What Causes Heart Palpitations In An Elderly Person?

Posted on Mon, 12 Jun 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 12 Jun 2017 Answered on

Mon, 3 Jul 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a 52 year old woman and have been having heart palpations for a few days that last all day, energy level is not normal,could this be an anxiety issues?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend performing some tests :

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for asking on HCM!

Regarding your concern, I would explain that before concluding that your symptoms are caused by anxiety, it is necessary exclude other possible metabolic causes ( chronic anemia, thyroid dysfunction, electrolyte imbalance, kidney or liver disease, etc. ).

For this reason, I would recommend consulting with your attending physician for a careful physical examination and some tests :

- complete blood count
- fasting glucose levels
- thyroid hormone levels
- blood electrolytes
- kidney and liver function tests
- a resting ECG and cardiac ultrasound.

If all these tests result normal, you should consider anxiety as the main cause of your complaints.

I would also recommend you to closely monitor your blood pressure values. Low blood pressure can mimic this situation.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad