Anxiety Attack while Exercising?

[xanaxed]

Have any of you experienced an anxiety attack while exercising?
Lately while i've been running, I start getting shortness of breath and it feels like i cant quite catch my breath, then I'll need to slow down and when i do i experience a panic attack.  I've been exercising on a regular basis for about 2 years now and only recently i've been experiencing this.  I've had anxiety attacks for about 2 years also.  Has this also happened to anybody??

[runnergirl_jls]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I've had a history of panic attacks for the past 5 years or so. I haven't had any issues whatsoever in the past 2 years. However, in the past month or so my anxiety has been absolutely horrible. I'm working full time and going to grad school, and lately I've just been completely stressed out. I had my first panic attack in years at a grocery store, and since, I'm having one almost every day. It is especially worse when I begin exercising. I'm 25, female, extremely fit, I've ran 4 full marathons in the past 3 years, completed numerous triathlons, work out rigoursly on a daily basis, and although I haven't had any cardio tests, I'm pretty sure if my body has endured those events without any issues that I'm fine. However, lately, about 5 to 10 minutes into any type of exercise I feel like I can't breathe, my heart starts racing, and I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. I keep telling myself that it's just anxiety, and try and talk myself out it but I still have this ridiculous fear that something awful is going to happen. Lately, I run a mile or 2 (normally I run on average 5-10 miles per day, with longer runs on the weekends) and walk the rest of the way back home. I just want to get back to my normal life. For me running is a release and a way of escaping all the stress in my daily life and the fact that I keep having panic attacks during my runs is driving me crazy! I have a 20 mile race this weekend and I'm considering not doing it because I'm afraid it's going to happen while I'm out on the course. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated! :)

[Tan714]

yes atherton93 there something call a stress test

[dalep1981]

Thanks everyone, your comments have helped shed some light onto what has been happening with my body lately.  I'm a personal trainer and I consider myself to be pretty fit, constantly pushing my body to the limit during training.

I've just started kickboxing, as a new challenge, which I've found to be very high intensity, with very short rest intervals between workouts.  During yesterdays session I had what i think might have been an anxiety attack.  I had just finished a round of boxing, followed by ten burpees and then I felt a very overwhelming feeling, shortness of breath, light headiness and it felt like the room around me was getting smaller.  I rushed to the bathroom and spent the next 5 minutes getting my breathing under control at which point I calmed down and felt a bit better.
I returned to boxing a couple of minutes later, which was a mistake as I didn't realise but my body had tensed up during the attack.  The next uppercut I threw gave me a short shart pain through the upper elbow.  Think i've strained my bicep tendon as a result.

I'm not entirely sure what brought on this attack.  Very unusual for me.  The only thing i can think of that I did out of the norm, was to take a supplement (L-Carnitine) about 45 minutes prior to my training session.  L-carnitine is used as a fat buringing agent and an enerygy booster. I'll have to have a bit more of a read, but i'm not certain that this was the main contributor.

[shortone39]

Thank God I found this. I've been suffering from anxiety for several years now and I didn't think it was asthma. I've been running for field hockey and everytime I start hyperventilating and can never catch my breath. I really don't know what to do.

[atherton93]

I've been told by my GP that I have anxiety and I mainly have panic attacks when exercising. Even the simplest of tasks such as walking a long distance or mowing the lawn causes me to go dizzy and breathless (just like a panic attack) and so I'm scared to do any vigorous exercise such as running. I'm 20 years old and other than exercise have a healthy lifestyle (diet etc). Even though I've had an ECG test and a 24-hour blood pressure monitor test I still believe that going for a job or playing soccer will lead to having a heart attack. Is there any way I can get a heart test done whilst exercising to put my fears at rest?

Thanks

[brainskars]

Ive just experienced this now at the gym. I was working back and after my sets I started getting dizzy. The dizzyness grew into a slight blindness and reached a peak and vanished (which normally happens but not this bad) I obligated myself to stop and take a breather after my right ear plugged up for some reason. Then it happened. I felt as if my heart stopped and I was going to really pass out I actually thought to myself this is it. But my heart then started to race wich made my panick/anxiety even worse. I started to tell a trainer at the gym then it faded away. But it had to be the most horrid thing thats happened to me in a long time