Posted 4/28/2015 8:27 AM (GMT -6)
Hey everyone..I'm sorry this is long but I want to include everything I can about what's happening. I'm pretty much at the end of my rope here. It seems like every doctor I talk to just brushes everything off as anxiety and doesn't really take me seriously. Yes I do have anxiety/panic disorder..but I know something else is going on besides that. I was recently diagnosed with Hashimotos and 4 goiters on my thyroid (one being as large as 35mm)..but my blood test results came back as my thyroid functioning normally. For about the last month or two i've noticed more pounding heart than normal. Before I would just usually get the pounding after a really carby meal, in the middle of the night if I drank a lot of alcohol, certain sugars/etc. Then I kind of just started getting it for no reason. Now for about the last month or so, i'm getting a pounding heart in the middle of the night. Sometimes it wakes me up and sometimes I think I just wake up and then notice it. This pounding heart feels different to me than when I get it other times..and if I do wake with it, then I have it all night long every time I wake up. But If I don't have it the first time I wake in the middle of the night, then i'm usually good the rest of the night. I'd say it usually happens 3-4 times a week. I typically wake about the same times every night when I do get it (2:30am, 4am, 6am). Sometimes I get a fast breathing sensation with it and a body tremble..sometimes I get a hard to breathe sensation once I wake up..sometimes it's just the heart pounding. When I feel my pulse it's not that it's going crazy fast..it's probably between 85-95 bmp..but it's a fast night time heartbeat and wakes me up. I usually can get it to slow back down if I relax and deep breathe for a while..then i'll go back to sleep but wake back up with it in another few hours. I don't snore..and as far as I know I don't gasp for air while sleeping. So I don't think it's sleep apnea (but who knows?)
Also..for the last 5 years or so when I drink heavily I would wake in the middle of the night with a pounding heart..drink some water..deep breathe a bit and after about 30-40 minutes it would go away and i'd sleep fine for the rest of the night. It didn't happen every time I drank, just randomly. NOW? ANYTIME I drink at all it happens, and it happens all night long just like this issue. Every time I wake up it will be pounding.
Back to the normal nightly pounding..
It also seems like this pounding stops once I actually get up. I actually feel like a lot of the pounding during the day I use to get has ceased, but now I get it more at night. I've tried propping my pillow and thought it was helping at first, but do still get it even when propped up.
I've had 2 holter monitors put on (although the last one I had just missed this issue I just started getting), dozens of EKGS, stress test, blood tests, X-rays on chest and lungs, cat scan of lungs..all with no findings except for 'regular fast heart beats'. So i'm guessing it's not an actual heart issue..but i'm no doctor.I did tell my cardiologist about this and he kind of just shrugged it off as having nightmares/being anxious/being highly aware of my own body. I agree to a point but I know something more is going on.
I guess my question is...Can my thyroid be doing all of this? Could the large goiter in my neck be hitting something and causing a pounding heart while I lay down to sleep? I know you guys aren't doctors but I thought maybe someone else can relate and figured out what it was. I'm getting depressed over this and feel like i'm never going to have a normal nights sleep again.
Thank you for any help you can give!