hi everyone..i know i,m joining this discussion a little late..but i just had to..i,ve gone the exact same thing..p.a,s the moment i reach the gym,breathlessness,giddy,fast heartrate..i stopped gyming for quite a while and hated this as i absolutely love working out..i just turned thirty and feel maybe its a pyschological fear that maybe i,m not young enough to workout intense..anyone else feel this way?anyway..now since the last one month i,ve restarted gyming..which is a big thing for me..i go to the gym and just take it easy..stop when i get scared and then carry on..one thing i am doing which i feel is really helping me is the pranayam..its an indian form of deep breathing..it,s really good .it,s given me the confidence to atleast get to the gym and stay there through my p.a,s..they say pranayam can help cure anxiety..i dont know if its true..but its definately helping ease mine...please try it..and let me know if anyone feels any better after doing it..i loved what tim has posted..and am going to try it in the gym next time i get worried about my heart beating too fast...love..sanju

I am a little ****her along in this gym thing than some of you. I was a mess about a year or two ago, but slowly and surely started crawling out. No I did not use anti-depressants, I did however use valium. Anyways, about the gym... I paniced daily and horribly after just going bonkers being too stressed out over my custody battle and marriage issues. Anyways, I stopped going to the gym as I become frightened of my racing/pounding heart beats. I finally, thru various books and programs like this one, learned to STOP being afraid of racing heart rates. I can now pump iron again in the gym. This biggest obstacle for me was the first few times and first few lifts, even to this day. I DO NOT however let it stand in my way, and THIS is the way I have used to get this far, I now go to the gym daily. Most of the time by myself and sometimes with my wife, but I go regularly and pump out good hard weights. I just keep in mind that I have been doing this for 15 years and there is NOTHING wrong with me, it is simply panic/anxiety issues, and that is it! Sure enough, I go to the gym, pump iron and voila' I'm still standing and feeling fine. My heart beats fast becuase it is supposed too, not because there is some heart issue, but because I'm asking it to send blood around to my muscles and organs just like it is supposed to do with all of you guys who work out. I know this is easier said than done, TRUST me, I know just like all of you, I still suffer a lot of racing heart beats and late night wakings with racing heart beats and the occasional "I must be going crazy" thinking, but you know what, I have isles of peace where I know I am fine and am probably in the process of recovering fully over a slow systematic period of time through understanding, peacefull living and carefull desensitizing. Just try to remember, you are going to be fine! I used to pack a cell phone in the gym and find a quiet corner and go at it figuring if I had a heart attack, I would just call 911 and be picked up. This never happened. I would raise my heart rate and it would go VERY high with my worry along with it, but you know what, no matter how bad I felt and how terrible my heart raced and pounded, a year and a half later, I'm still standing with no heart attacks hehe.. I even forced my d

Will, While at the gym, doing cardio, if you feel that a panic attack is coming on, you may want to slow down if you are on the eliptical or treadmill. By going to fast or if the machine is set at a high level, this will increase your heart rate. If you feel that a panic attack is coming on slow down to get your heart rate back down to your target heart rate. On the other hand, if the panic attack comes on too quickly and you are unable to control it, then yes most certainly get off the machine! Walk around the gym if needed or even go into the change room until the attack subsides. With anything in the gym, if you are feeling unwell doing it, slow your pace down, decrease the weights or even stop the exercise until you feel better. Take Care, Melanie _____________________________ The Panic Center Support Team

Hi again, Thanks for your replies everyone. I wanted to add that I have been to the Dr. and have had chest x-rays, heart monitors, stress tests and everything has come back normal. My Dr. said there is nothing to worry about. She just gave me an inhaler in case in might be exercise induced asthma. The inhaler doesn't help. She told me I might be experiencing panic attacks and to just be aware that that is what is happening. My question is, if I am at the gym doing a cardio workout and have a PA, is it dangerous to just keep going or should I stop immediately? Can I actually stop breathing or have a heart attack from a PA? Has anyone actually had this happen to them? Thanks for listening! Will

Hi Will, I know you mentioned in your post that you have been to the doctor for this, but please be sure to get their clearance and specific guidelines as to how far you can push yourself at the gym. This way you can have reassurance that as you are exercising, you are doing what is medically recommended. Casey ___________________________________ The Panic Center Support Team

HEY WILL, I THINK IS GREAT YOU ARE STILL GOING TO THE GYM! I USED TO WORK OUT 6 DAYS A WEEK UNTIL I HAD A PA.NOW I CAN BEARLY GET MY SELF THERE. I AM NOW GAINING WEIGHT AND DONT FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY SELF.ONCE YOU STOP WORKING OUT TRUST ME ITS HARD TO GET BACK THERE. IF THE DOCTOR SAYS THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU I WOULD CONTINE. MAYBE DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT THE DOESNT MAKE YOUR GOE SO FAST. MAYBE YOU ARE PUSHING YOURSELF TO HARD. HOW DO KNOW YOUR HEART RATE DO YOU KEEP CHEKING IT? I DO THAT TOO! AND THAT I THINK IS PART OF MY PROBLEM. TRY NOY CHECKING YOUR HEART RATE UNLESS YOU HAVE PROBLEM BREATHING. I WISH I COULD TAKE MY OWN ADVICE! GOOD LUCK AND LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES! GINA

Hi, I am having panic attacks while exercising. I used to do hard core cardio with no problem at all. My heart rate would be at 170 or even higher. My breathing would be fine. Now when I do cardio as soon as my heart rate goes to around 150 I feel as if I can't breathe or get enough air-like a deep breathe-into my lungs. Then it feels like my heart is skipping beats. This happens every single time I do cardio. I can't stand it! I have been to my Dr. several times. She keeps doing tests and nothing is wrong. I keep thinking there must be something wrong for this to happen. What has changed for this to happen when I exercise? I believe it PA that are happening. I keep forcing myself to go to the gym and continue to do cardio but as soon as I reach a certain heart rate or a certain length of time sure enough it happens again. So I just slow down my movement and calm down and then stop. I want to work out harder but feel like I am going to choke or stop breathing or even have a heart attack. Would it be wise to just push myself to the work out I want to do or will it have dangerous effects? Please advise as I don't know what to do with this situation.

I totally understand how you feel. When I go to bed at night I climb the stairs very slow so that my heart will not beat too hard. But, Lately I wonder if it will do us anxiety suffers good to get our heart rate up in a normal way ourselves instead of it going up without warning? I started swimming a couple of weeks ago and I do believe that it helps my anxiety and stress. Yes, my heart beats hard but guess what? I am physically making it beat and I know this. Its like I am in control!And you know what else? I feel fine afer my workout and my heart rate goes down without a problem. I too have decided not to take medication prescribed by my MD. The only thing I take once in a while is my zanax only if I really need it. I dont want to take my symbyax because I feel like I am altering my brain chemistry instead of getting to the root of my problem. I would be masking it not dealing with it. I know that I am a sensitive person and that I fear death or becomming chronically ill. I link this problem with watching the death and illness of my grandfather who had parkinsons disease. And my Grandmother who had a stroke in front of me and 2 days later died. These were people who were very close to me. I always feel like there is somthing wrong with me and I think that is why I have panic attacks. I am so glad that I found this site because this means I am not alone and neither are you! So good luck and take care Heather :)

Thanks, Eric, for writing back. Sounds like you know exactly the feelings I'm having. I have a job now that requires me to be on my feet all day (10 hours), plus sometimes climb ladders and flights of stairs. Lately, after the gym thing, I've been terrified that I"m going to pass out or something at work. I try not to think about it, but it's there anyhow. The shortness of breath comes, the almost constant chest tightness, which develops into chest pains eventually because I'm trying so hard to breathe, and then I get lightheaded. It is all I can do not to run out of the building and go home. I used to be so active, outside of work, and now, I'm so afraid that I'm dying or something that I'm afraid to be anywhere but my house doing almost nothing. I will be glad for the day when I can just breathe normally again. It is hard for me to just accept that all of this comes from stress and anxiety -- I keep having nagging fears that something else is really wrong and the docs just can't find it. I search for hours on the internet, and of course I find my symptoms in almost every major disease -- it's very exhausting. I hope that someday I can get back on that treadmill and try again...you gave me some hope that this could happen. Thank you Kim

I have had the same problem, in fact i posted about it a week or so ago. I had a panic attack 18 months ago while walking with my daughter, and havent been the same since. I am 36 yr old man, have always been physically active, but have been scared to exercise for the last year and a half. I have been to the ER four times for tightness (not usually pain) short of breath, rapid heart rate. I have had numerous EKG's, nuclear heart scan, treadmill stress test, and nothing abnormal was found. I changed jobs in Dec, to one that required alot of walking, and I would get anxious about climbing A FLIGHT of stairs, so I started walking SLOWLY on my treadmill, then adding incline, then speed until I was running for 15 or 20 minutes at a time. I then had a minor PA while exercising 3 weeks ago, and I am SLOWLY working my way back to normal. (whatever that it) Our bodies have an incredible memory, if we have panic while driving, we get anxious over that. It would be the same if I had one while baking bread or ironing clothes. My therapist said it takes time to reprogram our bodies to not have negative thoughts while performing a certain task. Hope this helps Eric