anxiety after exercise - stupid! ha

Yeah! an exercise induced P/A...You're a warrior! Really I don't mean to make light of it-it's just that I have had many of these and have since jogged countless miles and taught hundreds of dance classes, done hours of aerobics and am still going strong! While it is true that a healthy heart should return to a normal rate fairly quickly after exercise, if you are worrying about it, it won't budge for awhile. It can't hurt you, just try not to focus on it and you'll be fine. One thing that helped me was a gradual cool down. It allows the heart rate to decrease slowly, without you noticing it so much, and keeps you busy and distracted with the movement that you are doing. Try marching in place while swinging your arms, or step touches with circling arms ect...
Remeber that a little exercise induced P/A is common, harmless and the risk of not exercising far outweighs the risk of some anxiety. Eventually you will not have it as trigger and be able to get the stress relief you seek.
Walk on!
Scaredy Cat

I get this, too, but not very often. Only thing is you don't have to get it often. After a few times it's enough to make you not want to exercise. So now I exercise at night after my second dose of Klonopin. That's not the ideal time for it because it often keeps me awake forever, but that's better than having high anxiety or a panic attack or not exercising at all.

You are not stupid or alone
I feel the EXACT same way!!!

I have had anxiety for 11 years and I often find that I avoid exercise. When my heart beats and I start to feel out of breath, I feel an attack coming on. I had been avoiding intense activity for YEARS. It's sad and hopefully will get better. But know that you are totally not the only one that had this reaction.