Heart rate and levothoroxine

ratface

The current exercise thread brought this to mind. Yesterday I had an ear cleaning at my General practitioner's office. He did the routine vitals. My resting heart rate was 56 and has been around there for the last year or so. I exercise all the time and just thought it was a positive side effect of exercise but now I am beginning to wonder if it may be a thyroid problem. I am as many others on this board taking levothroxine for under active thyroid due to radiation damage. My doctor didn't comment on it but an intern who was training with him remarked that it was kind of low? How many of you on thyroid medication have seen a drop in heart rate or what is your rate as you read this thread?

patricke

Synthriod
I've been on levothroxine for about 10 yrs, a rad casualty of course, with no effect on my heart rate or b/p. Is the 56 bpm significantly different from what it was before starting synthroid. Back in the days when I was running regularly my heart rate was in the 56 bpm range, which i felt was great. My current rate, as we speak, is around 72. I'm looking forward to getting back to running and working out, which will hopefully get my rate back down some.

PATRICK

Skiffin16

Synthroid
A few months ago they started me on Synthroid...but took me back off after 10 days. My resting heart rate was 90+ (normally in the 70 - 74 range) and my BP went from around 134/80 to 165/95.

Within a few days both the pulse and BP dropped back down to where they were previously.....

When I use to put in around 50 miles a week in the USMC for running/jogging, my heart rate was around 60 - 62...

I'm sure eventually I'll need to go on something, they just don't feel I'm there yet...

TSH is a little high at around 6.0, but Free T4 is within range.

JG

ratface

patricke said:

Synthriod
I've been on levothroxine for about 10 yrs, a rad casualty of course, with no effect on my heart rate or b/p. Is the 56 bpm significantly different from what it was before starting synthroid. Back in the days when I was running regularly my heart rate was in the 56 bpm range, which i felt was great. My current rate, as we speak, is around 72. I'm looking forward to getting back to running and working out, which will hopefully get my rate back down some.

PATRICK

Yes it's different
I ran seriously for several years running 5 Chicago marathons and it was never at 56. It hovered more around the 70-80 range. I haven't run that much in 20 yrs but am 50lbs lighter than my marathon days. Could the weight loss alone account for such a drop?

palmyrafan

Synthroid
I went to the PCP on Monday and my heart rate was about 65 and my blood pressure was 160/100 which for me is very high. I am typically 120/80 but have been told that because I am also on Prednisone, that it was probably the reason my blood pressure was high.

I occaaionally get a "flutter" of a rapid heartbeat, but usually only when I am having a particularly stressful day.

By the way, I am on .025 mcgs of Synthroid a day, which has proven to be a great dosage level for me. It took me about a week - 10 days to get used to it but now don't seem to have too much of an issue with it.

Good luck.

Hondo

Hi Ratface
When my wife first went on Synthroid her heart would speed up and start skipping. I ask the doctors if it could be the new medication but they said nothing. Then they did all kinds of test to see if something was wrong with her heart, after about $25,000 bucks in test they could find nothing wrong. So I asked them again and very loud to make sure I had their attention, and the chief surgeon said why sure it affects the Thyroid. Needless to say we changed her medication to levothoroxine and she is normal again.

Oh the side affects
Hondo