I'm a 45-year-old male who was diagnosed with Lone Atrial Fibrillation after three scary episodes of missed heartbeats mixed with rapid heartrate in December of last year. At the same time, I also started to develop all the hallmarks of some sort of anxiety disorder. No doctor has come out and said, "You have an anxiety disorder," but waking up from bad dreams with a rapid heartrate, getting jittery when tough situations present themselves in work and at home, anxious feelings when I'm watching an exciting show or sporting event on TV, high blood pressure (140/110) when the kids get a bit out of control, getting incrdibly agitated at slight provocations like getting cut off in traffic - all these things seem to point to anxiety. Also, I've been reading a lot of the posts in this forum for the past couple of months and recognise myself in what a lot of you have been saying is happening to you. So with all that background, here's my question: I'm taking a beginners fencing class at a local university, and last night, as we were warming up prior to starting the class, my heart started to skip uncontrollably. My pulse was about 100 BPM, and my heart would beat for two or three beats, skip one, the next two or three beats would be extra fast, fast for the next two or three beats, then start all over again. Could this be a result of me being anxious prior to the class starting? There is a competitive element to this class, what with me being by far and away the oldest person amongst all these youngsters starting college for the first time and me not wanting to be shown up by them. Also, I had eaten a medium-sized meal about 1 hour prior to the start of the class. Would this, allied with the initial physical exertion, have contributed in any way to the missed beats? Or am I fooling myself into thinking I have anxiety when what I really have is an undiagnosed heart condition that needs attention from a cardiac specialist? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.