One of the most common and long-standing methods told to those that are ‘stressed out’ is to exercise, and usually, to exercise hard. This makes some sense if you look at it, as it would appear that a person that is ‘revved up’ has some ‘energy to burn’ and what better way to get rid of that energy than to do something that is healthy for you, like exercise. Unfortunately, this is one instance where common sense leads us astray and can make the underlying issue much, much worse.
The issue at hand is the erroneous assumption that a person that is stressed out, anxious, revved-up, that can’t relax and/or any of the other numerous symptoms of an overactive central nervous system actually has ‘energy to burn’.
Without getting too far into the biochemistry of it (for a more complete discussion see our 3-part series on Balancing the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems) when a person is under a lot of stress (whether that stress is physical, emotional, and/or psychological in nature) a part of the central nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) kicks into high gear. This is the part of the nervous system responsible for the “fight-or-flight” response that allows us to prepare for what’s coming and act. This is great in the short term as long as we can deal with the stressors at hand and then calm down. Unfortunately, in today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with stress, and often find ourselves in a state of sympathetic nervous systems dominance (also called an overactive central nervous system). Overtime, this SNS dominance causes increased breakdown in the body, severely depleting our reserves and causing immune system dysfunction. Unfortunately, any exercise that can’t be performed comfortably on a full stomach also stimulates your SNS, which increases the breakdown within your body. This is why many athletes and people that workout regularly often suffer frequent illness, poor quality sleep, anxiety, poor digestions and/or increased muscle tension.
But that doesn’t mean that exercise can’t be used to bring balance to the system; it can. You just have to know which exercises to do and pay close attention to the intensity and duration of whatever you are doing.
If you are trying to balance an overactive sympathetic nervous system with exercise, focus on low-intensity exercises such as yoga, Tai Chi, Qi-gong, gardening or simply walking or hiking outside. The key is to keep the intensity low (so as to not bring more stress into your system) and focus your energies on what you are doing. This means paying attention – i.e., not listening to music/podcasts, watching TV or doing anything else other than paying attention to what you are doing. Think of it like an active form of meditation.
Doing this low-intensity, highly mindful forms of exercise will calm your system down and allow you to recharge your depleted batteries. Over time, you will be able to pick up the intensity and duration of exercise; just be sure to continue to incorporate some exercise of the re-charging variety every week to keep yourself balanced.
I have done all those things you mention for a long time. I am not under any stress. I am almost 80 years old and have no stress in my life. I am not a worrier either, my nervous system runs too fast. Valium helps,
but I don’t want to live on drugs the rest of my life. This has only become a problem as I have gotten older. What can you suggest?
Hi Rosalie,
Thanks for the comment/question. I would suggest you start by finding a health care provider that specializes in functional medicine/assessment in order to pinpoint the cause(s) of your current state of health. In addition, it sounds like you may benefit from amino acid therapy (www.amino-acid-therapy.com) and can contact NeuroResearch to find a provider near you that can provide direction: http://www.neurosupport.com.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad
My CNS is overstimulated. Ten months ago, I went off Methadone & month later Dr overdosed me & I went into hyperthyroid. Anxiety is terrible. Will this go away?
I forgot to say my body is vibrating
Hi Janina,
Thanks for contacting us; unfortunately, without more information it is impossible for me to say what the likely prognosis is. However, I can tell you there are very few things that are not correctable (i.e., most things are correctable). You may need some additional support for your adrenals and/or neurotransmitter balance, but an experienced functional and/or integrative medicine provider should be able to pinpoint your underlying imbalances and provider you the support you need.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad
I get chills in my upper and lower extremities to often even during hot seasons,I was investigated for UTI, which was normal and so I was told to have hyperstimulation of SNS can you suggest a remedy plz.
Hi Vimala – thanks for contacting us; unfortunately, without more information, it would be impossible for me to make any recommendations. However, since you have been diagnosed with hyperstimulation of the SNS, I would certainly suggest you use the recommendations in this post series.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad
I have been suffering from all the symptoms of an overstimulated cns for over a year (tingling, vibrating, shaking, etc.). I think I have linked it to Adderall and I have quit taking it with the help of my doctor. About how long will these symptoms persist as I am miserable?
Hi Brandy – thanks for contacting us, although I am sorry to hear you are feeling so poorly. How long the symptoms will last will depend upon any residual imbalance(s) due to the medication. You may require additional amino acid and/or nutritional support to restore proper balance in order to alleviate your symptoms. I suggest seeking the counsel of a functional medicine provider that uses amino acid therapy to help get you feeling well again.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr Chad
Thank you so much for that information! Will definitely follow up on that.
Hi there, I have been experiencing tremendous anxiousness and nervousness. I believe my nervous system is in overdrive. I wake up every morning with a knot in my stomach, palpitations, and have insomnia (constantly waking up during night). My thyroid has been checked, as well as my glucose.
Hi Amy,
Thanks for the comment; the first thing I would suggest is finding a naturopath and/or functional medicine practitioner in your area so you can get a more complete workup to determine the likely underlying cause(s) for your symptoms. Once you have that information, whatever provider you are working with should be able to come up with a workable solution to help.
Good luck!
Dr Chad
I have burning sensations in my arms , legs, head and shoulders can you help please
Hi Diane – thanks for the comment, although I am sorry to hear you are feeling so poorly. Unfortunately, your description doesn’t provide enough information to make any kind of assessment. I suggest that you seek out the counsel of a functional medicine provider and/or naturopath in your area so they conduct a proper work-up on you in order to determine what the most logical next steps would be.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad
Hi Dian I am not sure if you are still following this post but I have the same symptoms you have. Would like the opportunity to speak with you about them as I have not come across anyone with the same symptoms I have.
Hi Dr. whenever I work out too intensely, I cannot fall asleep at night. What would you recommend?
HI Jasmine – there are numerous possibilities; the first thing to try is to workout earlier in the day. Intense workouts raise cortisol levels, which can disrupt melatonin productions and sleep. In order to lower cortisol levels after an intense workout, you can have a protein/carbohydrate shake with a 1:4 or 1:3 ratio of protein:carbohydrate. This will spike insulin, improve muscle repair and decrease cortisol.
Good luck!
Dr Chad
hi Dr. I really appreciate your reply, esp. the promptness. I have stopped working out at night and have resolved to only work out in mornings. I also cut my stress load and only walk and do yoga. I also try to load up on carbs after work outs. I will try the carb protein ratio you advised, but do you have any other tips for me? I don’t mean to be a pest but I hope that this string of comments helps others who are in my spot. 🙂
HI Jasmine – you have a great plan here; now is the time to work the plan and see if/what else may be needed. As you have undoubtedly uncovered in your research, it can take months of dedicated action to optimize your nervous system function. Focus on getting your new routine established and see where that takes you.
Good luck!
Dr Chad
I have an extremely high heart rate and blood pressure for my age.
HR sits at 140+ whilst standing. BP is around 150/100. All investigations have turned up nothing of note.
Heart investigations haven’t shed any light either.
I’m almost certain it is an over-stimulation of my SNS, or underactivation of my para-sympathetics.
I have venous thoracic outlet syndrome bilaterally, and am having surgery for this on one side next week.
I’m so sick of feeling like my heart is going to explode. Im already on cardizem, aspirin, oroxine (thyroid levels, including rT3, are fine) and about to start on cymbalta (to try and bring me out of despair I guess).
I’m desperate. Help!!!! Please!!!
Thanks for the comment/questions Penny; it sounds like you have been through a lot and aren’t getting many answers. Unfortunately, this sounds like a pretty complicated case, so I (or any other provider) would need a great deal more information in order to determine the proper course of action. I would suggest finding a naturopathic doctor and/or functional medicine provider to look over your case and see if they can figure out what to do next.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr Chad
Hi Dr. Oler. 8 years ago I had acupunture treatment do to high liver enzymes. The therapist stuck the needles between my toes and a burning sensation and pins and needle sensation began. The doctors at first where calling it peripheral neuropathy Andy not giving me any real way that I could help it aside from medicine. I decline and took on an exercis regiment and started to eat clean. This worked and almost all of the symptoms where eleviated aside from some over heated feelings from time to time. The symptoms seemed to always return when taking medication such a stress opiods, benzodiazipans and now antidepressants which recently brought all the symptoms back. Do you have any suggestions for me as I am not able to take even an aspirin at this point.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for contacting us; this sounds like it could be a pretty complex case, so I hesitate to make any recommendations. However, many people find that a combination of alpha lipoic acid and GLA to be very effective for peripheral neuropathy. If you are not taking any current medications, you could work with an integrative health care provider to find the correct dosing for you.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr Chad
Hello, In the last 7 months, I started experiencing the feeling of fainting. The first time, I actually fainted. After that, I’ve gotten the feeling 4 times and but have not passed out. All of the events have occurred in the morning before eating, sometimes at rest and other times after physical activity. I fit the description of a person with overactive SNS. Is the fainting related with overactive SNS? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Hi Stephanie – thanks for the comment. It is certainly possible that this is related to an imbalance between the SNS and the PNS, however, I suggest you speak with a functional medicine provider to get a thorough work-up completed, including a glucose tolerance/insulin response test, to see if they can uncover the underlying cause(s) of your symptoms.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad
Hi,
I’ve had a burnout – or mental fatigue – two months ago due to overload of work. The symptoms seem to be mitigating; however, I’m still experiencing some fatigue and irritability when there is much noise. Do you think the same apply? What advices would give me to my recovery? Thank you so much!
Hi Marlon,
Thanks for the comment/question. This would still likely fall under the SNS dominance category; I would suggest you focus your efforts on diet, meditation/tai chi/yoga and possibly adrenal support. You can get started with the information in this series: https://naturalsolutionsforahealthyyou.com/using-diet-to-balance-the-sympathetic-and-parasympathetic-nervous-systems-part-2-of-3/.
Good luck!
Dr. Chad
Hi, I have been dealing with anxiety my whole life, I had svt as a kid and it tramatized me. Making myself a hypochondiac. Lately I’ve been getting anxiety an ectopic heart beats. PAC’s. I had an eco it was completely normal, I checked for a hiatal hernia, it came back normal. I’ve been having extreme stomach issues too I changed my diet and lost 20 pounds in the last two months, I’m 6’4″ 240 and I have always been athletic but after feeling all these pacs I have not worked out my h I’ve been completely sedentary most of the time. I know my sympathetic nervous system is over active and I think that could be causing me the anxiety and everything I was thinking my vagus nerve had been agravated by my upet stomach and gerd, or possibly my atlas vertabrea pinching my vagus nerve. Either say I know my anxiety is going wild for the last two months. So it might just be that. I reseach everything and I still can’t get these ectopic heart beats to stop. Any advice? Today’s my birthday and turned 25 I still couldn’t have a peaceful day. I just want to be normal again.
Hi Tarek – thanks for the comment; first off, happy birthday:)
I would recommend you find a functional medicine practitioner and/or a naturopath in your area that practices functional medicine to help you determine the root cause(s) so you can properly address them. You can certainly begin to implement the strategies in this series of posts: https://naturalsolutionsforahealthyyou.com/balancing-the-sympathetic-and-parasympathetic-nervous-systems-part-1-of-3/ but it sounds like getting some concrete data that you can work on would help a great deal.
Good luck!
Dr. Chad
Hi, for the past year and a half I have been experiencing the following symptoms: a burning sensation across the top half of my body particularly the neck shoulders and upper back, sweaty palms and feet, shallow breathing/ being out of breath very easily, increased irritability/sensitivity to stimuli and general feeling of tiredness for some reason these symptoms seem to alleviate somewhat 2-3 hours before I got to bed which is when I feel most awake.
Hi John – thanks for the comment. These symptoms could be due to a variety of underlying imbalances; I recommend you follow up with your functional medicine provider and/or naturopathic doctor in order to determine what your underlying imbalance(s) may be so you can address them.
Good luck!
Dr Chad
Hi, from my childhood i been suffering from headache,,,,still now at forty. My problems becomes worse in extreme conditions i,e in sunny days,talking more than usual (i like silence), even in broad day light….I remain all the time active by brain,,,help me to cope with such problems,,,,frequent headache made life very difficult and i require internal peacefulness.
HI Subly – thanks for the comment – this may be due to several neuro-endocrine imbalances. You may want to find a provider that uses amino acid therapy; contact NeuroResearch to find a provider: http://www.neurosupport.com.
Good luck!!
Dr. Chad
Hello, I’ve recently experienced episodes of overactive sympathetic NS. I suffered a massive stroke 19 yrs ago and have not dealt with this type of nerve problems. After testing, my dr diagnosed me having sjogrens. I don’t understand why I’m having these complications so many yrs. post stroke, neither does my neurologist. The attacks are almost always in the evening following supper. Dizziness, elevated BP & HR. It isn’t caused by any particular food. I’ve eliminated, gluten & dairy for two yrs. now following the recommendation of a ND that I travelled 400 miles to see.(There aren’t any locally.)
This is an interesting website, I have suffered with anxiety my whole life until recently after having therapy, I feel much better but I still have a overactive SNS. The blushing is brought on by heat as well as embarrassment, but one leads to the other unfortunately. Do you have any suggestions for controlling chronic blushing before it gets too out of hand?
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for the comment/question; many people have good luck with biofeedback to help slow down or block the biochemical cascade that leads to blushing, so I would suggest you start there. Meditation would also be a good place to start. There are (of course:)) supplements that may help, but I would suggest you get started with these lifestyle therapies before getting testing completed for nutritional/botanical intervention.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad
hello!
back in may 2018 i had a stillbirth lost my son at 37 weeks. it was extremely traumatic mentally and physically. i’m a strong person and i can really get through things. about 2 months after i started having a lot of strange symptoms. high blood pressure randomly, high heart rate randomly,
lightheaded upon standing, tingling legs while laying down, extremely cold hands and feet. i know it’s got to do with my nervous system i know it’s not panic or anxiety disorder but i am having severe panic. sometimes from 12-6 am i just feel like i wanna jump out my body. severe adrenaline. waking up sweating. i was prescribed propanolol as needed. but i can’t live like this is this reversible? an i heal my nervous system?
Hi Aamina,
Thanks for reaching out; it is likely that this is tied to your nervous system in some way, but you’ll need to get a more thorough workup done to understand how and why. I would suggest you find a naturopath or functional medicine provider that is also trained in the therapeutic use of amino acid therapy (if possible) so they can get some testing done to better understand what to do next.
And to answer your question – Yes, it is extremely likely you can heal from this and getting further functional testing done can help your health care provider know exactly how to do just that.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr Chad
Since 2016 I have had lightheadedness off and on. Experience faintness from exercising and prolonged walking or standing. Also get strange sensation to my neck and head when I sit on certain chairs. Could it be my nerves?
Hi Betty – thanks for the question; your symptoms could certainly be related to imbalance in the nervous system, but they could be related to numerous other or concomitant disorders as well. I would highly recommend you go to your PCP and/or a provider experienced in functional medicine to get a full work-up to find out the exact causes so you can properly address them.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad
Hello! I have felt “wound up” ever since my 2nd child was born in March 2011. Not long after her birth I felt like every nerve in my body was firing at once, and I felt tense, restless, fatigued, agitated and I developed anxiety ( I dont take medication for it I try to manage it naturally) This hasn’t gotten any better. My diaphragm is always tight and I cant belly breathe. I can’t exercise more than a simple walk as it brings on an energy crash where I am completely exhausted. Crashes are also brought on by a budy schedule. Every fall when school starts and our routine changes I crash. With these crashes also come POTS like symptoms. Interestingly My crashes show up as beaus lines in my left big toe nail. When I crash it can last for weeks. Since 2011 I have been on an energy level roller coaster and I want to get off. Any advice?
Hi Cassy,
It sounds like this could be one (or more) of several probable imbalances, including adrenal dysfunction, neurotransmitter imbalance and/or mitochondrial dysfunction. All can be tested for, so I suggest you find a functional medicine provider that is familiar with these issues and get some testing done. In particular, tests like these may be useful: https://www.gdx.net/product/adrenocortex-stress-hormone-test-saliva and https://www.gdx.net/product/organix-comprehensive-profile-metabolic-function-test-urine.
Good luck!
Dr. Chad
Hey! Not sure if you still check this thread but, I suffered nerve damage due to a left foot surgery and having tingling numbness / burning there. But now my right foot and hips tingle and are numb as well. Neurologist says it’s neurological wind up and my nervous system is too overactive. Any suggestions?
Hi DC – unfortunately, without a more thorough workup, I wouldn’t know what issue(s) we may be trying to correct.
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help –
Dr Chad
I was primary care giver to my 90 year old mom 24/7 for several years. The last 14 months I cat napped in a recliner in her room. A month after her death I went to my old dentist to get my teeth cleaned. They found and pulled an abcessed tooth that had never bothered me.
A few days later I got a boil on my thigh. It got worse and bigger and I went to my family doctor. The pandemic was just beginning (February 2020) and I saw his Physician assistant who said it looked like a staph infection and prescribed antibiotics. A nasal swab test was done, but after being lost, came back negative.
Ultimately I had boils all over my torso, was on and off antibiotics for sixteen months, saw a dermatologist who biopsied a boil and diagnosed M.R.S.A. , sent me to an infectious disease doctor, saw an E.N.T. and had an M.R.I of my sinuses,went back to family physician who gave me overlapping antibiotics for a longer duration, and the boils finally stopped. I am improving slooowly.
I had the beginning of half numb, half tingling feet in early 2020. Now I can only walk or stand with a cane for up to five minutes before sweat starts dripping off my head. If I dont sit, my legs feel ‘light headed’ and I faint. My family doctor is focused on the Covid vaccinations ( which I have declined since I’ve been in self imposed quarantine to protect everyone else from me since February 2020.). All the blood work done on me came back within normal !imits.
I am over weight, 74 years old, eating high protein diet under 1100 calories daily, and doing gentle stretching, leg lifts and walking for short periods daily. I also have BAD knees, a rotator cuff tear (diagnosed by my mom’s PT) which is healing, cataracts and macular degeneration. I have thought of going to an Acupuncturist/M.D.. Especially after reading your article on the Sympathetic Nervous System.
What would you recommend? Verona
Hi Verona – thanks for contacting us and for supplying your history. Unfortunately, without seeing you, I cannot make specific recommendations. However, I think seeing an acupuncturist, naturopathic doctor and/or integrative practitioner in your area would be a great idea.
I hope you find some relief soon!
Sincerely,
Dr Chad