Odd observation re: restless night after evening workout

yirara

Warning: don't try this if you have a high blood pressure.

Mentioned a few times over the years that I can't sleep well after working out in the evening, especially running. Just totally restless, wake up constantly, tired in the morning. Well, evening is the only moment I actually am able to run. So that's not good.

For myself I found a solution by pure coincidence: Liquorice root! There's a story to it. I often have problems with reflux, and for some reason the only thing that works reliably against it is liquorice root/extract. It's also extremely yummy. Just bought a whole bunch, currently always have a twig next to me and occasionally chew on it. And for some reason I sleep wonderfully now. Honestly, I have no idea why. One of the things it does is to increase blood pressure, and mine tends to be on the low side. Maybe that causes the restless night? No idea. It also has some influence on cortisol/renin/aldosterone. Unfortunately it doesn't help against the terrible freezing I experience post exercise that might last for hours. Oh well, you can't have it all.

springlering62

@yirara you freeze after a hard workout, too?

I get full body chills and teeth chatter.

What’s up with that?

yirara

springlering62 wrote: »

@yirara you freeze after a hard workout, too?

I get full body chills and teeth chatter.

What’s up with that?

Oh totally! I finished running some 90 minutes ago, had a hot shower and a hot tea, and I'm still freezing. This freezing is kind of coming from the inside, thus I'm wearing a fleeze hoody, warm head, additional jumper and I'm still freezing. And I will still freeze when I'm in bed until I fall asleep. It's totally crazy.

BrightEyedAgain

@springlering62 ... a quick google search says that being freezing cold after a workout can mean dehydration, low blood pressure, or you didn't eat enough before/after the workout. There's also a drop in body temperature that comes naturally and can be more dramatic in women. Obviously, that's quite a range, but maybe you could experiment and try different things to see if you fall into any particular category. One recommendation I saw was to drink some chocolate milk right after your exercise and see if that helped. Seems like an easy thing to try anyway.

BrightEyedAgain

@yirara I'm intrigued by the licorice root thing because I know I have a tendency toward low blood pressure. I'll have to get some to try before bed and see if that helps my sleep. Like you, I don't sleep well if I exercise at night. Thanks for posting!

yirara

BrightEyedAgain wrote: »

@yirara I'm intrigued by the licorice root thing because I know I have a tendency toward low blood pressure. I'll have to get some to try before bed and see if that helps my sleep. Like you, I don't sleep well if I exercise at night. Thanks for posting!

But please take care: Liquorice also expels potassium. Another thing I noticed is that my glucose is quite a bit lower in the morning, but I don't feel as weak as I usually do. Odd. And lets be honest: I just love liquorice. Black gold!

My guess for the freezing is a combination of low blood pressure and small blood vessels contracting as a result of that, causing some kind of mild whole body renaud syndrome. But not sure. i know I get full blown Renaud's in my hands after hiking or cycling a few hours at below 10C and then sitting in a train/car back home. But generally not while being out and about.

AnnPT77

BrightEyedAgain wrote: »

@springlering62 ... a quick google search says that being freezing cold after a workout can mean dehydration, low blood pressure, or you didn't eat enough before/after the workout. There's also a drop in body temperature that comes naturally and can be more dramatic in women. Obviously, that's quite a range, but maybe you could experiment and try different things to see if you fall into any particular category. One recommendation I saw was to drink some chocolate milk right after your exercise and see if that helped. Seems like an easy thing to try anyway.

Oh, goody. Another way in which I'm not a proper woman, or maybe human. 🙄 (I'm hot long after exercise.)

Apologies, yirara, for the digression.

If I had some liquorice, I'd eat it, but only out of sheer love for the stuff. Here in the US, we don't have liquorice, we have licorice instead 😉, but I don't have any of that either.

springlering62

@BrightEyedAgain

I live in a state of perpetual dehydration. So that could be it.

yirara

AnnPT77 wrote: »

BrightEyedAgain wrote: »

@springlering62 ... a quick google search says that being freezing cold after a workout can mean dehydration, low blood pressure, or you didn't eat enough before/after the workout. There's also a drop in body temperature that comes naturally and can be more dramatic in women. Obviously, that's quite a range, but maybe you could experiment and try different things to see if you fall into any particular category. One recommendation I saw was to drink some chocolate milk right after your exercise and see if that helped. Seems like an easy thing to try anyway.

Oh, goody. Another way in which I'm not a proper woman, or maybe human. 🙄 (I'm hot long after exercise.)

Apologies, yirara, for the digression.

If I had some liquorice, I'd eat it, but only out of sheer love for the stuff. Here in the US, we don't have liquorice, we have licorice instead 😉, but I don't have any of that either.

In the UK they don't have liquorice either. They have black snacks sweetened by anisseed Source: I lived there and had a huuuuge appetite for liquorice, ate a bag of allsorts and still wanted liquorice. Then found out they only put a few crumbs in and use anis instead as the taste is similar.

sarabushby

Re the freezing after exercise .. may be worth ditching the hot shower for a hot cup of tea first. I wonder if it’s like cold water swimming where after drop means taking a hot shower is one of the worst things you can do to restore your body temp to normal.

Could be worth doing some reading and Experimenting