As I’ve mentioned before, I have a pretty extreme problem with anxiety and panic. I was diagnosed with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and Panic Disorder a few years ago. One of the biggest problems I’ve had in the last few years is exercise. Frequently, when I do any sort of exercise, but especially weight-lifting or strength-related exercises (my favorites, since I put on muscle easily and love getting strong), my body doesn’t seem to recover well afterward.
Specifically, my heart rate stays high (around 100bpm or so), I’ll have a mild headache, my muscles will feel very tense – as if they can’t relax afterward, and I feel keyed up, wired, and jumpy. Frequently this is all enough to trigger a panic attack, and the ones triggered by this phenomena have tended to be pretty spectacularly horrible. Over time, this developed into a mild phobia of exercise.
It seems worse with certain things. For instance, a year and a half ago I started a very successful exercise program that was basically light-moderate aerobics, with the occasional use of hand weights. For instance, I might do step-aerobics while I watched a movie, and hold some light hand weights while I did it. I noticed my arms and back got stronger, and I lost a significant amount of weight (25 pounds, which unfortunately I gained back once I stopped the exercise for reasons related to worsening anxiety).
After awhile I wanted to do harder exercises, so I began doing regular strength training at home, with dumbbells and kettlebells. The dumbbells were mostly okay, but I still struggled with that wired-high-heart-rate feeling afterward. The kettlebells were the worst! I loved them the most, they were so fun to use, but afterward I frequently had a panic attack.
None of this makes sense to me, I really don’t understand why my body would react this way. I thought I’d post about it here in the hopes that someone reading this might be familiar enough with exercise science to help me out.
Today it happened again. I did 35 minutes of high-intensity aerobics. I got done, and felt pretty great. Then, half an hour later, my heart rate was still at 104, and I couldn’t seem to relax. I ate an apple, then I thought I must just need protein, because don’t body builders stuff themselves full of whey after workouts? I figured maybe my muscles were crying out for some protein. Greg boiled me up some of our farm eggs (from some very well-treated chickens, which I feel good about), and I ate two of those.
I felt better, but still not great, and my heart rate was still 100. I finally decided to take a warm bath and see if that helped. I’m sitting in the tub while I write this (don’t ask), and yeah, it’s down to 92 now, and I do feel a bit better.
Still, what the heck is going on? I want to be super strong, people! I want to do kettlebell workouts three times a week, I want my arms to pop out, I want GUNS (not those guns, these guns), and I want to not make funny noises when I lift a bag of dog food into my cart.
Is this a case of bad recovery from exercise because I’m just out of shape?
This is not a scientific answer, but something I’ve experienced at times. The elevated heart rate you get with exercise feels a bit like anxiety, so you start worrying about it, which triggers more anxiety and a higher HR, and so on. I try to reassure myself that it’s just exercise and it’s ok to get a little breathless, even a little uncomfortable. It’s also true that your HR stays elevated longer when you’re deconditioned. Maybe cool down with a slow walk around the block or easy pedaling on the bike and a little stretching to let your HR come down.
Hope that helps.
I see two parts. 1) Your body does this thing where it doesn’t relax, heart rate doesn’t go down as one would expect after exercise and 2) you then have anxiety or a panic attack triggered by this.
My guess is your body is so high strung that any change that resembles the symptoms of a panic attack triggers a reflexive action that brings one on.
As to why your body does that after vigorous exercise, I have no clue on. Hopefully your internet friends will have ideas.
I, too, had a thing for a while that any time I was being active and exercising regularly my body had a backlash which then would make it impossible to do anything for a while. To be working so hard to improve your health and to have that very action have such negative results is incredibly frustrating.
*hugs*
There are two things I think are probably at play here — one is that, yes, a slow heart-rate recovery after exercise is a sign that you’re not in top physical condition. So, there’s that. And the other is that once you’ve associated exercise and anxiety in your brain, when you exercise, that association will trigger anxiety, which will also keep your heart rate up. (All this assuming that you don’t have some underlying heart problem, of course. But I know you’ve had your heart checked a lot in the last few years, so I feel pretty certain that’s not at play here.)
My suggestion, which you’ll probably hate because you’re a lot like me, is that you start a lot slower and smaller.
If 35 minutes of aerobics gets your heart rate way, way up and then it takes this long and is this stressful for you to get that rate back down, you’re doing too much too fast and too hard.
Try 10 minutes of moderate (not high!) intensity aerobics and see how you do. Do 10 minutes a day for a week. Then try 12 minutes, and see how you do. Do 12 minutes a day for a week, etc. etc. etc.
The more exercise you can do that DOESN’T trigger your anxiety (shorter workouts, lower intensity, less fear that your heart will freak out, etc.), the more likely it is you’ll be able to break this cycle in your brain. And while you’re doing this slower program, you’ll also be gradually building up your physical conditioning, which means by the time you’ve worked up to those 35 minutes of high impact aerobics on a regular basis, you’ll be in good shape for that intensity both mentally AND physically.
I don’t have anxiety related to exercise, but have struggled a LOT with chronic pain and exercise, which also leads to a cycle of fear. When I start having a lot of pain flare-ups, I often have to stop what I’m doing and start over from the beginning again. I go back to ten minute walks instead of 40 minute ones, I cut my strength training in half, etc. It’s like roller coaster exercise — I do the intensity when I can, and when I can’t, I try to accept that and slow things down. This has made a big difference for me both physically and emotionally in the last couple of years.
Good luck, toots!
This happens to me alot lately too. I just finished raking the grass for an hour or better and when I came in I couldn’t calm down, my heart was racing, and I was sweating more than I should have been. This happened alot this past winter when I over did it playing hockey. It is scary to be very out of breath or over exerted and I think an anxiety prone person worries and feeds off of this fear. I suspect we need to re-teach ourselves how to react to this stress, just like all the other triggers.
Cam – I think you’re right. Part of my intention in getting a weekly exercise regimen in place is to retrain myself to get used to the sensations associated with anxiety. I had a bad attack today, and it did help to know that I’d exercised hard a couple weeks ago and I was okay.
I have the same problem. I started up with some serious running to train for a marathon. My body is so preconditioned to anxiety that it goes there at the slightest added stress. Listen, the best thing you can do is to read the book “Hope and Help for your Nerves” by Dr. CLaire Weekes. It will give you complete understanding in a very clear way why your body reacts that way. IT is a MUST read for anyone that struggles with anxiety. IT has changed my life! If you have any questions feel free to email.
Michelle
Yeah, I have read that book. It’s very good. It wasn’t the cure-all that it seems to be for a lot of people, but it’s a valuable edition to the library.
Hi Hollie,
Trying to find something about anxiety/panic attacks after exercising I came across your article. I run about 28 miles/week.
Its good to know we are not alone on our daily anxiety episodes. Nobody else can understand, as you said, how devastating it is to go through them and sustain hope that it’s going to end.
I have experienced anxiety after exercising and always think something must be wrong with either my heart or general health, but hubby reminds me that I eat fairly healthy and exercise daily. (Also I’ve been in the doctor and have had therapy for some months)
In my view, the problem here is not the exercise itself but the thoughts accompanying it. We start exercising with the thought behind our heads that the panic attack it’s going to happen afterwards and that’s exactly right. Its easier said than done, but we need to start unmasking the monster (PA) without any fear, and think of it as a friend rather than an enemy. With time we will be able to sit by it, through it and eventually he’ll leave us alone.
I tell you this because I used to fear going to sleep, I would have panic attacks just thinking about it through the day and at night I would be all freaked out; the only way I overcame it was facing that fear, accepting it as a friend and not running away from it. Now I can go to sleep just fine. It took me a few months but it’s conquered.
Peace might be with you and strength through the journey.
Ang
Hey Angelica!
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you don’t have anxiety anymore, that’s wonderful!
I am happy to have just found this post, as I think this might be the problem I am having too. Lately, I get all shakey and weak and my heart rate/BP goes up when I exercise. And then I get panicked that I have something seriously wrong with me like a heart or lung or blood sugar problem. I have a really hard time distinguishing between the symptoms/feelings of a panic attack, normal results of exercise and something that may be a sign of a health concern. Haven’t found anything that works or helps with this, so I appreciate your comments. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad it was helpful! It does sound a lot like what I go through when I exercise hard.
Hi, I have had Panic for 4 years now, and it is weird how it can manifest in different situations. I have been an avid exerciser for years and have never had my panic interfere with my exercise routines until lately. Now when I go running or go to aerobics class it feels like I am having a heart attack afterward and is very scary. But I know it is panic. It does suck when you are trying to do something good for your health and then the after effects are terrifying sometimes. The other day I went running and had a panic attack afterward that lasted for an hour, I am forcing myself to go again tonight and will keep forcing myself even though it is scary, I am not going to let my Panic win. But this blog was helpful so thank you for all the posts it is good to know you aren’t alone.
Thanks for writing! I’m so glad the post helped you!
Holly, I totally understand what you are feeling post-exercise. I get the exact same thing: tense, jumpy, mild headache (right in middle of forehead above my eyes) don’t sleep as well, sweat more easily, etc.; basically, the exact opposite of what exercise is “supposed” to do for an anxious person. I always knew that exercise was somehow associated with increased anxiety levels, as I would never exercise a day or two before an anxiety-provoking event. But recently, it became much clearer. With the arrival of my daughter, I didn’t have much time to exercise, and I seemed to be sleeping better and generally less “anxious.” Then, I decided I needed to get back into a routing, and all of a sudden the anxiety was back.
Unfortunately, I don’t know what to do…deal with the anxiety or stop exercising. Have you ever had any luck discussing with a doctor? I would love to know if there is anything to do to prevent this, i.e., take a particular vitamin, avoid certain types of exercise, whatever…
Although I didn’t have an answer for you as to why, it helped me to read that I’m not the only one out there that suffers from this. Do a search on the web, and all the hits discuss the great benefits of exercise for the anxious and depressed. ugh.
This is a great thread – thank you for starting it. I’ve suffered from anxiety for a long time, but just within the past 8 months it has been SOO much better. Recently, it’s creeping back. I was trying to figure out if there was some correlation. It occured to me that for the past 8 months I’ve been a lazy sloth, and in the past two weeks I decided to get my butt in gear, so I’ve been exercising and lifting weights regularly. I thought “this is crazy, exercise is supposed to reduce anxiety!”…so I did a Google search and came upon this blog and a few other sites. Go figure – I was sleeping great and feeling calm and happy for 8 months. I start exercising, and last night, I slept only about 3 restless hours and I feel super jumpy. I had that feeling of dread like “oh no, not again, after 8 glorious months the anxiety is creeping back.”
I did find some info online that says lactic acid produced by exercise can trigger anxiety – not sure if there is a way to reduce lactic acid during exercise, execept maybe scaling back a little.
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful posts!
Simon
Hi everyone ,ive had this problem for years with intense exercising or endurence training which would cause intense anxiety ,sleep problems ect , like the exercise overcharges my nervous system ,the only remedy ive found is reducing stress including exercise is one when done at intensity ,also having the doctor increase your seretonin levels with an antidepressiant ,seems increasing seretonin lifts your stress threshold . Seems some people just have low seretonin and increasing levels will make a remarkable difference ,theres a story about a world class marathon runner who had overtraining problems ,was prescibed the ssri prozac then went on to win 3 world titles .
i think some people who suffer from anxiety have a dreadful fear of death, so when you are excercising you will be concentrating a bit too much on your heart rate, there may be a trust issue between you and your own body, you may think your body is not able to handle basic aerobics, weighlifting etc. there is a some logic in the argument of people who suffer from anxiety think they have an undiagnosed heart problem and they may think they will suffer a sudden death after excercising. I personally suffer from anxiety and all these thoughts went through my head when excercising so i booked in for a excercise stress test with my local doctor and i was fine. i personally think fighting anxiety is like a war, fight fire with fire. you have to realise that anxiety tries to undermine you, keeps you from doing certain things. you have to stand up to it but more importantly you have to recognise that you have anxiety and fight it with every fibre of your being, if you find anxiety is making you fearful of doing average everyday activities like excercising go out and do some mild excercises and dont do too much too fast. build up a tolerance to anxiety and recognise you are not going to die as these irrational thoughts are only thoughts. i still suffer from anxiety but its not as bad as it used to be. excercise raises seretonin levels and cheers you up. (it cheers everyone up and raises confidence levels when you see results from excercising regulary).hope this helps. hello from ireland
wow this is the most amazing thread i have ever ready. i am 22, and i have been exercising like crazyy for the past 5 years. i have had people come up to me and tell me that they are amazed by my dedication to exercise. but unfortunately, lately i have been suffering from some post exercise anxiety. I think it all started when one day i was driving home from the gym and got palpitations in the car…ever since then, I am fearful of going to the gym. Before I hit the treadmill, my anxiety is so severe that i have vision distortions and i feel a bit light headed. i am fine while running, but as soon as i get off the treadmill, i start worrying again…and this triggers a whole new cycle…i start getting short of breath…its really scary. i feel like im having a heart attack. my anxiety got so severe that at one point, i woke up in the morning and was gasping for air….i was like that for 3 whole days!!! i was beginning to recover today, and i thought i’d give the gym a try again….but again, as soon as i hit that treadmill, i started to feel short of breath. it was so bad that i was feeling pains in my neck due to difficulty breathing. i have had my heart checked inside and out….but again, like all of the other people who have posted here, i fear that i have an undiagnosed heart condition. i think that having a stress test with a specialist is a great idea……i was actually thinking about it myself today. anyways, best of luck to everybody and im glad you all wrote. my doctor could not relate to why exercise was causing me to be anxious. thanx again.
I suffer from extreme anxiety attacks. I don’t know if any of you have had this, but when I do have a anxiety attack, I can’t breath, my whole body tingles, I become pale, my chest feels EXTREMELY TIGHT and uncomfortable, HR is painfully fast and my fingers retract inwards, which feels like they are breaking.
The reason for my tingling and retracting of my fingers is because, too much Carbon Dioxide is being pumped through my veins. This is caused from not breathing calmly. When you breath fast and panic, your lungs don’t get a chance to take in Oxygen which causes Carbon Dioxide to raid your body.
I’ve never had Anxiety attacks before, and when it starting happening, it was this bad!
This is the strange part- It first happened with all the symptoms I stated earlier, when I finished Exorcising. I only did my chest, ‘bench press’. I was in and out of Hospital 3 times in around, 20 hours. Every time they sent me home, it would literally return as soon as I got home and sat down. Every time worse than the other.
I finally over become it after taking Anti depressants, which I only took for one month. I felt fine and wonderful!
Then, last night.. I decided to smoke Marijuana. Shortly after, all the same symptoms returned, immediately! Now, I’m sitting here with tightness in the chest. I calmed myself down without going to the hospital, which took 6 hours. Lucky for me, I had a friend to help me through it.
Apparently, Marijuana can cause Anxiety attacks too. The funny thing is, I smoked pot for 2 years straight, every day. Coincidentally, I stopped smoking pot 3 months before my Anxiety attacks started. Perhaps withdrawals were the reason to my attacks all along?
okay here is the deal everyone. I have severe anxiety dissorder. for about 6 months i was not even able to work because i was scared that what if i had a heart attack(nothing wrong with my heart) while I was driving. I am a husband and a father of a 10year old. even getting out of the house was bad. There is not one symptom here i have not experienced including being in and out of the hospital twice in one day. I will say that anti anxiety meds do work if you trust that they will. but with the excersise i have a very strong excersie regement that i follow. I have had panic attacks during it and thout to my self they are gonna have to call 911 for me but here is the fact of the matter> picture this if you will. your anxiety is your bully and you have 2 choices lay down and let it run it’s course thru your body which can feel like death or you can and this is what i have been doing for a few years now is stand up to it and in your mind tell it ” you can’t kill me only make me stronger” i know it sounds as if i am one of those self help guys but i am not i am a guy that fights this demon often like everyone on this site and often times win and now les aless lose but remember that you can win your life back out of the hands of this monster. you have to stay strong rub the center of your palm and tell your self it can’t kill you and you have felt this before focus on your breathing which i know is hard but practice it when you are not having those panic attacks and it will get better and easier. i hope all this info really helps everyone on this site and stay strong my friends remember this is a fight that you can and will win
What a great discussion. I’ve been searching the internet for anything that connects exercise to anxiety and interested to read a number of people with experiences I can very much relate to. As someone said, everything on the net is about how exercise reduces anxiety with very little on teh reverse. I’ve been sporty all my life (now 42) and exercise regularly (3+ per week) to a pretty high intensity – running, rowing, cycling, resistance training. For the past 10 years I have sufferred from boughts of anxiety…never been able to understand why and have used the gym as a release. In the past couple of years my gym routine has started to wane due to work / family stuff. I then became much more aware that there was a definite correlation between reduced/no anxiety and missing the gym for a few weeks. Looking back now, I can plainly see the patterns since I keep a diary and a gym log. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see it but as I say, the gym was my release! I’ve now tested this theory a few times…miss the gym for a few weeks and anxiety is not really an issue…get back into it and the anxiety increases. I should stress this is not anxiety whilst I’m at the gym nor anxiety caused by the feelings associated with excertion…the anxiety builds over a period of days/weeks and increases the more frequent/intense exercise I do…fuzzy head, general shakiness/jitterness, tight chest and that feeling of an anxiety fueled body. I’ve not had any tests done but have an appointment with the doc next week – thinking thyroid, blood sugar level etc but maybe not. Either way I’m convinced this is physical rather than psychological. Interested to hear from anyone who has similar experiences and views on cause / remedy. Thanks in advance Brian
Brian,
Definitely let us know what the doctor says. I’ve had the standard blood tests done, but nothing shows up (although at the time I didn’t specifically mention exercise as a cause). I was thinking thyroid, too, but levels were normal. Haven’t exercised for a few months now…feels both good and bad. Like you, I exercised my entire life, so it’s strange not to have it as part of my daily routine. I’m thinking of getting into yoga as a replacement for my exercise routine.
I exercise an hour 3x week and feel great for the first 8 hours. Then I start to get anxious, irritable, and depressed for the next 24 hours until I exercise again.
However, after a good workout muscles eventually release lactic acid into the bloodstream and some people (like myself) respond to lactic acid with high anxiety, panic disorder, and mood swings.
Suffice it to say, I believe lactic acid is the culprit to those who may be at risk. Hopefully, this website will investigate such claims further since I’m just beginning to see this issue raised throughout the internet.
I have been suffering from panic attacks for the past couple of months. The first time it hit was at night after a spinning class. The second one was after a very strenous workout week (cardio, spinning, weightlifing) It hit me while I was just relax watching tv. I went to the hospital and they ran some blood tests and an EKG. Everything was normal, so they said it was a panic attack. They referred me to an Endocrinologist to check my thyroid. Still pending results, but Im scared of working out again. My psychologist suggested I take Yoga or pilates a more relaxing type of exercise. I have been going through some stress (work, husband in law school, brother sick… etc). Hope the Yoga works..
this is the first page i came upon after searching “CAN EXERCISE CAUSE ANXIETY” i have had this problem for a while now. when i dont exercise i feel fine but when i do i feel considerably more strung. its not right after the exercise ( mostly because i use breathing techniques i was taught to help with panic attacks, simply breathing in through the nose and exhaling slowly through the nose) but more the days following and not full blown panic attacks but just irratating levels of anxiety. any suggestions?
I’d suggest just doing less at a time. Make your workouts more frequent, but shorter. That’s what I’ve been doing, and it’s helped.
Hugo…I can totally relate to your comments..it’s not during or even immediately after exercise but something that comes on over a few days…and not panic, just irratating anxiety as you say. I’ve since stopped doing resistence training and hard cardio sessions and limited my exercise to 40min steady runs 3 or 4 times a week. Defo feeling less anxious as a result.
thats the problem. i do martial arts training in a class nearly every day for an hour and a half. so its either quit and do my my own practice or tuff it out. i also get extremely anxious when i think about epilepsy because at some point i convinced myself that i had it. lol sounds funny i know. its quite annoying
i know my last comment was a little off topic, but again if there are any suggestions this would be appreciated
Hi everyone,i do have a fear of exercising these days,after my 1st panic attack which had me landed in the ER where all test were done and all came back normal and doctor diagnosed panic attack.
I had several appointments with a cardiologist so far,did ecg,2 times stress test and echocardiography which all came back fine and also holter monitor,i try to do a mild jogging and sports but my heart rate just jump out very fast…i feel dizzy and chest discomfort,shortness of breathe..i hardly exercise now as i fear i just could pass out during exercise,even though i had an ecg stress test which came back normal,before all this i used to be a very fit footballer but now sigh..i seems to struggle with a mild exercise..
I have the anxiety “with” the exercise and have to stop and takes about 20 min to calm me down. So, I envy those who only had this a few months and got over it. If you keep your work out light, to pacify the fear, its harder to get back into shape. Catch 22 I guess. But, I have also read that people with Mitral Valve Prolapse have also experienced these symptoms. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think. If you don’t have MVP, its just a chemical imbalance or hereditary trait. I pray everyone finds the miracle of recovery.
Couple people mentioned it above… Lactic Acid.
Saw on the internet the results of a study. They took 20 people that suffered from panic attacks and they also took 20 people that had never had a panic attack. They injected them all with lactic acid. The 20 that suffered from panic attacks, 100% of them had a panic attack. The 20 that had never had a panic attack, 50% of them had a panic attack.
Anxiety is made worse by stress. Stress in all forms. Strenuous exercise is stressful to the body. Walking, light cardio, yoga. Those or stress relievers.
There’s an old saying… “You are going to worry yourself sick”. It is a very true statement. Anxiety presents itself in so many different ways you will convince yourself you have many different serious afflictions.
I was a mess for a year. In and out of Dr’s offices. Multiple test… nothing. But I kept reading the internet and was convinced something was wrong with me.
Finally… one day I said “This is enough… I’ve never been sick in my life and I’m not sick now” I developed a mantra… I told myself over and over and over… “I’m healthy, I’m strong, I’m OK”. Anytime I felt bad and wanted to dwell on my “sickness” I quickly went back to my mantra. I had an amazing recovery over the next month or so. I’m not totally over this yet, but I’m well on my way.
De-stress the body and mind and mentally change your thinking.
So glad i found this thread. I thought it was only me. Every other anxiety related site mentions exercise as a way of reducing anxiety. So as I saw my anxiety increase after exercise I couldn’t help think the usual – There must be something more.
Anyway, for once the problem may be a physiological one and not psychological. As mentioned before anxious people store lactic acid in there muscles. This I guess why my stamina levels are to bits. My muscles become fatigued at the slightest hint of exertion. One thing I learned is that lactic acid also encourages the production of cortisol. As most of us with anxiety know cortisol is not not our friend. As well as being a stress hormone it can also erodes muscle.
I read previously on another web-site (dedicated to running) that to help prevent the build up of lactic acid you should have 1 lemon to 1 litre of water (or more if you prefer) and increase your magnesium intake. Also follow the wise words of the poster above in looking to de-stress.
Hi all!
I am new to this chat.. and have recently started getting panic attacks while exercising… i psych myself out.. its awful.. i use to exercise and got sick the other day while I was exercising and have been anxious ever since… but i try to yell at my panic attacks.. and tell them that they are an annoyance to my life!!! I am going out for a bike ride now.. wich me luck!
Monica
I have had this same exact problem for a while now but I feel that I have a solution if you are willing…..
Meditation. Mindfulness meditation to be exact. Focus on your breathing. Accept the reality of the situation and the moment. You are alive, you are breathing. Do not bother with thoughts occur past (how this came about) and do not worry about the future (what might happen because of this i.e: panic). Just center on your breath and hat you are actually feeling. Tell yourself “my heart Is accelerated, I am breathing, my mind feels on edge and heightened due to this induced flight or fight response. This Is a product of evolution. My body is anticipating a threat. This is normal. I am in an alert state.”. Focus on your breathing. In and out. Do not attempt to control it. Merely observe and accept it for what it is. Accept this moment of anxiety and trust your body to deal with it when it is ready. Focus on all that is happening, especially your breathing, and do not attempt to change, explain, or anticipate. Just observe, accept, and be mindful of all that is happening because it is happening.
Wow. Thank you everyone.