Atenolol for tachycardia, hypothyroid

[richard123]

I saw endo today, he suggested that I start low dose 25mg of atenolol once heart rate stays lower increase thyroxine all be it very slowly..... I can see this is a long haul

Has anyone else tried it?

[shaws Administrator]

Richard I note you have tachycardia. I did too, and it was an awful experience.

I do not now have any palpitations at all, whereas before I had to call the ambulance quite a few times or work called ambulance due to palps. Night time was worse.

When I stopped levothyroxine (I am not saying this would work for everyone) and took T3 only, I haven't been to the cardiac department or had palpitations

The cardiologist was puzzled and at my last appointment he was considering putting an implant in heart (don't know the proper name) to see what was going on.

[richard123 in reply to shaws]

Thank you, I've done A&E 3 times!! It's awful but settles. I've been investigated by cardiologist and he is sending me to electrophysiologist as I apparently had a single episode of AF lasting 7 sec on a 2 week monitor. Endo said doubtful and try a beta blocker so that they can increase thyroxine! Feels like I'm going in circles picking up more medication along the way..........

Thank you

[shaws Administrator in reply to richard123]

It's just a guessing game as I doubt they have the answer. It's good you are having another test to try to see what causes it.

endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/...

[humanbean]

Beta blockers for tachycardia may well help in the short term because tachycardia is very unpleasant. But they don't actually fix your problem. In my personal experience they are also very difficult to come off of even when you've found the causes of the problem and they have to be weaned off slowly and carefully.

There are probably loads of things that can cause tachycardia. In my personal circumstances the things I needed to fix were low iron, low T3 and high cortisol. I still need beta blockers very occasionally, but I try to keep my use of them to an absolute minimum.

[richard123 in reply to humanbean]

May I ask if/how was your high cortisol treated? Thank you

[humanbean in reply to richard123]

I have treated my own high cortisol. My levels (from a 4-point saliva test) weren't high enough for a diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome or Cushing's Disease so I decided there was no point in disturbing my doctor.

There are various supplements that help people with high cortisol and it can take trial and error to find what works for the individual. I have tried Seriphos, ashwaghanda, DGL liquorice, rhodiola rosea, ginseng...

draxe.com/7-adaptogen-herbs...

I also optimised as many nutrients as I could afford to test which I think helped too. I achieved limited success with some supplements and had unpleasant side effects from others. The one that eventually worked for me was Holy Basil. I took it at a high dose for a few months, then lowered the dose to "normal" for a few months, then took half the normal dose and so on. I've actually run out of it at the moment but I feel reasonably good. I intend to buy some more.

The one I've been using is :

healthmonthly.co.uk/swanson...

There are lots of other makes that may work well too, for all I know, but I haven't tried them. I took a maximum of 8 capsules a day for a short while, but found that too much - 6 worked better. Then I reduced to 4, then 2 per day. I wasn't in a hurry to stop taking it because I had no side effects from it.

After I'd been on Holy Basil for a while I found I could raise my dose of T3. Before that I'd been unable to take enough T3 to get rid of hypo symptoms before I developed tachycardia.

[richard123 in reply to humanbean]

Thank you I will try holy basil 🌿 fingers crossed

Really appreciated

[Nanaedake]

Doctor kept prescribing betablockers for anxiety. Turned out I had tachycardia which showed up on a walking monitor. Cardiologist said heart was sound but see an Endo. Endo said I had nothing wrong and go away. I was so ill with breathlessness, joint, muscle pain and other symptoms. Doctor put me on atenolol and I could hardly walk, it made me limp with pain in my hip so I stopped and came off all beta blockers. I felt terribly ill with lots of adrenaline or cortisol flowing, it seemed like adrenals were going crazy. I could not get any help from the doctors so I took high dose of sublingual methylcobalmin, 1500mcg every day and quickly improved. I've not needed to take any betablockers since. my pain has cleared up and so has all anxiety. Breathlessness greatly improved. Now I'm trying to find out what's going on as clearly B12 or sublingual methylcobalabin has made a huge difference. Have you had your B12, folate and ferritin levels tested? I was ill for more than 7 years and NO doctor could diagnose my problem so I don't think they understand the connections between thyroid conditions and vitamin deficiencies. Also, so many people on these forums are saying similar things about symptoms from vitamin deficiencies. I have found the Pernicious Anaemia society very helpful with lots of useful information about B12. I don't know if T3 would make a difference but it's not possible to get it prescribed here.

[richard123 in reply to Nanaedake]

Thank you, B12 and folate is in high range, the endo said have you used supplements, I have and am top end so have stopped. I do have raised cortisol 164 but no one seems to care about it

Ferritin is 70

Thank you

[Nanaedake]

Oh, and ANY increase in Levothyroxine set off tachycardia until I took high doses of sublingual B12 but I think it's better to get a proper diagnosis and get blood tests done by your GP, find out more and if it turns out to be a vitamin deficiency get a proper diagnosis and treatment from your doctor, don't self treat.

[Nanaedake]

What kind of B12 did you take? You can have lots of B12 in your blood apparently, while the active amount may be insufficient in your cells. I don't know a lot about it as I'm just finding out but it would be worth reading the information on the Pernicious Anaemia website. It seems a bit complicated. However, the tachycardia may be due to something entirely different, it depends on what other symptoms you've got. The NHS blood test for B12 deficiency has been discredited I believe so you can't depend on those results.

[richard123 in reply to Nanaedake]

It was NHS serum b12 test

I used sublingual vit b from holland and Barrett increased vit 12 very well, perhaps to well🙄

[Saggyuk in reply to richard123]

Have you had your Vit D checked - I had the same problem for decades and turned out to be Vit D deficiency - and possibly low calcium because of it. When ever my vit d start going under 50, it's starts affecting my heart . When it goes under forty and nearer 30, it steps up to the level they want me on meds - I take Vit D instead lol

[richard123 in reply to Saggyuk]

Thank you, my vit d is 81 so probably not related. I used vit d sublingual spray and it got levels up pretty quick.

[Nanaedake in reply to richard123]

Cardiologist said betablockers can stop T3 getting to receptors in heart as it blocks conversion of T4 to T3. The heart cannot convert T4 to T3 so relies on enough T3 in blood to get enough through to receptors in order to function properly apparently. Do you know what your FT3 levels are? Anyway, you could ask cardiologist about it. NHS B12 test only tells half the story. It shows how much B12 is rushing around in your blood but not what your cells are able to utilise. Is tachycardia your only problem or have you got other symptoms? I found that without B12 supplementation I could not increase levothyroxine without getting a bad reaction, feeling sick, racing heart, lots of adrenaline, loss of appetite and sudden weight loss, bad stomach, trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. It was horrible. Betablockers did not provide a solution for me but of course your situation could be very different. Sounds like if your D is in a good range you can rule that out as a cause of problems as I believe the test is reliable. If you take sublingual vitamin B12 you should also take a general B multivitamin so that your B's don't get out of balance. All the B's work together. Are you taking cyanocobalamin form of B12? I was told it's better to take methylcobalamin, because your body doesn't have to get rid of the cyanide molecule attached to the vitamin B. I read that methylcobalamin is not licenced as a medicine in the UK, however its available from healthfood stores so perhaps it's considered a food not a medicine? I read that in Japan methylcobalamin is the main B12 form used for patients. You could ask your doctor what they know about it but it seems like the NHS doesn't train doctors in nutrition, vitamins and endocrine health.

[richard123 in reply to Nanaedake]

Thanks I used sublingual b12 for 6 wks my b12 and folate are both top top end of normal! I'm slim already, fast heart, breathless at times, palpitations, tiredness, foggy head, dry eyes, horrible anxiety that pours in and out completely unrelated to real anxiety!!

I thought thyroxine would make me feel better, so far not 🙄

[Nanaedake in reply to richard123]

If you have a problem with B12 you would need proper treatment, tablets don't work for everyone and you would need at least 1,500mcg of sublingual B12 to make any difference no matter what your blood test results said. People who have a deficiency need a diagnosis and the right treatment. Your symptoms could be thyroid or B12 anaemia or something else so you should investigate further. Get information from the Pernicious Anaemia Society, you don't have to be diagnosed to get information and advice. Do you have an autoimmune thyroid condition?

[Nanaedake in reply to Nanaedake]

Here is a link between thyroid and B12 deficiency apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/AP...

[Sarahpk]

Hi Richard- i was put on Antenolol 8 yes ago when living in Holland. 50 mg for high blood pressure. I now realise was part of hypo symptoms and over medication on Levothyroxine. I dont have a thyroid TT for cancer(13yrs ago). Unfortunately I have moved countries so had no consistant care until I found this site in Jan. Antenolol does affect thyroid med uptake- Endo introduced T3 and cut back Antenolol to 25. My heart races in evenings and he initially wanted to stop antnolol but keeping me on this doseto prevent AF. When I first took T3 it made my heart race but this settled after a couple of weeks. I have just realised posting this that maybe I shouldnt be taking antenolol at same time as thyroid meds so will post this question seperately and u might want to check replies

[Gcart]

Can't offer much help except to say that racing heart symptoms have all settled down since thyroidmeds T4 and T3 plus vits I was low on have been improved.

Had several heart tests before because of symptoms, none of which showed any problem with heart.

So whilst all tests need to eliminate the heart problem, I lost all symptoms with hormone and vits

[jgelliss]

Many years of palpitations was finally resolved with nutrients Iron , NDT, and adrenal support . Please check all your levels .