Wired but Tired or that Blasted "red alert" feeling

[strawberry]

I have the wired but tired symptom as well. Terms like alterness, vigil, red alert, electrically charged, etc are very meaningful to me. It's a really horrible feeling and outside the bounds of any nervous system state I have experienced in normal health. It was really bad during the early years of my illness. I would be awake for up to 50 hours. I would feel extremely motivated yet utterly incapacitated because of severe exhaustion, malaise and cognitive disablement.

 

[Countrygirl]

strawberry;66442]I have the wired but tired symptom as well. Terms like alterness, vigil, red alert, electrically charged, etc are very meaningful to me. It's a really horrible feeling and outside the bounds of any nervous system state I have experienced in normal health. It was really bad during the early years of my illness. I would be awake for up to 50 hours. I would feel extremely motivated yet utterly incapacitated because of severe exhaustion, malaise and cognitive disablement.

I wonder if those who have tested XMRV + can relate to this? It would be interesting to know.

 

[lululowry]

I am new to this site and new to my diagnosis - having a hard time accepting it in fact. However, it is strangely comforting to find other people putting my strange feelings into words. I appreciate this very much. I can relate to much of what has been shared. Tonight - I have the "energy" to be on the computer for hours, barely moving my fingers and feel wired and stressed all over, yet it's as though all of it is happening in a deflated balloon (my body). It's crazy.

 

[Machair]

This is exactly what I have today. Yesterday I felt quite good-even managed to clean the bathroom!
Felt wired though almost on red alert! Then went to bed that night and the next minute I had palpitations and a racing heart which kept me up most of the night. OI has been bad recently though so it would be that.

Does anyone else get these episode at night where their heart races or beats forcefully?

 

[Timaca]

I have so appreciated hearing everyone's responses. I would have to say, though, that during my "red alert" or "tense" or "wired" episodes, I do not feel motivated, or full of energy. I just feel like my body is under a physical type of stress, and it is enough to make me know that something is very wrong...and there is no energy to be motivated. But, it interesting to hear different variations of this in others.

I do have palpitations and I do get tachycardia. I have had my heart checked out by a cardiologist, and continue to do this on a regular basis. Machair, make sure you see a cardiologist too, if you haven't already.

I'm fairly certain that my red alert has something to do with my immune system sensing a pathogen. I say this because, my red alert went away as my antibody titers to Coxsackie B3, B4 and B5 dropped. Then the red alert increased when I was put on a double dose of acyclovir (and had die-off). Then when I had a flare, which looks like it was due to EBV reactivation (based on labs), I felt the red alert again.

Best, Timaca

 

[jace]

I used to, Machair. I did yesterday too, first time for ages. I worked out it was because I forgot the 1" of crushed liquorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) that I put in my evening teapot.

For me anyway it is the answer to 'wired but tired' Hypertensives need to watch their blood pressure though, liquorice tends to raise it, so I'm told.

 

[coxy]

YES YES YES, this is exactly what i've been like especially since completely the dreaded Lightning Process. I do the rubbing my hand together really fast, feel kind of mixed between over excitment, nervous, can't sit doing nothing, my hands quite often end up literally shaking. My heart is always beating very fast at the moment, i just can't seem to relax at all. I can even feel a odd feeling running through me like someone has plugged me in!! I bite my nails terribly with the whole symptom, crazy!!

 

[Timaca]

Kinda along the same lines....when I had my recent flare at the first of April, that I now attribute to EBV reactivating, I felt like my whole body had Restless Leg Syndrome. I could lie in bed, and it felt like my whole body wanted to randomly jerk...along the lines of the plugged in feeling that coxy described above.....like I had all this electricity running through my body, and my body needed to jerk to get it out. I would lie there trying to prevent the jerking. It was miserable. Fortunately, that has subsided.

 

[BEG]

I have found that baclofen, with a little ginger wine (exaggerates the response of baclofen) gives me some relief. I suspect that this is because it is a GABA agonist and so helps to calm down the NMDA response. If I've got that wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me, as I'm only guessing.

Countrygirl,

I would say you have that exactly right. Gabapentin (generic) is also available, as well as Neurontin. Klonopin (clonazepam) is great for these feelings. Anything in the anti-seizure family works very well. Distantly, Lyrica is also anti-seizure. It's actually a fibro drug for pain, but it makes me feel better overall.

I have found that a rest break in a dark, quiet room with focused breathing can help. However, you really have to work with that regularly.

Good thread . . . Thanks.

BE G

 

[girlinthesnow]

This feeling is familiar to me too, my brain goes on a continuous loop, feels like I am not thinking but functioning at some kind of primitive level. It is impossible to get out of it by trying to relax but it goes away on its own eventually. Sometimes I will pace or just sit, unable to speak.

 

[Cort]

Wonko~

My wired feeling is a bit like you might feel under a stressful situation...but there is no circumstance that is making me stressed. Yet, my body has a wired, stressed response. It's awful, and I hate it.

Best, Timaca

that's me! Wired for no discernible reason. Little things setting my body off constantly. Jaw tight, muscles clenched mind racing - unable to settle down. certainly research shows a sympathetic nervous system activation ( fight or flight) and parasympathetic nervous system reduction ( rest and digest) in CFS. This is why Ashok Gupta's theory about the amygdala resonates so strongly with me - he thinks the body is basically in a fight or flight response all the time. Why this would happen however, is unclear. there's rich's theory, it could conceivably be an infection, gut problems.....whatever. The inability to come down and relax along with the problems exercising are the most vivid aspects of this for me.

 

[serenity]

yes, i have this. i was on Lexapro for awhile but i am gettin off of it now & the feeling is coming back. then again - i also feel more in general... i'm not sayin it wasn't nice to have a break, but coming off the Lexapro i do feel more alive. but yes, it does me back to some of the "anxiety" type symptoms that i got on it in the first place for.

 

[Resting]

Wow, interesting that you just wrote that, Cort!
I just went to my neurologist; he's a really good, very bright one (yes, I did just use neurologist and good in the same sentence... chuckle!)
I have a lot of neurological symptoms with my illness. He explained that my autonomic nervous system is not at all working correctly. The autonomic system consists of the parasympathetic nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system, and the enteric nervous system(which is in the gastrointestinal tract). Depending on which of these parts are most affected results in your specific symptoms. Since the adrenal system is very much connected to the autonomic system you can see how that is a major contributing factor to the 'tired but wired.' I take L-Theanine which is naturally occurring in Japanese green tea as a "chill pill"...if you will! (snicker!). It won't make you sleepy unless you take a lot of pills. They help settle your mind which for me races on and on, the more I am on the computer, watch TV, listen to the radio, any auditory or visual stimuli. These things not only cause mind racing but give me an overall sense of needing to move (yet I am exhausted). And an overall feeling of being unsettled as so many of you have described. Although GABA sounds like a good option and is easily accessible, it cannot cross the blood brain barrier, so says my doctor. I have also tried it for 6 mo. and it did not help the inhibitory neurotransmitters. Valerian tea is a mild relaxing agent which I use and some of you have mentioned but it can have interactions with certain meds. so you might need to do a quick check before using it.

If anyone knows of any other natural, safe, and effective (Confirmed) calming agents other then the aforementioned I'd appreciate it. This is a big problem for me. I'd like to get off the meds that help me sleep one day. I hate depending on them but without them I can't sleep a wink.

 

[leaves]

I wonder if those who have tested XMRV + can relate to this? It would be interesting to know.

Eh well I have it too. DIet makes a big difference;cow casein, refined sugar, nightshades and gluten cause it too become worse. for me it is a lectin/opoid problem, and also a leaky gut problem.

 

[wciarci]

I wish I knew the answer to this. Right now I am wired but tired, just after a week of taking care of Mum. I do think adrenals are involved as I didn't think I could make the trip and week long care but forced myself. I am on and off green tea, will try it tomorrow as I can't take much of this anymore.

Wendy

 

[blazes]

I have this exact problem

I have this Wired but Tired problem a lot... I also suffer from a lot of sensory overload. Grocery stores. Too many people in my house. Right now they are working on my street....Even that with the TV on and my family talking to me is too much. I'm trying to read posts and explanations as to why this is happening but my brain just isn't grasping any of it. I'm reading the words and as a word goes in...it flies right on out as I read the next word....we all know that feeling I'm sure. I'd love to hear the scientific explanations as to why my body is doing what it's doing...why my eyes aren't focusing like they used to....but right now it just doesn't matter because I can't concentrate long enough to hear the reason anyway. Boy...I'm having a terrible time even writing this post....so...I'll leave it where it is.

Hopefully I'll remember where I posted so I can come back and read what others are saying about this wired but tired problem.....

Kimberly

 

[Lucinda]

I only just noticed this thread. I just started a topic about the exact same thing.

I have suffered this 'wired but tired' problem really badly. At it's worse I was spending my whole life alternating between the gym and in bed pretty much unable to more. I could barely sleep and could not concentrate or think clearly at all. I didn't know what the heck was going on, and doctors have been of no help at all.

However it has got better with acupuncture, but I do still suffer this problem significantly. I am hyper sensitive, I'm nearly always on edge and find it impossible to relax most of the time. My heart races, I have troubles with breathing, and just feel like I am often in a panic state, even though I am not necessarily mentally anxious or stressed (though admittedly stress can be one of the triggers that starts it).

Can anyone give me some simple suggestions I can try? A lot of the info on here is very complicated, and I have no medical background, and I cannot read much as my symptoms are too severe.

Also, I am from the UK, and I have not heard of doctors talking about such problems over here. Does anyone know any UK doctors that know stuff about this? I have seen that Dr Myhill talks about The Methylation Cycle - http://www.drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/CFS_-_The_Methylation_Cycle - but not excitotoxicity.

 

[Carrigon]

I get this, and then I end up awake all night unless I take the tylenol/butalbital combo my doc gave me, which really does help this alot.

 

[Timaca]

Lucinda~
We seem to have different manifestations of the wired but tired feeling. You have energy to go the gym, then get very fatigued. My wired feeling is more of a tense, agitated sort of feeling. The nice thing is that since about mid July I've had less of it. My body has been in a more relaxed state, which is wonderful. I think it's because we are beating back the Coxsackie B viruses with oxymatrine. Time will tell. In the meantime, I am grateful that I feel less wired.

I just visited the UK. Beautiful country.

Best, Timaca

 

[sela]

have been taking lithium orotate and it seems it takes the edge of the excitoxicity. i am also blaming my irritability on kpu which i just discovered that i have. it also causes isolating behavior and sudden anger.