Question:
I am a 39 year old female diagnosed with lupus 3 years ago. I have been taking 10 mg of prednisone and 400 mg of plaquenil daily since. I also have thyroid disease and take eltroxin. Recently I began to suffer from dizziness, blurry vision and palpatations and profuse sweating I also had a couple of episodes of chest pain. After having a holter monitor test I was diagnosed with arterial fibrilation and given atenolol. Could the lupus cause such a thing? My thyroid levels are normal.

Answer:
Certainly hyperthyroidism or over replacement of thyroid medication would be a cause of atrial fibrillation but is not in this case due to normal thyroid levels. There is idiopathic atrial fibrillation (without an underlying structural or chemical cause). This is likely more common than atrial fibrillation (a fib) from lupus which is very uncommon and usually associated with a cardiomyopathy (lupus affecting the heart). However, if otherwise well, the a fib is treated and the lupus may not need further added treatment."