High pulse rate (tachycardia) may be caused by anxiety or smoking as well as several other conditions. Since your doctor has given you a clean chit except for tachycardia, you should not worry about cardiac conditions. In my practice, I avoid prescribing Xanax for longer period. This is because Xanax is effective in anxiety in short term but has high dependence potential (it is habit forming). Antidepressant medicines give good long term results. Initially they may cause side effects but these usually wear off. The therapeutic (desired) effects may take upto 2 to 3 weeks to appear. There are several options available in antidepressants. Celexa and Zoloft are both SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). You may discuss with your doctor possibility of antidepressant from another class such as SNRI (serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors). You may count in the neck just by the side of and behind windpipe. Or you may get a friend to count your pulse at wrist on the thumb side about an inch above the line joining wrist and hand. Count for a whole minute. Blood pressure arm band may make errors in counting pulse if it is not fitting well. I hope this answers your question.