How do you stop your heart racing?

[leighma81]

I have been laying on the sofa for 3 hours now trying to relax and sleep but my heart is pounding and beating 120bpm!! I've taken a propranolol but its not working well tonight. Does anyone have any secrets to stopping a racing heart?

[Hidden]

Hi i know the feeling it used to make me feel realy anxious and agitated, i used to force myself to txt people so i had something to occupy myself with so i didnt have a panic attack, if i drink cava even now it makes my heart race , have you got anyone you can talk to now ?

X x x

[leighma81 in reply to Hidden]

My boyfriend is out watching football so am home alone with the cat but I could give my mum a call for a bit. Worst feeling ever

[Hidden]

My dads watching footy now as well ! Cant see the interest myself but if it keeps him happy You can chat to me on here if you feel up to it till your fella comes back

X x x

[leighma81 in reply to Hidden]

Ah that's really nice of you. Its funny how your mind panics when your heart rate changes.

Have you been on this site for long? I'm new to it but it seems like a really nice forum and everyone is really nice.

[PinkNinja]

That is a scary feeling Are you hyper or hypo? Have you had this before and does it usually pass? Sorry for all the questions.

It's weird how, when you notice your heart is racing, you get anxious about it and that makes it even worse! I had the the other night. Turns out I need to reduce my NDT dose a tiny bit since changing the timings of my doses. I've been ok since.

My hubby is also watching the football but there's not many folks on here at the moment that need help, so I'm a little bored. I might have to break open the Bailey's in a minute Perhaps I should leave that until after I've finished on here though

I hope you start to feel better soon. If you start to get worried about your heart rate, you can always call the out-of-hours doctors service. They may be able to put your mind at rest at least.

Take care

Carolyn x

[leighma81 in reply to PinkNinja]

Hey, I was diagnosed hyper in December after having palpatations and what the hospital though was a mini stroke (panic attack I think) but last week the specialist told me my bloods show I'm hypo! More to be confused about then.

What's NDT? I'm still trying to work out all the acronyms

[PinkNinja in reply to leighma81]

NDT is natural dessicated thyroid. I don't get on with thyroxine. In fact it made me quite unwell. NDT seems to work much better but my GP knows next to nothing about it so I am having to work out the best way to take it myself. I am getting there though. I feel very much better.

Being hypo can also cause palpitations, as can iron deficiency.

Are you taking anything for being hypo? It could be that your thyroid function is fluctuating due to the autoimmune disease and that you are going between being hyper and being hypo.

You're right though, it can be very confusing!

It is a good idea to try and keep hold of copies of your blood tests so you can monitor your condition and get an idea of what sort of blood results make you feel a certain way. It can help people to manage their condition more effectively and to know when to go and see the doctor. When you are feeling better, if you know your latest blood test results, perhaps you can post them here. It might help someone to know what is happening. There are several members on here with hyperthyroidism who will be much more knowledgeable about it than me

I hope you are starting to feel better.

Carolyn x

[leighma81 in reply to PinkNinja]

I'm taking carbimazole for being hyper and they reduced the dose because of now being hypo. They say you know when to change your meds yourself but I'm not sure I'll ever get to that stage, all seems quite alien to me x

[Hidden in reply to PinkNinja]

Ooo open the baileys ! we can have an online party, unfortunatly ive got a hot chocolate. . . Party pooper hey !

[PinkNinja in reply to Hidden]

Lol! That could make for some very interesting responses... I see myself getting a slapped wrist in the morning

[Hidden]

I only joined a few months ago. , have mostly lurked online but decided to join in after a few months, I'm terrible really as I'm a private person ,and find it hard to put my feelings down for everyone to see, but as most people on here seem to have lurched from one trauma to another , the more i read the easier it gets for me :), and its always nice to have online people to talk to that have the same problems lol . People that dont have thyroid issues can never realy understand can they ? X x x

[leighma81]

I've found that people look at you as if your faking it when you tell them you have thyroid problems. Work are not very supportive of the mood swings and exhaustion but they soon understood when I nearly took my managers head off!! Oops.

I have never thought of asking for my blood results before as I just assumed they wouldn't tell me but I have tried to get hold of them and my GP says they don't have them and I'm waiting for my consultant to return my call.

I seem to be calming down now and it must be because you have both taken my mind of it so thank you, but I have a massive headache right now.

[PinkNinja in reply to leighma81]

I'm glad you're calming down a little. Sorry about the headache though. That's the last thing you need

I know what you mean about other people not understanding thyroid disease. I am hypo and I think it's Hashimotos but my GP won't test antibodies. I had a flare-up a few weeks ago (at least I think that's what it was) and I was unbelievably tired and had a lump in my throat and joint inflammation too. I think my colleagues finally understood when I couldn't make a cup of tea for three people without completely mucking it up! I couldn't get the right number of cups or the right number of tea bags. I think they finally realised how much this does affect our ability to do normal, everyday things. Luckily I work with lovely people. I'm not sure my boss would be so understanding though! One of the teachers has really bad morning sickness at the moment and a chest infection and she was told she had to "work through it"! I try to stay out of the head teacher's way whenever possible

[leighma81 in reply to PinkNinja]

There are some people you wish could have this disease for just one day and see how it knocks them for six.

The doctors seem to take an age to do the right tests. It took me 3 years to get a proper diagnosis of graves disease cos they went through everything but thyroid and didn't link with my IBS and even sent me to see a counsellor! I actually thought I had made my symptoms up because they treated me like it was all in my head!

Its actually nice to know I'm not crazy lol xx

[Hidden in reply to leighma81]

Glad you are feeling a bit better x x x , thats the lovely thing about this site,there is usually someone about to have a chat too i dont think going clubbing is in my agenda these days

[leighma81 in reply to Hidden]

Lol, last time I had a night out I fell asleep in the pub. Wouldn't mind if it was drink related x

[Hidden in reply to leighma81]

Since my levo was reduced, if i have more than a couple of cavas i feel sickly dunno why, i could drink it like water before lol . . . Maybe a good thing in the long run i guess

[leighma81]

Thank you smooze and carolynb for helping me through last night. I really appreciated it and I actually slept well for once (only woke once in the night). Xx

[Hidden in reply to leighma81]

Hi glad you slept well thats what we are all here for a bit of support, once your tablets are sorted you will be fine x x x

[shaws Administrator]

I had many ECG's and a five day heart monitor. Pulse was always high. As soon as I stopped levothyroxIine, so did the palpitations. T3 alone had the calming effect with normal and quiet heart beats and a great feeling of well-being.

[Jackie]

Hi You need to have a home monitor, 24 hour but 7 day best. I does tiny ECG`s. A normal ECG will not pick up intermittent arrythmia problems, unless lucky! Sounds as if it may be AF? In which case you need antioagulation as the danger is clots, any age.Thyroid disease may cause the ealier onset of this common problem. Do you know to never take beta Blockers before thyroid tests? It gives a false result.Also make sure your electrolytes are all in range, essential, calcium ( corrected, there are 2 ) , magnesium, Potassium and sodium. some are tiny ranges so very important not to take magnesium, calcium or vit D without these checks., Vit D may make the calcium go up ,if out of range it has to be stopped ,no matter, how bad.

Best wishes,

Jackie

[leighma81 in reply to Jackie]

Oh my god that sounds really bad. They never told me not to take by beta blockers before my bloods and have never tested my electrolytes before. How do I get a home monitor? Do I buy one or is it something the doctor should ask me to do? I am on a huge dose of vit d so am now worried about my calcium ranges. So much to think about but thank you for the info x

[Jackie in reply to leighma81]

Hi There was a small study but long ago I found out by trial and error! You should have had the calcium range done, if bad you can get bad cramps ,so hopefully yours is OK but make sure., also if one electrolyte is out , then the others may be as effected.Home monitor, GP or if seeing a cardio that is routine. If monitor show anything it will mean seeing an arrthymia cardio, large hospital, it needs to be a special ,specialist. Very common, only important thing is anti coagulation. If it gets more permanent lots of treatment. It really is not to serious and so common, especially if older. I have had it all my life, much better investigation and treatment now. If you take your pulse when "funny" symptoms, you should feel it, especially swinging. Good idea to have a home monitor for BP but the ones that do HR ( pulse ) are not tested or reliable, although I believe there is an app now I do not know if any good. best place for info is the British Heart Foundation, A.F society and anticoagulation in Europe, very good. Quite technical mag, 4 a year, small price. They talk to the educated, if you see what I mean!Actually my Haematologist is often in it!

Best wishes,

Jackie

[Angel_of_the_North]

Although it's not exactly relevant for someone who is hyper, there is a breathing programme for reducing BP, which also seems to reduce heart rate and be generally relaxing. It's called BreatheEasy (not to be confused with paint or asthma exercises). The website looks spammy, but it is legit and there is a demo. control-your-blood-pressure...

[Dramlouie]

Its just so horrible when this happens, it happened to me yesterday whilst shopping. Thank goodness for Rescue Remedy which calmed it down within a few minutes. But I think it can be low minerals or something not agreeing with you as well as thyroid. I now carry around a banana with me and some magnesium, my handbag is like a chemists, I have some diazepan as well which I got from the doctor but just having it with me is reassuring and I have never taken any. My psychologist also said that if you get anxiety then work out the adrenaline, walk round, do something, scream to get it out of your system, if you lie there its in your system. Get up and have a cup of calming tea, I bought some from the health shop, look up calming foods. I have like an emergency file full of positive sayings, a list of food that helps, some info to read, a meditation to play for anxiety. You can pay for an anxiety hypnosis mp3. So get together an emergency kit including the rescue remedy and next time you can nip it in the bud. I hope this helps, a few years too late! x