exercise makes me cranky, advice...

Most people tell me that exercising makes them feel good, energized, and allows them to sleep better at night.

I seem to experience the exact opposite. When I exercise, I get extremely irritable for the rest of the day. My energy level drops drastically, my depression and anxiety get a little worse, and I can't sleep at night. A few years ago, I thought that maybe if I just worked through it and kept at it, all that would go away, but after exercising for six months, I still experienced all the same symptoms. I recently started exercising again and have found that the same thing is happening, but it seems to be even worse.

Just some background: I am 6 ft tall and 155 lbs. I have a very high metabolism. I take Zoloft for anxiety and depression, fish oil, and a B complex, I only drink one small cup of coffee a day and smoke about a half a pack, to a pack of ciggs a day. Normally I eat three squares a day and at least one snack. When I work out, I will have to eat about twice as much as normal to avoid feeling like I am starving. I'll drink water and piss it right out almost immediately, and stay feeling dehydrated.

Yesterday, I did some light cardio. It was the worst day ever. I was extremely irritable afterwards, extremely hungry and thirsty to the point that I was almost shaking. Even though I ate a shit ton of food. I usually go to bed at about 10:00 pm, but literally couldn't sleep and didn't get there until about 7:00 a.m. this morning.

So, if anybody has any feedback or advice on what may be going on here I would be very grateful. For the time being, I have abandoned my exercise routine.

 

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You're probably dehydrating. Take a liter of water with you and sip during your workout and drink lot's of water after your workout and maybe even consider adding electrolyte powder in your water. Medication, smoking and coffee are already dehydrating so exercise would only exacerbate that.

 

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You are thin build like me - do weights.

 

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I slam 8 oz of water as soon as I wake up everyday. I frequently drink pedialyte. I also drink tons of water before, during and after my workout.

Weights make it even worse. Much worse, which is why I decided to stick to cardio. Also, my back and neck are far to fucked up and doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapists have all told me to avoid weights for this reason.

 

Oh I see. Seriously ask your doctor, that just doesn't sound right - I feel awesome after a workout, even though my shoulder is bothering (and i'm going to see a doctor about that).

 

Yeah, currently have no medical insurance... It'll have to wait I guess...

 

Yeah, I am going to say, with the disclaimer of not being a medical professional, that you have something else going on in your body.

For starters, if you are 6ft and only 155 lbs, you are possibly underweight to begin with. Depends on your frame I guess. If you have a large frame, you are definitely under weight, a small frame, then you are probably fine.

But I'd suspect more than just weight is causing this, as even if you are underweight, it isn't by a whole lot.

Your best bet is to first go to your doctor and explain the situation. Most doctors will have you do a urinalysis and blood work to see if there is anything obvious going on. If that doesn't show anything, they should refer you to a specialist. There are plenty of diseases that can cause a person to lose energy, especially when one exercises. Sickle-cell disease comes to mind.

Another possibility, and one that I have to deal with personally, is sleep apnea. Specifically, in your case, since you aren't overweight, you would most likely have central sleep apnea, which means you constantly stop breathing in your sleep. This does a number on your body over time. And if you try to exercise when you are having apnea events all night, every night, you will completely kill any energy you might have had. I know that this was a major factor in my inability to lose weight with exercise. But once I began treating it with a positive pressure mask, I was able to exercise with no problems, and lose weight.

These are just two possibilities. You really should see your doctor. Symptoms are always important to consider, and should be examined by a medical professional.

 

Skaught,

You symptoms are pointing to a lack of sufficient minerals in your diet.

Your body needs them to help in the proper absorption of not only water but food and many foods today do not have adequate amounts of them to support an exercise program.

You're essentially sweating them away and continually flushing them with additional water when they are not in sufficient supply to absorb the water/liquids you are ingesting. Gatorade and B vitamins are not enough.

You should stop for at least one week, I would go a little longer. Eat a balanced multi-vitamin after a healthy meal every evening during that time, continue to hydrate with water during the day but don't drink to much, drink one large glass before bed and some gatorade or the like as well during the day. You notice you feel thirsty even after drinking more and more water right ? that's because it's not being absorbed and you body remains dehydrated. Clear piss doesn't mean anything, it does not mean you are properly hydrated.

This is a common problem when people exercise vigorously and don't continue to keep their diet up to par. Eventually your body tells you to stop doing what your doing because you aren't replenishing it's needs.

You also must eat a good balance of carbohydrates, more imporant than protein. So potatoes (baked) Pasta with red sauce etc are good and don't forget to eat a banana a day which helps as well for your muscles.

You can research what I am saying to back my claim but that is what your symptom's are telling me and I have trained athletes at a highly competitive level and have been trained by world class athletes in very demanding aerobic and anaerobic activities and this is what I learned from them. Failure to do this will result in a lack of energy and make you fitness program self defeating.

You also state you have a high metabolism, me too. So you need to be even more vigilant about what I have said above.

 

Here:

http://web.mit.edu/athletics/sportsmedicine/wcrminerals.html

 

Are you drinking enough water? You need to have water and/or Gatorade.

You will need to cut back on your smokes as those are going to screw you mind up as well.

You may want to have your thyroid looked at, TSH levels, T3/T4.

 

Yes, this is good advice here. It could be a case of a bad diet. It matters less how much you eat than it does what you eat. I did find, when I began dieting over a year ago, that eating the right foods really increased my energy level.

 

@jpappl - Great advice, and probably exactly what I would tell anyone with the same problem, but let me explain further, and you tell me what you think:

Like I said above, I tried the exercise thing for six months about 2 years ago. Below is what I was doing at that time, and had these same symptoms.

Breakfast: A bowl of whole grain cereal with whole wheat bread slathered in peanut butter for the protein. and a glass of juice with a liquid multivitamin/multimineral mixed into it. I also started the day with a magnesium tablet. I also took a large bottle of water, like a one liter, and added a liquid multimineral to it and sipped off of it all day along with regular water. Usually had at least one gatorade every other day or so and one before and after every workout.
pre-workout: A banana, berry and protein smoothie about 25 G of protein.
Post workout: A second protein smoothie with about 50 G of protein and some form of carb, either bread or a bagel or something of the like.
Lunch: I ate at work. It was super cheap, only $3.00 for a huge plate. I usually ate a medium sized salad with the whole works of veggies on it. Lunch there was very balanced with a serving of meat, carbs, steamed veggies, and desert like pie or cake or ice cream. This was usually a huge meal, and I would eat until I was stuffed.
Then about 2 hours after lunch I'd have another 50 G protein shake but mixed with OJ instead of milk.
Dinner was a bit sporadic, I'd still be at work at this time and usually would just go into the kitchen and raid it. On average, I'd say I had some kind of sandwich on whole wheat bread with either meat or peanut butter, some sort of leftover from the salad bar like a pasta salad or maybe just a pile of veggies and dip. Some sort of vending machine food, but I'd try and get the healthiest choice out of it like sunchips or some kind of multi grain snack. A large glass of milk.
When I got home I would have either a piece of toast with peanut butter, or a homemade protein bar that had about 12 G of protein with a large glass of milk. Oh, and I was also drinking two servings of Emergen-C multivitamin mix, plus a fish oil complex. I had all the same symptoms at that time as I am having now.

As you can see, that's a phenomenal amount of food. Still to this day, I eat the same kind of breakfast, always have a substantial lunch, a very substantial dinner, and a small snack just before bed. I drink about 20 - 40 oz of water a day.

So as you can see, I'm not sure that getting enough nutrition is the problem.

I've been thinking about what Michael said above, that it may be a thyroid thing.

@Keln: I'm sure it's not the sleep apnea thing. I've never been formally tested for it, but Ive had girlfriends in the past watch me while I sleep and they always said I was breathing fine.

This is all great feedback so far. Thanks everyone!

 

Six feet, 155 pounds. Hit the couch and gain 30 pounds or so until you are at an average weight. Uh, Aushwitz called- they're looking for extras...

 

Stop Eating meat until you experience the change around 2-3 months after detoxing. You will notice a clear difference in your skin first of all. Make sure your hydration is pure water and not sugary things. Focus on your core and cardio to begin with until you stop feeling what is known as maybe a Variant of A type of Fatigue Syndrome.

Your body-type will cause you to be able to regulate body temp less efficiently than others, you might experience a Itchy-Sensation while working up a sweat. Try working out in the open air not in a sweaty little gym.

dont use Suppliments always get direct Vitamins and minerals from your local food sources.



Peace.

 

Im a Fully Qualified PT btw, My info is founded in trial and error tested by me personaly.


Peace.

 

fuck sake move to canada for a few months - i'll marry you, divorce me after yer treated.

Also i'm hypothyroid. Before I found out - I worked out regularly and only would be fatigued in the morning an unusual amount not after workouts ever. Still the symptoms vary person to person.

160-180 lbs was average weight for 6' before everyone became a fatass.

I'm only 165 ish(5'10ish) and everyone thinks I'm skinny, but in truth they are just fat mostly.

Honestly I'd blame the zoooloft. I once took some sort of anti-depressant (started with an "R" -Ramadan or something -cause I made the mistake of telling my doctor I felt down and out) and it turned me into a fucking zombie that NIGHT. Never again, i'd rather be dead.

 

Lol


PEace.

 

High levels of anxiety and irritability after exercise are related to lactic acid levels. Lactic acid is a byproduct of incomplete glucose oxidation and its production, level and clearance is an indicator of the level/intensity of training as well as the quality of training.

Some of the factors which can influence blood lactate levels:

1. erratic training: ie not training consistently, randomly training some days and not other days

2. not warming up or cooling down before and after exercise adquately

3. not pacing yourself well during exercise

4. not sufficiently hydrated before or after exercise

5. not fueling adequately as required

6. low mineral or vitamin status

7. lack of rest

8. drug interactions which interfere with lactate metabolism

I don't have enough information to know what your problem results from but I can give you some hints

1. before getting up in the morning, take your resting pulse. Take it on a regular basis, if your RP is higher the day after you exercise, it indicates that your anxiety and stress levels are higher due to physical strain

2. Get yourself a urine colour slide - or if you trust your eyesight and don't mind using a specimen cup, check the colour of your first urine the morning after you exercise. The colour of your urine is an indicator of your hydration levels. If you can see a dark yellow colour its an indication that you are dehydrated

3. Start taking a daily supplement of vitamin/minerals. This step alone may be the only one you need to get rid of your irritability

PM me if you need more info.

 

Headaches are most commonly caused by dehydration and most people don't drink enough fluids. I didn't read what your diet generally is, but, obviously you need to eat fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, some red meat, etc... the thyroid is greatly effected by the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (see wiki). So, if any one of these are affected, it can change your metabolism by changing TSH levels and ultimately T3/T4. But also, the thyroid itself can be disjunction, such as Graves disease (noted by bulging eyes) or Hashimoto's disease. A million and one things.

It could just come down to too much smoking stimulation with coffee and not very good sleep. I for one must sleep in a pitch black room. Any light and I wake up too early (although I go out like a light switch). If I don't get very good sleep, then, I quickly feel horrible during the day. Also, processed foods seem to suck the energy out of me. I really can't eat that stuff...

 

That's true, some very basic thigns are causing many people to suffer with ail-ments. Drinking enough water and getting basic Vitamin C/D Can cure Tons of problems people think are something intricate.


peace.