Adrenaline "Giddiness" during stressful times.

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I should first preface by stating that as a child we lived out in the desert at pretty significant elevation. There was a mountain just at the edge of our property line that jutted up another 1500 feet or so. It was lonely. When something really frightening would happen, I'd bolt. My adrenaline would skyrocket and I'd fly up that mountain. My legs would be like rubber at the top, and I'd have to catch my breath, but man, there was security in escape.

Nowadays it's the same. When I had a car, and something frightening would happen, I'd ask my daughter "Want to go to California?" or some other far off place, and we'd have epic fun road trips away from whatever could harm us. Some of our best memories are from adventures after times of crisis.

And in times where I can't flee, like at an invasive medical procedure, I just tremble so much. My mind races, and all I want to do is get out of there as fast as possible. Like doe who's been cornered. I just want to bolt. And I have to actively control myself to stay still. Literally, in my head, telling myself "Don't move your head" "Don't cringe" "Don't Lift your arm" "Don't turn away".

I call it "giddiness". But that's the wrong adjective, I think. I try and use humor to "relax the room", but really my eyes are looking for a way out. I'm looking for resources to get out.

Without medications, is there a way to relax? Bolting like a doe has been my natural state since I was a little girl. Even at the grocery store, when there's too many people, or maybe sketchy bums outside, I will turn around and leave.

Advice? Do you have a similar story?

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Even right now it's going on.

I just had very minor surgery, but it was scary. The doctor wanted me to go home and rest. I'm trying. But it's as if every strand of sinew in my body is full of lactic acid. My adrenaline is pumping. I just want to go use my body, really hard. Get the good ache. Go someplace really far away, really really fast.

And the more I try to relax, the more I feel like getting out and getting far away.

 

[SusanLR]

I've had that experience so many times.
When the going gets rough, I want to get going.
Run away. The feeling is overwhelming.
When I was taking care of my mother, and I knew she didn't have much longer,
it was like I couldn't face it. I'd take her out in the evenings for a drive to the beach or wherever and that urge would hit.
I'd tell her we should just keep going. Going for as long as we could.
Of course, it wasn't sensible. You can't just take off with nothing.

I have been getting that feeling again a lot lately due to health issues and a feeling of unsettledness regarding housing. Of course, I don't have the means to do so, and it isn't feasible.
Physically I can't even go somewhere and run it off.
It feels like being a prisoner in the house.

Oh, yes, and surgeries, I've had my share. Major ones too.
It's like at the last minute, waiting to go into the operating room, I lose it.
I cry and tremble all over. I beg is there no other way?
Just get the anesthesia mask on as fast as you can is the only answer.

As far as what I call adrenaline giddiness, what I describe as that would be like when I go to my therapist with an issue to discuss that is serious and weighing heavy on me, but instead, as soon as I start talking about it, I start laughing at the situation. Making light of the matter.

 

[Hypnalis]

There can't be a simple answer to this question.

Adrenaline is produced in response to events or states (some mental, some physical), some of which are not under conscious control.

Discussing how to mitigate its effects is actually a discussion of things that cause adrenaline production, and things that allow it to be removed from the body. If there's a problem, it's probably not the adrenaline itself.

In my personal (relatively limited) experience this is a "Catch-22" situation.