Panic Over Breathing During Exercise

I did one run before I got involved ins something that's taken all my time since then. I did get some results, although my pulse oximeter stopped working and I could only intermittently see my pulse rate on my GPS device: with a recommended maximum heart rate for may age of 168-170 bpm and a predominantly lightly downhill 0.5 mile jog/run, I ran at 12.5 min/mile pace (under 5 mph) with a settled heart rate of 155-165 bpm that was 165 when I stopped jogging/running; I then got mild feelings of panic over my breathing for a few seconds, during which time my heart rate climbed to about 172. I was therefore above the recommended exercise heart rate of 70-85% of maximum, 120-145 bpm; however, I've done this many times in the past without problems.

I'll do some more runs at lower heart rates to see if the feelings of panic vanish.

One important issue that didn't occur to me, probably correctly, as possibly being connected is that around 4 years ago I developed a chronic pain in my nose. An ENT consultant couldn't find anything amiss and the partial turbinectomy that I had 20 years ago seemed to be well done. A neurologist determined that my pain was due to either nerve damage during the operation or my brain playing tricks; I'm not the only one to have such neuropathic pains and unfortunately I'm in the 50% of sufferers who don't recover with medication, so I've been on a (relatively low) level of painkillers ever since. At the time I did consider 'Empty Nose Syndrome (ENS), see here but discounted that because the ENT consultant said my turbinate removal was relatively minor and my nose was in good condition, and I have none of the main symptoms (chronic dryness of the nose and pharynx, shortness of breath, upsetting nasal sensations switching between over openness or congestion of the remaining mucosa and difficulty sleeping) other than those that are pretty generic to any chronic pain condition (difficulty concentrating and a generally depressed and irritated mood). My feelings of panic could be classed as unpleasant nasal sensations but I still think there is nothing to suggest that they are connected to ENS.

Hi NDC. I agree with the bulk of the replies: probably not CPAP but see a doctor. CPAP can be a major life change and it sounds like some serious anxiety is kicking in when you're exercising or even just tense - but then I'm not a doctor, so that's just a guess! They'll probably be able to put you on a treadmill and reproduce the symptoms, then you won't have to guess anymore. Ahhhh, relief