Emotions

[carinara]

Hello everybody, whenever i get emotionally involved (it doesnt matter if it is in a positiv or in a negative way), my body goes crazy and my symptoms play up big time. Iam a secreatary in a big companie with many co-workers and whenever somebody turns to me because they seek help or want to know my opinion about something personal, that makes my inside react emotional, i get sick. I love helping people, i love to listen to their Problems or stories but as soon as i get emotionally involved my heart rate starts to get really high, my vision gets blurry, i start to shake and i feel sick. It feels that my bodies reaction has nothing to do with my mental state because my mental state is quiet calm. I feel as if i can handle most things mentally.

It feels as if my Body has its own mind as soon as iam in a Situation wich involves a tiny amount of tension. The same thing Happens when somebody for example tells me something nice like a birth of a child, or if i watch a sad or happy movie,or when i receive or write an emotional letter. Iam a very emotional Person and i like it that way but in order to live with this reaction i cant spend 24 hours a day in a meditating state of mind, Now i hate to go to weddings or birthdayhparties and such things because of the way my ANS reacts as soon as i get emotional.

One thing that helps me is crying.Crying is a great thing that helps me calm my ANS down again. But i cant cry in publik or at work, thats just no option for me. Does anybody else experience this sort of thing? How do you handle it??? Is there anything i can do about it? I dont want to train myself to become a cold heartet?person without feelings (its not possible anyway:-)) Thanks a lot, carinara

[MamaTrain]

How long has this been going on? I have experienced similar feelings when a situation arises but not just from people talking to me. I definitely feel like the crying helps too! I think that is from alot of nervous tension or something for me. I hope you get more responses and we can both learn something! :-)

[Chaos]

Personally I think the mind and body are so closely interlinked it's hard to tell which is the chicken and which is the egg. I have noted that when my physical symptoms are at their worst, I have a harder time with emotions. Conversely when I'm anxious about something (e.g. a doctor's appt.) my physical symptoms are frequently worse. Trying to watch my son's basketball games frequently makes me literally sick. My husband and kids don't understand and always say "but this is such a good, exciting game!".

I do agree that crying seems to help. When I was having a really bad flare in the fall, I found I was crying a lot (mostly out of frustration for not knowing what was wrong with me!) whereas I hadn't cried in couple of years prior to that. My physical symptoms did seem to improve after the crying jag but only temporarily. I know I've read an explanation for why that happens but can't remember it right now.

My yoga teacher has been telling me for years that my "nervous system is just way too close to the skin". He seemed to imply that my mind and body were overly reactive to even the slightest stimulation. While meditation does seem to help with the physical manifestations of this whole syndrome, like you, I can't spend 24 hours a day meditating- which seems to be what I'd need to do if I relied solely on that as a technique.

I can relate also to your concerns about not wanting to brush people off or become totally self-absorbed and unable to empathize with others. But it definitely is a drag when your kidness and compassion create such strong side effects in you. Wish I had some great words of advice, but am trying to figure it all out right along with you.

[dsdmom]

This isn't surprising at all - your sympathetic nervous system doesn't know how ot turn itself off. I haven't found anything that really helps...just waiting it out and avoiding any triggers. With time it has gotten slightly less. For example, if I am driving and I pass a car, my heart used to start racing and get out of control and I would feel so awful because , as my doctor said, my system doesn't know how to shut off. Now when I pass a car I get a quick blip of feeling awful but then I go back to normal much quicker.

[HoudiniCat]

I?m so glad you posted this topic. This happens to me on a regular basis and I hate it. On Tuesday at work, we were all talking about the blizzard that was predicted for the mid-Atlantic US . . . how we would probably be closing the office . . . and everyone was getting giddy about the thought of the day off and shared stories about the big snowstorms when we were kids, etc., etc. A little while later I developed a very fast HR, shakiness, blurred vision, ringing ears, dizziness and was barely able to walk I was so shaky. This lasted all afternoon and evening and it was extremely difficult to drive home from work. I relaxed all night ? and thank goodness we did have the day off because of the snow ? cause I was laying on the couch most of the day recuperating.

Same thing happens if I get in an argument with someone or even a heavy conversation about anything ? good or bad. Weddings, holidays and family gatherings I have to be very careful about because I am almost sure to be having symptoms during and after.

I agree that crying helps ease some of the symptoms ? but you can?t do that all day. I hate that you?re all going thru this as well but at least I?m in good company!

[miranda]

omg , I cant believe we are all so alike . This has been my worse symptom.

My doctors used to put it down to panic attacks , however I now have a great Neurologist who discovered I have OH. She said , emotions make my blood pressure drop too low.

Yet I cant get my head around it ?

Is it orthostatic hypotention or ANS ?

[erikainorlando]

Yes. There is even info on it in the dinet info page. I get very ill from emotions. I feel very ill today...but I had to teleconference a court proceeding with my daughter's father this morning! If I get nervous about something (i.e. today)..I can feel my skin burning and my nose runs on top of all my regular stuff!!!

Still adjusting to all this stuff in Orlando!

Erika

[miranda]

I think its the vasovagal reaction ,,, I read this about it .....

Vasovagal reaction is a common condition in which a healthy person temporarily develops low blood pressure, slow heart rate, and sometimes fainting. A vasovagal reaction typically is brought on by emotions of fear or pain such as having blood drawn, starting an intravenous infusion, or by gastrointestinal upset. Vasovagal reactions are caused by activity of involuntary (autonomic) nervous system, especially the vagus nerve, which releases hormones that slow the heart and widen the blood vessels. The vagus nerve controls the heart rate (slows it down). The vagus nerve also controls digestive tract function and senses activity in the digestive system. Thus, some people can have a vasovagal reaction from straining at a bowel movement or vomiting.