False positive Atrial Flutter?

[TheresArabbitInMyChest]

First let me tell you a little about what been going on. I was on 50mg of Atenolol twice a day for a fast heart rate made worse by my heavy drinking. I quit drinking 11 days ago. Anyways, about 3 days of no drinking, my BP was hovering between 160-175 over 95-115 and my pulse dropped dramatically and was between 38-45 bpm, normally it is 60-90 and without my Atenolol its 85-150 bpm. Worried I called my cardiologist and he said to go to the ER to get checked out, so I did. I had blood tests, ekg's, a chest x-ray, and continuous heart monitoring for 8hrs.
I was given no meds and all the tests came back normal including all my troponin tests. The doc admitted me to telemetry to keep and eye on me, he also discontinued the Atenolol. I was there for 2 days and my BP was still up 150/90 but my pulse went up to 45-55. He said he thinks it was the Atenolol and to wait till it wears off and I was discharged. I couldn't get in to see my electrophysiologist 6 days later, 8 days since stopping the Atenolol.
The evening before my docs appointment my heart rate went back up to 95-120 bpm so I figured the Atenolol finally wore off. That night after dealing with 110 bpm for 12hrs I called my cardiologists exchange and told him what was going on. He told me to go ahead and take a 25mg Atenolol pill and if that doesn't work to take another 25mg.
So I took the 25mg and my pulse went down to 70 bpm and I felt much better. The next day, the day of my appointment with my electrophysiologist the nurse checked my BP and pulse. My BP was 130/80 and my pulse was 95 bpm. She then proceeded to do an ekg with a small hand held machine that was hooked to a computer (not the regular big machine). She usually stops the ekg after 10 secondsbut this time she waited like 30 seconds, I asked is something wrong? She replied you are in atrial flutter. I've never had that arrythmia before so it worried me. When the doctor came in he asked, how are you doing? I said worried, apparently I'm in atrial flutter.
So he looked at the ekg readout for about 3 minutes and tells me you are not in atrial flutter, the machine didn't pick it up right. I said are you sure? He said I'm 100% positive. He reassured me about 5 times because he knew I was worried. He put me back on 25mg of Atenolol once daily and sent me on my way. So.... My question is can atrial flutter be a false-positive or can an ekg machine not pickup beats correctly? Would he lie to me about not having atrial flutter so I don't worry myself to death? What do you guys think? Please give me peace of mind but be brutally honest and I'd preferably have my question aswered by a doctor but all answeres are welcome. Thank you for reading this.

[MichelleP_3811]

I would say a doctor is more qualified to read an ekg readout than a nurse.  I also doubt that your doctor would miss lead you so I think you are OK.  But if you want a doctors opinion then you may want to post this question in the experts forum.  Go to the top and where it says forums choose expert.  Post your question there to get professional advice.  And you can always go for a second opinion from another doctor in your area.  Good luck.

[justanumber]

i have mostly the same problems as you do. i never drink,but i have these problems. i'm not a doctor but i also am prescribed atenolol. i take 25 mg day and night. my resting heart rate gets high and i have had episodes where my blood pressure would be high and my pulse would be low. i now think that maybe the atenolol has something to do with it. when the nurse told you that you had atrial flutter,did you feel any palpitations? i have had a lot of paroxysmal a fib episodes due to stress and high bp. during these episodes i feel palpitations in my throat and chest. you could have had a minor episode of the flutter and converted to normal sinus rhythm. i always convert to normal rhythm without extra medication. i would ask the cardiologist for a holter monitor to see if you have the flutter.