Stress Center Peer Support

I used to love to do all kinds of exercise. Since my panic started I have noticed I stayed away fromt hings that made my heart race.

Did anyone else do that?

This summer I did alot of swimming to try to get in shape, and I also did alot of walking.

Now with it being cold out I am not sure what would be a good way to continue getting fit.

Can you actually lose lbs with yoga? What do you do for exercise in the winter?

In my house, I have a step that goes to a landing that goes into the basement. I use that one step as a stepper. I step up 200 times. It also helps that it's right in front of the TV !

You can get an exercise ball. It usually comes with exercises with it. Get a set of weights (2 lb, 5 lb, 10 lb, 20 lb and 50 lb). While you are watching TV, stand up and do some arm curls or other different exercises with it.

It gets pretty cold where I am and I will bundle up and go for a walk outside anyway. Walking down the street when it's uneven with ice and snow is an excellent exercise for your legs (just be careful !!!!!)

Make sure to drink plenty of water and keep the low fat snacks and fruit and veggies handy.

I can completely identify with what you are saying--I used to walk a alot and rock climb. I have stopped doing both of those things over the past year because I'm afraid of the way I feel--that light headed wooshy feeling--its only anxiety, nothing else is wrong with me (I've had tests and ekg's that have all come back normal). Tomorrow I will go the park for the first time in a year and try to walk a little with my husband.....

I have a problem with exercising also. My problem is when I start feeling warm and sweaty I start feeling like I am out of breath which then turns into a panic attack that leads me to hyperventilating. I stop doing whatever I am doing immediately (whether it be from exercising, housework, or tending to my grandkids) when I feel that familiar shortness of breath/suffocating feeling. What is weird is if I have a fan going in all the rooms where I can feel air movement I don't have near the problems I do when I don't have any fans going or have the air movement. As long as I can feel the breeze on me while I am doing whatever I am doing I tend to be much better off. If not I fight the out of breath/suffocating feeling almost everytime. Does anyone else experience this and use fans to make it easier?

God bless and hugs,
Susan

To KitKat1970

That is wonderful that youa re going to go to the park. Please remember to say how that went ok..

I know what you mean about stopping things all together do to anxiety.

I to have had ekgs, brain scans, x-rays, and blood tests on about everything.

yes I have felt those feelings Susanthechatterbox.

My sister bought me a tanning package. Well I went to the stand up booth and was fine. But then I went to a relaxation lay down booth and pulled the thing over me. Nope. It just wasn't going to happen.

See I started feeling out of breathe. Like I was going to chose or sufficate.

I think I have some closterphobia going on. I stopped tanning all together because of it.

Same thing happens if I am walking in walmart and a bunch of people are around me. If I get caught in an isle with lots of people with no way to move.

It will be so nice to overcome this problem..

Hi BethDyess
You look pretty young and need a lot of support this this anxiety episode you are going through, by spending a lot of time at the ER. You remind me of myself 25 years ago. I gave myself the name back then lost in a big sad sad world alone. But with prayer and family i made it through. I brooght lucinda program 12 years ago and i did not have a job and did not know where the money was coming from to pay for the program, but i ordered it anyway and i feel that the lord made a way out of no way for me to eventual;ly pay it off. I'm a witness it really works!

Yes! Beth that is exactly how I feel when I go anywhere (or even if I am at home here) and start feeling nervous or panicky. That out of breath/suffocating type of feeling hits me out of no where. I literally start feeling like something bad is going to happen and for a split second I wonder if I will have to call for help, thank God I have been able to sit myself down and get my mind off of it by concentrating on something/anything to stop the feeling from getting worse. This is one of the biggest reasons I have let myself become so Agoraphobic and lost out on so much of my life. It is a very scary thing that has consumed me and kept me from loving/enjoying my life. I am slowly trying to counter attack it by learning to accept the feeling when it hits and let it do its thing like it has for so many years. By doing this I am praying/hoping that I will learn to control it and stop letting it control me. I am also learning not to let it scare me so bad, after all I have been fighting it for a long time and it hasn't won yet.

BethDyess,

I am the same way. My wife and I bought a family membership to the YMCA/YWCA in hopes of getting more exercise and I thought it would help with my anxiety, panic attacks, etc... After about a month's worth of use I worked out on a Saturday after work and once I was done and gone home, I couldn't get my heart rate down and started fearing the worst. Earlier this year I went to the ER because I couldn't get my heart rate down and I try everything I can to avoid going back as I know what's casuing it most of the time. But after having the rapid heart rate after exercising, this went on for 6 or 7 hours after exercise, I have not gone back because of the fear of that happening again. I know exercise is good for me, but it sure scares me as well. So I know the feeling and I'm at a lost here I guess...

Hi Beth-

I found what helped me with the heart rate fear was wearing a heart rate monitor. I can see at a glance that feeling crummy doesn't always equal increasing heart rate and that when I feel like I'm about to explode my heart rate is no where near as high as I imagine it to be.

I freaked when the trainer at the gym told me to get my heart rate to 120 bpm for 20 minutes. I almost quit the gym on this account. But.. I didn't. I am too persistent to let this win. Now I exercise (cardio) about 5-6 times per week for 1+ hours at a time and I don't truly even notice my heart beating, etc. The physical release and the endorphin hit is fabulous for my anxiety. Start out in a "safe" place like a gym where you can just hop off the machine at a whim. Keep at it- even when you have a panic attack. Get right back up on the horse and stare it down. The good that exercise will do for you is amazingly centering, not to mention all the physical benefits.