<s>[INST] Hi ...i am 52 yrs old in excellent health and an avid gym goer.....i have recently developed this heart pounding...i can feel it in my throat and my doctor told me it was stress....i dont think so...i have also developed a dull headache alot too...any thoughts?...thanks ...michael [/INST] Hi, Welcome to Chat Doctor. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. If the symptoms needs to be ruled out for cardiac disease, then EKG is must, without this it can not be differentiated and not just this but for complete clearing the doubt, total cardiac evaluation is advisable. It can be stress but without rule out the cardiac elements, it can not be taken as granted. So in my opinion you need to get done the cardiac evaluation tests. I hope I have answered your query. Let me know if you have any further questions.  Take care. </s>