Dear All:

I'm a 50-year-old male who has never smoked and is in generally good health, but like most people could stand to get in better shape. Today I had a very unsetlling experience that I hope to get your thoughts on.

It's a warm, muggy day, and I'm making the slightly uphill trek from my car to the building in which I work, while walking alongside a colleague and having a pleasant conversation. I had been feeling slightly lightheaded for much of the day, which is not unusual for me. Suddenly, while walking, I find myself becoming short of breath and feeling like I might pass out or have a heart attack. I wasn't having chest pain or gasping for air, but was definitely short of breath. I came very close to having a panic attack. Thank God we turned a corner onto a more level street with some shade and a cool breeze, or I shudder to think what might have happened.

My theory for the moment is that my GAD creates stress on my body such as increased heart rate, shallow rapid breathing, etc -- and the stress caused by walking uphill in the warm muggy air began overtaxing my already stressed body.

It's worth noting that around three years ago I was out for a walk with my wife on a warm summer evening when something very similar happened. I began feeling very lightheaded/dizzy and my heart rate suddenly jumped, which was immediately followed by an intense out-of-the-blue panic attack that had me convinced I was dying. We rushed to the ER where I continued having panic attacks for around six hours. My 24-hour stay in the hospital included a stress enho that turned out fine. A few months later, I wore a holter monitor for a month which showed nothing but occasional PVCs. And a month or so ago I had the same tests and everything is still OK. So in theory my cardiovascular system is fine.

There have been other occasions when I've been hot and become suddenly lightheaded and panicky. I'm beginning to sense a pattern. Are heat and humidity known to cause panic attacks? Maybe I should move to Alaska. :-/

I would be very grateful, dear reader, if you would please chime in with your thoughts. Thank you very much.

Thank you for taking the time to reply Gurumiche. I think you're largely right. I've read many times that anxiety can cause rapid, shallow breathing, which can cause hyperventilation, which can lead to a panic attack. I suspect that's at least part of what's going on. So now I need to overcome my fear of physical exertion. Yay, a new phobia to conquer. :-/

This summer I have experienced panic and high anxiety. I work in an office on the weekdays and due mechanical maintenance on the weekends. I own a Peterbilt and on the weekends I spend my time maintaining it, changing out tires, changing oil, taking this part off putting this part back so on and so forth. Well every no and again if I am working and if you live in Texas you know the 100+ heat, I do get extra anxious/nervous. Almost like the fight or flight sensation and I have had a small panic attack before. Nothing as strong as yours but I have had them in the heat.

I have read that heat can cause them mainly due to your body being extra sensitive to make sure you don't dehydrate or get too much sun and seeing how our bodies are on the extra sensitive side I could see this happening to anyone of us.

yea i knew about our shallow chest breaths. every morning before you get up, take a few secs to take in some deep breaths with matching exhales. great way to start the day.