Nervous of climbing stairs

[darrenc]

I was just wondering if anyone else is nervous of climbing stairs? If I am at home I can normally cope with them, but if I'm at work or in a shop I normally take the lift.

Earlier today I was with a friend in a bookstore and needed to go upstairs, but the lift was broken. It was only one floor, but the thought of using the stairs totally freaked me out. Fortunately my friend was understanding and after stopping for about a minute every 5 steps I made it! I'm glad I did, but for some reason I can't get this fear out of my mind.

[margaret jones]

Hi

[margaret jones]

Hi Darren

What are you afraid of??I have a fear of it bringing on a heart attack silly i know bur there you go thats my fear

Margaret Take Care

[darrenc]

Hi Darren

What are you afraid of??I have a fear of it bringing on a heart attack silly i know bur there you go thats my fear

Margaret Take Care

I guess I'm nervous I have heart disease or something.

About 6 months ago I was climbing the stairs at Lambeth North tube station (about 85 steps) and at the top I was breathing really heavily and deeply, but feeling as if I couldn't get enough oxygen. The feeling lasted for about 5 minutes, and it really shook me up. That day I also split up with my girlfriend, and then for the next two weeks I was really ill with flu-like symptoms. My ex- also sent me an email when I was ill to say she was worried about HIV, and she had a good reason to be worried. Ugh... anyway, I was subsequently diagnosed with glandular fever, and thought I had made a good recovery.

Then on a recent business trip to Germany the same not being able to breath thing happened but this time just walking on level ground. I've had blood tests, ECG, chest X-ray since, but everything is ok.

I guess everytime I have to walk a long distance or climb stairs I'm worried that I'll get out of breath again, and I'll collapse. I just can't get this worry out of my mind.

[margaret jones]

Darren sounds like anxiety to me . because you had a reaction climbing those 85 steps ( anyone would ) bad things also happened around that time for you so you associate the stair climbing and being out of breath with bad things .Do you think this makes sense ??

Margaret xx

[Anxious_gal]

I agree with Margaret!
I have the opposite problem I'm terrified of being trapped inside a metal box!
I watch the lifts go up n down, door's open n closed!
but I think the one time I get into a lift it will get stuck!

[teez]

i hate both,,i do have heart trouble so climbing steps is slower and can leave me slightly breathless,,but i do make it worse i have to admit,,,cant stand lifts they scare the life outta me,,esculators i hate getting off and on,,but im ok while on them,,so you can imagine going anywhere with me is great fun lol

[darrenc]

Ugh, just had a minor panic at wor, as the lift is being repaired. But I managed to climb those stairs (in less than a minute!) although was very nervous half way up.

Hope they fix it soon.