Low voltage heart problems

[Niadancer]

I had to go to A&E on Wednesday due to what felt like a racing heart during the night, and shortness of breath with chest pain the previous evening. It improved after I got up. Most of the tests they ran came back normal, but the ecg showed signs of low voltage. The doctor told me to arrange for a 24 hour monitor and an echo. He said that there was no rush and that it was nothing to worry about. My question is: has anyone here with hypothyroidism had this problem, (as I saw that it could be caused by severe hypothyroidism and I don't think that mine is severe though), and what was the treatment for it if they did.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

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So you have had levothyroxine reduced by 25mcg per day …..but only 5mcg T3 added

How long have you been on this dose now

Your body probably noticing Ft4 has dropped…..perhaps too much

Many people find Ft4 drops when T3 is added ….even without reducing levothyroxine

Did you get vitamin D and folate levels tested

[Niadancer in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi SlowDragon. I asked the gp to test for folate and vit d. He decided to give me a full blood test, including folate, and for some reason , tested for tsh! No vitamin d! My folate was high. Slightly out of range. I supplement with vit d and k2 every day so I think it should be okay. I have an appointment to see the endo on 14th July, with bloods a couple of days before. I phoned his secretary on the day before I went to A&E because I wasnt feeling right, heartwise. He was away so she asked another endo and he said I should stay with the dose prescribed. I have had some episodes with my heart before taking the t3, but nothing as intense as this. It was quit scary

[Niadancer in reply to SlowDragon]

I just found my vit d results from 8th June. It was 167 range 50 to 200.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Niadancer]

so vitamin D you could reduce dose a little

How much vitamin D are you taking?

[Niadancer in reply to SlowDragon]

I take two sprays of better uou 4000 iu. Perhaps I should reduce to just one spray?

[Niadancer in reply to SlowDragon]

I forgot tp ssy yhat I have been taking t3 for just over three weeks

[Hidden]

hi there I see you recently started T3. Barry Peatfield lists chest pains as a sign of “low adrenal reserve syndrome” if they happen when you try to raise thyroid hormone, this is particularly common with T3. I also had the same. Were they really quite painful?

[Niadancer in reply to Hidden]

Thats interesting. No they weren't particulary painful. Mostly uncomfortable, but unrelenting until I finally fell asleep about 4am, only to wake up to it starting again around 8am. How did you stop it happening?

[Hidden in reply to Niadancer]

Hey, well for me I had to reduce the thyroid hormone I was on and begin adrenal support. But I don’t recommend you do that unless you test your adrenals, the best way to do that is with a saliva panel, I like Regenerus 🙂

[Niadancer in reply to Hidden]

I will ask my endo about the adrenals. I have often wondered whether the adrenal function could be involved with how I feel, but no medical people have ever mentioned it. Thankyou

[Hidden in reply to Niadancer]

there is more information about adrenals & thyroid in my bio with citations from various thyroid self help books 🙏

[FoggyThinker in reply to Hidden]

Very interesting, I've also had chest pains after about 6-8 weeks on NDT, following a week of anxious-in-the-morning then week of can't-wake-up-in-the-morning (both of which I associate with suffering adrenals) - but my T3 was a bit over range, too. I've dropped my dose and feel pretty good at the mo, but time to retest adrenals I think! Thanks Hidden and thanks Niadancer for the thread, hope you're soon sorted, it's a bit alarming isn't it...?

[bikebabe]

this happened to me when I started on lowest dose liothyronine (5mcg). when it first happened I reduced dose to alternate days and gradually increased it back to every day. I did my own blood tests and reduced the t4 as it was over range. It’s taken 6 -9 mths to get to 10mcg and I occasionally still have those disturbing heart symptoms so I just reduce to every other day. But am about to experience a different brand of tri-iodo (Roma) as it’s now prescribed by GP and that is a concern.

[Niadancer in reply to bikebabe]

Thanks for your reply. At least I now know that it thyroid is the most likely cause.

[bikebabe]

it might not be - it shouldn’t preclude getting cardiac symptoms checked out. I also have a heart condition along with pendreds syndrome that causes the hypothyroidism.

[Niadancer in reply to bikebabe]

Yes I'm still getting everything checked thanks. I just feel a bit reasured that yhyroid might be the culprit.

[bikebabe in reply to Niadancer]

sounds good.

[Batty1]

What time do you take your levo and T3 ?

[Niadancer in reply to Batty1]

First thing in the morning an hour before breakfast

[Batty1 in reply to Niadancer]

You won’t know for sure until you have a complete thyroid test done but it sounds like you could be having issues with low thyroid hormone and only going on my personal experience my heart rate is in the low 50s before I take my thyroid medication and then it will jump to 70 within a short time after taking them and I also get heart palpitations when Im anemic so maybe you should also have iron tested. I also developed issues with carbohydrates with my thyroid problems and when I have had too much carbs my palpitations increase significantly, no idea why so I really cut back and doing so has helped a lot.

[Hidden in reply to Batty1]

Batty1 have you ever been tested for pots? It’s very common for heart rate to race after carbohydrate-dense meals if you have pots x

[Batty1 in reply to Hidden]

No but I only started having this issue after thyroidectomy.

I was diagnosed many years ago with orthostatic hypotension and just past 2 years diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy which I just read can sometimes cause these issues… hmm

[Hidden in reply to Batty1]

I’ve realized that my pots is linked directly to my adrenals, which then undermines my thyroid. When my adrenals/thyroid are worse, my pots is worse. Do you get dizzy on standing/raised heart rate? Orthostatic hypotension is one of the symptoms of POTS. Maybe once your thyroid hormone is optimized you’ll have some relief from the hypotension x

[Batty1 in reply to Hidden]

I have on occasion had vertigo and been dealing with this for years and I do have a raised HR upon moving /standing this just isn’t a constant event.

[Hidden in reply to Batty1]

maybe you have a little bit of Dysautonomia going on. For me this was more adrenal than thyroid. Hope you get to the bottom of it 🙏🙂