trembling in my chest cavity.

Is this a common side effect of arrhythmia drugs?

I experienced trembling in my chest cavity while taking flecainide, it happened when I was just going to sleep and at worse would wake me three or so times during the night, and again just as I woke in the morning.
This was the main reason I stopped taking flecainide. I was also concerned when I found out from this forum I should have been taking Diltiazem with flecainide.

I thought I was experiencing superventricular tachycardia because the trembling seem like about 200+ bpm. I told my doctor about this and he didn't know what I was talking about, but ordered a heart rate monitor for me to wear for seven days.
During this time I experienced two of the worst nights ever, waking up three times with very bad trembling, it was like I had a cell phone buzzing inside my chest.
The results came back and I was in NSR for the duration of the tests.
The trembling reduced after stopping flecainide, but it hasn't completely gone, I still get it sometimes and that's after eighteen months of not taking flec.

Has any else experienced something like this.

You can understand why I am not a fan off flecainide.

Colin

PS. I started taking ginger soon after stopping flec.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2014 02:55PM by colindo.

Hi Colin,

Just out of curiosity, have you tried not taking ginger for a couple nights and see if there is any lessening of the chest trembling you have? If possibly you have some Adrenergic tendencies the ginger , which can be a real rev up herb, just might be over stimulating and thus causing a similar kind of trembling often associated with mild to moderate hyper-thyroidism as well. Then again thyroid dysfunction could Alsobplay a role in this equation and is often associated to one degree or another with AFIB, be it from too low hypothyroid effects of two high spurts if transitory emus of hyperthyroid effects possibly due to periodic pulsitile spikes of T3 hormone release, rather than regular 24/7 hyperthyroidism?

Just good for thought.

Shannon

Hi Shannon,

Taking ginger, saw a big improvement in regard to Afib.
Flecainide was definitely the culprit. After a month of stopping it the trembling almost disappeared.

I read that Murray L experienced trembling in the chest cavity, while taking his medication.
I was hoping He and others would comment on there experiences.

Colin

I have not related it to Flecaininde but I presented to the doc several times that upon wakening, at times, I feel almost like my chest is vibrating and I think Im in some weird rhythm. I feel my pulse and it is normal but my chest feels vibrating or fast, like I have two pulses and one very rapid. After the , " I think you are insane" look I was told it is impossible to feel two different pulses. I thought maybe my top chambers were fast and lower normal ??? I didnt know. So there was never a conclusion. Maybe it is the medication ??

Colin - I can relate to the sensations of vibrations in the upper chest/thymus area.

When I first experienced it, I was not on any heart meds... but I was working on restoring thyroid function via nutrients and supplemental iodine plus the Armour thyroid hormone I had taken for over 20 years. The vibrating sensations occurred around the time I was seeing my FM MD who said...stop the thyroid hormone completely and see what happens. I had labs thyroid function at that visit.

Before I received the test results, the vibrations stopped once I stopped the Armour, but the labs did show I was getting into hyper-thyroid territory.
I have since been able to add back much smaller amounts of Armour. Rather than taking 30 mg a day, I now take 15 mg only 3 days a week... as the iodine has returned the thyroid to nearly normal functioning on its own. Keep in mind that fluoride from drinking water or various foods binds iodine so that it can't function so we end up with thyroid malfunctions.

You should definitely consider having a complete thyroid profile assessment. If you are trending toward 'hyper'... that could also be a driver of arrhythmia. While the TSH is often considered the standard marker... you really need the complete thyroid profile which includes not Free T3 and Free T4 plus thyroid antibodies and Reverse T3 so the endocrinologist has the whole picture for thyroid assessment. Measurement of the Free T3 and Free T4 show what's actually available to the thyroid gland. The standard T3 and T4 tests don't do that.

Jackie

I agree with Jackie Colin, the kind of symptom you are discribing is one of the more common signs of at least transient spikes of hyperthyroidism in the form of transient conversion of T4thyroud storage hormone into the bio active main T3 thyroid hormone in the moment which can cause a come and go feeling of gitteriness or buzzing in your chest rather than full time as can happen in some people with full blown hyperthyroidism.

The problem is you will need a good functional
Med doc or a more enlightened endocrinologist to help confirm all this with the right testing to be able to catch this transient hyperthyroid which is often triggered by low cortisol function which triggers a two rapid conversion of T4 to T3.

Anyway, some of these cardiac drugs also do a number on adrenals and others can impact the thyroid as well.

At least a full and complete thyroid panel that includes Free T3 and Free T4 as well as all the thyroid antibody tests us a great place to start. Total T4 and total T3 are much less useful and if your doc wants to do A 'TSH with Reflex to T4' test which is a totally superfilous and indirect test then go find another doctor immediately as he or she is either a lazy abd/ormisinformed doc when it comes to thyroid testing.

It's certainly worth pursue in to rule in or out in your case since if even the much more elusive to confirm transient hyperthyroid symptoms are happening that can aggregate AFIB directly as well.

Shannon

Tsco, you describe the sensation well, its much like what I experienced.

Jackie and Shannon,
Thanks for your reply.
You could be right.
I never thought chest trembling was a symptom of transient spikes of hyperthyroidism, which in turn triggers my Afib.
I ask, why don't the doctors know this? To be fair he did do a thyroid test, which indicated normal function.
I don't think it was a complete thyroid profile though.
Wouldn't transient spikes of hyperthyroidism be difficult to detect, especially if it occurs in a random fashion.
I can't recall having chest trembling pre flecanide.
Next time I get Afib I will take notice if I also experience chest trembling.
I don't get much of both these days.
I wonder if the ginger I take has calmed down the hyper-thyroid some what.

Colin

Transients spikes can be hard to directly catch but combining specific serum thyroid tests along with same day 24 hour urinary free T3 and urinary free T4 ( nite urinary T3 and T4 are free fraction measure by definition inherently) can help sort that out . Alas the vast majority of otherwise excellent docs don't have a clue about this and it would be extremely unlikely to find a cardio or EP doing these more subtle and comprehensive thyroid exams.

A thorough 24 hour urinary adrenal hormone profile as part of the urinary thyroid test is essential as part of such an investigation.

Shannon

PS most doc use only TSH or TSH plus Total T4 to screen thyroid function which will only catch the most extreme cases where the thyroid horse has long ago left the barn.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2014 03:14PM by Shannon.

Shannon,

If I get these tests done and the results indicate I do have symptoms of transient spikes of hyperthyroidism,  what would be the likely remedy?

Colin

Hi Colindo

I have had the trembling occasionally for several years, as I have afib. My medicine is multaq. Rhythmn medications have always played hell with my chest muscles and even caused painful breathing (sotalol).

As I had an ablation a week ago from Dr. Natale the meds were stopped and the trembling vibration, which had become constant subsided in intensity and finally vanished. This enabled me to achieve a level of relaxation not achieved in the past several months. So yes to your question about the connection to meds. However, the tension and tenderness still is in my chest. This tension seems somehow to be prophylactic to afib episodes though, as when it does disappear, they seem to return forthwith.

There are several other interesting peculiarities or coincidences;
1. It switches off and on. The vibration goes from nothing to kilohertz instantaneously and then off again. Finally, it became constant a few months ago.
2. It is located in the same area I experience shivering and cold, in which my body temperature is not regulated and requires me to position a chair over a floor heater for 45 minutes sometimes to stop shivering. (The emergency room examines me for infection and finds none and sends me home!)

The ablation has not remedied this on the spot. In fact, I have had a number of episodes of some sort of arrhythmia which have been duly recorded and sent to the staff in Austin. I should hear back from them soon. I have mentioned to them the vibrations but they classified it as some unknown collateral effect of afib and told me to wait and see. It is still a concern to me of course.

My endocrine system is suspect due to my horrible diet of the last 5 years or so. It's improving at this point.

Thanks,
JohnC

persistent flutter treating with enzymes, acupuncture, supps,

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

I think I can conclude and say that the chest trembling is a rare side effect of arrhythmia drugs.
The common thread is, when you stop taking the drugs the symptoms go away.
My doctor said he thought It must have something to do with chest muscles reacting to something, but he didn't know what.

Colin