What Causes "lasting Overstimulation" After Exercise?

[Primetime]

My main problem with exercise, ESPECIALLY with cardio exercise is not dizziness. It is -- I stay in that state of stimulation; I call it overstimuation; for a very long period of time after the exercise is over. It can last days. It is like the sympathetic nervous system does not calm down. Has any research figured out what causes this yet? I thought beta blockers were supposed to suppress this. My beta blocker helps but not NEAR enough. I take atenolol 25 mg every 12 hours. If I also take a 10 mg propranolol about 2 hours before a workout it helps more. But I really can't work out much at all. No cardio at all and only a little weight lifting. Only a couple of sets every few days and then I can't eat for several hours afterward. The cardio stimulates me so much that it is like I am going to have a heart attack with chest pain afterward.

I also have problem with arrythmias.

Does this overstimulation after exercise affect you guys also?

[Sushi]

I get the same over stimulation and chest pain after exercise. A small dose of a benzodiazapam before largely prevents it or helps with getting over it if I don't take it before. I used to take a quarter of a 5mg valium but it made me a little groggy so my doctor gave me klonopin--tiny dose, and it works without the grogginess. It made sense to him but I don't know the theory behind it. I've read that benzodiazapams help with neurally mediated dys.

[kmpower]

Hi Primetime.

Beta blockers block the receptors but not the norepinephrine from being made. Maybe your body is compensating somehow by making more during exercise, or maybe receptors affected by the norepi are not being blocked.

Besides the receptor blockade you might try to figure out ways to make less, such as keep your sugar balanced, start out with very slow and careful warm-ups to stay aerobic (vs. anaerobic), etc.

OLL

[blackford]

Hey Primetime:

Sorry for repeating your original message. I'm new at this.

I joined the forum so I could reply to your message and others similar to it. For most of my life, I have had symptoms very much like yours. As a teenager and young adult (I'm now in my fifties), following vigorous exercise or athletic activity, my body would not return to normal. My cardiovascular system continued to act as if I was still exercising. It made sleep difficult for one or more nights, and eventually I would become exhausted from the constant overstimulation. From what I have read in recent years, I suspect that my adrenaline or noradrenaline receptors "hang on" to these hormones too long or that there is a way for the body to clear these hormones when they are no longer needed, but that system does not work properly for me. Because of this response, general anxiety is also a problem, a big one at times. I take different meds that basically slow my body down, but if overdo it with exercise, lack of sleep, or poor eating, the symptoms return, no matter how much the meds help.

If anyone here knows the specifics of this type of dysautonomia, I would appreciate learning more about it. I know some work on this has been done at the Vanderbilt Dysautonomia Center, but other sources would be helpful as well. Thanks,

Robert

[cardiactec]

yep, I made my bed last night (not that this is even "true" exercise) and felt a little short winded and shaky after, I took my pulse - 150 and that's on a hefty dose of beta....

.....I ride my bike flat surfaced to get some exercise and both during and after I feel very stimulated and my heart goes nuts, along with feeling nauseous and shaky.

not fun. feels like you're still exercising even hours after you have stopped....

take care. hope you get some answers/help.

cardiactec.

[yogini]

It's not unusual to have issues with exercise, but if you're having chest pains, etc., you may be pushing yourself a bit too hard. I think cardio is the toughest form of exercise for POTS. Things like pilates and swimming, where you're lying flat, tend to be a bit easier. I had to work up to it by starting with pilates and going slowly with cardio - starting at 2 minutes and increasing in small increments. I couldn't afford to exercise to the poitn of getting sick, because of work. Easing into things really helped. Stretching before and after and wearing compression hose also helps. Beta blockers can be a double-edged sword - they help with HR, but lower BP and have exercise intolerance as a side effect.

You might want to do a search on exercise - there is a lot of helpful advice in prior posts.

[lloppyllama]

After i excercise i can get very lightheaded and dizzy, it really depends on how i am doing that day though. I have noticed that my legs have that "excercise feeling" for a long while after excercising. I dont have any information on why it happens though, sorry, best of luck to you!!!

[mom4cem]

I have trouble with the overstimulation after exercise also. I take longer to recover and sometimes it just stays high for an hour or so after stopping the exercise or even better, the rate starts to climb higher after stopping.

I'll have to try a bit of my klonopin b/4 hand and see how that goes.

[Hadders]

I know this is a very old post but has anyone found help to this problem as I am suffering with close to same problem here for past 3/4 years. I use to do powerlifting regularly until one time I got muscle spasms and felt completely overstimulated and stayed with me On/off since. whenever i incorporate exercise I feel bad for days no sleep, caffeine makes me feel sick & Get random body shakes. currently on diazepam at moment only 2mg which helps with anxiety but everything else is still there. Know it’s old post but Any kind  of advice would be much appreciated 

[Pistol]

@Hadders - this happens to me when I exercise too much. Exercise can stimulate a Fight-or-Flight response and cause the body to produce too much adrenaline ( norepinephrine ). In "normal" people this will cause the high HR, raise in BP, increased respirations etc,  and after exercise these reactions come back to baseline.  In dysautonomia, however, the adrenaline does not get out of the system properly and therefore causes prolonged "Stress Responses" - therefore we are overstimulated. 

For this reason in dysautonomia normally mild to moderate exercise is recommended, followed by ample rest to allow the norepinephrine levels to come down. Personally I have to avoid ALL rigorous exercise and only do mild activity followed by 5-10 minutes of rest and retreat from stimulation. That means after a short walk or a few minutes on my rowing machine etc. I have to actually sit or liw down in my bedroom, away from noise or stimulation, and simply wait until I am able to get up without my heart racing etc. According to our information site ( and common advice from specialists ) rigorous exercise is not recommended, but rather a carefully balanced moderate exercise regime: 

Aerobic exercise performed for 20 minutes a day, three times a week, is sometimes recommended for patients who can tolerate it (Grubb, Kanjwal & Kosinski, 2006).

[Sushi]

12 hours ago, Hadders said:

I know this is a very old post but has anyone found help to this problem as I am suffering with close to same problem here for past 3/4 years. 

I have a medical cannabis card and find that a tiny dose of edible Indica helps more than anything else. Of course you would have to be in a state that has quality controlled medical cannabis and have a permit.

[MTRJ75]

13 hours ago, Hadders said:

I know this is a very old post but has anyone found help to this problem as I am suffering with close to same problem here for past 3/4 years. I use to do powerlifting regularly until one time I got muscle spasms and felt completely overstimulated and stayed with me On/off since. whenever i incorporate exercise I feel bad for days no sleep, caffeine makes me feel sick & Get random body shakes. currently on diazepam at moment only 2mg which helps with anxiety but everything else is still there. Know it’s old post but Any kind  of advice would be much appreciated 

A couple of years ago, I was doing 30-45 minute workouts and then had to cut the workouts in half and then even less than that, but was still shaking and sweating profusely afterwards. Couldn't understand why I was losing strength and stamina when I should have been building it. 

Pistol is right, as usual, and even as I've felt a bit better these last few months, I'm still having great difficulty finding a level of physical activity that doesn't set me off and cause me to regress. 

[Pistol]

9 hours ago, MTRJ75 said:

I've felt a bit better these last few months, I'm still having great difficulty finding a level of physical activity that doesn't set me off and cause me to regress. 

@MTRJ75 - this is an ongoing challenge for many of us. I too have been doing good this week and have been able to get a lot done. Since I am currently able to do light gardening chores outside and also do household chores I leave it at that - bending, stooping, carrying watering cans, mopping or vacuuming all counts as exercise and actually taxes me more that a few minutes on the rowing machine. So I do not add any other exercise. However - if I am not able to leave the house or am not feeling well I do the rowing machine 2 times a day for a few minutes - it helps circulation and the joints etc. 

What I have found is to schedule your exercises around your body - not the other way around. Find out when you feel the best ( for me it is mornings ) and then exercise MODERATELY, followed by rest until you feel energized again. This - for me - is the clue: to follow all exercise with rest. And to not do anything when you are not feeling good, it is your body signaling you that you are not up to anything that day. If I fight this I pay big time in the following days!!!! I also schedule Off-days following busy days, that way I can recoup and not go into a flare.