What are some physical reasons for unexpected anxiety?

[DustingMyselfOff]

I'm relaxed and happy, I swear I am! I retired a month ago, I am enjoying sleeping late, hanging around the house, getting projects done, loving a new hobby I started, hubby and I are getting along great, life is a dream. So why do I get these surges of adrenaline and anxiety out of nowhere!?!?!?!

Does anyone experience more anxiety after exercising? For example, does exercising produce adrenaline or cortisol or something that would cause excess energy or stimulation? I did a lot of physical activity today (exercising along to a video and then took a walk with my dogs) and when I tiredly hit the couch to catch up on e-mail, the anxiety poured in, physical and mental symptoms. I'm nourished, hydrated, and did plenty of physical stuff, I do yoga and meditate, so where does this come from!?!?! Oh, it makes me so angry!

Sorry, had to vent and hope someone can relate. Is the new surge of exercise doing this to me? I also found my tics have increased since I started getting more exercise. :(
Sue

[ankietyjoe]

Exercise can definitely be a trigger, no matter whether you feel anxious or not. Your body can perceive it as stress or trauma. You may have pushed a little too far with the exercise video AND taking the dogs for a walk. It invariably used to hit me 1-3 hours after the event, like an outpouring of adrenaline.

Just ease into those exercise routines and it should be fine. Let your body get used to it, and let the adrenaline pass if it does happen later. Don't get angry about it, that'll only make it worse.

[DustingMyselfOff]

Thank you, Joe! Your response was very reassuring and validates that this is probably the cause and that this too shall pass. Lord knows I don't want to start obsessing over the "why".... I'd rather accept this as the answer and carry on. Thank you.
Sue

[MyNameIsTerry]

Exercise or any level of physical activity will stimulate adrenaline and cortisol. If you do strenuous exercise >1hr though then it will mean a far greater amount of cortisol. It's also going to wake the body up and be pushing more oxygen through your blood stream to cope with the extra demand. An outcome of this can be that toxins are flushing out too.

Gentle exercise and deep breathing clear out excess adrenaline by causing the body to metabolize it into other chemicals. You could experiment with things like this.

Given how sensitive some of us are to stimulation of the body it can be a challenge anyway so you may need to habituate into new activity levels and/or teach your subconscious to stop associating these feelings with panic/anxiety...which is often our Holy Grail anyway!

[DustingMyselfOff]

Thank you, Terry. I had no idea that we could help metabolize adrenaline into other chemicals..... the body is truly fascinating. Now that I know why it's happening it will help to not dwell on it, stress over it, and try to just accept and let pass. Love this forum!
Sue

[Carnation]

Sue, I had this with excessive exercise, which is why I don't do it any more. Exercise is good, but too much can have the opposite affect.
3 years ago I joined a dancing class to learn how to jive.
A full hour of it! Too much!
I would have been better with the line dancing, lol.
Walking is good, yoga, pilates, gardening if not excessive, a gentle sport and not prolonged bouts of hard physical exercise.

[DustingMyselfOff]

Sue, I had this with excessive exercise, which is why I don't do it any more. Exercise is good, but too much can have the opposite affect.
3 years ago I joined a dancing class to learn how to jive.
A full hour of it! Too much!
I would have been better with the line dancing, lol.
Walking is good, yoga, pilates, gardening if not excessive, a gentle sport and not prolonged bouts of hard physical exercise.

Well crap - you try to do the right thing and it turns out wrong! I'm hoping my body will become accustomed to my new exercise routine and this anxiety and increase in tics will settle down? I don't want to back off on physical activity: one of the primary reasons for retiring was to focus on my body and mind and get my body in tip top physical shape, and my first project was to renovate a room in my house to turn into my exercise room, which I just did. I do not want to back off of my plan to get into good physical shape, so my adrenaline, cortisol levels and anxiety will just have to deal with it!

As with all anxiety, simply knowing why it's there or what triggered it helps reduce it a lot, so I will assume this is the cause and I will carry on with a "accept it and let it pass" attitude. (Of course, that's easy for me to say right now because I haven't done anything physical yet and I'm not feeling particularly anxious yet).

Thanks for confirming that the increased strenuous activity is most likely what caused the increase in anxiety - validation is a wonderful thing.
Sue

[MyNameIsTerry]

Thank you, Terry. I had no idea that we could help metabolize adrenaline into other chemicals..... the body is truly fascinating. Now that I know why it's happening it will help to not dwell on it, stress over it, and try to just accept and let pass. Love this forum!
Sue

Yep, it has too as otherwise it's excreted through urine. Since we can't get rid of it quick enough that way it metabolizes instead.

I think what we really need though is some boffin to come up with some nanotechnology like in the sci-fi films that we can buy and it says "no thanks, we are all good for adrenaline today"

I think meditation is known to do it too and that's probably about the breathing and calming the mind.

[ankietyjoe]

Meditation is more about intercepting the bodily reactions that cause the problems in the first place than calming down. Meditation isn't a calming or relaxation technique per se, although that is a side effect that can occur. Think of a speeding car. Is it better to slam on the brakes to avoid a crash, or see the obstacle earlier on and not even get into that situation where you need to emergency brake? Meditation is.....awareness.

[DustingMyselfOff]

Yes, Terry, please come up with that anti-adrenaline nano-technology, put me down for the first purchase, and you will become rich and famous in no time! The mind is a powerful thing..... maybe I can try chanting "I'll pass on the adrenaline" when I'm exercising and see if my body listens.

I agree with Joe that meditation doesn't do much for me if I am already anxious, but I'm hoping when I do it more often and get good at it, it will help reduce the triggers of anxiety. I do really well with guided meditations but when lying in bed and trying to do it on my own, I fail pitifully.
Sue