Palpitations, anxiety and trouble sleeping- Random

[Batty1]

Off and on for the past month or so I’ve been having issues with random palpitations and anxiety that make me unable to sleep well. My day starts out fine and I go all day without any palpitations or anxiety until just before bedtime the palpitations start and I thought maybe its because Im on my phone too late so I stopped doing that a couple of hours before bed and lay around watching my sitcoms and as Im watching my sitcoms I start with the palpitations (no anxiety). Normally my pulse is in the low to mid 70’s all day long (with the exception of walking around) but for some reason a few hours before bed the palpitations start and my pulse goes into the 90’s and then drops back to the low to mid 70’s rinse and repeat …for some reason when I get in bed the palpitations stop but the anxiety kicks in and it lasts for a few hours … its not a severe type of anxiety but its certainly bothersome and I struggle to fall asleep. The palpitations and anxiety are not everyday its totally random .

I had my thyroid levels checked a couple of months ago and everything was in range like it always is … But I have had a rough couple of months. My mother suddenly passed away just before Thanksgiving and we had to clean out her apartment and then Christmas came around and we went to visit my husbands Mom which I really hate doing because I have to go up and down 14 steps all day with this horrible Psoriatic Arthritis.

I know my mother’s passing plays a big role in my issues but can’t shake the feeling something else is going on …. Also once I take my thyroid meds in the morning I immediately fall asleep… Any idea’s why this would be happening and should I be concerned?

[FallingInReverse]

quick reply. Thanksgiving was about 8 weeks ago. Stress - especially that kind of extreme stress - can impair the way your body converts and uses T4 and T3 at the cellular level where it’s needed.

8 weeks… that is just like a dose change titration period. Whatever was happening at Thanksgiving has now settled fully.

I had a family member in the ICU in September (near death, beyond stressful, so many hospital visits and running around.) then 6-8 weeks later - I experienced much like you describe. So much sleep disruption… wired tired… I was also waking up too early, at a time when I just reeeeallly needed restorative sleep. Wasn’t happening.

About 2+ months after that (this month) and I settled back to baseline - took a blood test and I’d have to look but from memory there was no impact in the numbers that would imply different thyroid hormone level. Despite how I had felt.

My hypothesis - after reading up on the biochemical impact of stress on thyroid hormones - that it really was the stress.

It was a momentary disruption when it came to my thyroid and bloods.

[Batty1 in reply to FallingInReverse]

Thank you … I think Stress could be the culprit .

[arTistapple in reply to FallingInReverse]

Beautiful description FIR. I really do think we underestimate these situations and our consequent reactions. I would think many of us on thyroid medication are already fully occupied with attempting ‘normal’ life and we don’t have any extra to deal with the more (thankfully) unusual situations.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I’m sure that stress is at Play Batty1, as Ive experienced similar random phases of anxiety/ palpitations/ fast pulse, often triggering before bed time. Give yourself time to fully rest/ recover. Are you taking a magnet supplement? Taking mine early evening helps me relax/ unwind.

[Batty1 in reply to Buddy195]

I take magnesium a couple of hours before bed… I do believe its stress induced just seems so odd that it hits at night, just before bed but maybe I do have palpitations off and on all day and Im just not as noticing it because Im able to distract myself … I hope it goes away quick.

[FallingInReverse in reply to Batty1]

Circadian rhythm… natural cycles flow of our hormones through the day… disruptions… for me it messes both with my bedtime and my wake up when things gets dicey.

I’m now remembering that during that time I found myself taking melatonin. I was so happy earlier this year when taking magnesium eliminated my need for any melatonin. And a couple months ago I found myself reaching for it bc I was so wired/tired and couldnt fall asleep. The worst.

[Batty1 in reply to FallingInReverse]

What about being low on B12 can that also contribute to my issues ? Over last couple of months I also have been eating a more vegan-ish diet Im not 100% vegan but I eat more vegan than meat and do very minimum bread because I find it makes me feel ill. Im also suppose to take a 1000mg of D3 a day and really have just ignored this because I take so much between sups and reg meds its all I do is take pills.

[tattybogle in reply to Batty1]

it can definitely contribute ( B12) .... my daughter was having anxiety/ palpitations and other symptoms that fitted with ?hyperthyroid , but TSH/ fT4/ fT3 were all good and TPOab negative ,

GP prescribed beta blocker which helped instantly.....and did a bunch of other tests.. she just had txt from GP to go in for B12 injections alternate days , which presumably means her B12 level is very deficient indeed, and could well be responsible for the anxiety / heart palpitations etc she's been having. She's not veggie , but hasn't eaten as much animal protein as she did previously ... she used to eat a lot of salmon , but stopped last year .