I have sleep apnea, large tonsils, gerd. everytime i fall asleep after a few sec, i wake up with heart pounding and making me panic. is it anxiety?

Apnea causing it: It's more likely that you are waking up due apnea episodes. Obstructive sleep apnea; your upper respiratory muscles to relax when you fall asleep causing blocking of airway and you wake up gasping for breath. This happens several times in the night leaving you tired in am. Enlarged tonsils can cause this in young adults but obesity can cause it too. Get evaluated there are effective treatments.

Probably not: Sleep apnea causes your blood oxygen level to go down and makes your heart beat faster trying to get more oxygen to your body. You need to seek treatment immediately. The first option would probably be to get the tonsils removed. This obstruction in your airway may be the cause of the sleep apnea and the gerd>.

Needs exploration: Dr donley made some good points. The sleep apnea can cause one to wake up feeling anxious and gasping for air. The only way to know if there is a separate anxiety issue is to correct the sleep apnea and to assess.