either. This is very unusual for me, as I usually have a very difficult time with medication sensitivities. I do get irregualr heart beats that scare me a lot. when I get the smaller ones I'm usually not too bothered by it, but on occasion I get really bad spells when it starts out irregular like a missed beat, then a thump, thump, then it speeds up. I've had a cardaic loop recorder implanted, but of course this didn't happen the whole 2 1/2 years it was in. I had one spell I thought, but the recorder didn't catch it. I was so shaky when I pushed the button, and maybe it didn't work.

I hope this passes for you soon, so you can continue to regulate your thyroid levels.

Thyroid problems are more involved then I thought, and having an undected thyroid problem can cause many things to go wrong in your body.

I know I sound kind of basic today, but I'm really tired, and I don't know what to attribute this to, as I have so much going on at once.

My thyroid levesl are normal though---

Maxine :0)

[gertie]

Thanks for your replies. It is discouraging when you try to fix a problem only to creative something worse. The doc said I could try iodine but I've read that can also be a problem. Have you tried iodine? I've started using salt that contains iodine again hoping it will help some. For awhile I used only Real Salt.

[mcaimless]

Have you checked your adrenals? The most common reason people don't do well with thyroid replacement is adrenal fatigue, usually brought on by untreated or poorly treated hypothyroidism. Get a saliva test and make sure you are producing enough cortisol-- if you are low in cortisol you will not be able to get the thyroid hormone into the cells. This results in the hormones building up in the bloodstream and cause hyper-like symptoms you are experiencing (it's called "pooling").

I found the best price on saliva cortisol tests are through the Canary Club. I also highly recommend Stop the Thyroid Madness as a good guide and treatment protocol for both thyroid disease and adrenal fatigue.

http://www.canaryclub.org/home-test-kits/our-test-kits.html

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/hashimotos/

[futurehope]

Have you checked your adrenals? The most common reason people don't do well with thyroid replacement is adrenal fatigue, usually brought on by untreated or poorly treated hypothyroidism. Get a saliva test and make sure you are producing enough cortisol-- if you are low in cortisol you will not be able to get the thyroid hormone into the cells. This results in the hormones building up in the bloodstream and cause hyper-like symptoms you are experiencing (it's called "pooling").

I found the best price on saliva cortisol tests are through the Canary Club. I also highly recommend Stop the Thyroid Madness as a good guide and treatment protocol for both thyroid disease and adrenal fatigue.

http://www.canaryclub.org/home-test-kits/our-test-kits.html

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/hashimotos/

I don't understand...why do you have to join a club to get test kits? Isn't that unnecessary overhead?

Also, my doctor gave my saliva tests to do but this was before I realized I was hypothyroid. Therefore, I've held off doing them. The saliva tests I'm talking about are done through Quest.

[flop]

lots of labs do saliva cortisol tests. If you can get a full 24 hour cortisol profile done where you do 4 tests at different times of the day. I suspect that only some labs will do the tests without a doctors order for them.

flop

[EarthMother]

Hashimoto isn't hypothyroidism ... though it may at times present that way. It is autoimmune thyroid, where your own body is making antibodies to attack your own thyroid tissue. During an acute attack, (i.e. when your microsomal antibodies are high) you can experience periods of hyperthyroid. Taking only small doses of thyroid replacement won't stop the attcks because your body still tries to make its own hormone -- which it can do even in large quantity during a hasi flare.

My approach to hashi has been to take MORE hormone artificially to allow my body to stop production. When I am taking synthetic thyroid my own body doesn't recognize the compound in the same way it does my own natural thyroid and thus my body launches fewer antibody attacks. In theory at least.

If your Doc will test your antibody level as you feel an increase in symptoms, it may help you gauge the dose of med you need to shut off the over production. (Side note: lots of hashi people do great on armour, but for some it may be 'too close' to their own body's thyroid fingerprint and cause the antibodies to respond as they would to your own body's thyroid hormone.)

If your antibodies are high, you may need the double dose your endo recommends to stop your own thyroid from producing. Which means yes, for a while (weeks, I am afraid) you will have some thyroid toxicity as you have too much on board. But if you don't get your replacement high enough, you could be in a long battle with ha hashi flares until slowly your own gland is covered by scar tissue and can not produce on its own. This is the point where hashi becomes 'simple hypothyroidism'.

Good luck finding a balance that works for you.

[mcaimless]

I don't understand...why do you have to join a club to get test kits? Isn't that unnecessary overhead?

Canary Club is just another place to buy OTC adrenal tests. The tests are by ZRT (which is a good lab) but they offer the best pricing, better than buying from ZRT direct. No cost to join, just set up an account. Not all states allow OTC saliva tests without prescription but most will. The diurnal cortisol test is considered a good one for overall adrenal function.

Your endocrine system encompasses both the thryoid and the adrenals to maintain your metabolism. Cortisol from the adrenals is necessary to facilitate the active thyroid hormone, T3 to pass from the blood into the cells. If you are deficient in cortisol you will have hypothyroid sympoms even when you suppliment with thyroid hormones. Therefore it's recommended to treat any adrenal problems before starting thyroid hormone replacement.

Many do very well with natural thyroid hormone for Hashi's. And it's agreed that you need to get the replacement amount high to shut down the thyroid and help stave off the antibody attack. Stop the Thyroid Madness recommends that natural thyroid hormone be raised to the alleviation of symptoms, and that thyroid hormone level labs are largely useless for monitoring. Selenium is a good suppliment to take as it can lower antibody levels. There is also very good anecdotal evidence that the use of Low Dose Naltrexone is working for Hashi's by modulating and repairing the immune system dysfunction.

Natural thyroid hormones also replace trace hormones your body needs for good metabolic function, like T1, T2 and calcitonin, which is good for bone health. Synthetic hormones are only T3 or T4 and not considered a good long-term replacement for thyroid hormones by many. Long-term use of T4 only meds can cause adrenal fatigue and actually make people sicker in the long run.

This is, of course, the point of view by the natural thyroid homone proponants. The synthetic hormone proponants say that their way is best, and most mainstream endos refuse to even discuss natural thyroid with their patients. Unfortunately there aren't any good studies comparing the two in the long run. Natural thyroid is very cheap and there's no money in it for Big Pharma and the studies they have funded are very slanted and poorly done. And Big Pharma, in particular Abbott Labs, the makers of Synthroid, has pretty much hijacked the entire thyroid hormone market and funds all the major endocrinology societies, including the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE).

[njfainter42]

Do you take low dose naltrexone? I never heard of this...will ask my endo. I do take nature-thyroid as I had an allergic reaction to Armour (skin itch). Dr Weil likes Thyrolar better than Armour b/c no pig in it...armour derived from pigs he says on his website

I don't understand...why do you have to join a club to get test kits? Isn't that unnecessary overhead?

Canary Club is just another place to buy OTC adrenal tests. The tests are by ZRT (which is a good lab) but they offer the best pricing, better than buying from ZRT direct. No cost to join, just set up an account. Not all states allow OTC saliva tests without prescription but most will. The diurnal cortisol test is considered a good one for overall adrenal function.

Your endocrine system encompasses both the thryoid and the adrenals to maintain your metabolism. Cortisol from the adrenals is necessary to facilitate the active thyroid hormone, T3 to pass from the blood into the cells. If you are deficient in cortisol you will have hypothyroid sympoms even when you suppliment with thyroid hormones. Therefore it's recommended to treat any adrenal problems before starting thyroid hormone replacement.

Many do very well with natural thyroid hormone for Hashi's. And it's agreed that you need to get the replacement amount high to shut down the thyroid and help stave off the antibody attack. Stop the Thyroid Madness recommends that natural thyroid hormone be raised to the alleviation of symptoms, and that thyroid hormone level labs are largely useless for monitoring. Selenium is a good suppliment to take as it can lower antibody levels. There is also very good anecdotal evidence that the use of Low Dose Naltrexone is working for Hashi's by modulating and repairing the immune system dysfunction.

Natural thyroid hormones also replace trace hormones your body needs for good metabolic function, like T1, T2 and calcitonin, which is good for bone health. Synthetic hormones are only T3 or T4 and not considered a good long-term replacement for thyroid hormones by many. Long-term use of T4 only meds can cause adrenal fatigue and actually make people sicker in the long run.

This is, of course, the point of view by the natural thyroid homone proponants. The synthetic hormone proponants say that their way is best, and most mainstream endos refuse to even discuss natural thyroid with their patients. Unfortunately there aren't any good studies comparing the two in the long run. Natural thyroid is very cheap and there's no money in it for Big Pharma and the studies they have funded are very slanted and poorly done. And Big Pharma, in particular Abbott Labs, the makers of Synthroid, has pretty much hijacked the entire thyroid hormone market and funds all the major endocrinology societies, including the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE).

[mcaimless]

Do you take low dose naltrexone? I never heard of this...will ask my endo. I do take nature-thyroid as I had an allergic reaction to Armour (skin itch). Dr Weil likes Thyrolar better than Armour b/c no pig in it...armour derived from pigs he says on his website

I have done a 3 month trial of LDN (mostly for my fibromyalgia) and am now discontinuing, mainly to see if I worsen in any symptoms. The benefits, if any, have been very slight for me and it's hard to tell if these are normal variations in my usual symptoms. There is a recent Stanford study that showed good results for fibromyalgia patients and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that it works well for Hashi's (but if taken for Hashi's along with thyroid replacement, one must be careful as the thyroid can start functioning well again and there is a risk of over medicating, so the meds need to be backed off accordingly)

I have never tested postive for Hashi's antibodies but I am very low in T3 and T4, thus hypothyroid. I am currently taking Nature-throid desiccated porcine hormone replacement. Armour Thyroid has been the natural thyroid hormone of choice for many, many years but unfortunately Forest Labs, it's maker, has royally screwed up in many ways. First they made many dosage sizes unavailable for months and then they reformulated and the new product is not working. People who have taken Armour for years or even decades are now experiencing hypothyroid symptoms and their bloodwork shows much lower T3 and T4 levels. Forest is not owning up to any of this but all the natural thyroid advocates like Mary Shomon and Janie Bowthorpe are urging the switch to RLS Labs' Nature-throid or Westhroid (Nature-throid is hypo-allergenic, which Armour was not, so you might want to give it a try). I have no problem with a porcine derived product and with its processing and USP regulated purification, there is no possibility of swine flu.

Thyrolar is a synthetic, also made by Forest Labs that combines T4 and T3 and if one cannot tolerate natural thyroid it's a good alternative. It does not have all the natural trace hormones produced by our own thyroids like T1, T2 and calcinonin.

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/armour-vs-other-brands/

http://www.ldninfo.org/