Severe Overtraining, Need Help

Bigger Stronger Leaner
41

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
@ oso wass the purpose of the sea salt for the iodine?

@mark not all sea salt is iodized.[/quote]

No, I also took a Kelp/iodine supplement, iodine is necessary in some form or another. Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that to the OP. No iodine for a week probably wouldn’t hurt, just grab some next time you’re at a vitamin store. You don’t want a goiter! :wink:

Anyway, active individuals definitely need more salt than the sedentary person. Especially those really healthy people that do everything perfectly and take in lots of fruits/veggies. A diet high in potassium needs more sodium to ensure cell hydration. I noticed that my diet contained NO salt whatsoever but contained plenty of those healthy foods that are supposed to make you feel better. I also drank lots of protein shakes and always watched my salt because it’s ‘bad’ for you. I figured that maybe if I tried downing more salt, I would retain more water and thus be less thirsty/not have to go to the bathroom as often. If you do plan to take in more salt, do it slowly and gradually. Your body will tell you whether it needs more or not (such as cravings). By the way, my blood pressure dropped when I stood up, making me feel lightheaded and a sense of blacking out. If I remember from an earlier post you mentioned you had the OPPOSITE? Salt does raise blood pressure FYI so be careful.

By the way, the reason i recommend sea salt over table salt is the same reason why it would be better to choose whole wheat over white bread.

EDIT: Oh yeah and OP, I have a similar training age as you. Started when I was 13 and am now 23. Very rarely miss a workout. Taking a month off completely SUCKS but is worth it IMO for a greater sense of well being. Just remember that your body is very stressed and adding more stress is NOT what it needs.

42

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
@ oso wass the purpose of the sea salt for the iodine?

@mark not all sea salt is iodized.[/quote]

No, I also took a Kelp/iodine supplement, iodine is necessary in some form or another. Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that to the OP. No iodine for a week probably wouldn’t hurt, just grab some next time you’re at a vitamin store. You don’t want a goiter! :wink:

Anyway, active individuals definitely need more salt than the sedentary person. Especially those really healthy people that do everything perfectly and take in lots of fruits/veggies. A diet high in potassium needs more sodium to ensure cell hydration. I noticed that my diet contained NO salt whatsoever but contained plenty of those healthy foods that are supposed to make you feel better. I also drank lots of protein shakes and always watched my salt because it’s ‘bad’ for you. I figured that maybe if I tried downing more salt, I would retain more water and thus be less thirsty/not have to go to the bathroom as often. If you do plan to take in more salt, do it slowly and gradually. Your body will tell you whether it needs more or not (such as cravings). By the way, my blood pressure dropped when I stood up, making me feel lightheaded and a sense of blacking out. If I remember from an earlier post you mentioned you had the OPPOSITE? Salt does raise blood pressure FYI so be careful.

By the way, the reason i recommend sea salt over table salt is the same reason why it would be better to choose whole wheat over white bread.

EDIT: Oh yeah and OP, I have a similar training age as you. Started when I was 13 and am now 23. Very rarely miss a workout. Taking a month off completely SUCKS but is worth it IMO for a greater sense of well being. Just remember that your body is very stressed and adding more stress is NOT what it needs.[/quote]

Cool, I was just wondering your rationale.

43

“EDIT: Oh yeah and OP, I have a similar training age as you. Started when I was 13 and am now 23. Very rarely miss a workout. Taking a month off completely SUCKS but is worth it IMO for a greater sense of well being. Just remember that your body is very stressed and adding more stress is NOT what it needs.[/quote]”

Yea I have to keep telling myself that resting is going to be beneficial…during that month you took off did you change anything in your diet (for example more protein less carbs or vise versa)that helped the recovery process? I’m trying everything possible to get better because I have all the symptoms of over training.

Also for everyone who keeps saying over training doesn’t exist I’m not trying to sound like a D*ck but follow a strict 7 day a week intense workout schedule with no planned rest all while remaining in a calorie deficit for over a year and half and let me know how you feel. I can guarantee you that you will enter a stage of restlessness or “fight or flight” where its impossible to relax and sleep becomes almost impossible.

Also, simply eating more won’t correct the problem once you enter this stage. Again, not trying to sound like a Dck but I’ve been training intensely close to half my life and can honestly say that the majority people i see at the gym don’t even come close to pushing themselves the way I have over the years…Again not trying to sound like a Dck but just figured I’d put that out there

44

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
@ oso wass the purpose of the sea salt for the iodine?

@mark not all sea salt is iodized.[/quote]

No, I also took a Kelp/iodine supplement, iodine is necessary in some form or another. Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that to the OP. No iodine for a week probably wouldn’t hurt, just grab some next time you’re at a vitamin store. You don’t want a goiter! :wink:

Anyway, active individuals definitely need more salt than the sedentary person. Especially those really healthy people that do everything perfectly and take in lots of fruits/veggies. A diet high in potassium needs more sodium to ensure cell hydration. I noticed that my diet contained NO salt whatsoever but contained plenty of those healthy foods that are supposed to make you feel better. I also drank lots of protein shakes and always watched my salt because it’s ‘bad’ for you. I figured that maybe if I tried downing more salt, I would retain more water and thus be less thirsty/not have to go to the bathroom as often. If you do plan to take in more salt, do it slowly and gradually. Your body will tell you whether it needs more or not (such as cravings). By the way, my blood pressure dropped when I stood up, making me feel lightheaded and a sense of blacking out. If I remember from an earlier post you mentioned you had the OPPOSITE? Salt does raise blood pressure FYI so be careful.

By the way, the reason i recommend sea salt over table salt is the same reason why it would be better to choose whole wheat over white bread.

EDIT: Oh yeah and OP, I have a similar training age as you. Started when I was 13 and am now 23. Very rarely miss a workout. Taking a month off completely SUCKS but is worth it IMO for a greater sense of well being. Just remember that your body is very stressed and adding more stress is NOT what it needs.[/quote]

Cool, I was just wondering your rationale. [/quote]

Yea I have to keep telling myself that resting is going to be beneficial…during that month you took off did you change anything in your diet (for example more protein less carbs or vise versa)that helped the recovery process? I’m trying everything possible to get better because I have all the symptoms of over training.

Also for everyone who keeps saying over training doesn’t exist I’m not trying to sound like a D*ck but follow a strict 7 day a week intense workout schedule with no planned rest all while remaining in a calorie deficit for over a year and half and let me know how you feel. I can guarantee you that you will enter a stage of restlessness or “fight or flight” where its impossible to relax and sleep becomes almost impossible.

Also, simply eating more won’t correct the problem once you enter this stage. Again, not trying to sound like a Dck but I’ve been training intensely close to half my life and can honestly say that the majority people i see at the gym don’t even come close to pushing themselves the way I have over the years…Again not trying to sound like a Dck but just figured I’d put that out there

Sorry for posting this twice…still learning how to use the quote button lol

45

[quote]mark326 wrote:

during that month you took off did you change anything in your diet (for example more protein less carbs or vise versa)that helped the recovery process?[/quote]

Yes, I started eating a natural diet. Went from ~3 protein shakes a day to 0. I didn’t think too far into macros or counting calories. My diet was basically:

Morning 6am
3 eggs
4 bacon strips
Green shake w/whole orange, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower
Salt

Snack 9am
Nuts
Beef Jerky
Fruit variety

Lunch 12pm
Whole wheat pita
Guacamole
Chicken breast
Salt

Snack 3pm
Kashi bar
Fruit variety
Jerky/nuts/etc.

Dinner 6pm
Tilapia
Potato/Oatmeal
Green Shake w/ random veggies/fruits

Before Bed Snack 9pm
Cottage Cheese
Banana
Milk

I made sure I was never hungry but didn’t force feed anything. I didn’t care about how much protein I got since I wasn’t going to build muscle during this time anyway. The before bed snack was light enough to not give me indigestion but also to not be hungry at night.

I think it had been about 3 weeks of no training at all when I started the extra salt / getting rid of protein shakes. I slept for 7 straight hours after the 3rd night of doing this.

46

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

[quote]mark326 wrote:

during that month you took off did you change anything in your diet (for example more protein less carbs or vise versa)that helped the recovery process?[/quote]

Yes, I started eating a natural diet. Went from ~3 protein shakes a day to 0. I didn’t think too far into macros or counting calories. My diet was basically:

Morning 6am
3 eggs
4 bacon strips
Green shake w/whole orange, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower
Salt

Snack 9am
Nuts
Beef Jerky
Fruit variety

Lunch 12pm
Whole wheat pita
Guacamole
Chicken breast
Salt

Snack 3pm
Kashi bar
Fruit variety
Jerky/nuts/etc.

Dinner 6pm
Tilapia
Potato/Oatmeal
Green Shake w/ random veggies/fruits

Before Bed Snack 9pm
Cottage Cheese
Banana
Milk

I made sure I was never hungry but didn’t force feed anything. I didn’t care about how much protein I got since I wasn’t going to build muscle during this time anyway. The before bed snack was light enough to not give me indigestion but also to not be hungry at night.

I think it had been about 3 weeks of no training at all when I started the extra salt / getting rid of protein shakes. I slept for 7 straight hours after the 3rd night of doing this.[/quote]

Thanks for the response your diet looks pretty similar in terms to what I eat in a day but I’m definitely going to try and just listen to my body and eat when I’m hungry and try to incorporate some salt because I probably get <400mg now that i think of it …Thanks again for responding

47

[quote]mark326 wrote:
Also for everyone who keeps saying over training doesn’t exist I’m not trying to sound like a D*ck but follow a strict 7 day a week intense workout schedule with no planned rest all while remaining in a calorie deficit for over a year and half and let me know how you feel. I can guarantee you that you will enter a stage of restlessness or “fight or flight” where its impossible to relax and sleep becomes almost impossible.[/quote]

  1. If you’ve been training intensely for 10 years, why do you need to remain on a deficit for a year and a half? How big is the deficit? If you’ve been on a conventional 500 calorie deficit for all that time, you must have no bf at all. Something doesn’t add up to me.

Every person I know who’s been weight-lifting with any serious intent/good planning and good knowledge for 10, heck anymore than 5 really, tend to be ripped, lifting monstrous amounts of weights and/or performing serious feats of athleticism, and absolutely cannot even afford to be on a deficit for such a long period of time because of said monstrous strength or athleticism. You need calories to fuel your exercise and recovery.

Again, something simply doesn’t add up here. Either you really weren’t on a deficit for most of that time, or you’re not lifting anywhere near as intensely/“properly” (a loaded term in this case, but I can’t think of anything else) as you think you are.

[quote]
Also, simply eating more won’t correct the problem once you enter this stage. Again, not trying to sound like a Dck but I’ve been training intensely close to half my life and can honestly say that the majority people i see at the gym don’t even come close to pushing themselves the way I have over the years…Again not trying to sound like a Dck but just figured I’d put that out there [/quote]

You do sound like a dick.

Put down your training program and your maxes and then I suppose people significantly more knowledgeable than me like Csulli and others will point out how intensely you’re training.

48

[quote]magick wrote:

[quote]mark326 wrote:
Also for everyone who keeps saying over training doesn’t exist I’m not trying to sound like a D*ck but follow a strict 7 day a week intense workout schedule with no planned rest all while remaining in a calorie deficit for over a year and half and let me know how you feel. I can guarantee you that you will enter a stage of restlessness or “fight or flight” where its impossible to relax and sleep becomes almost impossible.[/quote]

  1. If you’ve been training intensely for 10 years, why do you need to remain on a deficit for a year and a half? How big is the deficit? If you’ve been on a conventional 500 calorie deficit for all that time, you must have no bf at all. Something doesn’t add up to me.

Every person I know who’s been weight-lifting with any serious intent/good planning and good knowledge for 10, heck anymore than 5 really, tend to be ripped, lifting monstrous amounts of weights and/or performing serious feats of athleticism, and absolutely cannot even afford to be on a deficit for such a long period of time because of said monstrous strength or athleticism. You need calories to fuel your exercise and recovery.

Again, something simply doesn’t add up here. Either you really weren’t on a deficit for most of that time, or you’re not lifting anywhere near as intensely/“properly” (a loaded term in this case, but I can’t think of anything else) as you think you are.

[quote]
Also, simply eating more won’t correct the problem once you enter this stage. Again, not trying to sound like a Dck but I’ve been training intensely close to half my life and can honestly say that the majority people i see at the gym don’t even come close to pushing themselves the way I have over the years…Again not trying to sound like a Dck but just figured I’d put that out there [/quote]

You do sound like a dick.

Put down your training program and your maxes and then I suppose people significantly more knowledgeable than me like Csulli and others will point out how intensely you’re training.[/quote]

I knew this would piss someone off…Like I mentioned before I never trained to be a “monster” I trained for explosion and power all while remaining extremely lean. I was happy with my weight at 160 (probably 6-8%) bf and wanted to try to get as strong and fast as possible without adding more weight. It was never my intention to look like a bodybuilder and did not train like one (it’s extremely hard to over train on a bodybuilding type split). At my peak when i was feeling good I could bench 315x2 at 160 (I never train on the bench and primary trained using static holds (gymnastic type training), Olympic lifts, and sprints as stated before). I figured I was giving my body enough fuel because of the results but at some point along the way I went from “overreaching” to true “over training” and didn’t realize what was going on before it was too late. I began to get weaker and slower so I upped my training intensity thinking I needed to do more when I really needed to do less. This went on for more than a year and now I’m where I’m at now.

And yes I was on a deficit that entire time…it came down to pure will power to train the last 5 months or so before my body finally just gave in. I’m sorry if you don’t believe this but there are some people who are always striving for perfection no matter what it takes

49

[quote]mark326 wrote:

[quote]magick wrote:

[quote]mark326 wrote:
Also for everyone who keeps saying over training doesn’t exist I’m not trying to sound like a D*ck but follow a strict 7 day a week intense workout schedule with no planned rest all while remaining in a calorie deficit for over a year and half and let me know how you feel. I can guarantee you that you will enter a stage of restlessness or “fight or flight” where its impossible to relax and sleep becomes almost impossible.[/quote]

  1. If you’ve been training intensely for 10 years, why do you need to remain on a deficit for a year and a half? How big is the deficit? If you’ve been on a conventional 500 calorie deficit for all that time, you must have no bf at all. Something doesn’t add up to me.

Every person I know who’s been weight-lifting with any serious intent/good planning and good knowledge for 10, heck anymore than 5 really, tend to be ripped, lifting monstrous amounts of weights and/or performing serious feats of athleticism, and absolutely cannot even afford to be on a deficit for such a long period of time because of said monstrous strength or athleticism. You need calories to fuel your exercise and recovery.

Again, something simply doesn’t add up here. Either you really weren’t on a deficit for most of that time, or you’re not lifting anywhere near as intensely/“properly” (a loaded term in this case, but I can’t think of anything else) as you think you are.

[quote]
Also, simply eating more won’t correct the problem once you enter this stage. Again, not trying to sound like a Dck but I’ve been training intensely close to half my life and can honestly say that the majority people i see at the gym don’t even come close to pushing themselves the way I have over the years…Again not trying to sound like a Dck but just figured I’d put that out there [/quote]

You do sound like a dick.

Put down your training program and your maxes and then I suppose people significantly more knowledgeable than me like Csulli and others will point out how intensely you’re training.[/quote]

I knew this would piss someone off…Like I mentioned before I never trained to be a “monster” I trained for explosion and power all while remaining extremely lean. I was happy with my weight at 160 (probably 6-8%) bf and wanted to try to get as strong and fast as possible without adding more weight. It was never my intention to look like a bodybuilder and did not train like one (it’s extremely hard to over train on a bodybuilding type split). At my peak when i was feeling good I could bench 315x2 at 160 (I never train on the bench and primary trained using static holds (gymnastic type training), Olympic lifts, and sprints as stated before). I figured I was giving my body enough fuel because of the results but at some point along the way I went from “overreaching” to true “over training” and didn’t realize what was going on before it was too late. I began to get weaker and slower so I upped my training intensity thinking I needed to do more when I really needed to do less. This went on for more than a year and now I’m where I’m at now.

And yes I was on a deficit that entire time…it came down to pure will power to train the last 5 months or so before my body finally just gave in. I’m sorry if you don’t believe this but there are some people who are always striving for perfection no matter what it takes [/quote]

Again magick I’m not trying to pick fights on here I’m on here to try to get some answers on how I can recover from this. Your right that it was ignorance on my part for running such a deficit but I just got so wrapped up in trying to get leaner and stronger I kind of ignored the damage I might have been doing to my body.

50

[quote]mark326 wrote:
I knew this would piss someone off[/quote]

I’m not pissed off. Why on Earth would I get pissed off by something that doesn’t affect me in the slightest?

[quote]
…Like I mentioned before I never trained to be a “monster” I trained for explosion and power all while remaining extremely lean. I was happy with my weight at 160 (probably 6-8%) bf and wanted to try to get as strong and fast as possible without adding more weight. It was never my intention to look like a bodybuilder and did not train like one (it’s extremely hard to over train on a bodybuilding type split). At my peak when i was feeling good I could bench 315x2 at 160 (I never train on the bench and primary trained using static holds (gymnastic type training), Olympic lifts, and sprints as stated before).[/quote]

Like I said, post some records. Great job on benching 315x2 at 160lb. That’s really good. How’s your other stuff?

[quote]
I’m sorry if you don’t believe this but there are some people who are always striving for perfection no matter what it takes [/quote]

I daresay it’s pure stupidity and ignorance rather than “striving” for perfection.

There was a guy in the powerlifting section who deadlifts 600lb or something at 160lb iirc. He wrote that he eats 5k calories a day, completely organized, during the time he spends prepping for a meet or whenever he needs to drop down to 160lb instead of the 170lb or so he normally hangs at.

That is striving for perfection in my books. What you’ve claimed to have done is not.

51

[quote]mark326 wrote:
Again magick I’m not trying to pick fights on here I’m on here to try to get some answers on how I can recover from this. Your right that it was ignorance on my part for running such a deficit but I just got so wrapped up in trying to get leaner and stronger I kind of ignored the damage I might have been doing to my body.[/quote]

Take a month off. Do baby weights if you can’t manage this. Get fat a bit. It’s rather irrelevant what you do for a month or so in the grand scheme of things, especially if you’re as great a shape as you claim. I’m coming out of two weeks of a flu messing with my life + 2 weeks of moving and getting a new job that forced me to do nothing resembling a work-out for 3 or so weeks.

Just started doing calisthenics in the morning for shits and giggles until I find the time to go join a gym somewhere. I can do more push-ups, chin-ups, and bw squats than I could have before the 3 weeks I’ve spent out of the gym. In other words, I’ve apparently gotten stronger, or at least more competent at those movements, in the time I spent eating complete crap and doing no training whatsover than during the time I’ve spent actively trying to improve my chin-ups and push-up numbers and training the four main lifts.

Weird, huh?

52

Try doing the deload week from 5/3/1 for two weeks in a row, this can actually speed up recovery better than taking time off. Then try out a low volume program and don’t train to failure. Out of interest were you doing lots of intensity/beyond failure techniques like drop setsetc ?

I absolutely believe it could be overtraining btw.
-A recent Thib post…

"From working with a ton of Crossfit athlete, they all share one thing in common: they do too much.

Your body has a limited capacity to recover and constantly trying to do more and more work will lead to slow progress. The thing is that you will rarely notice it until its too late and by that time it can take 2-3 weeks of rest just to get back to normal.

It happened to one girl I was working with. I was doing her olympic lifting training but not her whole training plan. Her coach had her do an amazingly high amount of work. Early in the year it worked fined… she even beat Michel Letendre un a competition. But the closer she got to the open, the more drained she was. It got to a point where she would start crying for no reason and had depression-like symptoms. As a result she was not in the top 200 during the first 3 weeks of the open (she finished 6th at regionals the year prior). i told her to stop training until the open were over, only go to the gym to do the weekly WOD for the open. I gave her Brain Candy and tons of MAG-10. She slowly recovered and was able to qualify for the regionals, but finishing in the 40-48 rank. Then I told her to only to one training session per week until the regionals. Well at regionals she finished 4th and was 3rd until the last WOD (or next to last).

The moral of the story is that she almost threw away her season by doing too much and that it took her 6 weeks of rest to get back to her level of the beginning of the year."

53

[quote]

That is striving for perfection in my books. What you’ve claimed to have done is not.[/quote]

Yea cant argue with that. Do you know if he posts any of his workouts or nutrition on this site?

54

[quote]RampantBadger wrote:
Try doing the deload week from 5/3/1 for two weeks in a row, this can actually speed up recovery better than taking time off. Then try out a low volume program and don’t train to failure. Out of interest were you doing lots of intensity/beyond failure techniques like drop setsetc ?

I absolutely believe it could be overtraining btw.
-A recent Thib post…

"From working with a ton of Crossfit athlete, they all share one thing in common: they do too much.

Your body has a limited capacity to recover and constantly trying to do more and more work will lead to slow progress. The thing is that you will rarely notice it until its too late and by that time it can take 2-3 weeks of rest just to get back to normal.

It happened to one girl I was working with. I was doing her olympic lifting training but not her whole training plan. Her coach had her do an amazingly high amount of work. Early in the year it worked fined… she even beat Michel Letendre un a competition. But the closer she got to the open, the more drained she was. It got to a point where she would start crying for no reason and had depression-like symptoms. As a result she was not in the top 200 during the first 3 weeks of the open (she finished 6th at regionals the year prior). i told her to stop training until the open were over, only go to the gym to do the weekly WOD for the open. I gave her Brain Candy and tons of MAG-10. She slowly recovered and was able to qualify for the regionals, but finishing in the 40-48 rank. Then I told her to only to one training session per week until the regionals. Well at regionals she finished 4th and was 3rd until the last WOD (or next to last).

The moral of the story is that she almost threw away her season by doing too much and that it took her 6 weeks of rest to get back to her level of the beginning of the year."

http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_thibaudeau/ol_or_pl_to_increase_crossfit_strength[/quote]

Yea almost all my workouts were done to failure and drop sets were frequently incorporated along with super sets…That story you just told sounds exactly what i experienced. I felt incredibly at the beginning but slowly started to decline but continued to push through (I unfortunately had no coach to tell me to ease up). Also, I’ve tried doing De-load weeks but after about 2-3 workouts the symptoms begin to come back full force. My biggest problem right now is staying out of the gym because I’ve always used it as a stress reliever as well as a place to kind of just forget about everything. I mean I’ve taking almost 1.5 week off any my sleep is still all messed up. Thanks for your post and story though, its nice to know there are others who have experienced this as well.

Mark

55

OP, when you first started having the sleep issues, what else was going on in your life? I don’t think your issues are over-training related. Was your psychiatrist quick to prescribe lexapro, or did he actually try to work through it? I suggest maybe checking up with another psychiatrist or psychologist and try to find the root of the issue. It definitely seems more anxiety/depression related, and I only say that because I went through something VERY similar when we had our first child. About 4 months prior to due date, I started waking up with fast heart rate, mind racing, etc… and eventually led to a handful of panic attacks and needed Xanax every night to go to sleep.

Good luck my man, a lot of us have been where you are… and the feeling sucks.

56

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
OP, when you first started having the sleep issues, what else was going on in your life? I don’t think your issues are over-training related. Was your psychiatrist quick to prescribe lexapro, or did he actually try to work through it? I suggest maybe checking up with another psychiatrist or psychologist and try to find the root of the issue. It definitely seems more anxiety/depression related, and I only say that because I went through something VERY similar when we had our first child. About 4 months prior to due date, I started waking up with fast heart rate, mind racing, etc… and eventually led to a handful of panic attacks and needed Xanax every night to go to sleep.

Good luck my man, a lot of us have been where you are… and the feeling sucks.[/quote]

Have you overcome this or are you still on those meds? What did you do to overcome it if you did?

OP - Post back when you get things in order, I’d like to know what you did to cure it.

57

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
OP, when you first started having the sleep issues, what else was going on in your life? I don’t think your issues are over-training related. Was your psychiatrist quick to prescribe lexapro, or did he actually try to work through it? I suggest maybe checking up with another psychiatrist or psychologist and try to find the root of the issue. It definitely seems more anxiety/depression related, and I only say that because I went through something VERY similar when we had our first child. About 4 months prior to due date, I started waking up with fast heart rate, mind racing, etc… and eventually led to a handful of panic attacks and needed Xanax every night to go to sleep.

Good luck my man, a lot of us have been where you are… and the feeling sucks.[/quote]

Have you overcome this or are you still on those meds? What did you do to overcome it if you did?

OP - Post back when you get things in order, I’d like to know what you did to cure it.[/quote]

No i took the meds for about a month and then weened off them…they initially helped with my sleep because they were so sedating but after about a week they did nothing and my sleep returned to its insomniac ways…Again I know my body and I know this is not a Depression/Anxiety issue. I truly believe my Central Nervous System is just so taxed its making it difficulty to sleep (I fall asleep real quick every night but tend to wake up throughout the night). Also, I’m not experiencing racing thoughts or anything just the inability to relax.

BTW I tried the salt drinks like you recommended and I slept six hours straight last night and my heart rate was down when i woke up. so I’m keeping my fingers crossed and going to keep taking the salt drinks… I was only consuming probably 200 to 400 mg of salt a day and have been doing that for probably about 5 years so this MAY be the issue but wont know until I keep doing it

Mark

58

[quote]mark326 wrote:

[quote]oso0690 wrote:

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
OP, when you first started having the sleep issues, what else was going on in your life? I don’t think your issues are over-training related. Was your psychiatrist quick to prescribe lexapro, or did he actually try to work through it? I suggest maybe checking up with another psychiatrist or psychologist and try to find the root of the issue. It definitely seems more anxiety/depression related, and I only say that because I went through something VERY similar when we had our first child. About 4 months prior to due date, I started waking up with fast heart rate, mind racing, etc… and eventually led to a handful of panic attacks and needed Xanax every night to go to sleep.

Good luck my man, a lot of us have been where you are… and the feeling sucks.[/quote]

Have you overcome this or are you still on those meds? What did you do to overcome it if you did?

OP - Post back when you get things in order, I’d like to know what you did to cure it.[/quote]

No i took the meds for about a month and then weened off them…they initially helped with my sleep because they were so sedating but after about a week they did nothing and my sleep returned to its insomniac ways…Again I know my body and I know this is not a Depression/Anxiety issue. I truly believe my Central Nervous System is just so taxed its making it difficulty to sleep (I fall asleep real quick every night but tend to wake up throughout the night). Also, I’m not experiencing racing thoughts or anything just the inability to relax.

BTW I tried the salt drinks like you recommended and I slept six hours straight last night and my heart rate was down when i woke up. so I’m keeping my fingers crossed and going to keep taking the salt drinks… I was only consuming probably 200 to 400 mg of salt a day and have been doing that for probably about 5 years so this MAY be the issue but wont know until I keep doing it

Mark[/quote]

Also when i say the “inability to relax” I don’t mean like I’m hyper but its like my body wont allow me to sleep even though I’m dead tired.

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[quote]mark326 wrote:
BTW I tried the salt drinks like you recommended and I slept six hours straight last night and my heart rate was down when i woke up. so I’m keeping my fingers crossed and going to keep taking the salt drinks… I was only consuming probably 200 to 400 mg of salt a day and have been doing that for probably about 5 years so this MAY be the issue but wont know until I keep doing it

Mark[/quote]

Yeah buddy! Sounds like a 100% improvement so far (3 to 6 hours). Also, FWIW, I noticed that if I’d take too much salt right before bedtime, I’d wake up in the middle of the night really thirsty. Anyway, I hope it works for you.

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[quote]oso0690 wrote:

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
OP, when you first started having the sleep issues, what else was going on in your life? I don’t think your issues are over-training related. Was your psychiatrist quick to prescribe lexapro, or did he actually try to work through it? I suggest maybe checking up with another psychiatrist or psychologist and try to find the root of the issue. It definitely seems more anxiety/depression related, and I only say that because I went through something VERY similar when we had our first child. About 4 months prior to due date, I started waking up with fast heart rate, mind racing, etc… and eventually led to a handful of panic attacks and needed Xanax every night to go to sleep.

Good luck my man, a lot of us have been where you are… and the feeling sucks.[/quote]

Have you overcome this or are you still on those meds? What did you do to overcome it if you did?

OP - Post back when you get things in order, I’d like to know what you did to cure it.[/quote]

I guess I should have put that info in my other post. The psychiatrist I worked with pretty much chalked it up to anxiety due to the new life changes of a first child. He gave me a super low dose of xanax (.25mg/night), and said I won’t need them after she’s born… and he was right. It’s been over two years since I took one… still have the bottle too.