Hey guys, I’m having a new problem the past couple of months. I’ll start by saying that I’ve got some heartbeat/rate hyperawareness due to anxiety that is slowly getting better with therapy, meds I started a couple weeks ago (Lexapro), and time. 

But ever since I had a wild panic attack about a month ago (my heart rate was literally 180 bpm for 2 hours straight), I’ve developed even worse cardiac anxiety. Things like carrying laundry up the stairs will send my heart rate up quickly and suddenly, and then I’ll be able to get it down fairly quickly after. But any time I’ve tried to exercise since that horrible panic attack, my heart will race during exercises it normally wouldn’t and sometimes it won’t come down when it should or until I sit down. It’s not like I’m getting physically exhausted or out of breath either, so my heart rate is not matching my exertion whatsoever. I also don’t feel “panicky” when this happens other than being concerned about the rapid heart rate. My hypothesis is that I’ve got a real bad subconscious heart rate trigger ever since that panic attack, because rational thoughts tell me that if I was going to develop some sort of crazy heart condition, it wouldn’t have coincided with a global pandemic and a period of severe anxiety. But of course anxiety does not listen to rational thought. 

For reference I am a healthy 26 year old female who was blissfully doing HIIT workouts 2 months ago. 

Anyone else struggle with this? I’ve been avoiding workouts for the most part because of this but I’m thinking I just need to force myself to workout to re-habituate my mind with the sensations of exercise.