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xanax before ekg test

will taking xanax before an ekg alter the result?
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will xanax affect a nerve test
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1 Comments
Hi EricRoberts, welcome to the forum.  do you have a test coming up in which a doctor felt you may be anxious and prescribed Xanax?  This is done by many clinicians to help calm someone.  Tell us more about what is going on and we'll try to help.
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Will you get better results from a nerve test taking Xanax before the test
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Thank you kenkeith and all others for your responses.  I now remember (short term memory didn't kick in back then) that the doctor instructed me not to take xanax before or during the holter monitor testing, so next time i get an ekg, i will not take a xanax.  As soon as i get my Christmas present from mom, the money will be used for more cardiac testing.  How sad, but the gift of life is the best gift of all.  now if SSA can only give me the "gift" they have owed me for 2 1/2 years, sheesh.  Not only for my cardiac problems, but for a MULTITUDE of other things.
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367994 tn?1304953593
QUOTE: "My problem is that I did not want my problems to be dismissed as though nothing is wrong with me, when it was really xanax covering up some of the true results".

I understand your reasoning and interest.  Sometimes medications to treat tachycardia as experienced with anxiety, etc. can actually cause another type of arrhythmia (irregular heart rate). Also, anxiety type fast heart rate during the ekg test can be factored out of the EKG evaluation to indicate what the parameters are without the fast heart rate. Many people have an increase in the heart rate due to anxiety of taking a test....  

If the heart is beating too fast, its chambers don't have enough time to fill adequately with the proper amount of blood ...as a consequence the proper amount of blood can't be pumped out into the system with each stroke and there are expected physiological negative effects. The low cardiac output is recognized by system as though the system is losing blood and sets into motion the body's defensive response that can explain some of your symptoms.  

"Low cardiac output can cause a multiplicity of brain symptoms suffered from low cardiac output, such as poor short term memory, difficulty multi-tasking, slow mental processing, emotional and so on".  May be a condition concomitant with other health so it doesn't rule out any other causes. Take care and thanks for your response.
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the mitral valve prolapse was only found upon further testing.  I did not remember that i had taken the xanax until the next day, and I should have told the doctor that.  My problem is that I did not want my problems to be dismissed as though nothing is wrong with me, when it was really xanax covering up some of the true results.  thanks for the replies.
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367994 tn?1304953593
I agree the xanx medication would effect the heart rhythm as stated, But taking the medication with an EKG will show the effects of the interaction of the medication.  What is the benefit to know what the EKG is without the regular, daily dose of the medication? I am posing a hypothetical here, but I agree the doctor should be aware of any and all medication, .

Also, the EKG is not very good test to determine mitral valve regurgitation, it at all.  The EKG can help to determine size of left atrium or/and left ventricle and that would be an advanced physiological effect from moderate to severe regurgitation. I don't know of any EKG result that distinquishes directly any valve disorder...is there such result?  
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Avatar universal
The reason why i ask is because i have several instances of EKGs that show anterior infarct - age unknown, and this was at different doctors' offices, so most of the ekg machines at the different locations agreed.  I also wore a holter monitor for 24 hours, which showed the diagnosis of p.a.t., which is a type of tachardia (sp?).  p.a.t. is usually not physically harmful by itself, but combined with other factors, it can be.  i also have a mitral valve prolapse, which was diagnosed on an echo, which is usually not harmful by itself, but combined with other factors, can lead to complications.  now, I had a t.i.a. a few years ago, and i have not been the same since.  To this day, i still get numbness and tingling in the extremities and i am frequently dizzy.  A neurologist did tests and found that my arms and legs were normal, and although he said i have reactive confusion, many of my problems are mental, and i have pseudodementia on depression, which mimics dementia but has a psychological cause.  i DO have panic disorder, and am being treated for it by the psych.  The problem is that one night when i was having severe chest pain, i went to the e.r., and they did an ekg that they said was normal, and they concluded it must have been a panic attack and they sent me home.  i later remembered that i took a xanax as well as baby aspirin before heading to the e.r., so that may have altered the result.  I am concerned that my heart problems are not being taken seriously, as heart disease runs in my family.  My dad passed away years ago from cancer and heart problems, and my mom now wears a pacemaker.  i have high blood pressure and high cholesterol as well, for which i take medication and i have been making healthy changes in my diet.  Now that I have no health insurance, no money, and the cheap community health clinic i go to doesn't have cardiac equipment, i am kind of stuck.  I guess i will be spending my christmas money from my mom on some cardiac testing.  Thanks for the responses.  Any other responses are welcome and I hope I will get more.
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1137980 tn?1281285446
Sorry i am going to disagree with this one....a xanax is a med that is used to basically give you no highs, and no lows and just keeps your mind on a steady relaxed path.  As the above post says it won't effect the structural changing part however it can definately effect everything else.  If a doc felt you had mitral valve prolapse for instance you were on xanax and not in the normal state of mind that you would normally be it would mean that your heart is relaxed, not pumping as hard, thus the valves will not be opening and closing the way they normally do because the heart isn;t so much hard at work...as far as the EKG reading goes...you def. should tell the doc that you are on xanax because they very will may have you stop the meds 72 hours prior to the testing because your body is so much more relaxed and it the outcome could be very different.  The brain works off of electrical activity as does the human heart....obviously you are on xanax because a doc felt you needed to take it down a couple of notches....so your brain is much more relaxed and the firing inside of it has been altered by the meds...same theory with the heart....i would def. let the doc know so that they can get an accurate reading off of the strip.....
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1124887 tn?1313754891
Yes and no, I think.

Yes, it will probably slow the heart rate, especially if you're nervous to do the EKG test (no reason to be, by the way). No, probably won't affect the other results (structural changes, etc). Ask a doctor just to be sure, but I really don't think so.

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