Hi,

Anyone else having problems keeping their adrenalin under control with RSD? I am having daily trouble with this right now and it's really wearing me down, physically, mentally and self-confidence wise (is this really my RSD or am i just hopeless at controlling my reactions is where I'm at right now!).

This doesn't seem to be like a normal 'something is stressful so i'm adrenalized' response - it's related to small things or nothing and suddenly my entire body is on ALERT, heart pumping, complete panic and I can't turn it off. I can't stand how it makes me feel and more, how it makes me act (like an idiot!).

Is this something others are finding with RSD?

I get stressed if I can't open a jar of food. I have to talk myself down. I've learned how to calm myself from stress but it does come with the RSD though.

I just think it's because we are in so much pain that we can't sit still at times and get stressed from trying to deal with anything that should be normal to deal with. My adrenalin gets going when I get stressed also so you are not alone. I can't sit still at times, I tend to run from one place to another in the house when I am stressed, can't sit still.

Ada

I'll second that. I find that the more pain I'm in, the harder it is for me to control my responses to anything - which is probably pretty normal. What's abnormal for us is how much pain we're in, and that we're in pain all the time. What I find especially frustrating about this is that it's a vicious cycle - the more pain I'm in, the more stressed I get. The more stressed I get, the more tense I am, and thus, the more pain I'm in. And for me, at least, the smallest thing can set me off.

For example, I really hate bugs. Really. But up until high school, I could handle them - I avoided them, but I could kill them if necessary. Not anymore. I'm in college in GA right now. You may not be aware of this, but in Georgia, they have cockroaches the size of mice. Well...they look that big to me, anyway.

To make a long story short, I don't normally have to deal with them. However, over the summer, I found one in my room. I was so freaked out that I couldn't bring myself to enter my room for days - I had total panic attacks. I still get jumpy at night. I'm jumpy now just thinking about it. (By the way, feel free to giggle at this a little. I occasionally laugh at my own paranoia. )

Anyway - if you find that it's really interfering with your daily function, speak to your doctor, who will probably refer you to a therapist. Since most doctors would say that RSDS patients should see therapists anyway since they deal with chronic pain, you can hit two birds with one stone.

Best to you!

Hi there.

Yes, I think that adrenals play a major role in my RSD, specifically in that much of my pain and cramping is "diurnal" which is to say that it fluctuates regularly with the time of day, peaking in the early arternoon, which is when - in my lay understanding - the body's production of various adrenal products, including cortisol ["the major adrenal glucocorticoid, stimulates conversion of proteins to carbohydrates, raises blood sugar levels and promotes glycogen storage in the liver"] is at it's peak.

In fact, it's precisely because of this fluctuation that asthma sufferers have their greatest relief. A natural shot of adrenalin if you will. For me, I think that nature's little adrenalin shot just promotes vasal constriction, which is the bane of all persons with RSD.

Anybody with me on this one?

Mike

Hi,
I feel I have total adrenal exhaustion. Hugs, Roz

Mike,
I'm definitely with you. However, I would note that, as an asthma sufferer as well as an RSDer, adrenaline isn't always a blessing with asthma, since tension and stress from too much adrenaline over time can aggravate asthma symptoms.

On the plus side, I've discovered that deep tissue massage (if you can stand it) is a great source of relief. You don't have to have the masseuse touch your affected limb(s), but the toxin release and decrease in muscle tension from such massage is wonderfully helpful. If you can't handle massage at all, cranio-sacral therapy can also provide relief. As a note, however - most insurance companies won't cover such treatments (if they cover anything for you), and they can get expensive. If there is a massage school near you, you can often get these treatments very cheaply. The downside here is that if the student does not understand much about your condition, you'll have to be careful to explain exactly what they can and can't do.

Hey. I am experiencing bad adrenaline too. I did some research on it.

I found out that having movement of the nerves in the sympathetic nervous system causes an sudden adrenaline rush. Since RSD deals with constant movement, there is a high adrenaline level all the time. That means that the slightest thing can cause high adrenaline rushes. I thought I was just going crazy because I overreacted way too much to something that was no big deal last night. We had to pull over on the side of the road to get something out of the trunk and I started asking my dad panic questions like "Has the car broken down? Isn't it illegal to pull over like this? Are we gonna get arrested?" To make things even worse for me, a police car pulled up behind us to make sure that we were okay and to make sure that we weren't broken down. It took me like 20 minutes to calm down. It helps now to know that I'm not the only one and that it is caused from the RSD.