I made a post before about having to reduce t3 despite being undermedicated 2 months ago due to periods of high heart rate and anxiety and found out I had low ferritin. I’ve been working on ferritin with a blood test due thurdsay but have been doing much better - way less lightheaded and pulse has been low for me 60-72 most of the day with just some more prominent hypothyroid symptoms like constipation, tiredness etc. Interestingly on my last blood test a month ago my T3 level didn’t move at all with the drop from 10 to 5mcg t3 (still too low) but my vit d deficiency had recovered and ferritin was better though still low and my t4 was lower than it used to be so I think nutrients were having a big impact.
As I said I had been doing better but suddenly the last 3 days I have had a jump in heartrate from resting around 68 to 80 going up to 88/92 and I feel incredibly wired, anxious and awful. I also have constant internal vibrations, get thumping sensations in my chest and have a nauseous adrenaline like stomach which I wake up with. Nothing about my meds have changed for 7 weeks - the only thing of note is that recently my pulse has been a bit lower than normal. I’m wondering if the rise in ferritin and my continual b12 and vit d supplements is now making my body ask for more?
I had lowish but in range cortisol back in June and my symptoms weren’t as bad as this - I also would lose weight when I had bad periods and wake up during the night but this time my weight is staying the same and I don’t wake up in the night I just sometimes wake 30 mins earlier but as I said nauseous adrenaline tummy and a higher heart rate. I’ve also noticed my face has become puffier and my jowl area has gotten bigger again. A few weeks ago I had an adrenaline attack so the next day took 2.5mcg less t3 and the day after was extremely unwell with a very high heart rate around 92-104 all day so taking less made me even worse. Does anyone have experience of there body doing this and was it a sign to increase their dose? I’m very scared but can’t decrease and now feel awful staying here! Thank you!
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I had issue with severe hand shaking while on Armour thyroid only to discover that the Cymbalta I was prescribed for chronic pain was the real culprit.
Are you taking any type of new medication for a non- related problem? If not have you tried splitting you thyroid dose?
I split my thyroid meds because of previous palpitations and it actually helped and then the palps started up again and it was found I have low ferritin levels that I take iron for and things have settled down a lot.
I’m not on any meds apart from this and I do split my dose. I did have iron deficiency anemia which I think was the reason I couldn’t tolerate t3 as well and had to drop to a lower dose because of high heart rate and anxiety after meds but I have been working on it and my ferritin is improving (another test thursday) and I think I need to get back to my old dose but it’s proving easier said than done - it’s very difficult to tell if these periods are under medication or my ferritin still not good enough/dropping the latter hopefully not being the case!
Your comment on being "nauseous" running on adrenaline and "lowish" in the range cortisol (I'm assuming your talking about 'morning' cortisol) seems to indicate hypoadrenia (low morning cortisol levels). You shouldn't be running on adrenaline in the morning when you wake up as this is when your cortisol levels "should" be at their highest. The only way to make sure would be to take a 24 hour saliva cortisol test (blood test is not as accurate). Your morning levels should be very high in the range dropping throughout the day. If your cortisol levels are low your body will pull hormone number 2 which is adrenaline. Your body is not made to continually run on adrenaline as eventually it will run out also..that's when the real fun starts..I've been there...
I had a saliva test previously back a few months ago and it was lower but in range morning and afternoon and seemed to be a bit higher than optimal but again in range in the evening. At the moment it feels like my body has more adrenaline than it did back then and I’ve since improved vitamins and ferritin so I wonder if I’m now having higher cortisol issues due to undermedication. I would ideally like another saliva test but really can’t afford it unfortunately!
I am hypo. Under medicated on Levo, and because I have the Dio2 polymorphism so am not converting well. If I take more Levo my FT4 shoots up, TSH stays middle of range or above and FT3 drops or stays the same. I can't get that FT3 up with Levo. I'm in range, but low end of range, not rock bottom.
I suffered bouts of atrial fibrillation for years then went into it over a year ago and am still in it. It doesn't stop now. My heart rate was great before, but is too high in AF and so I have to take a beta blocker! Even converting me back into normal sinus rhythm for a while did nothing to reduce my heart rate, which shocked me.
Here's the rub. I had been adding a small amount of T3 to my Levo or a few months when the AF happened. Just 1/4 tablet for a few weeks, then up to 1/2 a tablet. As advised I had reduced my Levo by 25mcg a day first. And the result of adding that T3 is that my levels of T3 dropped (probably because of my lower Levo dose). And that's when the high heart kicked in with the fibrillation. Cardiologist and GP scared me witless about having done it to myself because of that tiny dose of T3 and so I stopped it. But I was still in AF and still had a high heart rate.
I need to start T3 again because I can't live like this. But naturally I'm scared. However, in the back of my mind I'm thinking is this high heart rate a simple issue of my FT3 being too low? I don't know the answer, but I have a sneaking suspicion it might be, especially as going back into sinus rhythm for a while made no difference and I eventually went back into AF at some point.
Sorry to hear about this that’s awful! Are you still on the reduced Levo dose without the t3? If your t3 has dropped I think from researching it could definitely cause some problems. From my own experience earlier this year on a higher dose of t3 with a good ft3 level I felt very good and had no cardiac symptoms after some initial internal vibrating, shaking, higher heart etc. Then since my ft3 dropped and I had to reduce my dose likely because of iron deficiency anemia everything has gone to pot and my heart rate had been awful all over the place and reaching highs it never use to.
My theory is as soon as we start thyroid meds but are under medicated we end up with not enough hormone to keep us well but enough for the adrenals to have power to take up to the slack running our body on noradrenaline and causing a high heart rate! The other day I missed a dose because of an adrenaline attack and ended up with a 92-104 heart rate all day and felt dizzy and anxious just awful. I know that feeling of being scared too and it’s so frustrating after previously being on a higher t3 dose with no issues whatsoever. I hope you can get there soon!
My last FT3 was 4.8 (3.5-6.5) so about 43% through. I used to have a higher ft3 and felt better.
On the day I posted this my pulse was 84-8 almost all day so then at my 2nd dose I very fearfully took a tidge extra - my overall dose changed from 6.5 to 7.3 and after 2 hours my heartrate came down and stayed down the rest of the evening. I was ok again yesterday taking 7.3 again and pulse stayed below 80 all day then last night in bed I randomly got more anxious, thumpy and pulse was higher than normal at the time again and today I have again woke up anxious thumpy and with a higher than normal heart rate! Very frustrating as the extra dose seemed to help but now I’m the same as I was before! I don’t know if it’s because the very small increase isn’t enough but I’m scared and don’t wish to jump the dose around too much either!
Thank you Johnathan! The anxiety seems to be mostly thyroid hormone related as it fluctuates with my other symptoms eg I woke up feeling the nausea anxiety but now even though my pulse is still up the same I feel fine. Most of the time the anxiety is physical - I feel mentally fine but my body exhibits symptoms of anxiety!
Hi, I had palpitations and uneven heart rate prior to being diagnosed with Hashimotos. I also used to wake up and immediately get a horrible rush of adrenaline every morning. I also had bowel problems, this all disappeared when I was given Levothyroxine - started at 25 mcg and I’m still only on 75mcg three years later.
The only other time I’ve had scarey heart racing, and a wired up feeling was when I tried vitamin B12. I immediately stopped and the symptoms went away.
Thank you for the response! That’s very helpful and very similar to me! Woke up this morning with a pulse of 84 and an adrenaline feeling in my stomach again! I’ve also got more constipated again which is a good hypo indicator for me.
It does seem to be pointing to undermedication - I was previously on a higher dose of t3 and had good levels of ft3 and no cardiac symptoms whatsoever. It’s only since my ft3 and ferritin dropped that this started happening. Hopefully my ferritin has improved because I would like to go back to my old dose!
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Heart rate on liquid thyroxine 
T3 only and heart rate
Resting heart rate on NDT?
Hashimoto’s heart rate increase
Slow heart rate - worried!
