does anxiety mess up EKG results?

[BCUL997]

I have been dealing with my PCP(primary care provider) and at one point a cardiologist but not anymore. I am a 20 year old male from the US 6ft even and 135lb. My question is can an anxiety attack mess up ekg or echocardiogram results? I seem to have a bad case of white coat syndrome. Everytime i go to the doctor for whatever reason i am anxious as can be. Even in the waiting room, but im calm for a few minutes until the doctor comes in. I had my first EKG done in the emergency room at the beginning of December 2017. This EKG came back abnormal and prompted my PCP to message me through a thing called MyChart to make an appointment about my results. The ER had already told me i was fine i went in there for chest pains that they said was acid reflux. To me acid reflux pain is not actual pain and more of a burning feeling in the throat like when you have just drank all night and have some hot pipes. They told me otherwise and that was what was causing my pains. My PCP was very concerned about the results even after i told him i was in a panic about it all in the ER. The cardiologist was even confused as to why a 20 year old was there. I felt quite weird walking in seeing no one i would assume was under 40 maybe even 50. All in all after seeing him once he ordered the echo be done and a TSH and free thyroxine test and gave me a beta blocker, metoprolol 25mg extended release once a day. All of this has had me in a bit of a spiral of anxiety and i dont know what to take away from it all. I have asked my doctor several times why im on the metoprolol and i feel as if somethings wrong since im still taking it. I was just barely in the prehypertension stage BP wise. He said he wanted to keep me on it until the spring time and then we could maybe stop taking it. His reasoning for it seems to be anxiety/sinus tachycardia. I forgot to mention the echo came back good and every other EKG ive had done came back fine besides the one in the ER and one in my PCP office. The one in my PCP office he about scared me to death and while on the EKG he asked me if i had anyone with me for when he diagnosed me and within seconds after that i lost feeling in my hands and feet and freaked out even worse. On that EKG he even said i had AFib and thats when he said the cardiologist needed to be seen. The cardiologist said my doctor was in what us youngsters call it "tweakin" and thats what he actually said he told me i have P waves and plenty of them and that i needed to just calm down. Any thoughts on my situation would be awesome im open to criticism too. Ive never lived my life the way i am at this point. I was an avid marijuana smoker vaper and had my fair share of fun at festavils and all. I dont plan to do any of this anymore ive quit vaping weed and dont even touch pop anymore. I feel like a new man, but i also feel like its for the best and even if i am ok heart wise id rather not look back it.

[Fishmanpa]

Beta blockers are often used to treat panic attacks and based on your post, everything in your post indicates that your doctors are doing the right thing based on your reaction in the ER. All a beta blocker does is limit how hard your heart works. When you have a panic attack things snowball. You panic, your heart rate increases, you panic more etc. the beta blocker keeps your heart rate stable which = less panic.

Positive thoughts

[BCUL997]

Thanks for the reply. My heart rate still does go up a bit even while taking the beta blockers. As i was in the cardiologist office a month ago for my results visit my heart rate was 130 and the doctor couldnt believe that it was that high while on the beta blockers. Although i am on the lowest dose of them at 25mg i hope to not have to take anymore or go up in dosage.

[braveinfiction]

If it makes you feel any better I'm going to the cardiologist next Wednesday. I'm 26. Had some pain, palpitations, pulsing through body, sleepiness and other symptoms going back to May. Been to the ER a ton. So many EKGs it ain't funny, all normal. One EKG did have a reading for something the ER doc immediately dismissed because the computer will often throw out a "diagnosis" at the top of them that aren't accurate and the doctor can quickly tell just by looking at the results. Same with blood tests, all normal except for a few times when I had slightly low or high white or platelet counts that I guess were stress/anxiety related. But yeah, I'm going in next week and it's pretty weird cause I know I'll be the youngest there in all likelihood...but the cardiologist is legit and will likely find if there is something wrong and his prognosis/opinion should be trusted. I'm also on propranolol because my blood pressure is always pretty high when I go to the doc/ER - though it's normal when I check it home; my doctor thinks it's white coat syndrome. If your PCP young? He seems really impulsive.

[lofwyr]

EKGs are known for being wildy inaccurate. They are often the first course of diagnostic tool used, simply because they are quick and easy, and can show if something is wrong. But I have a real heart condition, so have had my fair share. I throw bad EKGs consistently, showing I had a heart attack in the septal wall, the thing is I didn't have anything of the sort, as proven by the angiogram and echo, and CT, all for the aortic aneurysm I *do* have. The doctor thinks my EKG is probably unreliable because the blood flow is different for me because of my aneurysm. Your heart is wild, and amazingly durable. You are young, and having given up the vaping etc is probably a good thing. I have had palpatations, flutters, etc all my life. My heart is fine. My aorta is a different story, but no biggie.

[Careful1]

I have 3 different heart arrhythmia's diagnosed when I was 20 years old and over the years my ekgs have said all kinds of stuff that was inaccurate. Cardiologist doesn't even go by what the machine says is going on, he reads them manually.

Good news is that you had a normal echo. This means your heart is structurally normal, so even if you do have an arrhythmia, in a structurally normal heart they are mostly
benign. I even get short runs of v tach and my cardiologist told me years ago I was and will be fine and he was right. I had an ablation done for the NSVT and my SVT but it was done for my comfort. I still get palpation's, flutters and flip flops daily but it doesn't bother nor worry me anymore.

Beta blockers can help with anxiety, high blood pressure and palpation's, they work by blocking the effects of the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline).

[BCUL997]

If it makes you feel any better I'm going to the cardiologist next Wednesday. I'm 26. Had some pain, palpitations, pulsing through body, sleepiness and other symptoms going back to May. Been to the ER a ton. So many EKGs it ain't funny, all normal. One EKG did have a reading for something the ER doc immediately dismissed because the computer will often throw out a "diagnosis" at the top of them that aren't accurate and the doctor can quickly tell just by looking at the results. Same with blood tests, all normal except for a few times when I had slightly low or high white or platelet counts that I guess were stress/anxiety related. But yeah, I'm going in next week and it's pretty weird cause I know I'll be the youngest there in all likelihood...but the cardiologist is legit and will likely find if there is something wrong and his prognosis/opinion should be trusted. I'm also on propranolol because my blood pressure is always pretty high when I go to the doc/ER - though it's normal when I check it home; my doctor thinks it's white coat syndrome. If your PCP young? He seems really impulsive.


My PCP is older I'd say around 50-60 he was in med school training when my grandma was in her final stages. But see my blood pressure has always been normal it's just the high heart rate of around 100-115. I only went into the ER originally for chest pains which had went away by the time I was in there. I'm getting it figured out though I'm going to see my cardiologist again on Monday if he's available. I'm going to ask exactly what is abnormal about my EKG. Like I said my echo came back normal besides physiological pulmonic regurgitation. Which that's not a concern as in the old days it use to not even be detected on an echo.