Have you eliminated AFIB by normalizing thyroid hormones?

Posted by stan4745 @stan4745, Feb 20, 2025

Has anyone eliminated their AFIB by bringing their thyroid levels to the normal range. I was diagnosed with sub-clinical hyperthyroidism and Graves when my AFIB was discovered. Methimazole brought my TSH level to normal, and I went from being in AFIB 100 percent of the time to under 20 percent of the time. I'm considering an ablation, but I want to make sure I've reached the maximum effectiveness through the thyroid medication first.

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Profile picture for suerte @suerte

@merrychristmas I am well aware that hypothyroidism can cause arrythmia problems. My question and statement were about the complete daisy chain from Hashimoto's to hypothyroidism to Afib. Is this a valid sequence of events? There is no empirical data that proves there is or is not a linkage.

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Profile picture for chickenfarmer @chickenfarmer

@stan4745 in my case of hyperthyroidism, my TSH was all over the place while T4free and T3 were virtually unchanged. Yet lowering the synthroid dosage which increased TSH virtually eliminated my arrhythmias.

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@chickenfarmer
My experience exactly. Did you find a doctor who agreed with your results? As I have been involved in this Afib battle for years I’m surprised that more experts don’t support our findings.

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Profile picture for drdianeschneider @drdianeschneider

Hello, @chickenfarmer My cardiologists, and the literature, have admitted for many years now that low thyroid (hypothyroidism) also causes heart arrhythmias, although it's not clearly understood why and how this occurs. Previously, it was believed that only high thyroid triggered atrial fib, and that was taught in med school for years. But it's a complex relationship between heart & thyroid. "Stop The Thyroid Madness" is a patient-centered website (and a book by that name) that has been compiling research on this and other thyroid questions and treatments for almost 25 years, and might be of interest to you. There are research studies discussed and other documentation of doctors who are studying the low-thyroid/afib connection. I found it helpful; I have low thyroid and AF episodes.

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@drdianeschneider my experience is different in that I find that hyperthyroidism causes arrhythmia. I am inherently hypo because my cancerous thyroid was completely removed. What I’ve found is that higher TSH reduces my arrhythmia problems - not sure how much hypo will help until TSH gets so high that arrhythmias start up again. That’s why I’m seeking a dr that knows these interactions and can help guide me to the optimum levothyroxine dose.

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