Resisting emotion/excitement

[Sheik]

I want to talk about a "condition" I've been under for a long time. I tend not to trust emotion, for fear of doing something I might regret. Any type of excitement tends to create anxiety for me. I fight the experience, creating tension and stress. It's gone so far as to create extreme stomach pain and headaches, and I've ended up in the emergency room many times from it.

I've had multiple psychiatrists say that I have what sounds like post traumatic stress, and there is a few traumatic experiences in my past that I can point to.

When I drink caffeinated drinks, I feel terrible. When I take thyroid, I feel terrible. When I sit in the sun and feel what I assume is a boost of thyroid, I feel terrible.

So I will naturally avoid things that boost thyroid. But I want to do what is best for my health. I'm not sure what to do about it all.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of resistance to emotion or excitement?

 

[Nicholas]

yes, i have a resistance to emotion/excitement but only around other people. i know of an event in my life that i think connects to this where i needed to shield personal expression as a protection mechanism and it is something that i still carry with me (happened 17yrs. ago). i haven't noticed any of the other symptoms you express, though.

 

[HDD]

I want to talk about a "condition" I've been under for a long time. I tend not to trust emotion, for fear of doing something I might regret. Any type of excitement tends to create anxiety for me. I fight the experience, creating tension and stress. It's gone so far as to create extreme stomach pain and headaches, and I've ended up in the emergency room many times from it.

I've had multiple psychiatrists say that I have what sounds like post traumatic stress, and there is a few traumatic experiences in my past that I can point to.

When I drink caffeinated drinks, I feel terrible. When I take thyroid, I feel terrible. When I sit in the sun and feel what I assume is a boost of thyroid, I feel terrible.

So I will naturally avoid things that boost thyroid. But I want to do what is best for my health. I'm not sure what to do about it all.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of resistance to emotion or excitement?

Have you tried lowering serotonin by taking cyproheptadine? L-lysine?

 

[HDD]

viewtopic.php?t=2646

First link is a post by haidut with studies using Benadryl.

viewtopic.php?t=1964

In the second link Peat recommends pregnenolone and DHEA for PTSD.

 

[kineticz]

All you tests in terms of caffeine, thyroid, etc, prove your adrenal, cardiovascular and/or liver pathways need support.

Social interaction is heavily taxxing on neurotransmitters, but social isolation shuts down the neural and hormonal pathways that bolster against challenging situations. It's an awful catch 22 some people get into.

It is based on the fear and uncertainty of whether you can maintain 'the good times' with a dwindling health capacity (low protective hormones) when you are expected of by people to be 'sociable'.

It is common of people with social anxiety to worry about pleasing people.

What you are describing is a classic addictive tendency that lacks self control and the ability to stop based on risk assessment.

These people tend to have high prolactin and low adrenal output.

Serotonin and PUFAs from learned helplessness create a situation where you are fearful of extroverted emotion for fear of being let down by people. They promote a hypersensitive adrenal state. You know the world doesn't make sense and you want to be free but are shackled by acute stress situations vibrating your restraint.

Have you tried transdermal pregnenolone and boosting your cholesterol? Orange juice, MCTs, choline etc?

Sometimes sun makes me worse too and it can be calcium deficiency, and vasoconstriction from lack of magnesium, sodium, potassium and calcium. Calcification can also restrict blood supply to make the whole circulation and detox process less efficient, which itself can 'backlog' and raise anxiety. This can burden the kidneys which process vitamin D and metabolic toxins.

Adrenaline is the arousal and excitement neurotransmitter, which is highly desensitized in hypothyroidism. What form of thyroid have you taken?

My best advice is to buy a multi mineral supplement such as high 5 energy electrolyte tablets to open up the kidneys and trial some transdermal pregnenolone.

 

[answersfound]

All you tests in terms of caffeine, thyroid, etc, prove your adrenal, cardiovascular and/or liver pathways need support.

Social interaction is heavily taxxing on neurotransmitters, but social isolation shuts down the neural and hormonal pathways that bolster against challenging situations. It's an awful catch 22 some people get into.

What you are describing is a classic addictive tendency that lacks self control and the ability to stop based on risk assessment.

These people tend to have high prolactin and low adrenal output.

Serotonin and PUFAs from learned helplessness create a situation where you are fearful of extroverted emotion for fear of being let down by people. They promote a hypersensitive adrenal state.

Have you tried transdermal pregnenolone and boosting your cholesterol? Orange juice, MCTs, choline etc?

Sometimes sun makes me worse too and it can be calcium deficiency, and vasoconstriction from lack of magnesium, sodium, potassium and calcium. Calcification can also restrict blood supply to make the whole circulation and detox process less efficient, which itself can 'backlog' and raise anxiety. This can burden the kidneys which process vitamin D and metabolic toxins.

Adrenaline is the arousal and excitement neurotransmitter, which is highly desensitized in hypothyroidism. What form of thyroid have you taken?

My best advice is to buy a multi mineral supplement such as high 5 energy electrolyte tablets to open up the kidneys and trial some transdermal pregnenolone.

*Note to OP: This post contains alternative theories and is not completely aligned with Ray's typical recommendations.

I would second the Benadryl recommendation.

 

[kineticz]

Everything I wrote is argued by Ray Peat.

 

[Nicholas]

nobody can assume what is going on and make prescriptions. that's insane. if anyone desires to be a practitioner, you have to get way more detail and communication with someone before you can help the other person come to their own diagnosis.

 

[Such_Saturation]

But isn't regret the opposite of excitement? You fear the opposite of what you think

 

[Tarmander]

it sounds like you are trying to control your emotions for some reason. Generally, if this is the case, it can be tough to let go from the emotional pathway. I'm sure plenty of people have told you to just relax, and maybe even you have yourself, and found no relief, but all hope is not lost!

You probably have many other controlling tendencies, not just emotionally. What are they? Do you control what you eat...like someone with an eating disorder? Do you control your partner or some family member or friend like a co-dependent? Do you drink? Are you a workaholic? What else in your life looks regimented and controled? What outside of you reminds you of what's inside of you?

 

[Sheik]

I'm taking Cypro and just recently upped the dose to 3 mg. I'll look into L-lysine and Benadryl.

I have tried pregnenolone, though not transdemally. It definitely helped with anxiety, but I use it only on occasion because I've heard of it causing hair loss. I don't want to lose any more hair. I did take a little DHEA once and I didn't feel too good. I'm 24 and I probably don't want to mess with DHEA.

I haven't heard of boosting cholesterol or MCTs. I drink orange juice most days.

It was Cynomel that I was taking for a while.

As for the more subjective aspects, I am a very logic-minded person. I've had panic attacks after smoking weed, out of fear of hurting myself or someone else. I generally don't trust emotion to carry me to a good place, and so when emotion takes over I can get very scared. When I'm in control I know what's going to happen, but when emotion is in control I don't know what will happen.

I practice meditation which has helped a lot with letting emotions be.

I try to control my emotions when I'm with people. I hate that people can make me feel things, that it's outside of my control. I also try not to make mistakes, which is counterproductive.

I don't try to control people. I don't drink.

 

[Thoushant]

You got me out of my cave Sheik! That I should congratulate you for.

I was / am just like you in regard to feeling anxiety and resisting emotions. I also like to qualify myself as a logical person, although I'm certain I've become this way to protect myself from hurt.

Improving my thyroid has easied the anxiety, I was a mess a couple years ago, if something little happend socially, percieved small threats to either me or others. Running thoughts, Stiff legs, cold hands, face like and an urge to pee.

They might be health related, but to me, my social best was when I read up on emotions and managed whatever I had in my relationships. And so the following links are gold mines for every logical person out there. As really, emotions are quite logical and have a purporse.

I would like you asked yourself why you become this way? What negative outcome happend repeatedly if you epxressed emotions, positive or negative?

How good are you at IDing your emotions? Start a journal and write events tied with emotions that would rise of it, this chart is very important.
http://britishenglishcoach.com/wp-conte ... -chart.jpg
But ofcourse remember emotions are subjective and can sometimes rise from ill-percieved events.

Read the hell out of http://www.emotionalcompetency.com/. Also especially this wonderful lady Karla Mclaren http://karlamclaren.com/blog/ who helped me understand just wtf is up with these emotions, from a logical point of view.

Oh, I've noticed that Emotions in me rise and fade unhindred when I have a correct body posture, but they can dwell and cause tension if I have a faulty one.. So it's pretty important to me, especially if left unnoticed they can stiffen my neck and back, and I eventually lose my social awareness.

So I guess what I'm saying is an important bit from Karla Mclaren: emotions should be part of everyday, they carry an important message, and you need to understand the message, and decide the appropiate repsons. It's not only express or repress. they should guide your behaviour.

Lots of links, but oh well
http://karlamclaren.com/four-ideas-that ... confusion/
http://karlamclaren.com/a-new-option-fo ... -emotions/
http://karlamclaren.com/bringing-nuance ... onal-life/
http://karlamclaren.com/understanding-m ... -emotions/

 

[Sheik]

Woohoo! I got you to post. I know my people are out there.

Exploring what I feel and why I feel it... This has been one of the most important things I've learned in the past few years. Those links you posted are making me think about it in ways I've never thought of before. Just wow. I had no idea other people were thinking and writing about these things. I appreciate that you posted them. Thank you.

What negative outcome happend repeatedly if you epxressed emotions, positive or negative?

That's a really good question, and I think the 'repeatedly' part is key. I'll be thinking about that one for a while.

I've noticed that shame can sometimes be the glue that holds someone's personality together in a very dysfunctional way. They're afraid that they will become something despicable so they abuse their self with shaming to keep it together.

The part about posture, that's another thing that I've wanted to shout from the rooftops, because you don't automatically realize what a drain it is to have bad posture, and what a negative effect that has on your ability to think, among other things. That and people often don't realize they have bad posture.

 

[oxidation_is_normal]

These are at great odds with each other:

"I practice meditation which has helped a lot with letting emotions be." - is improvement, but do you do it everyday?

"I hate that people can make me feel things, that it's outside of my control." - is the opposite of the above

By definition hating that you with have the inevitable emotional reaction to things in life is a sure way to make all emotional reactions worse. You need to train acceptance of everything you may feel and stop avoiding those parts of yourself. You don't have to drink, but have you tried going clubbing? That can be like weight lifting for the emotional weaknesses you describe.