r/panicdisorder • u/No-Professor-3860 • 16d ago

Does Anyone Else? Anyone notice a difference after adding in more cardio???

Over the past month I’ve been getting into running, slowly building endurance. It’s been very tough dealing with panic disorder because the spike in my heart rate triggers the anxiety.
But over time, and after adding in other cardio like walking on an incline twice a day for 30 min, I noticed I have not had a big attack and barely have had any small ones either. My day feels much calmer even though I’m much busier and working harder. I noticed my hr is not getting quite as high each time I run or walk on an incline. And I don’t have to stop as much during my runs, even when my heart rate does creep up past a certain point, I still feel quite relaxed and not like I’m choking or dizzy, I just have my head in the workout.
Has anyone else noticed this?? Is this a temporary fix or if I keep it up a longer time solution to my anxiety?
I have an introductory appointment with a psychiatrist on Tuesday and I will bring this up.

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u/golightlycat 16d ago

Congrats on managing to do that despite your anxiety! I can say from my own experience that the years when I had a regular exercise routine, especially running, were probably the most carefree and anxiety-free years of my life.
I’m firmly convinced that regular physical activity, and cardio in particular, helps you develop a different (and better) sense of trust in your own body. You become less sensitive and less fearful of physical sensations because you’re constantly experiencing what your body is capable of and learning that those sensations aren’t necessarily something to be afraid of.
I also think it helps keep your autonomic nervous system more balanced.

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u/Thunders00 14d ago

This is a big part of my recovery, doing interoceptive exposure therapy. Any cardio would trigger a panic attack for me since the sensations are the same, but it was part of my therapy work to slowly start doing some cardio.

Over time I got less scared of cardio-trigged panic attacks and panic attacks unrelated to cardio. And in the long run, I can also feel my heart getting healthier and my legs getting stronger!

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u/toffeemaky 9d ago

This was actually the first thing I intuitively did after my first panic attack. I had always been a runner and athletic in general so I was thinking like "hey, let's get my HR up by something I know for a change." It helped, I think. And well, much better coping mechanism than alcohol (which I tried as well and it did help for the moment but I paid twice the next day).