Prednisolone and Heart Flutters

[holty]

Hi I've been diagnosed with PMR for just over 1 month. Im currently taking 20mg pred per day but have started to get heart flutters/palpitations every day. I also have an under active thyroid so am not sure if it's this or the prednisolone causing the flutters. Does anyone else suffers from this since starting on steroids? Thanks

[Rose54]

Hi

Yes in the early days I did have palpitations but like you have underactive thyroid which is well controlled.

It was more noticeable when I wen to bed

It would not hurt to mention this to your GP especially if you are breathless with it .

[holty in reply to Rose54]

Luckily I'm not breathless. I'm seeing GP next week so will definitely mention it. Thanks

[SheffieldJane]

Yes I did at first and I also have Graves Disease. I was just given the usual heart checks, ECG etc. Nothing ever showed up. I did develop raised blood pressure and am now on Atenolol.

[HeronNS]

I had what felt to me like a "skippy" heart. No thyroid issues. In my case it turned out to be a salt deficiency, discovered by accident from a chance meeting while on holiday nearly two years ago. Other symptoms had included waking with a headache in the morning. When that resolved from actually consuming salt with my meals (hadn't for years) the skippy heartbeat also went away and has not returned.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I have had palpitations since early in the PMR symptoms - long before pred but it wasn't until I had another problem and was hospitalised that the atrial fibrillation causing them was identified and managed. That was the point at which I realised what it had been!

The autoimmune part of PMR can also damage the electrical cells in the heart and lead to arrythmias of various sorts. If you are diagnosed soon after PMR starts you may then think it is the pred which can cause tachycardia etc. It needs to be checked out properly - not jsut dismissed as "it's the pred".

You may find that taking magnesium supplements helps - low magnesium is one cause of tachycardia and arrythmia and we do tend to lsoe magnesium when taking pred.

[holty in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you I will be seeing the GP this week so hopefully will get it checked.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to holty]

If they offer you a heart monitor (a one-off ECG is usually useless) make sure an episode happened while you were being monotored!

[Blearyeyed]

Yes , it could be a bit of both , your in your first few months so you are making a good decision to tell the GP about it next week . Have your thyroid and general blood tests done to see if other causes are affecting it as well as the Steroids.

Drinking sips of cool water and sitting down and doing relaxing breathing as you sip, for 15 mins or so , will help reduce these palpitations when you get them no matter what health issue causes them .

[Hidden]

I too had palpitations and skipping beats when on higher doses of prednisone. It went away with metoprolol 50 mgs morning and night.

Once I get down lower which I am almost to 10 mgs then I will ask about cutting dose in half.

[nuigini]

I had some issues which disappeared as I reduced the prednisone. I did have them checked out though just in case.

[holty]

Thanks for all the advice. Have been checked out by GP this week. My thyroid levels were normal so it's not that causing the flutters. The doctor suspects it is the pred that's causing it but is sending me for an ecg to check.