Heart Palpitations on TRT? The cause?

[stlstudent]

First I will say that yes, I have spent most of the evening searching all the threads and reading but as some know, sometimes you just gotta hear it 'first hand'.

Starting today I started having a number of heart flutters with the slight accompanying lightheadeness. Both are random and short lived but have went on most of the day. For anyone that has experienced this you know its kinda spooky. However, there is no pain, fainting, etc... so haven't ran off to ER yet. Wife is a RN so will have her listen to my heart when she gets home form work.

My question is, can this be brought on by TRT? I've been under the car of Defy for years now and they have pretty much fine tuned me and I have been feeling great! My regiment hasn't changed for the most part.

.25ml SQ every other day of 200mg testosterone (very low SHBG)
.25mg Anastrozole 2x week
400iu HCG 2xweek

Have been on this for at least a year and have been good. Total T is always around 800, Estradoil around 25 and Hematocrit is controlled by blood donation.

So these palpitations have got me a bit spooked and I'm trying to narrow down IF this could be caused by my regiment. Only a couple of things have changed.

1) I started using a new BiPap for obstructive sleep apnea. My other was 11 years old, it still seemed to work but this new one works even better. i feel like I sleep better than I had with the old one. Been on it for about a month

2) I have been doing SQ injections in either the hip or upper/side thigh. However, to change things up the last week I started injecting in the abdomen (I have plenty of fat there).

3) Due to traveling, I have noticed I've had to do a number of my t injections in the evening instead of the usual mornings


I'm not due a blood work up from Defy for another 5 months because I just had one not too long ago. But I did purchase some tests through DiscountedLabs this evening but can't get them drawn until tomorrow and it will take a while to get the results back.

Thoughts?
Nick

 

[Vince]

You would think it was caused by some type of stimulant like caffeine or alcohol.

 

[HealthMan]

I experienced that with high dosages of either testosterone or HCG. And a few of members here experienced the same. So yes it is possible they are being caused by your TRT regimen. Did they start after you commenced TRT?
Remember that HCG has a similar structure to FSH and for some people can cause hyperthyroidism symptoms. Example: before adding HCG to my regimen i used to take thyroid meds to optimize my thyroid. After adding HCG they were no longer necessary. Also HCG had a great impact on my DHEA-S levels so i had to greatly reduce my DHEA dosage.

 

[stlstudent]

Back when I started TRT over 3 years ago I do not remember having any. This is brand new for me. I've read about others on here having it and a number of them are because their numbers got too high. I take HCG and also Armour Thyroid but have been for quite some time with no issue. During my last consult with Defy, numbers and way I felt were good so the regimine was kept the same.

I guess thats why I've been trying to figure out what HAS changed recently that might bring this on. There has been nore more/less caffiene and I haven't drank alcohol. The only thing that has really changed was my injection site. Get labs drawn today so maybe I will see that I was too high and that will give me piece of mind that its correctable.

 

[Systemlord]

Very low SHBG and you're scoring 800, may try targeting the 600 range and see how you do.

Can only imagine FT and free E2 numbers.

 

[johann]

First I will say that yes, I have spent most of the evening searching all the threads and reading but as some know, sometimes you just gotta hear it 'first hand'.

Starting today I started having a number of heart flutters with the slight accompanying lightheadeness. Both are random and short lived but have went on most of the day. For anyone that has experienced this you know its kinda spooky. However, there is no pain, fainting, etc... so haven't ran off to ER yet. Wife is a RN so will have her listen to my heart when she gets home form work.

My question is, can this be brought on by TRT? I've been under the car of Defy for years now and they have pretty much fine tuned me and I have been feeling great! My regiment hasn't changed for the most part.

.25ml SQ every other day of 200mg testosterone (very low SHBG)
.25mg Anastrozole 2x week
400iu HCG 2xweek

Have been on this for at least a year and have been good. Total T is always around 800, Estradoil around 25 and Hematocrit is controlled by blood donation.

So these palpitations have got me a bit spooked and I'm trying to narrow down IF this could be caused by my regiment. Only a couple of things have changed.

1) I started using a new BiPap for obstructive sleep apnea. My other was 11 years old, it still seemed to work but this new one works even better. i feel like I sleep better than I had with the old one. Been on it for about a month

2) I have been doing SQ injections in either the hip or upper/side thigh. However, to change things up the last week I started injecting in the abdomen (I have plenty of fat there).

3) Due to traveling, I have noticed I've had to do a number of my t injections in the evening instead of the usual mornings


I'm not due a blood work up from Defy for another 5 months because I just had one not too long ago. But I did purchase some tests through DiscountedLabs this evening but can't get them drawn until tomorrow and it will take a while to get the results back.

Thoughts?
Nick

I did have the palpitation problem, and I found out after long time it was my low Ferritin. If you are controling Hematocrit by blood donation, go and make sure you are not dropping Ferritin to low, worth to look in to..

 

[stlstudent]

I did have the palpitation problem, and I found out after long time it was my low Ferritin. If you are controling Hematocrit by blood donation, go and make sure you are not dropping Ferritin to low, worth to look in to..

Thanks for that thought! Did fixing your Ferratin levels correct the palpitations? The unfortunate thing was is that I was having them two days before I donated so maybe they didn't get back up and I just crashed them more??

 

[stlstudent]

UPDATE:
So I promised my wife that if these palpitations did not subside by yesterday (Wednesday) that I would go get checked out. During the span of these palpitations (July 18 - Current) I had blood work done on the morning of the 20th through discountedlabs.com and then donated blood to the Red Cross as usual to help with hematocrit.

My palpitations did not subside so I called my family physician who advised I go to Convenient Care. There they drew blood and did an EKG. After a quite a bit of wait, they came in and said a particular Dr wanted to see me...in the Emergency Room! So I drove over and they admitted me quickly, drew more blood, did an EKG and started me on IV fluids, and did a chest X-Ray. After more time waiting, the Doc told me the EKG at that time looked good, no signs of clots or heart attack, x-rays looked good and blood work looked good. So they wrote it off as normal/harmless palpitations and wanted me to follow up with a Cardiologist (scheduled already for August 1). I honestly came away more confused than I did with answers. I was hoping for something bad but at least wanted some type of number to be 'off' to explain what was going on. I've since got my DiscountedLab.com results back along with hospital's and these are the basics:

(LabCorp/Hospital)

Total T: 614/NA
Free T: 33.4/NA
RBC: 6.11/5.94
HMGLB: 17.6/16.7
HMTC: 51.4/50.6
TSH: NA/3.43
Free T4: NA/0.86

So there does not seem to be any real glaring numbers or changes there as that is where I usually am (TSH is usually a little lower but I stopped thyroid compounded as I thought it was the trigger)

So the mystery remains.....at least the Docs were not super critical of HRT as long as it was carefully regulated

 

[MarkM]

................ I was hoping for something bad but at least wanted some type of number to be 'off' to explain what was going on.

I can understand the concern and wanting to get to the bottom of it but why were you hoping for something bad? It doesn't seem to me that the hospital or the clinic ran much of a blood panel if what you posted is all they ran.

 

[johann]

Thanks for that thought! Did fixing your Ferratin levels correct the palpitations? The unfortunate thing was is that I was having them two days before I donated so maybe they didn't get back up and I just crashed them more??

I did go thru all of the same thing EKG, 24 hours EKG and they said the same thing its no harm palpitation..!
After I got my ferritin over 70 I have no problems, can drink coffee agin and all good, made me angry at the docs that they did not even mention that..

 

[stlstudent]

I can understand the concern and wanting to get to the bottom of it but why were you hoping for something bad? It doesn't seem to me that the hospital or the clinic ran much of a blood panel if what you posted is all they ran.

Sorry, that should have read "I WASN'T hoping for something bad" But if at least I would have seen a number way off the scale (high or low) it would give me something to pin the issue on and possibly correct. For example, if my Testosterone would have been 1400 than I could have said "whoa, that might be the cause because that's not normal for me". But instead everything was in range for me and what I usually run.

The hospital/clinic did run a lot of other tests but they all checked out fine and were not specific necessarily to my TRT so I only posted those.

thanks for the reply

 

[stlstudent]

Thanks, I'll look into Ferritin because I do not think that is something they commonly run on blood tests. How did you get it back up?

 

[johann]

Thanks, I'll look into Ferritin because I do not think that is something they commonly run on blood tests. How did you get it back up?

I started to eat red meat every day and liver 1-2 times a week. And dropped the frequency of my blood tests.

 

[meathead]

I have had a similar issue. I’ve had heart palps (pvcs) since I was 13. I’ve had a dozen ekgs, a holter, an echo, etc. all normal. I was 99% palp free through exercise and nutrition (fish oil, magnesium Taurate, CoQ10, and potassium). Even when I had them it would be like a couple a day on a bad day. I was good for like a year+. Then I got on TRT. About 8 weeks in, the palps returned. Now I have one every few minutes. Not fun.

Trying more magnesium and potassium. Doesn’t affect them.

Something about TRT is triggering. So, I’m curious what you find out.

I haven’t donated blood yet. Been on TRT about 3 months. Hematocrit is fine.

 

[Vince Carter]

I would say even just anecdotally that I'm better with a much lower T dose, likewise my E is way down from where it was, etc etc I think you should look there, consider where your Free T is (over lab range?), your SHBG, and dose Cyp accordingly. I too did all the cardiologist stuff and was given a BB which I opted to not take, but I do better now than I was a year ago with my dosing and levels such as they were.

 

[Krock]

Is it possible Low estradiol levels?I am new to this forum in this conversation prompted me to respond.I’ve been on TRT for one year and having palpitations the last few weeks.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

It seems that when you do not the answer everyone blames estradiol LOL

Tachycardia for short minutes: PAC or PVC?

 

[Krock]

LOL, that is funny and I have have kinda noticed that too on the various forums. The reason I put that is that about estradiol is that I have a difficult time "dialing in" over the past year and will likely post some more info about that later. High normal estradiol and was on anastrozole one half tablet per .75 injection of testosterone cypionate weekly, I seemed not myself and actually pretty angry inside. My estradiol seemed to crash easily so I had to DC the anastrozole. Then I decided based on feeling slightly emotional and possibly like sex drive was in overdrive without the anastrozole to have a quarter tablet of arimidex and changed my injections to bi-weekly versus weekly (which btw, when I started a year ago I was on 200 cypionate every two weeks, and that was tough!) This forum has been a blessing in trying to dial in. I think part of the problem for me was also starting with a family physician who knows nothing about TRT, and now I am with a urologist who seems better yet is not running all of the tests not the same tests I see others on this forum finding value from i.e. he runs estradiol but not sensitive.Anyway, in researching palpitations I came across women on menopause with low estrogen having palpitations and though it might be true for men with too low of estrogen as well. I have been thinking about switching to Defy but have not wanted to take the plunge as itis covered by my insurance right now. When I started this journey just over a year ago my total t was ranked at 30. somewhere between 550 and 700 now.

 

[Systemlord]

I can confirm heart palpitations with low estrogen, I stopped TRT 3 months ago and Total T is at best 97-119 ng/dL and leaving estrogen in the bottom end of the ranges even though I'm 30%> BF. A potassium deficiency could also cause your heart to beat irregular, been there as well.


So I had an iron, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin D deficiency the entire time on TRT and estrogen always got the blame.

 

[TLR]

I have experienced the PVC thing and it actually caused me to go to the ER on one occasion. Did the holter monitor, full cardiac workup to include cardiac CT with contrast. After all of that I was told testosterone CAN interact with / influence epinephrine and norepinephrine levels which can stimulate irregular beats (for whatever that is worth). Cardiologist said I was fine and offered beta blocker if they became too obtrusive. They have come and gone at times over the past few years and I can't put a finger on why......