Exercising and anxiety?

[Del822]

Last year i was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia called svt. My heart would go around 250 bpm and wasn't life threatening but completely destroyed my life. I had it fixed with an ablation 8 months ago but the panic attacks and constant anxiety were still there. I wouldn't leave my house and couldn't work. I suffered from panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder my whole life. A couple months ago i decided to lose a lot of weight and make a life style change. I've lost 40 pounds and ever since working out my anxiety overall has improved. I'm wanting to work again and i go out a lot I'm almost normal again. The only problem is i still panic working out. Is it normal to panic during exercise but see improvement any other time. Im only 20 and my fear is my heart going fast or not slowing down. Any advise to help this?

[LRon]

I'm not a doc but I know a little about SVT and have experienced it myself on several occasions. It can be scary, for sure. SVT is a fairly common thing with young adults, and generally resolves itself within a few minutes. There are some strategies for snapping out of it, like doing a vagal maneuver or splashing ice cold water on your face. From what I understand, it typically comes on at random and not necessarily the result of exercise. So if you're concerned about exercise bringing about SVT, I think that fear is unfounded. Your heart likes to beat, and it even likes to beat hard and fast sometimes. It's good for it. Think of your heart as a sports car -- it would be a darned shame if you only drove it less than 30 MPH. Rather, you want to take it out on the open road and get it going 80 or 90 sometimes! Your heart's the same way. A sports car WANTS to go fast. So does your heart. Don't deny it the fun of a good workout! I hope that helps. One last thing -- don't get another ablation without a second or even third opinion from other cardiologists.

[JamesHernandez]

The best way to get rid of your anxiety is taking medication, therapy and healthy lifestyle. In health anxiety, our mind always make us believe like this but its all in our mind.
Best way to stop those horrible feelings is ignoring it, make your self busy, talk to others and do some hobbies.
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[Paxiled]

Some people have this problem even when they don't have any reason to fear heart problems -- it's because for some people the labored breathing of exercise makes them feel similar to when they're having an anxiety attack.  It's just a conditioned response -- you'll get past it.