Inability to exercise due to pounding heart/dizziness

[AnniePlacebo]

So my anxiety has manifested in this way that, whenever I try to
do anything active, my heart starts pounding far too quickly and I get
incredibly dizzy.
I am used to being extremely active (I was often pegged as a "spazz")
love biking and walking and being outside, and now merely stretching
for not even a minute causes my heart to race.
Riding my bike is a terrifying ordeal.
I keep trying, but I have not been had any success in improving these symptoms.
This doesn't help with the crushing anxiety because there's no way for me to
expel all of this excess adrenaline my body is creating all day, giving me an almost overwhelming amount of nervous/anxious energy which manifests itself as
a tightening of my mid-section, which is quite unbearable at times.
Has anyone experienced anything similar?
If so, what are some things you did to alleviate this symptom?
It's summer! I want to ride my bike!

[nomore]

Hi Annie, I had a similar preoccupation with my heart. I was convinced that there was something wrong with it. I was also very active in sports but as soon as my worries started I was afraid to do ANYTHING at all which elevated my heart rate. I had heart flutters, palpitations etc.

To make a very, very long story short, one of the first things I did is go to a doctor and had all kinds of tests done, blood, ECG, Echo, etc., etc. Everything came back clear. At the same time I was experiencing constant anxiety, panic attacks, dizziness, shortness of breath, etc. After being reassured multiple times that my heart is OK, I decided to start light jogging and gradually progressed to where I am now, doing some fairly heavy training 3 times per week for about 2 hours. At the beginning, it was very difficult as I had grown to be extremely sensitive and, like you said, felt like my heart was absolutely pounding, when in fact my heart rate was quite normal for someone who is jogging :) I also felt the tightness in the stomach and chest. But that happened due to my extreme anxiety and constant "checking in" to see if my heart "was doing what it was supposed to be doing". In essence, I wasn't breathing right while and was so worried that my chest and abdominal muscles were constantly tight. As you can imagine, that problem becomes even more pronounced if you are doing any sort of exercise, even mild!

Eventually, after some time, a lot of persistence and doing the opposite of what my anxious mind was telling me (i.e. Mind - "Oh no! Something is wrong!", Me - "OK! Great! Let's see what happens".....nothing ever happened), the worries pretty much went away.

In essence, your heart is doing what it's supposed to be doing while you are exercising...beating faster :) You've just grown to be too sensitive to it. It's up to you to decide whether or not you need to go to a doctor for that peace of mind, but it did help me.

[StoneMonkey]

High Annie,

I was just going to reply when I read Nomore's.
That is a great reply put in a far better way than I could ever say it.
I have chosen the meds free route and exercise is my main tool. (Mostly running & weights).
Once you have been checked out and are clear to exercise is there anyone around you with a static bike (exercise bike) that you can borrow.
Tedious i know but it could be a way to try and find out whats going on whilst you are exercising without the fear of coming off.

Simon.

[jothenurse]

I have the same problem. I'm 56 years old (had a panic disorder about 30 years ago which I worked through). Then, several months ago I had an episode of tachycardia (very fast heart rate) after going up some stairs. Got really panicky. This then happened more and I ended up in the ER a few times with one time a pulse up to 160. Each time they would do an EKG and it would turn out to be sinus tachycardia (normal EKG but rate too fast) which they said was a panic disorder. Before all of this, I would jog, take my dog for a walk, hike, exercise on my treadmill. After this, I was scared to even walk up the stairs. I would take one step at a time and go very slow. I have worked on it and now the stairs (if not too long and steep) don't bother me. I go on my treadmill, but I do keep it slow. I did mow the lawn yesterday, but after every few rows, I would stop and check my pulse, and I would rest until my pulse came back down under 100. The doctor told me my heart was healthy and that I should exercise and not check my pulse. It is very hard to do that. It does seem like I just do a little bit and my pulse goes up pretty fast. I did lose 20 pounds through the anxiety so I'm sure that didn't help. I need to gain at least 10 pounds back. The hard think about eating (I can't eat in the morning) is that after I eat, I feel my pulse go up and then I have to get my mind off of it so I don't get panicky. I know I would feel a lot better if I could get back into my usual exercise, but I am still very scared, but I do keep working on it and try to keep telling myself that the doctor said my heart was fine.