Forums >Running 101>Heartrate increases faster than normal leading to panic attack
Hi I'm 31 yr old Male. I'm new to running. I run about 4 times a week 45 mins a day. It's not really running as it's more jog/fast walking. I have a chest hr monitor and try to keep my pulse between 120 and 160 bpm. Most days I will jog for 4 mins before I get to 160 bpm and then speed walk til it gets to 125 bpm and then I will start jogging til 160 bpm and so on and so on for 45 mins. I usually speed walk a quarter mile before I start to jog. So my question is that on some days I will only jog 20 seconds before my pulse is already at 160 bpm. It will take 2-4 times longer to get it back to 125 bpm than normal. Is this normal? On these days I get very scared. So much so that the other day I thought something was wrong and just stopped jogging or walking altogether at 150 bpm. My pulse did not go down but actually went up to 170 bpm for a minute straight. This was very scary so I layed on the ground and started breathing deep but still my pulse stayed at 170 for another minute before gradually going down to 100. By this time I was very scared and laying on the ground for 5 minutes already. everytime I looked at my hr I would see it go from 110 to 120 and I would get very scared and my hr would go up to 150 or so. I was scared that it was to high for to long or that I wouldn't be able get it down or that it would stay high or just keep getting higher. I was breathing deep but not hyperventilating. My fingers started tingling like I was hyperventilating or something bad had happened. Which scared me more sending my pulse to 150's bpm again. How do I avoid this in the future? Is there a breathing technique or some sort of technique to get my hr under control if this happens again. And does anyone know why this happened to begin with?
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Please see and get advice and assistance from a qualified medical professional, not an internet forum.
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You make it sound like it's not a normal thing. That its something that I should get medical advice for. Unless the doctor is a runner than i dnt think they would know if it's normal thing that happens to runners. Has any runners experienced this?
You make it sound like it's not a normal thing. That its something that I should get medical advice for.
You're doing an activity which leaves you laying on the ground for 5 minutes, per your description. That is not normal.
No I layed down out of choice for fear my hr was to high. Not cuz I hunched over and fell to the ground. Thank you so much for ur help but I would please like to hear from other ppl who might have had the same experience.
One day at a time
Go see a doctor.
Sometimes a chest strap will pick up your cadence instead of your heart rate, especially at the beginning of a run. Are you sure the numbers you are seeing are real? Next time this happens check your pulse on your wrist or neck and see if it matches the watch (count beats for 10 seconds and multiply by 6)
If it does, I agree with the others, time to see a doctor.
Old , Ugly and slow
What is your height and weight.
do you have high blood pressure.
i am 58 and fat and can run for 2 hours without my heart rate going to high.
so you are doing something wrong or you are really out of shape and pushing it too hard.
first race sept 1977 last race sept 2007
2019 goals 1000 miles , 190 pounds , deadlift 400 touch my toes
5'11" 204 pounds. Had a full cardio workup this year after my dad passed. Echo stress and 48 hour monitor ekg and MRI blood test and all. I asked for all of it. They said I have a few high blood pressure readings but maybe due to stress and they will keep an eye on it. I'm prone to panic attacks since his passing. Has anyone had a panic attack while running? Has anyone felt thier heart race during exercise that scares them into a panic attack? Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions. This is the beginner forum right. I've only started jogging for 2 months. I've had great improvements to endurance and recovery. Anyone ever have days where they reach thier hr zone way faster than normal? And thier recovery take 4 times longer than normal?
What am I supposed to tell the doctor? That my heart rate got to 170 during exercise that scared me into lying down. Won't she just say that hr goes up when exercising? I dont wanna be labeled a hypochondriac after being cleared just earlier this year. The forum said I could talk to other runners and compare notes. I will definitely talk to my cardiologist at my follow up appt. Later this month but in the time being maybe I could hear some other people's experiences.
Hi! I am definitely not an expert but i have just completed a heart work up (im 10 yrs older than you tho). i was having heart palpitations at odd times when i didnt think i was stressed at all. just lying down made my heart race. Im about to get the results of all my tests soon but most of my symptoms went away.
when i ran tho, my heart rate did increase but was steady. and it didnt increase that fast.
maybe you can start slower like walking first and monitor your wrist pulse. find out what your max heart rate should be and try to keep it under that. in the past i'd do the exact same running routine for 2 weeks before i increased anything (distance or speed).
for sure looking at your heart rate and watching it climb will cause panic. different things work for different people...meditation, deep breathing, stretching, singing, distraction.
i definitely felt like a hypochondriac with my heart "issues" but something was not right for me.
what are you eating/drinking before the walk/run? i would go with a semi clear stomach so your not trying digest.
yes most cardiologist are used to older patients with arrhythmias and things, so they do tend to pass off us "young" folk and may not have runners as patients.
i think if your tests were all clear, eat better if youre not already, go slower and more gradual, i heard yoga helps relax too, you can mix that with running.
i think its definitely odd to jump to 160 after only 20 sec. if everything else is fine, its got to be the anxiety. but i am not an expert at all. the thing about anxiety is once youve had that experience you think youll always have it.
i would defly tell your dr about it and see what she has to say. just say your HR jumped from normal to 160 in 20 seconds for a routine jog.
did your stress echo show anything?
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You’re asking the right questions. You’re asking the wrong people. You need an assessment by, and counsel from, a qualified medical professional who can see and talk to you in person.
What you are describing is not normal for you. You admitted as much. It has you concerned enough to start asking questions. That should be enough for you to start asking questions of your qualified healthcare provider.
A negative workup in the past means you were only as healthy as that evaluation demonstrated at that time. Things change. Health changes. Time for a reassessment.
Please stop looking for answers here. Please go see your doctor.
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Trails
In my case my resting HR was hitting 200....and yes it caused panic attacks. This was before running. I went to the doctor who found I have hyperthyroidism which was causing the racing pulse and panic attacks. I take a beta blocker now and my resting HR is around 55. I am a female, 55 years old. I am 4'9" and 97 lbs.
Go see a doctor, a runner if you can find one, or at least an athlete who understands. I lucked out, mine is in the National Guard and knows exercise so she understands why I do this.
Next time your heart rate goes high, lay down on the ground and manually count your heart rate. Your heart rate monitor might be wrong. I had something similar happen during a marathon, had no other symptoms, so I finished the marathon and went to the med tent and asked the doctor. The doctor there understood sports medicine (she was a marathoner), and told me that a high heart rate with no other symptoms meant that the heart rate monitor was wrong. She said that a real problem that caused a very high heart rate would have put me on the ground.
I had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, I was fine, while the chest strap had failed. On the other hand, the heart rate readings for that marathon were useless. So I threw that chest strap away. Problem solved.
If you are using a heart rate monitor that stores data in an app, take that with you to your doctor. Something no one has mentioned, going from high intensity to nothing can be an issue for some people.
That said, definitely check to see if the HRM is accurate. I've had mine spike at the start of runs from cadence lock. When I manually take my heart rate, it was no where near what the device said it was.
Your heart rate on runs can vary based on conditions. If you run on a very hot & humid day, your hot rate will likely be higher than on a cool overcast day.