alternative to beta blockers: i have 1/2 a... - Thyroid UK

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alternative to beta blockers

mandy72 profile image
23 Replies

i have 1/2 a atenolol left

drs wont give me any more until ive been seen and had blood pressure checked

earliest i can get seen is next monday by a dr i hate with a passion

is there anything i can take that will work as a beta blocker?

i dont take them often but the last few days i have needed them

i got the script in october last year

i used to take hawthorn berries but stopped for some reason and cant remember why

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mandy72
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shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator

I have found two things helped when I had palps. First I relaxed and sipped ice-cold water breathing calmly and if severe also put an ice-cold pad on my carotid artery wrapped in a cloth if it was too cold .

At other times I sat down and relaxed as much as possible. I also took a deep breath and held it whilst pressing chest towards stomach.

digherbs.com/heart-palpitat...

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

thank you shaws

im trying mag taurate at the moment but not been too bad today

but cold water did help last night i dont normally like really cod drinks but was so thirsty and it did ease it for a bit

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

It is scary when you're heart takes off and sometimes it does catch you unawares. Thankfully I don't have that problem now - cross fingers :)

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

its horrible

i went for yarrow capsules 325mg

hopefully they help

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

I may have asked this in the past:-

Have you tried taking an anti-histamine before your thyroid hormones (1 hour before) just in case you have a sensitivity to something in the product?

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

i think you have said about it before, i got some and forgot about taking them, ill deffinatly give it a go

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

To find out if it is the thyroid hormone you're taking - take anti-histamine 1 hour before the hormones.

If you do not get palps it could be something in the fillers/binders in that particular tablet which is affecting you.

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

ill try tomorrow

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

what are the chances of it being an allergy?

i seem to do ok for a few months and then this all starts

is it down the build up in my sytem?

dr and endo will love me

T4, T3 and 3 types of NDT (all make me like this)

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

It is just a chance - theoretically we cannot be sensitive to thyroid hormones as they are 'orthomolecular' and wouldn't irritate us. With fillers/binders who knows what they consist of. For instance I was fine on MP T3 for months - began to get weird symptoms (for me) and couldn't figure it out until someone posted about a certain batch and I had the same batch number as did some others who were having problems. It was investigated and the result was (cannot remember the correct phrase) the T3 was of 'a proper consistency '. I took that to mean the T3 was fine but it didn't/couldn't inform us of the fillers/binders. Anyway, I've had no untoward symptoms since I switched so there had to be something wrong with MP T3 at that time.

Now, when you begin to feel bad, do you increase the dose slightly? just in case your body needs more than your prescription? Just a thought...

There's no build up with T3. T4 is long-lasting but has to convert to T3 - if it doesn't convert sufficiently maybe there's a surplus T4 in your body (I am only surmising as I'm not medically qualified)

NDT - again maybe your body doesn't like T4 in it. I tried about 3 NDTs myself.

I know you've had an awful time and I do hope you find a solution soon.

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

my dr will tell me its in my head because im the surgery's hypochondriac

i have felt he need for an increase for a while but when i got bloods back

(private through medicheck)

TSH 5.60 miUL/l .....0.24.2

free thyroxine 4.3 pmol/l.......12.0-22.0

FT3 5.8 pmol/l.......3.1-6.8

i tried a small increase and stuck a it a while and thats when the problems started pulse went from the 50's to 80's bad anxiety and mood swings (this happened when i was on NDT last year i increased 1/4 grain and my heart went crazy so i cut the dose down and it didnt help, even 1/4 grain and my heart would be pounding (think that was the time i landed up in A/E thinking i was dying pulse 150 + )

yesterday i was too scared to take any T3, today ive had bad panic attacks thinking of taking 5mcg

i know i should be taking something but really struggling with panic atacks

ive been on T3 only for ages now

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

I'm sorry you are having such a struggle. Whose T3 are you taking?

I've often visited the A&E when on levo with 130+ but thankfully it wasn't accompanied with panic attacks as that's much worse. I don't think they can tell what comes first - fast heart rate or panic.

On your blood tests above your FT3 is good.

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

i was on tiromel but now i might try NHS T3 and see if i react any differantly

another thing to worry about now is blood pressure differant in both arms

feels like im slowly dying

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

It's ridiculous you have to try to fathom this out on your own Mandy.

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

im ging to try and get in the drs tomorrow, if i dont ill dwell on it all weekend

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

That's what they're supposed to be trained for but unfortunately all they seem to know is the whereabouts of the TSH.

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

just called drs they wanted me to go across town to another surgery, told them i couldnt and suddenly they had a cancellation for 3.10 this afternoon

allso tried the antihitamine and took 5mcg liothyronine, hopefully ill be ok and be able to take another small dose later

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

You must get stressed out as well trying to see a doctor and I hope whoever you see will be helpful. Also I hope the anti-h will show whether or not you have a sensitivity to the one you have been taking. There are T3's they can prescribe on a 'named patient' basis.

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

i may have to wait to see endo for a new script

the dr im seeing is the one who diagnosed me and told me there was nothing in levo to make me ill because she takes 175mcg and has never been ill, normally everything gets blamed on anxiety

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

She's very fortunate indeed to take 175mcg and is well. If only you could switch places with her and you were fine on levo and she was ill on it. She'd soon change her mind.

You can tell her that there are around 40,000 on the NHS Choices Thyroiduk for info about the thyroid gland and most are saying they are very unwell on levo.

mandy72 profile image
mandy72 in reply to shaws

wasted trip really

propranolol 10mg twice a day alonside buspirone

blood pressure was fine in both arms

i did see on screen my creatinine was 52 not sure on range but it was red

TSH apparently is 3.2 yet medicheck had it at 5.80

chest and lungs sound clear

i have an appointment with a nasty dr monday that ive kept for if im still not well

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to mandy72

You wonder 'why waste your time and hers'.If they cannot be bothered to know the ins and outs and the purpose of thyroid hormone replacements. They need a crash course.

Even at 3.2 your TSH is too high. We cannot explain to them how very unwell we feel when the hormones aren't doing their job.

Another nasty doctor on Monday! You'll be more of a nervous wreck probably. Ask him for a small increase in levo to bring your TSH to around 1. :) As you and I know TSH isn't always the best pointer to how the patient feels.

Do you have palpitations all the time?

Do you allow sufficient time between T3 and betablocker?

Dr Toft in an article in Pulse Online says (I know it refers to levo but it should also be any thyroid hormone replacements I believe::

"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range – 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l. Most patients will feel well in that circumstance.

But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This ‘exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism’ is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator in reply to shaws

I've just copied this from another post:

Naomi8

When I saw the heart consultant after being kept in overnight after going to A&E(Taking T3 3x5mcgs for 3 days triggered palpitations which wouldn't stop)After all the tests confirmed supraventricular tachycardia,not the dreaded atrial fibrillation,he told me beta-blockers were not of any use for my diagnosis.He knew his stuff!I didn't tell anyone I had just started on T3.Re started T3 after the all-clear & a few weeks later.Now my attacks of S.T are far less frequent than on thyroxine and resolve quickly(usually indigestion)The consultant advised ablation for a congenital heart defect causing an electrical issue.Hmm...

Ectopic beats very rare now.Very frequent with T4.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

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