can tachycardia (racing heart beat) be caused by anxiety?

[br19893]

Hi all, so yesterday I have a very routine procedure done on my eye and opted to have a general anaestheti because I find it hard to stay still. Iv had a few anaesthetics in the past but they were a while ago and back then I didn't really have any symptoms of anxiety.
After the operation I came around fairly quickly and had some food straight away so i expected I would be discharged within an hour or so. I have no anxieties about being put to sleep or needles and i was very calm before the procedure. However when the nurse came to check my blood pressure and heart rate my heart was beating at 140 beats per minute. She asked if I felt alright and I said I did as far as i knew. The room was hot and full of people so I felt how I usually do in that sort of situation-a bit panicky and twitchy.
They ended up keeping me overnight, monitoring my heart rate every half an hour or so.
I found that as soon as I left the busy room and was put in a room on my own on a different ward I went from 120-140 a minute right down to 80 a minute in a quick amoubt of time.
The doctors didn't explain much about why this happened as they were more interested in doing ecg's and blood tests to check I hadn't had a heart attack (which obviously i hadn't being a healthy 18 year old!)
The sensation I got when I was in that room when my heart was beating so fast is a feeling I get almost every day in certain situations which must mean my heart regularly beats very fast. Is this a panic attack I'm experiencing and can this harm me over time?
The doctors said they would inform my gp but I know he wont Chase it up. should I go in for myself or should I just mention it to my new counsellor next Monday?
Sorry this was quite long its just I never realised the physical effects anxiety has been having on me!
Thanks in advance for any advice :)

[eight days a week]

I suffered from tachycardia from my primary school days but never knew what it was - I thought it was just 'what happened' to people's bodies in certain situations!

I'm pretty sure it isn't dangerous for many people, but I reckon you need to get it checked out, for your own peace of mind if nothing else. Find out when your GP has received the letter, and then go in and see them and ask to have everything checked.

I did the same thing and was totally reassured it wasn't dangerous for me (once I'd had all the other heart checks) but it's stopped now I take beta-blockers, and I feel much better now it doesn't happen every day!!

Best wishes :)

[br19893]

How strange I thought it was normal too! How were you diagnosed with it? Did you go to the gp yourself?
Yeah I think that's the best idea, I'm definatley requesting to see a different doctor though because he's rubbish and i know that unless I had an underlying heart he wouldn't give me the time of day!
This may be a stupid question, but I'm always tired and coldd I often wondered if this was down to anxiety. Do you think the physical effects of anxiety would be enough to make me Feel so tired all the time?
Thanks for your quick response x

---------- Post added at 20:35 ---------- Previous post was at 20:34 ----------

Sorry for the poor spelling there I'm on my phone! Haha

[eight days a week]

Well my GP was going to put me on Propanolol for anxiety. It's mainly a heart drug (a beta-blocker) but is also commonly prescribed for anxiety. So he said 'as it's a heart drug let's check out your heart too'.

Thank goodness he did! I was diagnosed with tachycardia and an arrythmia, neither of which are dangerous for me the specialist advised after all the tests. But the beta-blocker really helps with the heart stuff too, of course, so I don't have those uncomfortable feelings all the time. A lot of my anxiety was about my heart (although I hadn't told my GP that - he's cold and I never really saw him until then so I -silly me - didn't think to say anything). The beta-blocker protects me in the future against any problems heart-wise despite my underlying (slight) problems, and my anxiety about my heart has been mostly laid to rest :) It's win-win! :yesyes:

I'm always tired and cold too. I'm not sure if it's heart-related, you'd need to speak to your GP and the heart people about that. In my case I didn't (silly me again :weep:) but I think mine's poor circulation and maybe a bit low in iron.

Basically, make sure you speak to your GP about all your concerns imo - get it all sorted out now :yesyes:

<edit> Seeing daybyday's post, my GP did check on my thyroid too.

[mc2000]

Anxiety can cause your heart rate to increase. 140bpm is somewhat higher than you would expect from anxiety, which is probably why it was mentioned, but if it goes down immediately when the anxiety is removed it is still harmless.

It could only possibly cause damage if it were very high (faster than 140bpm) for weeks on end. Alternatively if you had an arrhythmia it possibly could be harmful, but this is very unlikely to start and stop due to entering and leaving an anxious situation.

The heart rate doesn't need to be treated but you might want to seek some sort of psychological treatment for the anxiety you experience in situations like that, because harmless as it might be it isn't "normal" to become so worried going to the doctor that your HR shoots up to 140. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is known to be highly effective, so you could investigate that. It is provided on the NHS or alternatively there are many private providers if you don't want to wait.

[nb: Im not a doctor but have been experiencing something similar. Unfortunately mine doesn't seem to correlate strongly to being in an anxious situation which makes the cause a bit less clear...]