Very interested to read all these experiences!
I have a very healthy diet (vegan) and do Tai Chi for relaxation, stretching and exercise. I take a small handful of supplements daily but no prescription meds. I drink moderately and do not smoke. I ride my bike vigorously several times a week, hike and generally have good stamina. I never experience this symptom during hard exercise. The only times I can remember it happening are in situations of anger and/or danger.
I have a hypothesis about this symptom that I will throw out here for discussion. I have very mild chronic back pain (who doesn't?) that only occasionally bothers me. My hypothesis is that during the adrenaline rush whatever endorphins (or other mechanism) that usually mask this chronic pain are negated in some way while the adrenaline is pumping. In support of this hypothesis is the fact that when I first experienced the symptom I had recently torn a muscle in my back -- the one that still gives me chronic pain. Against the hypothesis is the fact that so many of us seem to experience very similar symptoms. Could it be we all have low-level chronic back pain that is being masked? Does anyone here experience pain in areas other than the lower back (where you have some chronic pain issue) ?
One other thing to add to the discussion. My brother (4.5 years younger) is experiencing the same symptoms for the last few years. He has done lots of tough physical work in his life and does surely have some chronic back (&other) pain. He and I share the same genetics but live very different lifestyles, have different diets, etc.
I am very interested to hear if anyone has had a medical diagnosis related to this and/or discovered more about what is happening and how to prevent it.
Hello. Just over a year ago, I had what I've come to believe was a panic attack where I actually thought i was going to die as i didn't understand what was going on. I had been going through many months of stress related to business that affected me daily. After having my neck messed up by a chiropractic adjustment that went wrong, one night I experienced symptoms that made me panic. The sensations that I felt subsequently (in addition to a heart rate of 165) was a pulsating feeling on both sides of my back that ran up in to my neck and head. I felt pulses that started in my lower back about where the adrenals are located and ran up into my head. Each and every doctor I mentioned this to had no idea, but like many here, I am fairly convinced that it has to do with adrenal fatigue, and in this instance, adrenal overload. Now, I am having symptoms of hypoglycemia, which can occur where there is adrenal insufficiency. I had a test, a saliva cortisol test about 6 weeks ago that showed I have low cortisol levels throughout the day. I am told the saliva cortisol test is the most accurate way to diagnose this issue and you'll likely have to go to a holistic doctor, or at least a traditional doctor that is open to alternative methods for this kind of test. The treatment may be low dosage (< 10 to 15 mg) bio-identical hydro-cortisone (compounding pharmacies can develop a sustained release version), as well as dietary (including supplements) and lifestyle changes. Anyhow, do some research on things we can do everyday to support the adrenals and see if this may not apply to you. Good luck, dear.
I am a 28 year old male, I have the same symptoms while in an adrenalin rush. Most of the time when it happens it's during an intense rush (usually while racing my sports car). Needless to say it makes a good ride down the track a very hard thing to accomplish. It has only happened a few times, but I thought I would comment. I am surprised how painful it can be.
Boy am I glad to see these postings! It's exactly what I've had for the past 20 years - luckily just three or four times a year. The usual causes - got cut off in traffic, near miss on the motorcycle. The latest was last week when I gave the eulogy for a friend at her funeral. When I sat down the lower back pain was so intense others thought I was crying. I'm on no medications, average weight and I exercise at the gym frequently. If this is my only health problem, then I can deal with it. I don't think it's a symptom of anything other than life on this planet. I would caution anyone against running off to the acupuncture clinic or holistic health providers or extensive diet modifications. It is what it is.
well its defo something and if you ask me it gets the heart pumping faster and lm betting the blood pressure shoots right up! Why cant anyone name this? its horrible!! Its been happening to me for approx 16 years now only a few times a year again in highly stressful situations its NOT normal!!
Two days ago I was electrocuted at work while on a ladder. The 347 volt lighting circuit I was working on was energized and the fixture wasn't properly grounded. When the wiring I was inspecting came loose and struck my hand I was stuck by the wire and could not let go. It must have been an instant since the exit wounds on my thumb and index finger are considerably minimal, but it felt like ten seconds. What eventually broke my contact with the wire was that I fell off the ladder and landed on my coccyx. Once my eyes regained focus I looked at my right hand and saw and smelled the burn marks on my thumb and fingers. The locations where I was feeling pain was my coccyx, my thumb and index finger on my right hand and my kidneys. I checked my heart rate and dressed the burns on my fingers. The pain from my kidneys soon took over and I decided to go to the walk-in clinic where my doctor is. I told him what happened and he suggested that I go to Emergency and get everything monitored properly. While in emergency I was sitting upright in a hospital bed and the pain of my coccyx was about the same as the pain in my kidneys. The doctors took blood for tests at 2 different times and also took a urine sample. They took x-rays, I was on a heart monitor and EKG monitor. While in emergency they didn't do anything but look at my hand and ook for other electrical burns. The doctor noticed that my L1 had an old fracture that healed perfectly. End result they were not able to diagnose the reason for sore kidneys, they said my heart rate is regulated and gave me a perscription for 20 T3's for the pain and to come back if things got worse.
I can't believe you guys are describing exactly what I'm experiencing as well. It occured again today after a heated conversation with a co-worker. I't absolutely crippling. I too have suspected something with kidneys or adrenaline glands. When I'm nervous (have to speak in front of a group of people, have a verbal conflict, or just anticipating some anxious situation I'm about to face), it happens. It's an intense throbbing lower to mid back pain that literally prevents me from moving. I do have some chronic health situations, but as one of you mentioned I can remember my first experiences of this from adolescence, but it wasn't nearly this bad. I'm about ready to go to the Mayo Clinic if that's what I have to do to get a diagnosis.
I'm a 63 y.o. male in Australia. This has happened to me of and on over the years. I am medium hypertensive and have been since 40. It is a bad pain and really leaves you looking for somewhere to fall over, which is a bit difficult when you're in a meeting or driving. I have always thought it was a big systolic blood pressure spike (instigated, or accompanied by an adrenaline spike) hammering away at my renal arteries. I've described it to 3 doctors over the years, but none of them have shown any interest (none of them had obviously felt the pain maybe!)
Why I'm on this forum is because my wife has just gone for a scan of her renal system, as her doctor was looking for the cause of her new elevated BP and told her that a constricted renal artery can affect BP. I told her about my kidney/BP pain, then thought I would check it on the Net. So hi out there - I guess the story has something to do with anger management as well; I know it has for me. But every now and then I get caught, as we all do.
Its interesting that there are no medical comments on this yet, and also no comments from women?
32 y.o. female here...I've had similar issues for at least 10 years and it's always interpreted as kidney stones or infection of musculoskeletal or ovarian cysts. I've had so many MRIs, CAT scans, utrasounds and blood test, that I've lost track. I've found that when going to specialists, they look for what they know and not at the whole picture. I recently went to a GI specialist at the request of my internal medicine doc, but as always, they found nothing. They want me to come back and do more specialized tests on my gallbladder, but I told them no. I am taking Amitriptyline because they think it might be abdominal migraines, but so far the medicine just makes me even more exhausted. My symptoms include severe pulsating/stabbing pain in my side and back during physical exertion, heightened emotional reactions, and arousal. The pain subsides in about 10 minutes if I sit down or remove myself from a situation. I have heart palpitations, debilitating cramps in my feet and legs, higher than normal testosterone, low potassium, chronic headaches, joint pain, dark patches have appeared on my face, muscle twitching, nausea, constant fatigue...I'm sure there's more. My doctors know all of this, but none of them have been able to put 2 and 2 together. I basically had to sit down and think about the pain specifically (because it's the worst of all the symptoms) I came to the conclusion that it is directly correlated with an adrenaline spike. I'm going to see an endocrinologist on the 20th because I am almost 100% convinced I have a problem with my adrenal gland (this thread helped me come to a conclusion faster than any doctor has in the last decade).
Be aware darkening of the skin with those symptoms it could be addisons disease!!! Thats the only thing l can find that would cause this pain but my doc shrugged it off years ago x
This is EXACTLY what I go through!! It's always in close call accidents where one might have to slam on the breaks because another driver pulls out in front of them. And yes, it always involves adrenaline!! ***this post is edited by moderator *** ***
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*** No Military experience here. Though I have had an upper back injury before and still do. *** I have taken Hydrocodone, Lortab, Not sure if these pills could be the problem (side effect from the past). *** Ultram I am using right now (had this problem before it so can rule it out) because my lower back has been giving me problems (Constant pain - goes out every 3 to six months for the past 15 years). *** But my back (not to be confused with the constant pain) throbs the same when I'm angry and going after another opponent in Call of Duty. *** Like everyone else, close calls in traffic, or in possible fighting situations. *** My dad and his dad died from prostate cancer, anyone else? Everyone reading this thread post anything (even if you think it might be of importance) that we all might have in common.
The pain I'm describing isn't a muscular pain. It's like it's internal as it starts as a severe throbbing in the kidney region and seems to shoot all the way up my spine. It's completely different than a muscle spasm or anything like that. As others have posted on this site, it seems to throb with every pulse of blood or heartbeat during a fight/flight situation, almost incopacitating for several minutes as it slowly subsides.
And that is how mine shows up exactly like yours does!!!
We need a medical opinion now! There must be an MD out there who experiences this?