# Heart palpitations... stupid question?



## nycgp (Apr 14, 2010)

I've been on dessicated thyroid for a month. First two weeks 15mg then two weeks 30mg.

Had blood tests last week - all is well - but symptoms still remained so my doctor upped the dose to 45mg which I am supposed to start today.

Last night, I started to really notice my heart beating really fast and strong.
I also realized that the very mild nausea I had been feeling for a few days was really heart palpitations.

I called and emailed my MD this morning but - of course - not only is it Saturday, but she is away for 10 days.

I can assume I should not increase to 45mg.

Should I stop taking it completely?
I think the MD had told me that if I ever feel palpitations to call her... but now that I can't reach her, not sure what course to take.

Is there a risk from stopping cold turkey?

I'm pretty sure I'll just stop the thyroid med entirely and not risk anything but wanted to hear from others.

Also - if this means that the natural dessicated thyroid is not an option for me, will Synthroid be off the table as well?

Anyone have experience going from dessicated to Synthroid?

Thanks...


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nycgp said:


> I've been on dessicated thyroid for a month. First two weeks 15mg then two weeks 30mg.
> 
> Had blood tests last week - all is well - but symptoms still remained so my doctor upped the dose to 45mg which I am supposed to start today.
> 
> ...


This is opinion only based on experience. Titration is going to fast. One should stay on 15 mgs. for 8 weeks, lab and then go to 30 mg. for 8 weeks, lab and got 45 for 8 weeks "provided" the labs show proper movement and that patient is not approaching hyperthyroid state.

Once again, advice is not professional but if I were you, I would back down to the 30 mgs., stay there as suggested above and then recon. And by all means call your doctor when she/he gets back. You could skip one day of meds but it is not a good idea to quit w/o the doctor telling you to do that.

We have to be careful what kind of advice we give here as none of are doctors so you have to weigh things out and do what you think is best for you!

Meanwhile, are you taking any other meds or have you eaten a lot of seafood? Anything like that? Taking iodine?


----------



## GD Women (Mar 5, 2007)

From my understanding,
Armour can cause hyper symptoms if the med dose is taken all at one time. Some people taking one dose notice some transient hyper symptoms within an hour. Dividing the dose and taking it 2-3 times daily can help with this.

Armour is harder to regulate in some and contains a much higher T3/T4 ratio than most humans need. T3/T4 ratio of armour (pig) favors T3 much more than the normal human thyroid ratio. Therefore some doctors often prescribe it at a lower low dose together with a bit of synthetic T4. There is no current evidence of any advantages of taking natural thyroid extract over synthetic thyroxine.

Armour works much faster than thyroxine and has a shorter half life/shelf life, therefore Labs should be done every 4 weeks until levels are stable, then its 6 to 8 weeks.

*"Synthroid be off the table as well?"*
Not really and if so there are other brands of thyroxine T4 medications. I am very susceptible to medications, so I take Levoxyl because it has the least ingredients and the least evasive to me.

If you haven't already, talk to your doctor about this for s/he should have a solution for you.

Hang in there:hugs:


----------



## nycgp (Apr 14, 2010)

Thanks for the responses.

No - not taking any other meds, no iodine and no seafood.

I never went up to the 45mg dose.
I was taking 30mg when the palpitations began so my choices are to go down to 15mg or take nothing at all.

(I was specifically told by my doctor to take the full dose at the same time and not split them during the day)

I haven't taken anything yet today (3pm now) and still feel the heart palpitations.
Of course I'm concerned with stopping cold turkey but I'm equally concerned with taking any amount now at all.

The labs I did 6 days ago were all good - no hyper state.
And the palpitations seem to have started a few days ago - all while on 30mg.

Ahhhh. Medication fun!!!

I do appreciate your advice - regardless of whether you're doctors or not.

As I can't reach my MD for some time, in the meantime, I'd love to hear if others had palpitations and what their doc recommended.


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nycgp said:


> Thanks for the responses.
> 
> No - not taking any other meds, no iodine and no seafood.
> 
> ...


Do you know if you have low ferritin? That can cause problems when trying to titrate thyroxine.

This is a good article which could provide some insight re ferritin, adrenals and so on.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art33103.asp

And listen; follow your instincts. You know your body better than anybody so don't force it to do something you think may not be wise. None of are doctors here.


----------



## nycgp (Apr 14, 2010)

Thanks.
Great article.

I don't know about ferritin but I know my adrenals are out of whack.

Oddly, since I stopped taking amino acids that were recommended for that, I've felt BETTER!

Who knows?

And I hear you - I need to do what I think is right. And often the MDs don't even know what's going on. Medicine is not exact science. 
Unfortunately...


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nycgp said:


> Thanks.
> Great article.
> 
> I don't know about ferritin but I know my adrenals are out of whack.
> ...


Yes; that man writes good articles and they are insightful. Well..........there you go. If your adrenals are struggling, that could be causing complications w/ the titration process.

What amino acids were you taking?

Doctors need to learn to "listen"; we have owned our bodies since birth and we do "know" when something is wrong.


----------



## nycgp (Apr 14, 2010)

I was taking "Total Amino Solution" by Genesa.

http://genesaliving.com/products/total-amino-solution/

Started them about 2 months ago; stopped last week.
Felt better as soon as I stopped but I was also taking a HUGE amount of other supplements recommended by another MD so no idea about cause/effect.


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nycgp said:


> I was taking "Total Amino Solution" by Genesa.
> 
> http://genesaliving.com/products/total-amino-solution/
> 
> ...


Yeah...............yikes!! There is a lot of "stuff" in there that I am not sure about but I do know that L-carnitine is goiterogenic and is used to treat hyperthyoid and I know that Niacine can really give a person a zing. If I had the time, I would look all that stuff up for side-effects. But I don't.

I am suspicious of it though.

Listen........................those adrenals will respond very favorably to proper rest, proper diet (no junk food), increase your salt consumption a bit(provided you don't have high BP) and sea salt would be good, plenty of water and some walking.

Eat fruit, lots of fresh veggies, dried beans, lentils and a small amount of meat, fish or fowl.

And also do as your doctor says. Provided it makes sense!! Ha, ha!


----------



## nycgp (Apr 14, 2010)

Thanks. 
And I won't even mention how many pills of that stuff she was having me take.
It was a lot. A LOT.
So perhaps it was screwing me up!
Excellent!!!

Yes, I much prefer a more common sense approach. Proper diet and exercise SHOULD help. Especially since I've gone gluten-free... I hope...!


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nycgp said:


> Thanks.
> And I won't even mention how many pills of that stuff she was having me take.
> It was a lot. A LOT.
> So perhaps it was screwing me up!
> ...


Oh, it will..................stay on the course. Make up your mind you are going to claim your health back!!!

Good for you on the gluten-free!! Hubby and I have been for a long long time and me even way before him. He finally saw the handwriting on the wall.


----------



## nycgp (Apr 14, 2010)

Yeah - I had played around with gluten-free for a while and then finally got tested. Definite intolerance. So at least I can control what I eat...


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

nycgp said:


> Yeah - I had played around with gluten-free for a while and then finally got tested. Definite intolerance. So at least I can control what I eat...


How long have you been gluten-free?


----------



## nycgp (Apr 14, 2010)

Been gluten free for just over a month.

No real signs of improvement... yet?

Although definitely not as bloated as before. But its still there... Like a tire around my middle.

A few months ago, for about a week, I first played around with eating no gluten and I lost some weight and felt great immediately.

This time, with a proper intolerance diagnosis, being totally strict for over a month, no real change at all.

Discouraging!


----------

