Hyperthyroidism and Tachycardia

[Another Reader]

Family member ended up in the hospital for a possible heart attack and this was the diagnosis. Anyone ever have these two problems simultaneously? Was the thyroid treatment by itself sufficient to correct the tachycardia? How long did it take to resolve the problems? Were there long term effects from the condition or the drugs? The doctors are noncommittal.

 

[MRG]

A quick check with DR. Google says they can be related:

https://www.drugs.com/health-guide/tachycardia.html

There's many hits that come up on the combination of the two conditions.

I had tachycardia last May and there are a number of causes. I was told dehydration caused my attack, but I don't think that was the cause. My PCP suggested weight loss and as the pounds dropped, my heartrate did too.

Take care and listen to the doc's advice.

 

[Another Reader]

I understand the correlation, but have no idea how this should play out. Poor communication with the PCP post-hospital and delays in seeing specialists are not helping. Google is not of any help either.

I have dealt with hyperthyroidism and increased heart rate in cats. The Tapazole settled things down with them in a week or so. Not seeing this in the human case. The PCP mentioned beta blockers. Trying to figure out if I should push harder for more timely follow up with the specialists.

 

[MRG]

Sorry I'm not a Dr. Just a moron who spent too much time obese and lived with tachycardia for a while. I have no thyroid issues.

My PCP gave me diltiazem, a calcium channel blocker to aid in lowering my heartrate. A week later I saw him again. He was going to send me to a cardiologist but his records showed I'd had a full workup done for an unrelated incident six months prior.

I was on a beta blocker for many years, for hypertension. It certainly lowered my heartrate, 55 was the normal. One year I got dizzy, like passing out dizzy. After the second ER(don't ask) visit they figured out my heart rate was in the 30s. Took me off the beta blocker. I didn't care for the other side effects, perhaps that's just me.

 

[sheehs1]

Hopefully your family member is with a good Endocrinologist. If not, please make that recommendation and yes push your family member.

Much of what you ask depends on how high her numbers were on the thyroid panel and hopefully the antibody panel if they ran one. Antibodies should be run to test for Graves Disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, meaning not just T3 and T4 levels. Many general practitioners run just T3 and T4 but one can have normal levels of T3 and T4 and still have the antibodies.

To answer your question yes the two can go hand in hand and are correlated. And yes I would think the beta blockers are necessary, particularly if she needs time to see the endocrinologist specialist and if her levels were significantly out of range.

My frame of reference:
My twin sister was diagnosed with Graves Disease, which is basically hyperthyroidism plus antibodies to Graves Disease. She waited so long that it was an emergency. Her numbers were sky high..in the many thousands, with a racing heart. Immediate beta blockers and then killed her thyroid with radioactive iodine. Of course this meant, medication for life. She does well with it.

For myself, I was diagnosed with "subclinical Graves" which meant my Thyroid levels were normal but I had slightly elevated antibodies. My doctor decided on no medication to see if it would reverse itself, which the literature supported. It took a while, maybe two years but it went into remission and has stayed there for years.
My GP recommended a beta blocker for me which I took for a while until I got into see the Endo. I did not like the affects at all and my situation was not extreme so they allowed me to get off of it.

The thyroid is the engine of out bodies and her thyroid is overproducing. Push for her to see an Endocrinologist.

Hope this helps some. Understanding all the feedback mechanisms with these hormones requires some study. Thyroid, Pituitary, Adrenal gland feedback loops.
Just remembering some of this stuff now!

 

[Another Reader]

Hospitalization was the end of last week. Put on Tapazole only. Symptoms remain. Appointments with specialists are next week. PCP wants to prescribe beta blockers without seeing the patient. Patient will not go along with that.

I'm concerned about heart and peripheral damage. Also side effects of multiple drugs. Heart rate shoots to 130 standing and 140 walking. This seems very high.

 

[jabbahop]

I have tachycardia (SVT) but not thyroid so not sure of the connection. Good luck.

 

[Meadbh]

Family member ended up in the hospital for a possible heart attack and this was the diagnosis. Anyone ever have these two problems simultaneously? Was the thyroid treatment by itself sufficient to correct the tachycardia? How long did it take to resolve the problems? Were there long term effects from the condition or the drugs? The doctors are noncommittal.

Hi. I'm a doctor, though not an endocrinologist. Tachycardia is a typical symptom of hyperthyroidism. When the heart rate is as high as you have indicated in a later post, the patient has thyrotoxicosis, which may sometimes be accompanied by agitation and exophthalmos (very prominent eyes). Continuous severe tachycardia leads to heart failure as the cardiac muscle gets exhausted. Beta blockers are used to control the tachycardia until definitive treatment for the hyperthyroidism kicks in. Tapazole (methimazole) is one of the standard treatments for hyperthyroidism and beta blockers are standard at the beginning of treatment. In most cases, the cardiac symptoms resolve with effective treatment of the hyperthyroidism, which takes a few weeks. Untreated severe hyperthyroidism leads to a thyroid crisis. The sooner treatment commences, the better. That is all I will say on the subject as I do not think an Internet forum is the right place for your family member to be getting advice. He or she needs to see an endocrinologist as soon as possible.

 

[Another Reader]

Hi. I'm a doctor, though not an endocrinologist. Tachycardia is a typical symptom of hyperthyroidism. When the heart rate is as high as you have indicated in a later post, the patient has thyrotoxicosis, which may sometimes be accompanied by agitation and exophthalmos (very prominent eyes). Continuous severe tachycardia leads to heart failure as the cardiac muscle gets exhausted. Beta blockers are used to control the tachycardia until definitive treatment for the hyperthyroidism kicks in. Tapazole (methimazole) is one of the standard treatments for hyperthyroidism and beta blockers are standard at the beginning of treatment. In most cases, the cardiac symptoms resolve with effective treatment of the hyperthyroidism, which takes a few weeks. The sooner treatment commences, the better. That is all I will say on the subject as I do not think an Internet forum is the right place for your family member to be getting advice. He or she needs to see an endocrinologist as soon as possible.

Thanks for the info. I could not find any info on how long the tachycardia would last. The advice to push to see the endocrinologist is very helpful. Unfortunately the PCP did not put stat on the referral, so we are stuck until next week. I'm concerned because the symptoms have not started to abate and the ankles are a little swollen. I think it's time to be firm in dealing with the PCP to get her seen earlier.

 

[Meadbh]

Thanks for the info. I could not find any info on how long the tachycardia would last. The advice to push to see the endocrinologist is very helpful. Unfortunately the PCP did not put stat on the referral, so we are stuck until next week. I'm concerned because the symptoms have not started to abate and the ankles are a little swollen. I think it's time to be firm in dealing with the PCP to get her seen earlier.

+1

 

[MRG]

Good luck and best wishes.

I remember how disturbing it was to have my heart pounding like the Tachacardia caused. Hopefully that will provide the motivation for them to take it serious. I know for me it caused a great willingness and motivation to not feel like that.

 

[bmcgonig]

As per Meadbhs explanation, I would definitely go on the beta blockers immediately.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Some studies have linked magnesium deficiency to tachycardia. I used to have episodes were I could feel my heart beating fast out of the blue and they went away after I changed my diet. (I had all the medical tests done, but interestingly no doctor ever asked about my diet.)

 

[Viking]

I have atrial flutter, but no thyroid issues. On a beta blocker and blood thinner. The beta blocker is usually effective at keeping my heart rate normal, but I did have one uncontrolled episode of flutter that required a cardioversion to shock my heart back into normal rhythm this summer (first time in the more than two years since starting beta blockers).

The cardiologist tells me that if I get to the point where this starts happening more frequently, it will be time to consider ablative therapy.

 

[reneeh63]

Hospitalization was the end of last week. Put on Tapazole only. Symptoms remain. Appointments with specialists are next week. PCP wants to prescribe beta blockers without seeing the patient. Patient will not go along with that.

I'm concerned about heart and peripheral damage. Also side effects of multiple drugs. Heart rate shoots to 130 standing and 140 walking. This seems very high.

140 is certainly higher than normal so you're right to be concerned and to be making an appt. with an endo. Before I was diagnosed with Grave's I was apparently walking around with a heart rate of 180 and having massive and constant headaches. Grave's or regular hyperthyroid is pretty easy to treat but not pleasant in the meantime...just don't over exert and you'll likely be okay until you can get to your doc. BTW, I was put on beta blockers for a period of time to quickly relieve the high HR and headaches but eventually had to have my thyroid ablated with radioactive iodine.

 

[tmm99]

I am hyperthyroid. My pulse was one hundred twenty something per minute at rest when I was diagnosed. It took a while for tapazole to kick in. This was like 15 years ago so I don't remember exactly but I think it took over a month for my frequent jittery feelings to subside. I lost a lot of weight too. I was put on atenolol at the same time because I was hypertensive at the same time and atenolol definitely helped lower my pulse which was good. I went into remission the first year but it didn't take. I have been on 2.5mg of tapazole twice a week (which is a very tiny dosage) the last 7 years or so. No side effects from tapazole.
In my case, the speed of my heart beat improved as my thyroid level became normal, so I imagine your family member's heart beat will normalize once her thyroid condition improves.

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[Another Reader]

Saw the cardiologist and the endocrinologist. Low dose beta blockers and high dose Tapazole were the plan. The beta blocker is a no go because the first pill caused blurred vision and more lightheadedness. The tapazole seems to help but is taking a long time.

Looks like ablation by iodine or surgery is a possibility if the other approaches don't work. It is Graves disease per the endocrinologist.

 

[tmm99]

Saw the cardiologist and the endocrinologist. Low dose beta blockers and high dose Tapazole were the plan. The beta blocker is a no go because the first pill caused blurred vision and more lightheadedness. The tapazole seems to help but is taking a long time.

Looks like ablation by iodine or surgery is a possibility if the other approaches don't work. It is Graves disease per the endocrinologist.

Yep tapazole takes some time. I hope there is something that can lower her heart beat. It is very uncomfortable. I used to get thyroid storms the first month. She should try to eat a lot of food but still expect to lose weight until her thyroid starts slowing down. My antibodies weren't high enough at the beginning but it eventually went up.


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[tmm99]

And oh, I think I was put on 10mg of tapazole per day at the beginning. TSH became too high in a few months. I was given usual alternative choices - a surgery and an iodine therapy but my endo felt mine might go into remission (my thyroid is relatively small with no enlargement) plus I had no side effects from tapazole (no liver problem with it or white blood cell count problems) so he wanted me to stay on tapazole.


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[Another Reader]

It's the resulting lightheadedness and shortness of breath that are causing problems. The metoprolol made things much worse. Fortunately it exits the body in a few hours. I don't think she deals well with drugs - she's allergic to a long list.

She's happy with the weight loss, now over 20 pounds. It's beginning to affect muscle now, so that has to stop as well.

Getting old ain't for sissies...

 

[tmm99]

I can relate. My endo put me on 12.5mg of atenolol a day (which probably is the smallest amount you could prescribe) and that was way too much for me. (I felt like I could faint). I went ahead and halved my dosage upon his approval but strangely enough, he suggested that I upped my sodium intake by drinking a cup of bullion soup!

Anyway it takes awhile to turn this thing around but the remission rate is pretty high and even if it doesn't go into remission, like in my case, it is quite manageable with medication, and as you know, there are other more radical options if the medication route doesn't work.

I lost a lot of hair when my thyroid was hyper. Once the thyroid is under control, that will stop (and you will get more hair again). Dry eyes too will go away. I definitely lost some muscle too, but I tried to eat as much as I could.


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