Thyroid meds as a trigger

I suffer from hypothyroidism and I take only synthetic T3 Cytomel (liothyronine sodium) because I have trouble converting T4 to T3. I have been gradually upping my dose to bring my FT3 into the upper half of the normal range when I had a serious AFIB break through even though amiodarone has for two years kept me in NSR. I'm wondering if there might be a connection.

Amiodarone has a high Iodine content which can affect the thyroid, taking T3 and Amiodarone, wow yes indeed it could cause AF. I take Synthroid because I had most of my thyroid nuked as I had Graves disease (hyper thyroid), I was feeling a little tried and took extra thyroid meds and that is how I got my first episode of AF, if I have too much thyroid hormone or not enough it can produce AF. One time I tried taking some Cytomel, felt good for a few hours then my heart started pumping real fast and I got shaky and nervous, I never took cytomel again. You have to be careful with T3. I am sure you have read up on Amiodarone, that can cause thyroid problems plus other health issues, do you have a doctor who is recommending what you are doing, it sounds very scary to me.

Liz

Josiah, I definitely think there can be a connection. I have or should I say had? Hashimoto’s thyroiditis with goiter. A suggested fine needle aspiration biopsy report came back as suspicious for malignant neoplasm and exploratory thyroid surgery was recommended. As it turned out, much to my surprise the general surgeon completely removed my thyroid. I had never even been given a chance to do thyroid medicine but he removed it mainly because one does not know the final path revealing cancer or not until later. They only go by the temporary path and he had to Make a decision as to what he thought was best to do. So I have been without a thyroid since 2005. I have been on thyroid and adrenal support groups and learned about taking natural desiccated thyroid medicine. As you probably understand, it is complex and takes lots of fooling with to get everything right. . It was very much encouraged to get the FT3 in the upper range above the mid-level. I went up and down, but mostly up with constant encouragement from the groups to do so. It is very difficult to know if this is just the way your body will be or if too much T3 is there causing you to feel so ramped up. I firmly believe now that years of taking too much thyroid med caused my heart disturbances. I have no heart disease, just afib. It’s probably surprising that it didn’t happen sooner as high as my FT3 was many times and I did check in with the groups and report my levels and it seemed they kept encouraging higher numbers as time would go by. So, I would encourage you to use caution and to listen to your body if you feel the Cytomel is ramping you up too much. My afib started sometime in 2018 or a little earlier perhaps so it took about 13 years to have effect on my heart and another factor would be my advancing age which at that time was 69, as the older one gets, the more susceptible they may become to the same dose of thyroid medicine they were on before, so adjustments may be necessary with age.

Thank you both for your cautionary replies. My problem is further complicated by having a problem converting T4 into T3. For some reason unless I'm on Cytomel my Reverse T3 is seriously elevated.

Josiah - Do you have a knowledgeable thyroid doctor who can thoroughly and reliably assess your thyroid function?
That's very important since there are often subtle treatment variables that can make a huge difference in results.

Long before I developed AF, I had a thyroid problem that my general practitioner wasn’t managing effectively, so I consulted several endocrinologists over several years… expecting that they would find through testing what was missing. I was given a variety of meds and then I developed tender thyroid nodules. The last thyroid specialist kept ramping up Synthroid dosing, which was the drug of choice.

The years went by and eventually, I developed AF… and it was only occasionally and short duration and then, as time went on the events increased and eventually, it was my good fortune was to find a Functional MD who changed the medication to Armour Thyroid and we tinkered with various doses and tested for iodine. The iodine was very low so we began dosing by the ‘low and slow’ method and a number of related symptoms began to disappear. Eventually, I was due for another thyroid scan with the endocrinologist and she was amazed that several of my very large nodules had decreased in size and others, had gone away completely. When I told her it was a combination of Armour Thyroid and iodine, she looked very puzzled.

The story continues. After I had my last Natale ablation in 2015, and when I went back to my FM MD for my routine checkup, I needed a new Rx for the Armour thyroid, which was (by then) reduced to a very low dose due to the functional effect of the iodine. She said after the recent ablation and all, she was not comfortable prescribing any thyroid medication for me. So I went to my Primary Care MD with the refill request and got the same response.

I communicated with my EP Nurse at St. David’s in Austin and was told that Dr. Natale said it was okay to resume my former dosing of Armour Thyroid as long as I was in the normal test range. I related that to both doctors… but they refused. So, I decided to use just a thyroid support supplement and add additional iodine to see what might develop.

That was approximately 4 years ago, and my thyroid function tests normal for all factors… although I’ve not yet had this year’s testing done.

Apparently, because I’ve always lived in the same relative area which is known as “the goiter belt,” I’ve always been iodine deficient. Unfortunately, doctors were not clued in as to how important that can be for some individuals… and I certainly was a prime example. In addition to the thyroid problem, I also had a severe case of fibrocystic breast disease which was a nightmare….. emphasizing the importance of the proper type of testing for iodine which certainly isn’t commonly known by endocrinologists (here in the Cleveland area) as I saw at least six of them over a span of a number of years.

So, my point to you is: attempt to find a doctor who has expertise in evaluating thyroid function from all aspects because it can definitely affect your health and also your heart.

I wish you well.
Jackie


PS - Years later, books by David Brownstein, MD and Lynne Farrow wrote books on the topic.

The Iodine Crisis: What You Don't Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life
[www.amazon.com]

Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It
David Brownstein, MD
[drbrownstein.com]

Jackie:

Josiah said that he has been taking Amiodarone for two years, that drug is bad and is known to affect the thyroid, that may be why he is having problems with his thyroid.

Liz

Josiah: Taking Amiodarone over two years plus sent my thyroid into a hyper condition which was treated and resulted into a hypo condition for which I now take a natural supplement, Naturethroid, which provides both T3 and T4.

I suggest you meet with an Endocrinologist for thyroid treatment while requesting your EP to replace the Amiodarone. Flecainide worked for me with almost no side effects..

I definitely feel there is a connection between thyroid and Afib. I now keep my TSH between 1.0 and 2.0 with good old NSR, after a Natale ablation, or course.

Gordon

Thank you Jackie and Elizabeth for your cautionary replies. I just posted again indicating that I do appreciate how much I should be avoiding Amiodarone.