Exercise Induced Anxiety and Depression

[james007]

I just wanted to know if anyone has experienced this? I have recently discovered the true source of of my anxiety and depression stems from exercise. I know it sounds counter intuitive but it is true. I have always enjoyed working out and generally after I work out I feel great. The next day or two later however I develop mild bouts of depression and may not feel like doing much of anything.

The depression is usually accompanied by lack of focus and concentration. Which in turn leads to anxiety and a never ending amount of negative thoughts running through my head. The more I workout the worse it becomes. For the longest amount of time I did not want to believe that exercise was the culprit, but I have discovered that when I lay off the exercise my mood, concentration, and depression improves. I searched the internet and found that there are many others that are experiencing the same thing. Problem is it seems that there is not any significant information about how to deal with the situation.

I have tried everything and nothing was working, then I read a post about a person using workout supplements (the ones that are supposed to help you focus on your workouts) and another using oxytocin. Well, I have begun using the supplements and surprisingly they are working. I will wait to use the oxytocin. I tried it a couple of times and it seems that it really did not have an effect.

Does anybody else have experience with exercise and anxiety?

[salamanders]

this may be a long shot but I thought I'd share it.

this exact same thing happened to me. I believe now in retrospect, this was 7 years ago, that it was caused by me hitting the weights too hard coupled with, and this is the long shot part, taking a drug called propecia.

It's a hair loss drug pill, I think it may be similar to rogaine, but, and you can look into this more if you take something for your hair, that the mess with your testosterone.

otherwise look up overtraining. you can find alot about it.

[james007]

I thought it was over training also but others that perform the same workout as me do not get the same symptoms. It is something unique to my physiology I believe. Some others have experienced the same thing. I am sure if I keep searching I will find an answer.

[Jan Fanakapan]

I just wanted to know if anyone has experienced this? I have recently discovered the true source of of my anxiety and depression stems from exercise. I know it sounds counter intuitive but it is true. I have always enjoyed working out and generally after I work out I feel great. The next day or two later however I develop mild bouts of depression and may not feel like doing much of anything.

The depression is usually accompanied by lack of focus and concentration. Which in turn leads to anxiety and a never ending amount of negative thoughts running through my head. The more I workout the worse it becomes. For the longest amount of time I did not want to believe that exercise was the culprit, but I have discovered that when I lay off the exercise my mood, concentration, and depression improves. I searched the internet and found that there are many others that are experiencing the same thing. Problem is it seems that there is not any significant information about how to deal with the situation.

I have tried everything and nothing was working, then I read a post about a person using workout supplements (the ones that are supposed to help you focus on your workouts) and another using oxytocin. Well, I have begun using the supplements and surprisingly they are working. I will wait to use the oxytocin. I tried it a couple of times and it seems that it really did not have an effect.

Does anybody else have experience with exercise and anxiety?

I am so amazed to finally find other people talking about this. I have had inklings that my depression is associated to exercise for some time now - but I had some super bad experiences in the last few weeks and I am pretty sure it's because I have added running to my very low key exercise program.
Keep in mind I was a fitness and yoga instructor for ten years and then followed that up with running one full marathon and five half marathons. Is still practice yoga daily.
This post-exercise depression seems to be getting worse. I wish I could say it was old age, but I am only 49. My sister, who is 59, works out everyday and is fine.
I would say it was menopause but I have read other forums where there are equal amounts of women and men who have these symptoms.
It ISN'T over-training - I am certain of this.
I have a dabbling of a question - what if it has to do with "experimental drug use" in our youth? Specifically LSD?
At one point broccoli seemed to help. But, now? I am thinking I just have to give up - but I have a seriously bad back and the only thing that keeps it healthy and pain free is... exercise.
So - depressed without back pain or vice-versa. The choices seem to suck.
This thread is a little old - has anyone found out anything since?

[jessed03]

I am so amazed to finally find other people talking about this. I have had inklings that my depression is associated to exercise for some time now - but I had some super bad experiences in the last few weeks and I am pretty sure it's because I have added running to my very low key exercise program.
Keep in mind I was a fitness and yoga instructor for ten years and then followed that up with running one full marathon and five half marathons. Is still practice yoga daily.
This post-exercise depression seems to be getting worse. I wish I could say it was old age, but I am only 49. My sister, who is 59, works out everyday and is fine.
I would say it was menopause but I have read other forums where there are equal amounts of women and men who have these symptoms.
It ISN'T over-training - I am certain of this.
I have a dabbling of a question - what if it has to do with "experimental drug use" in our youth? Specifically LSD?
At one point broccoli seemed to help. But, now? I am thinking I just have to give up - but I have a seriously bad back and the only thing that keeps it healthy and pain free is... exercise.
So - depressed without back pain or vice-versa. The choices seem to suck.
This thread is a little old - has anyone found out anything since?

How do you feel after exercise Jan? Do you feel slightly tired, and foggy, or do you feel fresh and energized?

Exercise has an involvement with the levels of adrenaline and cortisol in the body. Certain people who are prone to stress can have bad reactions to these chemicals, and exercise can leave them feeling low or 'washed out'. They become slightly intolerant, for want of a better word, to these chemicals. This may give off the same symptoms of over-training, except from far smaller amounts of exercise. As we all know, exercise can cause a natural high, and certain people, whose chemistry isn't working as fluently (for whatever millions of reasons there are), instead experience it as a rush of adrenaline which can accompany the endorphins. The high is still there, however it means the 'crash' afterwards is more noticeable, and due to the intolerance for adrenaline and cortisol (and perhaps lactic acid buildup, which is why broccoli may have helped, as it's an anti-inflammatory) a person can be left with a feeling of anxiety and depression. This then plays into blood sugar levels. A lot of people can normalize this by getting glucose e.g. a shake, or a banana. Certain people are prone to fluctuating blood sugar levels, and this problem is severely worsened by exercise, and can produce all manor of uncomfortable symptoms. Altered blood sugar levels mean the release of even more adrenaline to give the body a 'boost'. This extra adrenaline creates the feeling of an anxious depression. It can produce fluctuating moods, tiredness, spaced out feelings, and alter serotonin levels temporarily. A test for hypoglycemia may be of value, however it may be more subtle.

Sadly these things can be down to factors outside of our control. Our bodies may respond to age differently than others. Drug use may have had some part to play, it is almost impossible to know. Blood sugar levels can usually be controlled, but having a body at disharmony with certain chemicals released in exercise is for the most part, out of your control, you can only take it slow to reach a comfortable limit, where the amount released is within a limit your body can handle. Trying hot or cold showers after exercise, coupled with proper hydration, and a diet rich in anti-oxidants (like the broccoli) may help oxygenation in your body allowing it to not store unfavourable things.

Over time, if you work with your body, it can become accustomed to things it couldn't do. Just as a vaccination produces small amounts of the illness, the body learns to overcome it little by little. The same can work with exercise. You can build a tolerance at a certain level, only if your body is 90% comfortable while doing it. Try building up at a much slower rate. See how it treats you. I know it can be frustrating, but nature always wins in the end.

I've ignored mentioning things such as diet in the post, as I assume you have it correct.

[PanicCured]

First off, NEVER EVER EVER TAKE OXYCONTIN! People can die from that drug and is major major addicting!

I exercise frequently and it makes me feel great. I pound the weights hard and do 20-30 min cardio. Is it possible you are not eating enough or not enough protein? Are you overdoing cardio type exercise leading to overtraining? Are you cutting carbs AND exercising hard making your blood sugar low? Do you actually know what you are doing in the gym?

I'd hate to see you stop exercising. Better to figure out a way around this than to stop working out.

[Jan Fanakapan]

Exercise has an involvement with the levels of adrenaline and cortisol in the body. Certain people who are prone to stress can have bad reactions to these chemicals, and exercise can leave them feeling low or 'washed out'. They become slightly intolerant, for want of a better word, to these chemicals. This may give off the same symptoms of over-training, except from far smaller amounts of exercise. As we all know, exercise can cause a natural high, and certain people, whose chemistry isn't working as fluently (for whatever millions of reasons there are), instead experience it as a rush of adrenaline which can accompany the endorphins. The high is still there, however it means the 'crash' afterwards is more noticeable, and due to the intolerance for adrenaline and cortisol (and perhaps lactic acid buildup, which is why broccoli may have helped, as it's an anti-inflammatory) a person can be left with a feeling of anxiety and depression. This then plays into blood sugar levels. A lot of people can normalize this by getting glucose e.g. a shake, or a banana. Certain people are prone to fluctuating blood sugar levels, and this problem is severely worsened by exercise, and can produce all manor of uncomfortable symptoms. Altered blood sugar levels mean the release of even more adrenaline to give the body a 'boost'. This extra adrenaline creates the feeling of an anxious depression. It can produce fluctuating moods, tiredness, spaced out feelings, and alter serotonin levels temporarily. A test for hypoglycemia may be of value, however it may be more subtle.



Hi Jessed,

Would you be able to refer me to a site where this information comes from? Especially the part about the intolerance for adrenaline and cortisol - I am trying to understand this on a biochemical level and from my understanding of how these chemicals work in our bodies - 'intolerance' doesn't make sense. The protein receptors on cell surfaces that hormones act on are created through the DNA template in our bodies. Are you saying that they somehow get mutated? or our bodies just stop making them because we have exercised/stressed too much? Is there some research papers I can read? I am so frustrated! I want to know - I want so badly to go for a long exhilarating run - but I am afraid I will die!