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Nevermore
16-11-10, 17:32
First of all, i'm sorry if this is a repost.

I've alwyas heard that exercise helps to reduce anxiety and it's symptoms, by "burning" some of the excess stress cells.

I played indoor soccer for quite some time, and i always was the kind of player that seemed to never get tired. My fitness level was always high, when the game was over i always had the impression that i could carry on playing.

That was until i had a slight panic attack in the locker room, after a game.

After that, i started to google (really BAD ideia) profeesional athletes that die during or immediatly after exercising.

That was the turning point. I Really started to fear exercise.

Because of this i stoped playing fow awhile.

This year alone i've done an ECG, an Echo, a Stress Test, Chest X ray, blood tests an even a test that ussualy is only taken by people that are much older and with heart problems (an CT angyography).

All test came out with normal results. I'm pretty much an healthy individual.

Saw 3 different cardiologists, one of them was speccialized in sports medicine. They all told me that i was cleared to exercise at will.

I've recently joined a Gym that also has a pool, and starded alternating strenght training with swimming.

But everytime i start to exercise i begin feeling dizzy, weak, always fearing my racing heart, and with a constatly churning stomach.

I know it's all on my head, but this scares me so much that i haven't gone toi the gym for about 3 weeks now, altough i keep paying the montlhy fee.

Just thinking about exercising makes me very, very nervous.

Dunno what to do.

Anyone else has/had similar experiences?? How can one overcome this.

Sorry for the very long post, and pardon my bad english.

PokerFace
16-11-10, 18:36
Im having exactly the same problem at the moment! I just recently started to exercise again and it's making me feel much worse over the past few days. I guess it's because i'm not used to it anymore. the people that you read about that died after sports would have had a heart defect which would definateley have been picked up with all the heart tests you've had. You're feeling bad because you're anxious and not as used to exercise as you were. My advice would be to keep at it and eventually you'll stop feeling scared and it'll be easier because your heart is fine x

jothenurse
16-11-10, 23:22
I have this problem, too. I used to be an avid exerciser, running, doing the machines at the fitness center. Last year I started to get some episodes of tachycardia, one time they thought I had an SVT (supraventricular tachycardia), which is uncomfortable, but not dangerous. They never caught that on the EKG, and I have had several in the ER. Always sinus tachycardia (normal rhythm), but fast. Now I am afraid to exercise. Everytime I try to exert myself, my heart goes up fast, and then I get scared and have high tachycardia. I wore a monitor for 24 hours, and I was mowing the lawn, got panicky and it went up to 167. Again, normal rhythm, just fast. They say it is just panic. So, I take walks, joined the fitness center again (though feel really pathetic there. I walk on the treadmill and soon as my pulse is in the 90's, I start getting scared). I am hoping that if I just keep on trying, that I eventually will lose my fear of the fast pulse and I can get into shape again. Any other hints on how to work through this would be appreciated.
I miss exercising.

blueangel
17-11-10, 09:27
I've had issues with this as well - I get very anxious when I feel my heart rate rising over what I think is "safe" (much more than 100 and I start getting twitchy). I've never been an athlete, as I've got a bad leg, but I'd love to be able to do more than I do at the moment.

mick_uk
17-11-10, 09:44
I think it's a vicious circle. The longer we leave exercising the harder it will be to begin again, and then when we start exercising again, our bodies struggle to cope which sends out danger signals and so we leave off exercising again. I guess the answer is start off slow. Do very basic exercises and build up gradually.