Side effects of anti-depressive medication (tremors, headache, blurred vision…)
Fatigue/lack of energy
Faster and more somatic manifestations
Anxiety and maximal exercise testing
Performance of maximal incremental exercise test could be particularly hampered by phobic anxiety, with autonomic manifestations naturally triggered by exercise, similar to those present in a panic attack
Due to the anticipatory anxiety related to a panic attack while performing a maximal incremental exercise test, it is quite common that the patient will be unwilling to achieve the exhaustion that characterises a maximal incremental exercise test
This issue can be further complicated during a maximal incremental exercise test when expired gases are collected: breathing using a mouthpiece with occluded nose accompanied by the perception of increased HR can contribute to symptoms of discomfort, dyspnoea, asphyxia and suffocation in panic disorder patients.
Research indicates that VO2 max tends to be lower in panic disorder (PD) patients when compared with age and sex-matched healthy subjects.
However, when healthy subjects are compared with PD patients’ subgroup who completed the test until a plateau phase in the HR/VO2 levels was reached, these differences disappear
This lower aerobic fitness presented in many PD patients may be associated with the avoidance of potentially anxiogenic activities, leading to a reduction of exposure to exercise and outside activities that could somehow improve their aerobic fitness
Approximately 20% of patients were unwilling to complete a truly maximal exercise test, making submaximal physical fitness data relevant
