Anxiety and Fear of Exercise

Hi there,
I'm new to this forum, but I've recently found that anxiety, panic and fear are starting to steal away even more of the things that I love... one of which is exercise. A few weeks ago, I had my first panic attack while exercising. Which is supposed to help anxiety, right? Well now my latest obsession is my hear rate and I pay attention to it non-stop. It feels elevated after I climb one set of steps and I don't know if this normal or if I'm just noticing it now because of my panic and fear. After my first panic attack last November and visit to the ER, I had everything checked out. I wore a heart monitor, had an EKG, and an echocardiogram... everything came back normal, but I don't seem to be getting any relief from that information. I don't want to stop exercising and I don't want to stop hiking for the fear of an elevated heart rate that sets me into a panic attack. This is such a crazy, vicious cycle. Can anyone offer any advice or relate?
By the way, I am seeing a therapist, just started a low liquid dose of lexapro about a month and a half ago.

Thanks for any help.

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Originally Posted by alk263

Hi there,
I'm new to this forum, but I've recently found that anxiety, panic and fear are starting to steal away even more of the things that I love... one of which is exercise. A few weeks ago, I had my first panic attack while exercising. Which is supposed to help anxiety, right? Well now my latest obsession is my hear rate and I pay attention to it non-stop. It feels elevated after I climb one set of steps and I don't know if this normal or if I'm just noticing it now because of my panic and fear. After my first panic attack last November and visit to the ER, I had everything checked out. I wore a heart monitor, had an EKG, and an echocardiogram... everything came back normal, but I don't seem to be getting any relief from that information. I don't want to stop exercising and I don't want to stop hiking for the fear of an elevated heart rate that sets me into a panic attack. This is such a crazy, vicious cycle. Can anyone offer any advice or relate?
By the way, I am seeing a therapist, just started a low liquid dose of lexapro about a month and a half ago.

Thanks for any help,
Andrea

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Crazy question..are you sure it was an anxiety attack...when my Blood Glucose drops to fast or is low it feels very much like an anxiety attack...it happened to me when I first started working out, it was not until i passed at gym and went to DR did I realize I had Hypoglycemia. Just a thought.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gadguy

Crazy question..are you sure it was an anxiety attack...when my Blood Glucose drops to fast or is low it feels very much like an anxiety attack...it happened to me when I first started working out, it was not until i passed at gym and went to DR did I realize I had Hypoglycemia. Just a thought.

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I just had my blood glucose tested (along with a full metabolic panel). No issues with blood glucose. I panic as a result of increased heart rate.

I think it's something everyone who struggles with the physical side of anxiety goes through.

I no longer struggle too much with anxiety, but am still hyperaware of my heartbeat from when it used to scare me. I have learned (through anxiety) how to feel it in almost every situation, all through my body. When I hold hands, it's in my fingers. When I rest at night, it's in my head. When I go upstairs, I feel it "excessively" in my chest. Anytime it goes above, say, 80, which is pretty common as I'm out and about, I can feel it beating throughout me. I even learned to see it in my vision.

No high blood pressure, or sugar issues, or any other noticed problems. Saw a bunch of docs during my hypochondria days. For me it's just a level of awareness. When I don't pay it any mind it goes away.

But yeah, I can remember going to jog or something and wondering if I was about to die. A pumping heart is a good thing :)