scary heart pounding

Hi everyone,
For the past week or two my heart has felt like it's pounding all the time. It gets a little better when I walk or exert myself, and it's most noticeable when I'm lying down. It's getting really scary. The thing is, I feel totally fine otherwise - like my lyme is gone. I'm concerned that it's back and just affecting my heart, or that my heart has been damaged. Or it could be something to do with a nerve or tendon (I do have tendonitis in my left shoulder) and my heart could be totally fine. I don't know if I should see my GP, who doesn't really trust my lyme diagnosis, or a lyme doctor, who would definitely treat it as if it's lyme...I have an appointment with a new GP who's supposed to be really good, but that's not til March 18th.
I'm thinking of self-medicating with the doxycycline I have leftover to see if that helps. I haven't been on antibiotics for several months now, and in the past they've always helped my heart palpitations. If that works, I'll know I need to go back to the lyme doc.
Any thoughts??? I keep thinking I'm having a heart attack, but my boyfriend tells me I'm fine. And I'm not really having the symptoms of a heart attack, but it's still very scary.

Hi alfers.  I am sorry you are having this, I know it is scary.  Heart palps can also be thyroid related.  If you are also experiencing intolerance to heat, greater hunger than usual, weight loss, insomnia, and/or sweating you may be on too much thyroid medication. 

Believe it or not, some people experience palpitations with hypothyroidism.  I was one of them.  Mine was worse when laying down to go to sleep.  I did not have any of the hyperthyroid symptoms, so I knew it was not that.  This has gotten better for me with more thyroid medication.

Below is a list of hypothryoid symptoms from http://www.drlowe.com/geninfo/hyposymptoms.htm  I am using this list because it includes the heart related symptoms (which I bolded).

68 Most Commonly Reported Symptoms of Hypothyroidism
o Fatigue	o Swelling of eyelids	o Emotional instability
o Lethargy	o Dry skin	o Choking sensation
o Low endurance	o Dry mucous membranes	o Fineness of hair
o Slow speech	o Constipation	o Hair loss
o Slow thinking	o Weight gain unexplainably	o Blueness of skin
o Poor memory	o Paleness of lips	o Dry, thick, scaling skin
o Poor concentration	o Shortness of breath	o Dry, coarse, brittle hair
o Depression	o Swelling	o Paleness of skin
o Nervousness	o Hoarseness	o Puffy skin
o Anxiety	o Loss of appetite	o Puffy face or eyelids
o Worrying	o Prolonged menstrual bleeding	o Swelling of ankles
o Easy emotional upset	o Heavy menstrual bleeding	o Coarse skin
o Obsessive thinking	o Painful menstruation	o Brittle or thin nails
o Low motivation	o Low sex drive	o Dry ridges down nails
o Dizziness	o Impotence	o Difficulty in swallowing
o Sensation of cold	o Hearing loss	o Weakness
o Cold skin	o Rapid heart rate	o Vague body aches & pains
o Decreased sweating	o Pounding heart beat	o Muscle pain
o Heat intolerance	o Slow pulse rate	o Joint pain
o Non-restful sleep	o Pain at front of chest	o Numbness or tingling
o Insomnia	o Poor vision	o Protrusion of one or both eyeballs
o Thick tongue	o Weight loss	o Sparse eyebrows
o Swelling of face	o Wasting of tongue

As I have said before, it is my understanding that saliva testing is more reliable than blood testing.  The lab my doctor used for this is ZRT http://www.zrtlab.com/  To find a knowledgeable hormone doctor, I recommend calling a compounding pharmacist in your area.  Many hormone meds are made through these pharmacies so the pharmacists know who prescribe them.

I hope you can find out soon what is causing this. 

Hi All,

I have a question for Frango & Ticker,

My TSH was 0.938 the "normal reference" was 0.350 - 5.50.  All the doctors that have seen the results have said normal.  Do you think I should have it retested when I see my new doctor next month?  Would you say this is a normal reading?

Thanks, KO

Hi Frango,

The other tests are closer to middle of the normal range.  I had to reschedule my yearly gyne visit until the beginning of April.  I am just menopausal as of Feb.  What test would you recommend I ask to have run?  I was also experiencing sore soles in the AM.  I tested neg for Bartonella thru Igenex.  Do you think hormones were to blame for your sore soles, or do you think you have a Bartonella issue?

Thanks, KO

Hi KO-LD.  Many doctors use the outdated TSH range that goes to 5.5.  I believe the high end of the new range is 2.5.  Normal results may not be optimal for you.  Too many doctors rely solely on the TSH result.  It is important to monitor the Free T3 and Free T4 levels.  There are also T3 and T4, but from what I understand the Free Ts are more accurate. 

If you have thyroid antibodies present, this indicates Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is an auto-immune thyroid disorder.  People who have this can have normal results but treatment is warranted.  This happened to me.  For years I knew I had a thyroid problem.  Doctors repeatedly ran the TSH, T3, and T4.  I was told the results were normal and nothing was wrong.  Meanwhile, my thyroid symptoms kept getting worse.  Finally, my Lyme doctor tested the antibodies.  The normal range for one of these tests is 0-34, and mine was over 1000!

There are T4 only meds such as Synthroid and there are T3/T4 meds such as Armour.  Armour is natural and used to be the only one prescribed until the synthetics were created.  Then many doctors wanted to prescribe only those.  I started off on Synthroid, but I wanted to switch to Armour.  It took some time to find a doctor willing, but I did and it works much better for me.  Some people do better on T4 meds, some do better on T3/T4 combo meds.

During treatment, some people's TSH becomes suppressed.  This happened to me even when my Free T levels needed improvement.  Many doctors will then decrease the meds solely on what the TSH result is.  Many people who have hypothroidism feel the best when the Free T levels are in the upper 1/3 of the range.  This is what I am trying to achieve.  It took a long time, but I have finally found a doctor (not an endo) who is working with me and it is helping.  In my experience, endos are the worst to see for this.  For me it would be like seeing an infectious disease doctor for Lyme.  This is just my experience.  I am sure there are endos who don't rely soley on TSH results, but I have never see one.

I recommend learning as much as you can about this so you can get the best treatment if needed.

Thanks Ticker, Thyroid issues have always confused me.

KO

Hi Ticker,

I just went through all my old bloodwork, I did have a Thyroid Antibodies and a Antithyroglobulin Ab test done about 1 1/2 years ago.

Thyroid Antibodies result was <10 0 - 34 was the normal range
Antithyroglobulin Ab <20 0 - 40
T4 Free 1.39 0.61 - 1.7
Reverse T3 259 90 - 350
T4 8.0 4.5 - 12

Thanks, Frango, & Ticker!

Hi ,

I live approx 1 hour from Manhatten, do you know of a doctor that would do hormone testing, I think that is my next stop or what should I ask my endo or Ob to do?

I just wanted to tell you all that I finally took Ticker's advice and called a compounding pharmacy near me. They gave me names of several doctors in the area, and I made an appointment at one for two weeks from now (actually about an hour from me, but still kind of in the area). I really hope this doctor can figure out the heart pounding thing!

alfers, I am so glad you will be having this testing done!  I hope the doctor is knowledgeable.  Make sure you let us know how it goes.

 

My md was able to check my hormones in a simple blood test. Not a big deal.