Hypothyroid Disease, High Cortisol, Palpitations, and Angina- a pattern of longterm decline

[wantie002]

I've had Hashimotos Thyroid Disease since 2007. I was feeling good having got myself on a hormone regime which was making me feel energised and pretty free of symptoms. With this new found optimism I set about losing weight and getting fit. Over a year I lost 8 kg and was doing daily HIT and resistance training. I commented to friends that I felt fitter than I was at 20 (I am now 65). Then it all went horribly wrong. One morning I was debilitated with migraine, nausea, high blood pressure and chest pain. Thankfully I got a docs appointment for the same afternoon and at the surgery they did an ECG and as a result of that I ended up in A&E overnight. Many blood tests later and all night monitoring of my blood pressure I was let out with an appointment to see a cardiologist. The wait for the Cardiologist was a month so for the past month I have been languishing - trying not to think negative thoughts, trying to keep my blood pressure under control, doing only light exercise (taking the dog for a walk), no caffeine, no alcohol, no sugar, and staying hydrated. I've been given a spray for if I get chest pains and have been on a low dose of anti-platelet medication until my cardiologist appointment. However, I still feel palpitations in my chest almost all the time. I do a few minutes of deep breathing and try and stop thinking about it. I have spent a lot of time online, researching the consequences of my very high cortisol blood results which has led me down the 'adrenal fatigue' and 'hormonal imbalance' scenarios. Clearly high cortisol and stress plus high BP are all linked, and the Thyroid community are very well informed on these issues and pay a lot of attention to the very challenging science of endocrinology. But I've just realised, reading somebody else's post on here (the British Heart Foundation site) that a much closer fit would be angina and this would also show up on the ECG graphs which the doc obviously reacted to. I am getting a stress test on Tuesday. I am hoping that maybe medication like Beta Blockers could help me through this but I would love to know if there are people out there that live an active life with angina (and thyroid disease / or other autoimmune conditions). Also how bad do you have to be before they offer surgery like valve bypass or angioplastic surgery? And are these options with good long term outcomes? just looking for some reassurance .....

[GeorgeGlass]

are you getting eight, good quality hours of sleep per night? Bad sleep quality will make all your conditions get worse.

[anke123]

Hi, sorry to hear you are not feeling well. I have been on levothyroxine for at least 20 years now. In 2014 I had mild chest pain and breathless, got a diagnosis of angina and later on had an angiogram and then one stent. So yes you can live with both and get treated. I take quite a few tablets, do have a problem at times, but it gets investigated and treated. All the best, hope you get the treatment you need too.